Harvest when the head is firm and has reached adequate size depending on variety and growing conditions. Leaves should be crisp looking and firmly packed. Cabbage may be refrigerated, tightly wrapped, for about a week at the most.

Cabbage sliced or cooked, can be one of two things: deliciously crisp with a mild pleasant flavor or overcooked and horrible. Cabbage and other brassicas contain the chemical hydrogen sulphide, which is activated during cooking at the point the vegetable starts to soften. It eventually disappears, but during the in between time, cabbage acquires its characteristic rank smell and flavor. So either cook cabbage briefly, or cook it long and slow, preferably with other ingredients so the flavors can mingle.

There are several types of cabbage: savoy, spring greens, green, red, and white. Knowing how to cook them correctly is the goal. For green or white cabbages place the shredded leaves in a pan with a pat of butter and a couple tablespoons of water to prevent burning. Cover and cook over medium heat until leaves are tender, occasionally shaking the pan or stirring. Red cabbage is cooked quite differently and is commonly sautéed in oil or butter and then braised in a low oven for up to 1 1/2 hours with apples, currants, onions, vinegar, sugar and spices.

By Scott Lillich, Garden Shop manager and buyer

Are your hydrangeas as blue as you would like them? If you are like most of the customers that walk through our door, your answer is a resounding “No”. The good news is that hydrangeas, unlike most plants, can dramatically change in color! You can even change a pink hydrangea into a blue one and vice versa (white hydrangeas cannot change). Where else can you exude so much creative power in the garden?

Here’s the secret:

In order to get that deep blue color in your favorite hydrangea you have to act now. Fall is the time to apply a product with aluminum sulfate and start the process of changing the color (trust me, I have tried at other times of year and it is an uphill battle). Hydra Blue is our product of choice for accomplishing this goal. It’s easy, you simply put the Hydra Blue at the base of your plant once a month from October through December and water it in. Next, you let nature take its course throughout the rest of winter and enjoy beautiful blue flowers next spring!

We have a full display of Hydra Blue at our outdoor garden shop so come on down and get started before it is too late!    

Fall won’t be the same without the addition of stocks to give more color and variety to your garden. Unique colors, excellent basal branching, and continuous flowering all make up the appeal of stocks. And most of all, sometimes the scent can be amazing and make a great addition to any flower arrangement.

Colors that you will see the most are purple, red, white, pink, lavender, and rose.

They like sun or light shade (in hottest areas), well drained soil and regular fertilizing. Tall varieties need staking.

• Cool Season Annuals - Winter can be colorful!
• Cyclamen for red, white, pink and lavender.
• Iceland Poppies for the oranges and yellows.
• Pansies & Primroses for every color imaginable.
• Ornamental Cabbage and Kale for texture and color.
• Paludosum Daisies for masses of white.
  
  
• Planting bulbs – November is the perfect time to plant spring blooming bulbs. Tulips, daffodils, iris, muscari, hyacinth, crocus, ixia, anemones…the list goes on! We still have a great selection. Most bulbs are labeled with early, mid, or late bloom times. Plant multiple bloom times for prolonged blooms.
   
  • Pruning perennials – Now is the time to prune summer flowering perennials like butterfly bush, salvia, and lavender, just to name a few. Not sure what needs to be pruned? Call us, we always have a nursery pro here who can give you advice.
   
  • Fertilize your lawn – Use our Master Nursery Fall & Winter Lawn Food to green up your lawn by Thanksgiving. The earlier in the month the better!
   
  • Plant onions and garlic – Onion sets (bulbs) and garlic starts are in stock, and November is the perfect time to plant them. Bare root onion bundles will arrive around mid-November.
  
  • Japanese maples, conifers and rhododendrons have arrived from Oregon and Washington. The best selection is now and we have pictures of most varieties so you can easily choose, even “out of leaf and bloom.”
  
  • There’s still time to plant vegetables – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, chard, lettuces, carrots, beets, celery, cauliflower, parsley, chives, spinach and more!