Mother's Day is this Sunday!

A very special day for all moms. It's also a very important time of year for gardeners. As we've mentioned before, our average last frost date, and frost free growing season, usually happens right around May 15th, which conveniently lines up with Mother's Day almost every year. And we've been keeping a very close eye on the weather, so we'd like to officially declare the "all clear" to plant all of your favorite summer annuals, veggies, herbs and tropicals at this time. 

And we have everything you could possibly be looking for in stock in our nursery right now, whether it's for Mom or you. In fact, Mother's Day weekend through Memorial Day weekend usually offers your best planting window for warm weather loving plants, and you'll definitely find the best selection of beautiful plants this weekend here at The Gardener's Center. 

Our USDA Certified Organic veggies and herbs have arrived just in time for safe planting, and our nursery is packed full of gorgeous flowering shrubs, roses, tropical plants, hanging baskets and of course, colorful summer annuals. 

As excited as we are to declare "it's time to plant" officially, the growing season can also bring some not so exciting elements to our landscapes and gardens. And in this case that "element" is an insect that causes all sorts of problems for us and our plants right around this time of year.

So if you like to stay out in front, and get ahead of problems in the garden before they get out of hand...you'll want to keep reading.

Sawfly Larvae Pest Alert!!!

As you can probably imagine, during the growing season we see many gardeners here at the store with questions about plants. What's wrong with my plant is probably the most common. After all, many things could go wrong with a plant, whether it's inside or out. 

But at this time of year, or more specifically the time of year that's just around the corner, we get inundated with gardeners with the same problem. Sawfly larvae. These things are as predictable as the 4th of July. And if you've had trouble with them in the past, you'll want to take care of them before they do their damage. 

Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars. But we're not referring to them as such because technically, caterpillars are the juvenile forms or butterflies and moths. Sawfly larvae are actually baby wasps, and there are many different species in our area that target specific types of plants.

In our area they usually cause the most damage to roses, fruit trees, fruiting bushes like raspberries and blackberries and conifers, specifically Mugo pines. And they cause a lot of damage really quickly. Like your roses were there on Monday but gone on Tuesday quickly.

These destructive pests are most active in our area between mid May and early June. So get ready. If you came in to see us last year regarding your disappearing roses and the diagnosis was sawfly, you'll want to be prepared to battle them BEFORE they do their damage. 

Our go to remedy for these "false caterpillars" with an insatiable appetite is Bonide Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew. This is an organic product that will not harm people, pets, the environment or beneficial insects but is bad news for sawfly. So if you're ready to fight the sawfly battle, stop by and get your Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew before it's too late!