Canada Red Select Cherry
Cottonwood, Siouxland Poplar
Crabapple Cardinal
Crabapple Pink Spires
Crabapple Purple Prince
Crabapple Spring Snow
Crabapple Tina
Elm American, Princeton
Hackberry, Common
Hawthorn Thornless Cockspur
Honey Locust Skyline
Hydrangea Quickfire, Tree form
Hydrangea Phantom, Tree form
Ironwood, Ostrya Virginiana
Japanese Maple Bloodgood
Japanese Maple Crimson Queen
Kousa Dogwood Celestial
Kousa Dogwood Scarlet Fire
Lilac, Japanese Tree  Ivory Silk
Magnolia Ann
Magnolia Elizabeth
Maple Autumn Blaze
Maple Red Sunset
Oak Bur
Redbud, Eastern Clump & Single trunk
Redbud Ruby Falls
Rose of Sharon, White Chiffon Tree Form
Serviceberry Autumn Brilliance Tree Form
Serviceberry Clump Form
Willow Corkscrew
Willow Wisconsin Weeping Willow
Wisteria Chinese Tree form 

Arborvitae Nigra
Arborvitae Emeralk Green
Arborvite Green Giant
Pine White 
Spruce Black Hills
​Spruce Norway

Anemone canadensis Rue Anemone
Arisaeum triphyllum Jack in the Pulpit
Asarum canadense Wild Ginger
Asclepias incarnata Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca Common Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa Butterflyweed
Asclepias tuberosa Hello Yellow
Baptisia Alba var. macrophylla  White or Cream Indigo (very limited)
Dalea candida White Prairie Clover
Echinacea pallida Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea Purple Coneflower
Eryngium yuccifolium Rattlesnake Master
Filipendula rubra  Queen of the Prairie
Hepatica nobilis Sharp-lobed hepatica
Liatris aspera Rough Blazing Star
Lilium Michiganense Michigan Lily
Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower
Monarda fistulosa Wild Bergamot
Oenothera macrocarpa Missouri Evening Primrose
​Parthenium integrifolium Wild Quinine 
Penstemon digitalis Wild Beardstongue
Polyganatum biflorum Solomon's Seal
Pycnanthemum virginianum Common Mountain Mint
Sedum ternatum Wild stonecrop
Silphium lanciniatum Compass Plant
Silphium perfoliatum Cup Plant
Silpheum terebinthinaceum Prairie Dock
Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' Goldenrod
Veronia fasciculata Common Ironweed
Veronicastrum virginicum Culver's Root

Tomatoes:
Abe Lincoln
Amish Paste
Anna Russian
Arkansas Traveler
Beefmaster
Beefsteak
Berkeley Tie Dye Pink
Best Boy
Better Boy
Big Beef
Big Boy
Black Krim
Bloody Butcher
Box Car Willie
Brandywine 
Brandywine Yellow
Burbank Slicing
Campbell's 33 
Caspian Pink
Celebrity
Cherokee Purple
Cherry Cascade
Chocolate Cherry
Cupid
Early Girl Bush
Fantastic
4th of July
German Johnson 
German Red Strawberry
Giant Belgium
Glacier
​Golden Jubilee
​Green Zebra
Husky Red Cherry Dwarf
Italian Ice
Jelly Bean Red
Jelly Bean Yellow
Juliet
Kellogg's  Breakfast
​Lemon Boy
Marglobe Improved
Matt's Wild Cherry
Mortgage Lifter
Mountain Fresh
Mr. Stripey
Old German
Old Timey Yellow
Park's Whopper
Paste Monster
Patio
Persimmon
Pineapple
Principe Borghese
Rapunzel
Roma
Rutgers
San Marzano
Saucy Lady
St. Pierre
Sungold
Sunsugar
Supersonic
Supersweet 100
Sweet Chelsea
Sweet Million
Tomatoberry
Tumbler
Yellow Pear
Peppers:
Alma Paprika
Anaheim Chili
Ancho Gigantia
Apocalypse Scorpion
Baron
Big Bertha
Biker Billy
Black Pearl Ornamental
California Wonder
Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry
Candy Cane Red
Carolina Reaper
Cayenne Long Red
Cubanelle
Datil
Early Jalapeno
Fish
Fooled You
Garden Salsa
Ghost/Wicked Ghost
Golden Calwonder
Gypsy 
Habanero
Hot Banana Inferno
Hungarian Hot Wax
Marconi, Giant
Medusa Ornamental
Melrose
Mini Red Bell
Mini Yellow Bell
Numex Ornamental
Orange Blaze Bell
Peperoncino Golden Greek
Picnic Orange
Picnic Red
Picnic Yellow
Pimiento
Poblano Ancho
Purple Beauty
Purple Flash
Scotch Bonnet
Serrano Chili
Shishito
Spanish Spice
Super Chili
Sweet Banana
Tabasco
Tangerine Dream
Time Bomb
Tricked You

Other:

Broccoli Fiesta
Brussels Sprouts Jade Cross
Chinese Cabbage Pac Choi
​Cabbage Golden Acre
Cabbage Red Dragon
Cabbage Late Flat Dutch
Cabbage Ruby Perfection
Cantaloupe Halona
Cauliflower Snow Crown
Cucumber Bush Pickle
Cucumber Diva
​Cucumber Eureka
Cucumber Fanfare
Cucumber Homemade Pickles
Cucumber Marketmore
Cucumber Patio Snacker
Cucumber Pick-a-bushel
Cucumber Spacemaster
Cucumber Straight Eight
Eggplant Black Beauty
Eggplant Dusky
Eggplant Fairy Tale
Eggplant Gretel
Eggplant Hansel
Green Bean Bush & Pole Blue Lake
Kale,Green Curls, Purple Moon, Wild Garden Frills 
Kohlrabi Early Purple Delicacy
Kohlrabi Early White Delicacy
Kohlrabi Kohlibri
Kohlrabi Superschmelz
Lettuce Flashy Trout Back
Lettuce Landis
Lettuce Sweet Green & Reds
Lettuce Merlot
Lettuce Romaine Sweetie
Okra Clemson Spineless
Spinach-Catalina
Squash Black Beauty
Squash Table Ace
Squash Waltham Butternut
Squash Yellow Fin
Squash Zucchini Black Beauty
Tomatillos Super Verde 
​Watermelon Sugar Baby
**And we will have locally-grown sweet potato slips!

Vegetables are mostly sold as single plants in a 3.5" pot -$3
'Gallon-size' Tomato Plants-$7.50
Lg. 6-packs kohlrabi, lettuce, kale, spinach -$7.25

Additionally, we will have:
Apple trees: Fireside, Fuji, Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, McIntosh, Yellow Delicious
Blackberry Baby Cakes
Blueberry Peach Sorbet, Perpetua, Silver Dollar
Cherry Tree-Montmorency, Lapins
Chicago Hardy Fig
Grape, Concord Seedless
Grape, Himrod White
Peach Tree, Red Haven
Pear Tree, Bartlett, D'Anjou
Plum Tree, Santa Rose
Plum Tree, Stanley
Raspberry, Red Heritage
Raspberry Shortcake
Rhubarb Chipman's Red 
Strawberry Allstar
Strawberry Eversweet
Strawberry Ozark Beauty

Aloe Vera (not ready yet 4/23/23)
Bay Laurel
Basil Boxwood
Basil Cinnamon
Basil Genovese
Basil Lemon
Basil Nufar (Sweet Italian)
Basil Prospera
Basil Red Velvet
Basil Spicy Globe
Basil Thai 
Basil Zanzico
Borage (not ready yet 4/23/23)
Chamomile
Chives
Cilantro
Cilantro Slo-Bolt
Dill Dukat
Dill Fernleaf
Fennel Bronze
Fennel Florence Finale
Garlic Chives
Geraniums Scented
Lavender White
Lavender Lady
Lavender Goodwin Creek With Love
Lavender Hidcote Blue
Lavender Munstead 
Lavender Phenomenal
Lavender Spanish
Lemongrass
Lemon verbena
​Lovage
Marjoram
Mint Apple
Mint Chocolate
Mint Mojito Cocktail
Mint Orange
Mint Peppermint
Mint Spearmint 
Oregano Cuban
Oregano Dittany of Crete
Oregano Greek
Oregano Kent's Beauty
Parsley Curly
Parsley Plain Flat Italian
Patchouli
Rosemary
Rosemary BBQ
Rosemary Trailing
Sage Berggarten 
Sage Golden
Sage Pineapple
Sage Purple
Sage Tricolor
Savory Summer
Stevia
Tarragon French
Thyme, Cookin' Time
Thyme Elfin
Thyme English
Thyme Highland Cream
Thyme Lemon
Thyme Oregano Pizza
Thyme Red Creeping

​Most herbs, with the exception of bay laurel are $4.25.

Achillea (Yarrow)
Little Moonshine
Saucy Red
Strawberry Seduction

Allium
Medusa
Millenium
Serendipity

Baptisia
American Goldfinch
Grape Taffy
Pugster Amethyst
Pugster Blue
Pugster Periwinkle
Pugster Pink
Pugster White
Sparkling Sapphire

Brunnera (Siberian Forget-Me-Nots): $10.50/gallon pot
Alexander's Great
Brunnera macrophylla
Jack Frost
Jack of Diamonds PW
Queen of Hearts PW
Sea Heart
Silver Heart
Variegata

Buddleia
Black Knight
Grand Cascade

Coreopsis
DayBreak
Early Sunshine
Hot Paprika
Red Elf
Star Light
Star Struck
Super Star
Zagreb

Delphinium
Guardian Blue
Guardian Lavender
Rose White Bee

Dianthus
Georgia Peach
Pierrot 
Neon Star

Echinacea (Coneflowers)
Canary Feathers
Cantaloupe
Cheyenne Spirit
Delicious Candy
Double Scoop Cranberry
Double Scoop Orangeberry
Green Jewel
Green Twister
Rainbow Marcell
Sombrero Adobe Orange 
Sombrero Baja Burgundy
Sombrero Lemon Yellow
Sombrero Salsa Red
Sombrero Sandy Yellow
Sombrero Sangrito


Grasses


Heucheras (Coral Bells): $10.50/gallon pot
Appletini PW
Black Out
Black Pearl  PW
Flores Sea
Grape Expectations
Magma
Mega Caramel
Midnight Rose
Northern Exposure Lime
Northern Exposure Purple
Obsidian
Plum Cascade
Pretty Pistachio  PW
Red Sea
Snow Angel
Timeless Berry
Timeless Glow
Timeless Grape
Twist of Lime

Hemerocallis
Double Pardon Me
Ruby Spider
Spoonful of Sugar

Heucherellas (Foamy Bells):  $10.50/gallon pot
Catching Fire
Champagne -still quite small at this point
Gold Zebra
Pumpkin Spice
Sweet Tea

Hibiscus
Ballet Slippers
Cranberry Crush
Dark Dynasty

Hosta:  gallon size
Angel Falls 
Beyond Glory
Blue Angel
Blue Mouse Ears
Brother Stephan
Captain Kirk
​Coast to Coast $11.50
Cool as a Cucumber
Curly Fries 
Dancing Queen
Diamond Lake PW 
Empress Wu $11.50
First Frost
Fragrant Dream
Frances Williams
Ginko Craig
Glad Rags $12.50
Gold Standard
Great Expectations $9.50
Guacamole $8.50
Guardian Angel $12.50
Hadspen Blue
Halcyon $8.50
Happy Days
Humpback Whale
June $9.50
Lakeside Paisley Print $12.50
Mighty Mouse
Munchkin Fire
Neptune
One Last Dance
Pandora's Box
Pilgim
Prairie Sky
Praying Hands $11.50
Pure Heart
Red Cloud
School Mouse
Stained Glass $10.50
Sum and Substance $11.50
Wheee! PW $12.50
Whirwind $8.50
Wrinkle in Time
Wu-La-La PW $11.50
Yankee Blue

Lavender
Lady
Phenomenal
Sweet Romance

Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy
Banana Creme
Daisy May
Real Chermer
Real Sunshine
White Magic

Lillium  (Lilies)
Black Eye
Carbonero
Casablanca
Gizmo
Isabella
Honey Moon
Kaveri
Landini
Matrix
Speedy
Sugar Lily
Tiny Diamond
Tiny Ipic
Tiny Shadow
Monarda
Balmy Purple
Balmy Rose
Cherry Pops
Grande Parade
Jacob Cline

Penstemon
Burgundy
Cherry Sparks
Elfin Pink
Midnight Masquerade
Onyx Pearl

Phlox, Upright
CandyCane
Fashionably Early Princess 
Flame Blue
Flame Pro Baby Doll
Flame White
Goliath
Hercules
Lavender Ice

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)
Little Gold Star
Viette's Little Suzy
Salvia
April Night
Blue Marvel
Evening Attire
Pretty in Pink
Rose Marvel
Violet Riot
White Profusion

Sedum
Blue Elf
Boogie Woogie
​Dragon's Blood
Dream Catcher
Lime Twister
Lime Zinger
Little Miss Sunshine
Night Embers
Powder Puff
Pride and Joy
Yellow Brick Road

Stokesia
Blue Frills
Peachie's Pick

Veronica  (Speedwell)
First Glory
First Love
Moody Blue

​

Dynamo Hot Pink 
Dynamo Violet
Dynamo White
Fantasia Appleblossom
Fantasia Cardinal Red
Fantasia Cranberry Sizzle
Fantasia Strawberry Sizzle
Moonlight Dark Red
Moonlight Pink Light Eye
Moonlight Light Salmon
Wilhelm Langguth


We also have a mix of scented geraniums, includingAtomic Snowflake, Attar of Rose, Citronell, Lady Plymouth,    Strawberry,& Sweet Mimosa.
Our geraniums are in a deep 4.5" pot and are $4.75.

As we leave our son's home on Silver Dollar Pond, southeast of Melrose, Florida, it is in the low 80s, the sky is blue and flecked with fair weather cumulus clouds.  A breeze brings refreshment especially in shade as it jostles the long leaf pines freeing streams of pollen that float and swirl before noticeably dusting many surfaces; the roof, the deck, the minivan's sloping windshield, even dark leaves of ornamental plants.  Over the past twelve days we have watched spring transform Northern Florida, bringing fresh green to many ground covers, plants, shrubs and trees along with colorful buds and blooms.

With days in the low 80s and the night lows inching into the mid 60s, the sound of frogs has begun to fill the evenings and the first halves of the nights.  The combination of frog utterances is musical.  It will continue to grow through mid-summer and more insects will join in as spring unfolds.  These music-makers seem to embrace the natural darkness with its dearth of man made light.  And the night sky is truly stunning in this rural less-developed area--the star show is amazing--the darkness is as intense as in the large wilderness swaths out west.

The spring here seems especially welcome this year.  Not that many weeks ago the area experienced repeated nights well below freezing and even a bit of snow fell about 30 miles to the north.  But somehow preparations for spring hardly missed a beat over on the Brown's Farm only about 15 minutes away.  They managed to get all the cool season vegetables planted and keep the strawberries on target for early yields.  The result has been a bounty of leaf lettuces, cauliflowers, broccoli, kale, bok choi and berries.  Oh if only our ornamental plant production didn't make it so hard to grow early season produce.  Alas, we enjoyed the feast.

As we leave, the open live oak/long leaf pine and wire grass forest is resonating with the calls of a pair of sandhill cranes.  Whether these birds are permanent area dwellers or migrants like us anticipating the trip north we can't say.  But as we leave this unlikely paradise we hope to soon hear migrating flocks of sandhill cranes with their distinctive cries high above the Farm winging their way further north.

Our journey homeward begins in earnest after a late morning lunch at a cute rather more urban-influenced cafe in pretty traditional rural Florida county seat.  We drive north through a lovely warm day.  Several hours after the onset of darkness it grows cooler and rain begins south of Nashville, Tennessee.  The showers continue as temperatures hover around 40 degrees for the rest of the night.  We rest in Paducah, Kentucky, where the Ohio River is in flood and expected to rise higher.  

Morning dawns gray and the trip up our tall state continues with spotty showers and temperatures around 40 degrees.  By mid-afternoon we arrive at the Farm and unload plants from a Florida grower and some items we found on the trip to enhance our displays.  The Farm's parking lot is soft and damp, though all of the snow is gone.  It's not very pretty but there is a sense of fading winter and nascent spring is in the air.  It feels like planting time.  And I guess that means it's time to get back to work.  I think I am ready.     

1 1/2 c flour
1 t. baking powder
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 jar apricot preserves of apricot filling

Mix flour, baking powder, brown sugar & rolled oats well.  Cut in butter as for pie crust.  Measure 1 cup of this mixture & set aside.  Press remaining mixture into an 11 x 7 pan. Spread with apricot filling.  Sprinkle with reserved mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. 

,​            In a recent Wall Street Journal article I read that last summer the Chicago Cubs manager Joe Madden met Clemson University’s football coach in the Cub’s clubhouse at Wrigley Field during a rain delay.  Interestingly, both Madden and Clemson’s Coach Dabo Swinney are champs now; the Cubs having won a classic World Series last Fall and Clemson having just beaten favored Alabama in the last seconds of the NCAA Football Championship.
            When they met Madden was wearing a tee-shirt with the words, “Try Not to Suck,” a simple statement that might go a long way to explaining these men's philosophies to playing the game and their winning ways.  Apparently both men bring a much less authoritarian control freak style to their teams than is traditional in their sports and both emphasize having fun and avoiding mistakes where in essence the players lose games to themselves.
            Of course all of this is quite simplistic—but “try not to suck” doesn’t seem like a bad philosophy to me.  Initially it seems like common sense and not all that difficult.  And that is what makes it attractive and worth trying.  Then you realize that trying not to suck is a commitment and an attitude and it takes concentration and self-discipline.  As you try to master trying not to suck, you realize the importance of preparation and developing procedures or processes for all phases of your sport, other pursuit, or life in general.  And once you have figured out what you need to do in a situation, you have to follow that process.
            Anyone who has watched much football has definitely seen this scenario:  a receiver is suddenly wide open and the football pass is right on target.  But instead of making a routine catch and then beginning a heroic run to the goal line, the receiver drops the ball as he fails to direct sufficient attention to catching—thinking instead about that great run to come or perhaps an advancing defender.  Maybe if the player was consciously trying not to suck, he would have reminded himself before the start of the play to prioritize his concentration and avoid distraction and so made the catch.
            I can’t say we ever had a clever edgy name for our philosophy of being ready for business at Redbud Creek Farm, but trying not to suck certainly describes what we do, indeed what we have to do, as we deal with so many factors over which we have no control.  Does trying not to suck have relevance for the gardener?  I think so.
            Everyone desires immediate satisfaction from their plantings.  Instead of hoping for miracles and being disappointed, I think folks will be a lot better off celebrating whatever good things are going on with their gardens while practicing basic good techniques of closely matching plants to their needs, providing adequate water and fertilizer, constantly upgrading the soil, and adopting successful weeding strategies.  Trying not to suck does not have to mean that the garden will never be spectacular anymore than that a sports team which practices this philosophy will not perform with aplomb and win.  It should mean that with a bit more concentration and doing things right on a regular basis that we will be in an even better position to achieve success in gardening and indeed all of our endeavors.
            Many years ago I attended a wonderful university with a storied football program full of success.  Sometime after I graduated a legendary successful coach installed a sign, “Play like a Champion Today,” where players would see it just before taking the field.  Traditionally I love that philosophy, play like a champion, but I don’t think my new idea, try not to suck is opposed to it.  To me they are linked; if we work in humility at trying not to suck—we might just get the exultation of playing like champions.  Good luck!    

​            I guess the 2017 season began for Nancy and me today, since this was our first workday of the new year at the Farm.  Actually Nancy consumed most of yesterday checking on orders for annual plant material and herbs to the point of pain.  Not that healthy pain that comes from working in the garden; rather that unpleasant discomfort of an almost locked up upper back and strained neck that comes from too long of a period interacting with a computer.
            Today is not what you would call a nice day—high in the mid teens with increasing west winds, the kind that keep Old Glory flying straight out, and patchy skies that allow some greenhouse heating—just not enough of such natural warming.
            Nancy and Dana work on removing exhibits in the store that were used for Christmas.  Taylor takes down umpteen strings of Christmas lights before starting a project in House 1 to add some exhibit/work space by the flood tables.  I begin the task of starting to make placards for each greenhouse explaining what types of plants are available within.  These signs will be made of wood and painted with special verve by our artist/illustrator, Devona.  Even if you don’t read them, I’m hoping that you will find them cute, attractive and somehow adding to the Farm plant-hunting experience.  And if people do read them, maybe we can share a little more about plant attributes and a little less about where they can be found.  

A typical Devona-created sign...if you use a little imagination, you can channel a bit of warmth & maybe a hint of aromatic smoke from the FFA cooking pork chops at this year's Annual Celebration of Summer, June 17, 2017.