You think it's been an eternity since this blog was updated, consider our actual website at emeraldcitygardens.com - it had languished since February! Today brought restoration and healing, though (and a lot of editing) - it's leaner and meaner now, with a renewed sense of purpose. Even some useful information!

As to what now becomes of this blog, well, who knows? Facebook and the restored site seem to cover most of its function and no offense, Blogger, but this interface is clunky to distraction. It would be easy enough just to shut it down but I think we'll just let it rest awhile and see what evolves. The media will be alerted if anything changes. :b

Fall Bulbs at Emerald City Gardens: The 2009 Collection

This year we ordered from the same company as last year - which, to shorten a long story, means we have to wait a little longer for them (they're due in shortly after the equinox) but the quality is outstanding since they dig their bulbs later than most growers, giving them time to mature and store more sugar for energy. Tulip bulbs are notoriously perishable but most of our leftovers were viable even into January, when we finally planted them out on our parking strip. They bloomed beautifully, and pretty much on time - so your window to get these guys planted is longer than you might think.

The following list contains more species and "rock garden" tulips than last year, which are becoming increasingly popular as people discover they make for a more-or-less permanent planting as opposed to the 2-4 years most people are able to get out of the usual big, blowsy hybrids. By popular request we're offering more alliums this year, too, and some interesting fritillarias; also a complete color range of hyacinths for your garden or indoor forcing. We're offering fewer daffodils (narcissi) this year because they just didn't sell well for us last year; you can get your big yellow 'King Alfred's and the like from Fred Meyer for the proverbial dime a dozen and that leaves us more space for fun stuff. Our holiday bulbs (paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis) will be in by late October or early November.

Here you go!:

- Tulip 'Little Beauty'
- Tulip batalinii 'Apricot Jewel'
- Tulip humilis 'Alba Coerulea Oculata'
- Tulip humilis 'Eastern Star'
- Tulip humilis 'Persian Pearl'
- Tulip clusiana 'Lady Jane'
- Tulip marjoletti
- Tulip turkestanica
- Tulip 'Analita'
- Tulip 'Shakespeare'
- Tulip 'Heart's Delight'
- Tulip greigii 'Red Riding Hood'
- Tulip 'Princess Irene'
- Tulip 'Bastogne'
- Tulip 'Jackpot'
- Tulip 'Jan Ohms'
- Tulip 'Angelique'
- Tulip 'Blue Parrot'
- Tulip 'Formosa'
- Tulip 'Ballerina'
- Tulip 'Swan Wings'
- Tulip 'Queen of Night'
- Tulip 'Passionale'
- Narcissus 'Decoy'
- Narcissus 'High Society'
- Narcissus 'White Lion'
- Narcissus 'Suzy'
- Narcissus 'Actaea'
- Narcissus jonquilla 'Simplex'
- Crocus tomassinianus 'Barr's Purple'
- Crocus vernus 'King of the Striped'
- Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'
- Hyacinth 'L'Innocence'
- Hyacinth 'Woodstock'
- Hyacinth 'Blue Jacket'
- Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'
- Hyacinth 'Fondant'
- Hyacinth 'City of Haarlem'
- Muscari aucheri 'Ocean Magic'
- Muscari 'Valerie Finnis'
- Muscari - Magical Mix
- Fritillaria pallidiflora
- Fritillaria michailovskyi
- Fritillaria persica
- Allium albopilosum (christophii)
- Allium 'Ambassador'
- Allium azureum
- Allium bulgaricum
- Allium cowanii
- Allium stipitatum 'White Giant'
- Anemone blanda - blue shades
- Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno' (double snowdrops)
- Oriental lily 'Mona Lisa'

Enjoy, kids!

late summer shopping

New this week:

• Houseplants! Almost the only things that sold during the late July heat wave, we're guessing people were trapped indoors by their fans (or a/c for the lucky 15%) and noticed the lack of greenery and oxygen in their interiorscapes. We brought in a bunch of pretty new jungle components yesterday and more are being delivered tomorrow (Thursday 8/13).
• Perennials! Presumably arriving today. Our 25% sale continues to the end of the month and has been successful enough, so far, that we need to re-stock! Even more is due in next week.
• Vegetables! Again! 'Cause you can't get enough. Lettuces, beets, cole crops, leeks, gourmet 'Cippolini Boretana' onions and more...
• Seeds! Limited quantities of many varieties should arrive by week's end, and if you sow them within the next month or so you can still have incredible home-grown vegetables 'til frost - and beyond. It's an El Niño year which usually means milder-than-normal temps. All remaining seeds NOT suitable for fall planting are now 50% off. Here's what's on the way:

FLOWERS

Calendula 'Flashback', Pansy 'Victorian Posy', Sweet Peas 'April in Paris', 'Blue Celeste', 'Jewels of Albion', 'Saltwater Taffy Swirls', 'Perfume Delight', 'Queen of the Night', 'Royal Wedding', 'Cupani's Original', 'Watermelon' and 'Zinfandel'.

HERBS

Arugula, Garlic Chives, curly Parsley and Hungarian breadseed poppies (note: not many herb seeds, but lots of beautiful fresh plants already here!).

VEGETABLES

Beet 'Jewel-Toned Blend', Broccoli 'All-Season Blend', Broccoli Raab, Carrots 'Baby Babette', 'Sunshine Orange and Yellow', 'Bolero' and 'Round Romeo', Chards 'Bright Lights', 'Pot o' Gold' and 'Scarlet Charlotte', Fennel 'Trieste' (bulbing type), Greens 'Crispy Winter Salad', Kale 'Lacinato' (a.k.a. dinosaur kale), Leek 'Baby Primor', Lettuces 'Paris Market Mesclun', 'Garden Babies', 'Heirloom Cutting Mix' and 'Merveille de Quatre Saisons', Onion 'Delicious Duo' (scallions - red and green), baby Pak Choi 'Green Fortune', Radishes 'Crimson Crunch' and 'Easter Egg', Spinaches 'Catalina' (baby leaf type) and 'Oriental Giant'.

Seed quantities are very limited and they should be planted within the next month or so in most cases, so come see us early next week for best selection.

Thanks for reading - check back soon for updates.

New this week! (tomorrow, in fact)

Cooler weather doesn't turn everyone's thoughts to fall planting but as for us?...oh yeah. Last week's record heat made for almost no business and fortunately we didn't order any new stuff, but this week we're back on track.

Veggies from Langley Fine Gardens:

- onion 'Cippolini Boretana'
- broccoli
- brussels sprouts
- leaf lettuce 'Merlot'
- baby butterhead lettuce 'Tom Thumb'
- leaf lettuce 'Sunset'
- Swiss chard 'Ruby Red'
- beet 'Bull's Blood'
- pepper 'Bolivian Rainbow' (okay, not technically a "fall vegetable" in these parts but super cute, multicolored HOT fruit on a small plant that makes a decent houseplant when the weather gets cold)

Herbs from American Gardens:

- catnip
- chives
- bronze fennel
- French tarragon
- mint 'Kentucky Colonel' (suitable for juleps OR mojitos!)
- golden oregano
- Greek oregano
- Italian parsley
- rosemary 'Tuscan Blue' (and we still have some 'Arp', the super hardy stuff) and
- English thyme

Next week: hopefully even MORE vegetables and shiny new perennials, which are 25% off through August. You're welcome! :)

new month, new ad, new sale!

Starts today! Annuals and our few remaining old veggie starts are still 40% off (actually, ask us nicely and you can just TAKE the remaining veggie starts) and the coleus are so awesome right now we don't know how anyone could resist them. New vegetables - the start of our "fall veggies" assortment - will start coming in next week; these will be at the normal price, $2.49 for most 3.5" pots or 4-6 paks.

The discount on perennials, trees and shrubs includes groundcovers, perennial herbs and succulents, too, even the tender ones. We've worked hard to keep things alive and even looking good through the horrendous heat wave - now it's time for you to come in and take them home!

July was pretty bad, but we're hangin' in there. August will bring new plants, new seeds, garlic and shallot sets and who knows what else? Fall flower bulbs are being ordered, too, but won't arrive 'til mid-late September. ~

coming this week!

The following should arrive Wednesday or Thursday:
(again, a reminder - we're now CLOSED ON TUESDAYS)

- Raoulia australis
- Coprosma 'Tequila Sunrise'
- Carex tenuiculmis 'Cappuccino'
- Sedum spurium 'Red Carpet'
- Sedum spath. 'Cape Blanco'
- Kalanchoe thyrsifolia
- Vitis 'Gewurztraminer'
- Abutilon 'Variegated Peach'
- Crocosmia hyb. 'Lucifer'
- Echinacea purpurea 'Tiki Torch'
- Fuchsia magellanica 'Isis'
- Gaillardia 'Sunburst Yellow'
- Ampelopsis brevipedunculata 'Elegans'
- Hosta 'Elvis Lives'
- Hakonechloa macra 'Beni-Kaze'
- Helictotrichon sempervirens
- Geranium 'Rozanne'
- Ficus 'Violetta'

thinking out loud (hey, at least I'm thinking)...

I think we may finally have a plan for the blog. We haven't used it well to this point but more than anything, I think it's had an identity crisis.

We have our primary website at emeraldcitygardens.com; it's rarely updated and is there primarily to show...well, that we have a website. Some general info about who we are and what we do, job postings (and considering we just laid almost everyone off, I REALLY need to take it down some time once I'm on the right computer when I think about it and can use the unexpired version of the web editor I use and actually get into the thing...yeah, a real tech-head, that's me!).

We have this blog. Ideally it was to be for newsy updates, advice/seasonal reminders and of course - pictures! Fair enough, and basically what we've done, but not frequently enough to make it all that useful. I'd love to incorporate it into the primary site so it isn't at a separate address...I'm told that's not easy with Blogspot, much easier with WordPress but I'm only beginning to get back the free time I need to do something like that, so it may be a while yet.

We have a Facebook page. FB is nice because it's convenient and LOTS of people are on it, and so far I've been much better at keeping it updated than our other online presences. Thing is, though, FB is for sound bytes - you can certainly type longer entries there if you're so inclined (and I might at some point), but after so many sentences it automatically goes under a cut. For the kind of rambling I'm known for, a good old-fashioned blog still seems like the way to go for a primary web presence.

Lastly - probably most successfully - we communicate via an opt-in email list. Approximately 500 people allow us to spam them - infrequently - to get all of the above and more: general info, newsy updates, sale notifications and whatever else comes to mind. In return they get a "Frequent Flyer" card with a yellow brick road of sorts on the back...for every $10 spent, a brick is initialed until all 20 have been, at which point the card becomes a $20 gift certificate. They're also privy to exclusive sales and offers the general public doesn't get - after all, this is our loyal customer base and did I mention, they allow me to spam them? :b

It's becoming clear, though, that the email list needs re-thinking. More than anything, the mail itself needs to be more concise - maybe teaser headlines with links to more? In fact, yes, I'm sure that's exactly what should happen. Some sweet people are apparently fans of my writing, and they wish I sent the email with greater frequency: never mind that I DON'T particularly care for my writing, that will never happen. The point was driven home in the last mail I sent out, which netted us several "unsubscribe" requests. Hard not to take that personally, but the message is clear:

tl;dr

(and maybe my writing sucks, but I'm not inclined to ask!)

So...yeah. I'll transfer much of the email's function to the blog beginning approximately August 1st. If I update here at the beginning of each month, that should suffice - and it will already be more frequent than the email.

If we're lucky enough to stay in business long enough, we may even be perfect one day. :) Thank you for hanging in there while we strive for perfection!

Happy Easter From Tanker

Tanker just had to dress up for Easter. So, with Sandy's help he greeted customers for part of the time in his bunny costume.

Veggies, herbs, annuals, perennials, and house plants oh my!
Spring is here, regardless of temperatures, and the trucks have started arriving. We are packed with veggies appropriate for planting now. In addition we have a great herb section and some scented geraniums for those who love fragrance in their garden. Each week we're getting in more and more. We've re-designed the back area to make things more visible and easier to navigate. Oh, oh, oh . . . . and we've just gotten a shipment of dwarf conifer and Japanese maples. A really cool selection, some of our favorites.

In addition to the new stock of plants we are lucky to have two new helpers. In addition to Sally and Amy we have Holly and Sandy. Both experienced gardeners and very knowledgeable with plants and design.

See ya soon,
Andy

We could wish it would warm up a bit - okay, maybe a lot - but spring is here by the calendar, anyway, and it's time to plant stuff! We got in a fantastic collection of ground covers yesterday, some flowering perennials, more blueberries, 'Violetta' figs, 'Glenora' and 'Chardonnay' grapes, 'Shinseiki' Asian pears and those newfangled columnar apple trees you can grow in patio pots. The edibles continue to be our best-sellers this year so far...seed potatoes are going fast and when they're gone, they're gone. We're selectively re-stocking the seed racks but the seed companies are up to their eyeballs in backorders, having their best year in a long time.

People are starting to ask about tomatoes, basil and other tender plants. Short answer is, they should be available mid-April (but keep them indoors or in a greenhouse 'til night temps warm up). Strawberries and asparagus crowns are due in any day.

Next week: excitement of the non-food variety! Seven varieties of Japanese maples, including a few favorites we weren't able to get last year: 'Azuma Murasaki', 'Scolopendrifolium', 'Shindeshojo', 'Trompenburg', 'Ukigumo', 'Umegae' and the laceleaf 'Tamukeyama'. Lots of dwarf conifers and other fun things as well. We're making another house plant run, too, as they continue to sell briskly - a lot o yas just don't want to play outside yet!

Have you been in lately?

Happy 1st Anniversary, ECG!

Wow, we did it! Having survived 1929, we're excited to see what 1930 brings. *g* Thanks to all involved in our continued existence - you are the wind beneath our wings, the butter in our pastries, the leaves on our tree! Yesterday was our best day in many months and today - for ONE DAY ONLY - everything in the store, excluding consignment, is 20% off. Come 'n get it. :)

the Cult of the Potato

My dad's family is from southern Idaho and one could say potatoes are literally in my blood, but, true confession: last year, 2008, was the first year I ever grew them myself. Now, they may be what I'm most looking forward to growing this year! As the Solanaceae go they're a damned sight more rewarding in this climate than their cousins, tomatoes and eggplants, and the harvest is kinda like a "treasure hunt" - you get down 'n dirty and root around like a truffle pig 'til you fill your netted bag with home-grown unchemicaled goodness. Yeah! :b

They're easy enough to grow, but not effortless. To maximize your crop you really should hill them up as the tops grow - the leaf nodes you bury on the lower stems send out roots which eventually form even more tubers. I planted them last March (St. Patty's is traditional in these parts) out on our parking strip at the nursery - not the most ornamental thing for our frontage on Leary Way but it's good loose, rich soil and seemed an ideal spot to conduct the experiment. I worked some of our super-duper Down To Earth certified organic All-Purpose fertilizer into the soil before planting them and covered them initially with about six inches of soil. They broke the surface in early April and started reaching for the sky...

By the time September rolled around they were in a waist-high "volcano" of dirt and I commenced with my truffle pig action - excellent harvest but WOW with the impracticality of a big mound like that in the average small city garden! This year we'll either grow them in big plastic garbage cans with drainage holes cut in the bottom (not the prettiest look) or, more likely, cylindrical cages of chicken wire wrapped around fence posts. Proponents/suppliers of small-space gardens as we are, potatoes are very suitable subjects for vertical gardens that make extreme good use of limited space. This year's harvest is looking good before it's even planted!

So, here's what you'll find in the store right now and here's what's coming: we're (hopefully temporarily) sold out of 'Yukon Gold' but still have a few bags of 'Nooksack', 'Russet Norkotah', 'Kennebec', 'Red Pontiac', 'Island Sunshine', 'Purple Majesty', 'Red Gold' and the fingerling varieties 'Red Thumb', 'Butterfinger', 'Russian Banana' and 'Rose Finn Apple'. We will also have - hopefully tomorrow! - the Washington state heirloom potato 'Ozette', brought up the west coast of the Americas by the Spanish in 1791, grown in obscurity on the NW tip of our Olympic Peninsula until their re-discovery in the 1980s. Not just a great story, they're actually the tastiest taters we know of - $6.98 a pound once they're here as they're still relatively rare, but once you've had them, you won't want to do without them!

Save some space for these guys. Even if you're not freaked out by the chemical content of non-organic taters or the high price of the "safe" organic ones, they're among the most satisfying things you can grow.

Not loved by everyone? How can that BE? :b

It's a really good idea to Google yerself (and your business, if applicable) now and then to see what's out there. I was mostly pleased when I did it yesterday, but THIS didn't make me happy at all:

http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/home/home-garden/envy-new-central-district-nursery-put-green-back-your-life

Read the comments. :( Wow. Someone thinks I would do this? Declares themselves a "former loyal customer" based on their own baseless accusation?

I only heard about this shop a month or two ago and decided then and there that I intended to visit. It sounds wonderful! - and if it's as cool as it sounds, I'll refer people there. That's what we do. Take a look at our links page...we don't exactly have a track record of bad-mouthing the competition. ;)

I know I shouldn't be this thin-skinned but there are days, especially in the dark of winter, when my good name is all I have - so, Mr. Aaron McCloud, please contact me if you see this or hear about it and let's clear this up!