It's Not Too Early for Fall and Winter planting!

It may seem like Summer just got started, but it's time to start thinking about what to plant for your Fall and Winter Garden!! Come into the shop, and 'lettuce' help you choose what will be going in your garden this season!!

Potting Soil SALE!

Blue Ribbon Sale – 25% Savings on Blue Ribbon Potting soil.  Our favorite for containers.  Recipe includes “Coir”, coconut fiber for moisture retention, beneficial mycorrhizae for improved fertilizer uptake and organic fertilizers. Come get your soil today!

Hidden Treasure Tuesdays

Tired of plain solar lights in your garden, or along your walk way? Need some light outdoors, and want something different from your neighbors? Don't want to hassle with putting electric lines out to your flower beds?

Commonwealth Garden Shoppe has you lit! We have solar lights in all shapes and sizes, ready to brighten your yard. They are ready to light your garden the moment you put them in! No electrical needs, and not the same old thing as the guy next door! Come on in, and check them out. Remember to mention Facebook or the blog when you come into the shoppe, and we'll give you 20% off of the purchase on the treasure item of this week!

Hidden Treasure Tuesday

HUGE SALE! 

For the entire month of May, Harvest Supreme & Planting Mix are on sale!
Buy 3 @ $8.99 and get one free
That means you get 4 for the price of !! Harvest Supreme is a vegetable's best friend. 

Remember to mention Facebook or the blog when you come in to purchase, and we'll give you 20% off of the purchase on the treasure item of this week!

More Tomato Tips and Tricks

So you've got your tomatoes planted, and you're waiting for your harvest to come! Did you know, that you can pick your tomatoes at the end of the year, and save them? Pick any of the tomatoes that aren't ripe at the end of fall before frost and rain. Store them in a dry place, and they will ripen! Be sure to leave their tops on, and a stem too, if you can. Tomatoes don't need sun to ripen. They need warmth. Which means you can get them just the way you'd like them, with just a warm, dry place.

In the peak of the season, you might find you have more tomatoes than you can eat fresh! What are some of your favorite ways to eat your extras?
One of our favorite ways is DRIED! This is especially good with cherry tomatoes, but any kind will work. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, and sprinkle them with garlic, salt and basil. Put a little Slap Ya Mama salt on them to spice them up. There are also the traditional ways of preserving, like canning, and making tomato sauces. Another is to PICKLE them!

What's on Your Thankful List?

 Walking through the gates at Commonwealth, it's easy to over look the signs that fall and winter are upon us! There is still color bursting everywhere!! So this Thanks Giving week, we're thankful for the beautiful color that still lives in our garden...

Fall colors and faded leaves are just a beautiful backdrop for the color on the garden shelves!

Ornamental Kale and Petunias!

There are even "everlasting" flowers in the Shoppe! Beautiful Metal Garden art!! Complete with flowers that never stop blooming.

So what's on YOUR Thankful list?

Original Artwork on your Thanksgiving Table

When you imagine your Thanks Giving Table, you might not think of dishes made out of leaves. Commonwealth Garden Shoppe carries local artisan made items that provide you with unique decorating ideas for all seasons. We think the serving dishes made by Jill Waltenspiel using leaves casted cement are one of those things. When you see them, suddenly that dishes out of leaves idea makes sense. Each cement platter is cast and painted by hand, and sealed with food safe sealant to create an absolutely unique and beautiful centerpiece for any dining table.

Dishes range in size from approximately 6" to 12"

Priced from $14.95 to $39.95, these works of art combine functionality with art. All at prices that won't break the bank.

Small Maple Leaf

The set in our shoppe nests to make a collection of artwork.

Fire and Fall

It's always easy to spot Fall at Commonwealth Garden Shoppe because our trees and shrubs make a spectacular show of the season!! Even just driving by, it's not hard to see the trees in their last celebration of the year as they ready for winter, and the change of the season.
Why not stop in, and take a closer look... even in the new, crisp cool air, the rain and clouds, and as the leaves prepare to fall, there is color and beauty. 

Burning Bush $6.99 - $24.99

Japanese Maple 1-5 gallon pots

Clethra, also known as Spice Bush.  Deciduous, with incredibly fragrant flowers in Summer.

Even the grasses don Fall Fire...

Pennisitum Fireworks $10.99

The Dogwood buds wait for Spring, even while their leaves turn.

Dogwood 25% off SALE starting at $73.99

Not to be outdone, the Chrysanthemums sing with fall color too.

Chrysanthemums will continue to bloom into Winter if their dead blooms are picked from plants! This practice is called 'Dead Heading'.

Lorapetalum propagated in Azalea! Evergreen & blooms Spring through Fall.

Come into the shop and look for yourself! Winter is coming... but that doesn't mean that your garden can't continue to be colorful. Bring some fire to your yard!

Edible Winter Gardening?

You BET!!
Did you know that you can have fresh salad even in the winter? Not simply because we live in Oregon, and the climate is mild. The fact is, there are a lot of hardy plants that will survive the winter. Even with a late start, many of the common fall and winter crops can still be started indoors or planted in covered rows.
Crops like Kale!

Lettuce is a superstar cold weather grower, and can be harvested all season by simply picking the outer leaves of a plant, and letting the core keep growing. Mustard Greens are another cold loving plant! Still worried about some plants not withstanding the wet and cold? Get even more out of winter growing by making simple row covers called Row Tunnels. The cousin of the more commonly known Cold Frames, Row Tunnels need less wood working skills to build yourself. By using flexible piping and plastic cover, you can create a low green house over individual rows in your garden.
Remember too, that while the winter may not be warm enough to get vegetables to produce, many cold hardy plant greens are also commonly consumed. Experiment with the variety and ways you harvest what you plant! In many cases, you don't have to wait for a plant to bear a crop. You can eat while it grows! Plant beets and harvest the greens! Experiment with Peas! Their greens are edible and taste delicious in salad. The possibilities are endless! Check out OSU'S tips specific to Winter gardening in Oregon! Keep in mind, that for some crops like Broccoli, it may be too late for a plant to produce a florette, but plant leaves are tasty in a salad too!

For more information and ideas about what you might try planting this Fall, visit the shop and talk with Granny Organic!

Miniature Halloween!!

These little Trick or Treaters are sure to scare up a teeny scream!

Our Miniature collection is growing with the seasons!! Visit the shop and take a peek at the new goodies haunting the shelves!

Every Fairy needs a Jack 'O Lantern on her doorstep!

We've also added inventory for your fairy gardens this winter and fall!

Visit the shop, and create your own fall fairy garden!!

Gifts for the Chef and Connoisseur...

On your next visit to the shoppe, be sure to take a look at Granny Organic's new Wine Barrel display! Full of gifts for hostesses, wine lovers, the inner chef in you or someone you know, the wine barrel is full of whimsical and practical treats!!

A little something for anyone!

There are beautiful measuring tools that some may find just too pretty to use!!

Small spoons with "pinch" and "dash" add a cute touch to practical items

Wine glasses and cheese cutters to help set the stage for one last picnic in the cool Fall air.

Seems the fairies have been planting in the wine glasses...

No matter what your fancy, or who you're buying for, the wine barrel display promises to hold something for that someone. Come take a look!!

Fall Bulbs!!

Often, we all get caught up in planning our gardens in the spring and summer. We forget that FALL is a season for planting as well!! Fall is the season for planting bulbs, and Granny Organic has a selection for planting picked out just for you!

The new bulb display at Commonwealth Garden Shoppe

Granny has bulbs from VanBloem Gardens, picked out with ease of planting, and local growing in mind. Prices range from $5.99 to $9.99 for bags, and individual bulbs ranging from $0.50 to $1.10
What to Buy?
Granny recommends the Tete-a-tete Narcissus, for it's Deer, Squirrel and Rabbit resistance, multiple blooms per stem, and for it's ability to naturalize in a garden. Naturalizing means that bulbs adapt to the area they are planted in a way that makes them need little to no help to keep growing and spreading from year to year.

Hyacinth. One of the "UN Tulips" on hand at Commonwealth!

Also in the selection, are the Beautiful Blends bulbs!! The "Un Tulips" of the bulb family. All the ease of bulbs, and new variety in your flowerbeds. 

the sunny Mote Carlo pictured above

Another favorite is the Tulip Monte Carlo. This tulip shares many of the hardy charictaristics of the Tete-a-tete. It is fragrant, and with it's double petals, reminds many of a Peony.

Tips for planting:

• Plant NOW through November for our planting Zone.
• Visit Dig Drop Done for information about planting and bulbs! It really IS as easy as it sounds!
• Visit with Granny Organic and learn more about Commonwealth's fool proof bulb selection selected specifically for gardens in the Southern Douglas County area.