Tucked In For Winter

The sunshine persists and although part of me is glad for it, the gardens need some snow. I have been dragging hoses around for the past two weeks watering trees, shrubs, and perennials and will continue to do so until surface roots get some "natural" moisture. On another topic...despite the complaining I hear about plastic in this industry, it certainly holds up over the years. The dozens of plastic pots on our deck have been with us for well over a decade and show no signs of wear. I reuse them (and the container mix in the bigger ones) every spring when I plant them up with annuals. Even the smaller plastic colorbowls and 12" hanging garden pots are emptied, scrubbed out, and stored for next season. We buy the same plastic trays/flats from the same supplier every year, so we can keep about 95% of the plastic used for growing "in house". Over a thousand get rinsed, stacked, and stored at the end of every season. We are unable to take trays/flats from other stores because they come in such a range of shapes and sizes, they cannot be stacked and stored. So, hopefully, you'll have a chance to clean and store your plastic containers this winter. We will have plenty of beatiful flowers to fill them with this spring.