GMG's Friday Find: Take the Guesswork Out and Put the Plants In!

Looking at your empty containers wondering what to plant this year?

Photo by Shawna Coronado

Rather than being discouraged or confused, think of your container as a blank canvas that by mid-summer can be filled to the brim with colorful flowers or delicious fruits and vegetables.

Not the artistic type? Then take advantage of a garden center workshop near you for inspiration and know-how and quickly learn the dos and don'ts for a successful garden and stunning containers.

Photo by Shawna Coronado

For example, Schaefer Greenhouses in Aurora, Illinois, is a hosting a workshop with garden and lifestyle writer, Shawna Coronado, TOMORROW, April 27th from 10:30-2:30.  Shawna can help you turn your flower/veggie vision into reality.

In Shawna's workshop, gardeners will learn:

• How to make a pizza container garden
• Techniques for creating drought tolerant organic vegetable gardens
• How to utilize the color wheel to create eye-popping color combinations of flowers and plants
• How to identify which vegetables are best to grow in containers
• About companion planting
• What growing mix is best to use that provides continual nourishment and a healthy environment, like PRO-MIX which has patented Myco-Active plant food and water-saving gel right in the mix.

Wait, a pizza container you say?  Shawna will teach gardeners which herbs are best for your individual pizza taste and how to grow them.  But the best thing about this container is that children love to participate and they can be the 'farmer' who plants and waters these plants.  Teaching them the joy and satisfaction of watching plants grow and then creating a delicious recipe from them is invaluable. 

And one of the best advantages in participating in a workshop is leaving with everything you need to get started on your way to a season of plenty, from beautiful flowers to the freshest herbs and veggies; and maybe, if you're lucky, you can walk away with a demonstration container!  Now that's a few hours well spent.  Look for workshops in your area and take the guesswork out and put the flowers and veggies in!

You'll soon learn that there's not much you can't grow in a container.  Happy Gardening!

~Peggy

GMG's Friday Find: The Secret Ingredient for Perfect Soil

Mycorrhizae is not just hard to pronounce, it's also not a secret. It is a fungus that grows in association with the roots of a plant in a friendly, helpful manner, and this has been occurring for more than 400-million years!

These fungi are a vital component of soil's chemistry and helps to boost the development of the root system and its capacity to absorb water, nutrients and minerals.  Unfortunately, some activities like erosion, tillage, topsoil removal, and construction can deplete naturally occurring mycorrhizae.

What does this mean to the average gardener? Now you can enhance the roots of your plants and grow healthier, stronger plants by using the all-natural, beneficial MycoActive organisms (mycorrhizae) found in PRO-MIX®  consumer growing mixes.  Three new case studies have proven that with MycoActive you can achieve considerably more yield as seen in this chart:

The results are significant, and there are mixes for every gardener's need:  An Ultimate Potting Mix, an Ultimate Garden Mix, an Ultimate Organic Vegetable & Herb Mix, even a Cactus Mix.  Here's what you can expect to achieve when using these mixes:

•  Increases water and nutrient uptake
•  Increases resistance to drought
•  Increases transplanting survival rate
•  Increases plant and root system vigor
•  Increases crop quality
•  Increases quantity of flowers/fruits
•  Increases crop yield
•  Enhances growth significantly

Just take a look at the differences in these lettuce and cucumber plants -- amazing!

 Growing stronger, larger and more abundant plants and veggies is what gardeners want, and PRO-MIX®   with MycoActive delivers.

 We invite you to find a mix that suits your needs at your local independent garden center...and let us know what terrific results you experience.  Happy Gardening!

~Peggy
Garden Media Group