While we do not label our perennials as pollinator friendly, they provide safe sources of food and habitat for bees, butterflies and a variety of other wildlife.  The only reason we don't brag about that on a tag is because tags don't stay put very well here on the prairie.  Wind blows them all over creation, which completely defeats our goal of being an environmentally friendly company.  

The fact is, our perennials have not been treated with any insecticides in years.  I know that, because I am our perennial grower and that has been my role since 2006.  In the past, we have had to drench our flowers with fungicides on occasion.  We are doing everything in our power to avoid doing that too.  As I write this, my crew is washing one gallon pots in a stock tank full of water in our greenhouse.  After all of the pots are washed, they will be treated with a ZeroTol 2.0 solution.  ZeroTol is basically a concentrated version of Hydrogen Peroxide.  This chemical can be very toxic to bees if they come in direct contact with it on blooming plants.  To eliminate that risk, we apply the product to our pots instead.  Treating the pots helps prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi that could require more serious methods of control later.  I have been doing this for a few years now and have been able to greatly reduce the necessity for fungicide treatments.  The process actually takes a few days, but we feel that the benefits outweigh the initial costs.

Our selection of native wildflowers continues to grow.  More and more commercial and municipal projects are utilizing native plants, which is a wonderful thing for pollinators and wildlife.  Many folks are warming up to the idea of less manicured landscapes.  Others are utilizing native plants successfully in more formal designs.  Most native plants produce showy seed heads that contribute winter interest as well as critical sustenance.  They are generally extremely tough and adaptable; requiring far less from their caretakers than trendy cultivars.  Native plants want to be there for the creatures that rely on them readily propagate themselves to achieve that goal.  There are many reasons to plant them and I could go on for a while.  
You will notice that our nursery is not weed free.  While we want to look presentable for our clients, the costs associated with weed control are financially and environmentally high.  Herbicides eliminate pollinator habitat, so we try not to go nuts.  We treat our production areas so that we can keep our plants healthy.  Other areas are hand weeded, weed whipped or left alone.  The guys know that I get a little testy when they pull out milkweed plants, so they usually leave them around until the end of the season.  We use cover crops to fill the spaces between our rows of trees; which helps reduce the need for pesticides and prevents soil erosion.  Our greenhouse floors are covered with ground cloth to keep the weeds at bay.  A combination of control strategies helps us respectfully produce beautiful plants.

Our nursery is home to about a million bunnies, coyotes, deer, rodents and raptors.  While they can produce some unique challenges for us, we enjoy our encounters with them.  Last year, a prairie dog wound up in our shop.  We don't see them very often around here and everyone was pretty intrigued.  Monarch caterpillars were all over our swamp milkweeds last summer.  We also saw plenty on wild plants in the fields.  A bee keeper placed his hives right next to our property and we enjoyed hearing a soothing hum while we went about our daily tasks.  This is what farming is like for us and we love it!  While we are occasionally forced to use insecticides on some of our other crops, we try to avoid doing so whenever possible.  We want our plants to be enjoyed by everyone, including the birds and the bees. 

We have been getting tons of calls from customers, wondering when they can stop by and buy some trees.  As we were reminded yesterday, it is still a bit early in the season to plant.  However, we have been busy at the nursery.  The guys have been spading trees for a couple of weeks now and we have quite a few trees out of the ground.  Crabapples are always first, as we have to get them balled before their buds unfurl.  This year, we were also able to dig some of our Freeman maples and other shade trees early.  Normally, we don't start spading trees until the first or second week in April.

My crew finished planting our first batch of shrubs on Monday.  They are all neatly pruned and potted, waiting for a little warmth to really get them going.  Already, many of the plants have swollen buds and a few even have small leaves.  It is great to be able to go into the greenhouse to warm up.  By the end of next week, plant juices will be flowing and leaves should be growing.  Once that happens, we will be smelling the sugary scent of progress!

We have yet to uncover our over-wintered shrubs and perennials.  Quite a few of the larger nurseries started that process a couple of weeks ago.  However, they ended up having to re-cover more sensitive plants to protect them from our current conditions.  That is a leisure we don't have.  We simply don't have the labor or time to undo and redo.  The wind out here on the range does not help when you are dealing with 60' long sheets of plastic either.  

Every year, I gamble on our safe uncovering date.  Typically, I call a few grower friends to see what they are doing before I get too carried away.  This year, I went with my gut.  For once, it paid off.  I have screwed up plenty of times and no mistakes are small mistakes when you are dealing with thousands of plants.  The earliest we have ever uncovered is the last week of March.  I am waiting to see the long-range forecast to determine if we uncover next week or wait a little longer.  Last year, we had a hard frost after our Spring Tree & Shrub Auction in mid-May.  That little fact is etched in my memory because we lost a lot of apple trees that were just beginning to leaf out when the cold came.  Mother Nature is a moody gal and I have learned to be tuned in to her feelings.  We'll see what type of vibe she is giving off next week...