Yellow Springs Farm

The soil is still warm from sunny summer days, the air is cooling, and there is rarely a drought – fingers crossed! If my weather prediction is close to right, Fall is the perfect time for new plantings.We are eager to get new shrubs and trees established, but still leave time to plant seeds in the community by reaching out to new gardeners and those who are just discovering native plants. Community connections inspire all our Fall activities.We will welcome guests to our Farm for the September Open House and again for Chester County Day.We have educational events related to native plants and habitat gardening scheduled at the Willistown Friends’ Environmental Stewardship Festival, the Morris Arboretum, and many others. Please see our events calendar at www.yellowspringsfarm.com for details.

Our Fall Open House will be Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10, from 10 am to 4 pm. In addition to hundreds of healthy native plants for sale, and photogenic Nubian goats, we plan four special Open House features:

• Bring a plastic container to fill with compost tea. Learn about this organic elixir for plants, and take home some for your garden.

• Lisa Stapley will share her knowledge about premium bird seed, feeders, and related products. Visit her table to see what surprises she has for kids, too.

• Edie Parnum and Barb Eliot will represent “Backyards for Nature”, a program of Valley Forge Audubon Society. They will offer an educational presentation about attracting birds and butterflies with native plants at 11AM and 12PM on Saturday and at 1PM and 2PM on Sunday.

• On Sunday we will welcome Hardy Plant Society members as special guests for their 2006 garden tour. To learn about HPS, visit www.hardyplant.org

Watch for our November newsletter with reminders on preparing your gardens for winter, and great gift ideas to make holiday shopping for gardeners easy.

Catherine M. Renzi
Yellow Springs Farm
Native Plants Nursery

Yellow Springs Farm Open House & Native Plant Sale
Saturday/Sunday, September 9th/10th,
10am-4pm, Rain or Shine
at Yellow Springs Farm
Lionville Elementary School

Native Plant Sale
Thursday, September 21, 3-7pm
Route 113, Downingtown, PA

Chester County Day
Saturday, October 7th, 10am-4pm
*Tickets must be purchased from the Chester County Day office in advance.
Call 610-431-5301 for more information.

Morris Arboretum Class
Saturday, October 21st, 1-2:30 pm
Presentation given by Catherine Renzi
entitled “Gardens for Life”.

As the days begin to cool, our thoughts might drift to non-garden events, but Asters and Gentians are ready to take the spotlight outdoors. They provide a good show of flowers for September and into October, so this pairing will easily keep your spirits high as fall arrives. Asters are important seed and nectar sources for Butterflies and Birds, while Gentians are a favorite of bees.

Aster cordifolius, Blue Wood Aster
Ht. 2-3 ft, Part shade/Shade, Zones 3-8

The Blue Wood Aster is an easy-to-grow perennial that has a long bloom time in the fall. It is an important nectar plant as well as a larval food source for butterflies. It is a good choice under trees, at the edge of woods, or among Hostas and Astilbes, which are dying out by September. This aster will seed prolifically if not dead-headed.

Gentiana clausa, Meadow
Bottle Gentian
Ht. 14-18”; Part Sun; Moist to Wet

This perennial grows best in part sun to light shade in rich soil. The plant appreciates a few hours of sun each day, but full sun may bleach the foliage. Its deep blue-violet flowers appear in fall, attracting large solitary bees. Gentians can be scattered in the border or for a more dramatic effect, used as edging by mass planting.

Phytolacca americana, Pokeweed

This perennial plant is native to the Eastern United States. It is usually 3 to 8 feet tall. It spreads when birds enjoy its late summer fruit, especially important for species preparing to migrate, and later drop the seeds.

Pokeweed develops racemes of whitish flowers in July. Then, by late summer the easily-recognized reddish, purple berries develop and stems turn reddish, too. Be warned that the roots and fruit are toxic if eaten by humans, dogs, pigs, and many other animals. Native Americans and early settlers used the juice for crimson dye, and even boiled the tender, spring leaves as an edible treat.

Pokeweed grows a taproot up to one foot deep, so it is hard work to remove an established plant. To control its spread, cut back Pokeweed before it fruits, and remove roots completely.

Organic Plant Care
Fall is a good time to assess plant nutrient needs. Although many plants are still in bloom, others have advanced through their life cycle for the year and are preparing for the winter months to come. It may seem logical that if plants are going dormant that they would not need much fertilizer. This is generally true, but an important consideration is that certain plants in the garden need supplemental nutrients in their root systems to see them through the winter and for a successful re-bloom with fruit development in the following spring and summer. Our compost tea granules and berry mix supplements are important elements of a fall nutrition program.

Berry Mix
Now that we have had a chance to enjoy our edible berries for the season, it is time to give something back to the plants. Our Berry Mix has a nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium ratio (NPK) of 4-2-4 and is a blended plant food for raspberries and blueberries, specially developed to increase yields of bigger, tastier berries. It is safe and easy to use and works in most types of soil. The best time to apply the mix is September and October. The Berry Mix is conveniently packaged in a 4 lb. bag.

Compost Tea Granules
Compost Teas contain beneficial microbes that are grown from compost matter over a period of 24-36 hours. A variety of food and catalyst materials, in addition to a container and aerator are needed to accomplish the process. Once the tea is made, the liquid is typically applied via a foliar or soil application where the beneficial microbes can go to work. The disadvantage of compost tea is that it only has a shelf life of about 48 hours. Our compost tea granule formulation eliminates this problem. The Great Grow Compost Tea granule mix is a proprietary blend of compost tea infused into activated carbon and humate granules and infused with natural microbe supporting nutrients.

The benefits of the granules include:
• Water or rain events promote the migration of the concentrated microbes into the soil and roots.
• Builds aerobic soil conditions and reduced soil compaction
•Increases water retention in dry soils and increases water drainage in wet soils
• Larger and deeper root growth and overall better protection from disease organisms
• Replaces toxic garden chemicals
• The granules have a shelf life over 1 year

www.yellowspringsfarm.com

1165 Yellow Springs Road | Chester Springs, PA 19425 | P 610-827-2014 | F 610-482-9311

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