Gardenhood

*** COLD SNAP ALERT *** Our first real taste of winter is on its way Mon night thru Thurs morning. Weekend prep list: Bring in any houseplants that have been enjoying the warm weather outside. Drain hoses and leave uninsulated spigots dripping overnight. Plant those things you've had sitting in your carport! The ground temperature is still mild, and plants will be much better insulated against the cold if their roots are in the ground rather than in their plastic nu...rsery pots. Put away the frost cloth! Now is when you WANT your hardy outdoor plants to get exposed to the cold so they'll know it's time to enter their winter dormancy period. Save the frost cloth for that late winter cold snap that might damage the flower buds of early bloomers. Put away the pruners . . . For now. In our fickle climate, pruning is best done after we've had a couple good cold snaps to ensure that plants are fully dormant before you commence pruning. Put a pot of chili on the stove, your fluffiest slippers on your feet, and a mug of hot chocolate in your hand, and take a few days during this first cold snap to relax and enjoy the garden from your window. ~Kacey See more

A whole new batch of plants just arrived! ~Kacey Pictured 1-5: 1. The deep maroon stems of Hydrangea macrophylla 'Zebra'. 2. Flower buds on Camellia sasanqua 'Kanjiro'. 3. Delicate new growth on Viburnum 'Moonlit Lace'.... 4. The silvery underside of the foliage of the elegant Chinese dogwood (Cornus angustata 'Empress of China'). 5. Rich red new growth on witchhazel (Hamamelis 'Jelena'). See more

Chocolate? Yes, please! This one comes in the form of a lovely dark-leafed snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate'). Clusters of delicate white baby's-breath-like flowers are held on dark purple stems above the deep chocolatey colored foliage. Grows 3'-5- tall with an upright, mounded habit. Great in morning sun and afternoon shade or high filtered light all day. Native to woodlands in the eastern US. This cultivar was introduced by our botanical friends at the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware. Treat yourself! ~Kacey

Know what LOVES all this rain? Blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica). Native to the eastern US, this hardy perennial thrives in boggy, damp soil along shady creeks, lakes, and low meadows. If all this rain has blessed you with an unexpected water feature in your garden, this could be the plant for you! Has a slightly rambling, upright clumping habit. Grows 2'-3' tall x 1'-2' wide. Forms nice colonies that help mitigate erosion on wet slopes. Can handle morning sun but needs shade in the afternoon. Displays lovely blue flowers in late summer through fall attract butterflies and pollinators. Species name "siphilitica" is a nod to its historical use as a treatment for venereal disease. This plant does it all! ~Kacey

Seven-Sons Tree (Heptacodium miconioides) is an amazing late-summer treasure. In late August the delicate flowers open white and bloom for about 6 weeks, providing important nectar for migrating butterflies and hummingbirds. But, wait, there's more! After the flowers drop, the calyxes (the fleshy stem-like parts that hold the flowers and connect them to the plant) put on a spectacular show of their own turning brilliant carmine red. The pics here are from the seven-sons tree in the display bed in our parking lot, so keep an eye on it over the next few months to see the transformation. Want one for your own garden? We sell a dwarf variety (grows 6'-10' tall) called 'Temple of Bloom'. It's available now! ~Kacey

The berries are starting, the berries are starting!!! (American Beautyberry/Callicarpa americana) ~Kacey

Can we all take a moment to appreciate the beauty and unassuming grit of this garden powerhouse? Snowball viburnum (Viburnum macrocephalum) puts on its biggest show in the early spring (that's what you think is a hydrangea blooming in March). But despite our sometimes miserable summers, it always keeps enough gas in the tank to offer a smaller bloom cycle in early fall. Give it full to part sun and plenty of space to spread out and be fabulous. Because every garden deserves at least one amazing yet un-fussy specimen. ~Kacey

I'm a blooming onion! No, not *that* blooming onion - the long-flowering, clump-forming, extremely low-maintenance perennial kind. Bees love me, I play well with other plants (I don't reseed and become a pest), and I'm really easy-going. Full to part sun and well-drained soil are all I need to knock your socks off year after year. Take me to your garden. You won't be disappointed. You can ask for me by name here at G*H: Allium 'Serendipity'. ~Kacey

What better way to break our social media fast than with a bee bum! And it's the perfect opportunity to remind all you citizen scientists out there to participate in the Great Georgia Pollinator Census on 8/21 & 8/22. Sign up at ggapc.org. And if your garden is short on pollinator-attractors, go to our website right now and get yourself an appt to come shop for some! (The plant pictured here is Veronica 'Purpleicious'.) POLLINATE ALL THE THINGS! ~Kacey

Mothers, we are so thankful for you. And kids, if you haven't found the perfect gift yet, we have a limited number of planted containers in lots of different styles for every type of mom. We can't allow anyone into the nursery other than those who have appointments, BUT we will have a table set up in the parking lot for grab-and-go Mother's Day purchases: planted containers, gift certificates, and G*H merch. First come, first served, and once they're gone, they're gone. We open at 10am. Street parking is the best option for grab-and-go gift buying; kindly reserve parking lot spots for those who have appointments. Wear a mask! ~Kacey

There's a nifty form on our website that you can fill out in order to set up your curbside pickup request. Please use that form instead of sending messages through our "Contact Us" form. The curbside order forms are being monitored 8 hrs a day by our staff, whereas the Contact Us form only gets attention once a day at most. Help us help you to make this curbside venture a success! www.gardenhoodatlanta.com Gardeners, start your engines! ~Kacey

Annnnnnnd, we're back! We appreciate all the kind words of support we've received over the past week. While we were closed we restocked, did some housekeeping chores (HELLO, WEEDS!), and brainstormed what we hope will be two fun new ways to shop safely while social distancing. Option 1: Submit an online request for plants you're interested in, and a Garden*Hoodie will contact you to discuss the details and let you know what we have in stock that fits your needs. We will then... give you a pick-up time and an assigned parking space and will bring your plants to you and either load the car for you while you maintain a 6-ft distance or we'll sterilize the handle of the cart and leave it for you to load without ever having to come face-to-face with us. Option 2: Buy a Garden*Booster package and get an appointment to come into the nursery to shop alone or with no more than four other people. We have a system in place to ring you up in a way that doesn't even involve standing at the checkout counter! The Garden*Booster is kinda like setting up an account. It allows you to "opt in" at any level you'd like and then set up shopping appointments at any time in the future. This isn't a gift certificate, so there is no expiration date. And you don't need to use the entire balance in one visit. You can keep coming back until your credits are used up. More details are available at our website: www.gardenhoodatlanta.com Love and health to all you gardeners out there! ~Kacey

A tiny moment of botanical zen. ~Kacey

As you well know, gardeners are some of the most relentlessly optimistic people on the planet. We've been through droughts, floods, hail, snow, ice, late frosts, early frosts, pest infestations, and tornadoes (sometimes all within the same week). And if there's one thing all gardners know, it's that we can never know everything and just when we think we have things figured out, everything changes. So keep the faith in each other, be patient with yourself and your garden, and remember to be grateful for the small moments of joy and wonder in every single day. ~Kacey

*SHOPPING BY APPT ONLY* We're going to try this strategy for bit to see how it goes. Starting Tues, March 24 we'll be closed to the general public but will be accepting guests on an appointment-based system. This allows us to limit the number of folks in the nursery to a maximum of ten at a time. Visit www.gardenhoodatlanta.com to book your time slot! P.S.: Halley and I just ordered a TON of new plants, so don't leave us sitting here admiring them all by ourselves! ~Kacey