The Bruce Company Blog

As winter recedes, each sign of spring seems more symbolic than the last. And the season’s teasing tone always makes us a little crazy. We’re longing for thunderstorms instead of snow showers.

A beautiful vase of flowers is a perfect remedy for chasing away the late winter blues. Traditional forcing bulbs, like amaryllis, paperwhites, and hyacinth may still be going strong, but they won’t last much longer.

Talk to any gardener about growing fruits and vegetables and you just might trigger a discussion on the merits of heirlooms versus hybrids. Many of us agree that heirloom varieties have been around for a while.

We know that you’re itching to get into the garden, but the incoming sub-zero temperatures are signaling that it may be a while before you begin planting anything in the garden. Never fear though. Spring always arrives. Eventually.

Late winter is the best time of year to prune your deciduous trees and shrubs. We hope that one of these upcoming weekends will bring weather that is better for some outdoor gardening activities.

It’s Valentine’s Day! Have you wondered why red roses are the go-to flower for Valentine’s Day giving? Or why white calla lilies are in so many traditional bridal bouquets? The answers to these questions lie in the language of flowers, subtle meanings given to flowers in order to evoke an emotional response.

If you’ve already started some plants from seed, those baby seedlings may be growing like Jack’s beanstalks. Be sure that you check them every day and observe their progress.

But if you’re itching to do some more active gardening this time of year, early February is an excellent time to do a bit of pruning. Let’s consider fruit trees. Specimens that are old enough to bear fruit require several things for good production.

The Garden Center is fully stocked with garden seeds for 2019. It’s time to start seeds for annuals and vegetables that require a long germination period. This group includes leeks, petunias, and lisianthus.