Friendly Creepy Crawlers!

Last night we hosted a bunch of creepy crawlers in the greenhouse! No I'm not talking about my brother's friends, well a few were, but beneficial insects for healthy plants. You may be saying, "I thought all insects were bad!", but it's not true. These insects help control the undesirables that prey on your beautiful begonias and perky petunias.

Here's the whole story. Back in the '70's, a group of scientists discovered that you could use harmless insects to erradicate the harmful ones. By doing a controlled release of these beneficials, you can break the life cycle of harmful insects. The reasoning behind this idea was to find an alternative to harmful pesticides. Let Mother Nature do the dirty work instead!

The Commercial Flower Growers of Wisconsin held their spring meeting in our greenhouse and learned from the pros how the program works. Sixty people took the info back to their growing operations and will look at ways to implement it on their crops. Less insecticides= Green living!

So the next time you see that spider spinning her web, just think, she's a beneficial, and don't reach for the RAID!

Marty Loppnow

Vice re

On St. Patrick's Day, isn't it nice to see some green flowers, like the beautiful orchids in this bridal bouquet? It also contains heather, ivy and miniature pink roses. Green flowers are so popular now! Have a great St. Patty's Day!

Spring has Arrived!

The temps are moving in a positive direction and that can only mean one thing. Spring is finally here! One sure sign of spring here at Waukesha Floral is the arrival of the first tiny seedlings that will become your beautiful gardens this year. Tom and crew are furiously planting all the latest Proven Winner annuals and hanging baskets. All winter Tom studies the latest and greatest that are tested for our Wisconsin summers. One key tip that he gave me was to Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize! Our summers in this zone are kind of short and therefore you need to feed to get the best results. A low dose of fertilizer can be added each time you water and will give you spectacular results. Being that these plants have a short life span in the yard, May-September, the added fertilizer will only make them produce faster. Tom suggests using a fertilizer with a high middle number to promote flowers and fruit, such as a 5-10-5, or maybe 10-20-10. The middle number stands for phosphorus for fruit and flower. The first number is nitrogen for healthy leaves and lots of green growth, and the third number is for potassium. It is used by the plant to promote rooting. All three together balance each other to give the plant the best of all worlds.
So stop by and stick your head into the back greenhouse and enjoy your first smell of fresh soil and growing things! Until next time, enjoy the temps!
Marty Loppnow
Waukesha Floral & Greenhouse
Planteriors of Wisconsin
319 S. Prairie Avenue
Waukesha, Wi 53186
262-542-8152
262-542-6035 fax
800-825-8152
www.waukeshafloral.com

Garden Layout for Spring Planting

Welcome to our blog. We are busy getting our production greenhouse filled with the plant plugs that will grow into stunning annuals and perennials.

This is the time of year to start planning your garden layout. Be sure to plan for enough space between the plants so they will have room to grow. This well configured layout will not only benefit your plant growth but it will help to make your purchasing more efficient!

Spring is just around the corner (hard to believe for us northerners)!