A message from Ruth...
Our 6th year in business and what a joy to offer unique plants to our Wyoming gardener friends! If you are new to our catalogue, let me take a moment to introduce us. We are a family run business specializing in hardy native and sagebrush steppe adapted plant materials for home landscapes. In the process we want our customers to share in creating outdoor living spaces that reflect our western heritage and values. I’m the owner but really the duties are shared equally with my husband Tom and our plant consultant Mary Sabel and assistants Siri, Jim, Ellen and Ami. We don’t advertise in any conventional way — we believe that if we do our job well you’ll let your family and friends know about us. Its worked for us the past 5 years and each year we have grown in sales and new friendships! If you know of someone who would benefit from our catalogue, let us know and we’ll ship one out to them!
What’s new in ‘08? First we are highlighting windbreak and screening plants! As I pen this note the winter wind is howling and we feel compelled to offer to you beautiful trees, shrubs, and grasses that can handle our Wyoming winds and yet create a sanctuary from its draining effects. Look for the Wind Break in our plant descriptions as your guide. Wyoming is experiencing a housing boom and we have been to numerous new properties where the backyards are open to the whole neighborhood—there is no sense of privacy! Yet there are plants that can quickly give you a visual screen. Look for the Screen in our descriptions! Another plant area we are highlighting are the Penstemons. Native and adapted these perennial flowers are beautiful stalwarts of the western garden—our front page photo demonstrates that with pineneedle penstemon—but there are so many more!
We strive to be an environmentally and socially conscious business. Starting this year, we want to recycle your plastic planting pots! Most of our growers will reuse them and keeping them out of the landfill is the name of the game! So after planting, be sure to bring them back down to our sales lot. As we reflect on our business, its becoming apparent that children are missing out in exploring the natural world, far too often we see our youth engaged in electronics. For all of our customers with children or grandchildren ages 14 and younger, we are donating $7 towards their own garden plants. At time of pick-up bring your kids with you and help them pick their plants!
It may not be new for ‘08 but do take advantage of ordering by March 31st and save 10%. It helps you save and helps us to better manage our inventory. Along those same lines, we are a strong proponent of dormant planting of trees and shrubs—if you want to plant in March and April indicate that on your order. Another service we are offering is gift certificates—what better way to acknowledge another gardener than with a gift certificate for plants! Just give us a call (307.577.0102) and let us know what you want and we’ll do the rest!
Last but not least: We are expanding our website to include even more plant selections than in our print catalogue so be sure to check here for varieties not listed in the catalogue.
As always, if you are unsatisfied with your order at time of delivery, we will refund your payment! Remember May 15 is the cut-off for catalogue orders! Delivery will be made to 350 Kati Lane (directly behind the Holiday Inn on the river in Casper). We’ll notify you when your plants are in.
Nothing is as unpredictable as the weather but year after year as the word drought continues to pop up in forecasts, we believe that sustainable low water usage landscapes should be the new normal. It is after all our passion!
Rain Gauge
Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant death.
These plants are adapted to intermittent deep watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care.
These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these.