• Seed Starting Mix
• 2 1/4" and 3" peat pots
• Stacking Windowsill Mini-greenhouses
• Jiffy-7 peat pellets
• Plant Labels
• Over 500 varieties of seeds

Pansies and Primrose for Spring:
Plant cold tolerant pansies and primrose now to add color to your dormant landscapes! Also add to planters and windowboxes.

• Pansies are a popular bedding plant in both Spring and Fall.
• Available in many colors.
• Range in size from 1/2" to 2".
• Some pansies will reseed themselves and if protected over the winter, can survive to bloom a second year.
• Young pansies can make it through several freezes in early Spring and are usually hardy enough to tolerate these conditions.
• Select partial shade to full sun for an ideal location.

As the snow melts and the days grow longer we look for the first signs of spring; the daffodils peeking out of the cold ground, the crocus blooming, and of course, the pansies. Pansies have been a favorite of gardeners for generations and their versatility has been their biggest asset. Planted in the spring they will tolerate full sun to shade and will continue to bloom through until the hot and humid days of late June early July. They can be replaced with your favorite annuals for color all summer.

To get the longest bloom potential from your pansies remove the spent blooms before they go to seed. If they start to get leggy (caused from lack of sun) or stop blooming, just trim them back and fertilize with an all-purpose fertilizer such as Osmocote or Multi-cote. Pansies are affected by few pests, but keep and eye out for aphids. These are little black or green bugs that feed on the juices of the plant. They are easily controlled with a treatment of Safer soap, or Shultz Houseplant and Garden Spray.

Pansies can also be planted in the fall because of their cold tolerance. If they are planted in a protected area and our winter is mild they will over-winter and bloom in the spring. For best results, mulch well in the late fall and when the ground begins to warm in the spring take away mulch and trim out the dead yellow foliage. Add an all-purpose fertilizer such as Flower-tone or Osmocote they should perk up and bloom in March.

COMPANION PLANTS: Primrose, bulbs, English Ivy, and other cold tolerant annuals such as stock, snapdragons, neemisia, alyssum, dusty miller. Add pansies to your perennial and shrub borders to give you early spring and late fall color.

When to plant: Pansies can be planted as soon as the ground warms up in the spring. If the temperatures drop or a frost is predicted, just throw a sheet of newspaper or an old blanket over to protect them.

As spring is quickly approaching here is a simple check list of the things you will need to do to get ready for the gardening season:

Evergreen shrubs, trees, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Holly should be fertilized with Hollytone or amore acidic Fertilizer.

• Flowering trees, shrubs, deciduous shrubs - Treetone or Planttone

• Perennial beds - compost or Flowertone

• Add compost to Annual beds and get a jump start on weeding with an application of Preen, a pre-emergent herbicide.

• Fertilizers: Preen for Lawns, Greenview Fertilizers

• Seed over thinning areas

• Apply grub control to your lawn in the Spring. Grubs are the larval stage of beetles. An early spring application of grub control will reduce the damaged caused by Japanese Beetles in July. Milky Spore is a natural product that will control grubs for 15 to 20 years with one application.

• Our last hard frost comes between May 10th and 15th. We recommend waiting till after this date to plant your frost-tender annuals and summer flowering bulbs.

• The best way to combat bugs in your garden is early detection. Here are a few tips on how to keep your plants healthy and pest free:

• When you do find pests or diseases on your plants use the least toxic method of control. Most mild cases of infestation will respond to horticultural soaps and oils. Look for products containing neem oil, pyrethrins from chrysanthemums, and paraffin based soaps.