We hope that you
had a very Happy and safe Holiday Season and that 2012 will be filled with good health, happiness, hummingbirds and flowers. Please look for a rundown on our 2011 Hummingbird Garden Tour and more detailed gardening and feeder information in a few weeks. This brief newsletter is focused on the most urgent and time sensitive material.
It's so hard to believe that spring is just around the corner and the Wisconsin Public Television
Dane County Garden Expo is this coming weekend, February 10-12, 2012 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Once again, we are honored to be presenting our "Gardening for
Hummingbirds" program on Saturday and Sunday. While the structure of our program
is similar to prior years, we have added some new material and always try and keep the program fresh. We hope that you'll come out of hibernation to join us (Sunday's program is much less crowded and frenetic.) There are many other fine programs to enjoy and learn from and an exciting exhibition hall of gardening sights and delights. Here are the internet links to more information about the Expo:
http://www.wigardenexpo.com/
http://www.wigardenexpo.com/saturday/ --- Saturday Programs, ours is at 12 noon
http://www.wigardenexpo.com/sunday/ --- Sunday Programs, ours is 11 a.m.
Mail Order Nursery News
Bustani Plant Farm in Oklahoma is unfortunately no longer providing mail order service. We will miss their big, beautiful plants and superb customer service. Other mail order nurseries that offer similar plants are Sweet Nectar Nursery (www.sweetnectarnursery.com)
in Washington State and Almost Eden Plants (www.almostedenplants.com) in Louisiana.
Avant Gardens (www.avantgardensne.com) in Massachusetts also offers many wonderful salvias and Cuphea 'David Verity'---all nurseries have passed the test of time and come highly
recommended.
Bluestone Perennials is offering a 15% off discount for orders placed by midnight on
February 8, 2012. The E-code is E2TRBW457. A particularly exciting new offering is Salvia
guaranitica 'Black and Blue.' Bluestone no longer offers three pacs of plants and all plants (larger size plant than the 3-pac plants) come in plantable coco pots (no plastic pots to throw away
or recycle). Please visit them at www.bluestoneperennials.com or call 1-800-852-5243.
The Crownsville Nursery is offering a 15% discount on all orders placed by February 15, 2012.
The coupon code is CN12. In addition, if you order $250 or more, shipping is free! A few
notable new additions include Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink), Salvia oxyphora, and Salvia 'Big Swing'. They also offer Canna indica plants for sale and have done some wonderful work to educate on-line customers about the best plants to attract hummingbirds. They are well known for their large, beautiful well packed plants and outstanding customer service, as well as an astounding selection of hummingbird salvias. Please visit them at
www.crownsvillenursery.com or call (540) 631-9411.
Native Plants for Hummingbird Gardening
We are currently working on a new presentation about using Upper Midwest native plants for hummingbird gardening. Please tell us about your experiences, positive and negative, with native plants in your hummingbird garden. Which varieties have attracted the most
hummingbirds for you? Over the past twelve years, we have taught people to use a mix of native plants and non-invasive "exotic" plants to attract the greatest number of hummingbirds, but there is a new excitement in the air about offering our hummingbird guests plants they might have found in the wild long before we all inhabited North America. In preparation for this program, we would love to hear from you. Thank you in advance for your help.
See you at the Garden Expo. Spring, gardening, and hummingbirds are all coming!!
Best Wishes,
Kathi and Michael
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