One of the oldest sayings in gardening is: “First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap.” While it isn’t true for every plant, it’s a surprisingly good way to understand what happens after planting many trees and shrubs. Year One: “They Sleep” After planting, your tree or shrub has one priority:…
One of the most common questions I get is: “If I plant a plum tree, will it produce fruit by itself?” The answer is: Maybe—but you’ll usually get better results if you plant more than one plum variety. Recently, I spent some time digging into the pollination requirements of the plum varieties I carry: American…
One of the questions I get from customers is: “Will this plum tree produce plums?” The answer is yes—but maybe not immediately. Many people assume that if they buy a fruit tree, especially a larger tree from a garden center, they’ll be harvesting fruit the following summer. Sometimes that happens. Often it doesn’t. When a…
I love Villosa Lilacs. I think they are a best kept secret. At my place, I have found that the Villosa Lilacs grew faster and thicker that the common lilacs. And they bloomed at an earlier age. Now, at my place, I have a few variety of lilacs planted right next to each other- same…
I love Mock Oranges. I love the smell… I love the color… just love em. However, they do their own thing, much like other plants in your landscape. I’ll try to remember to get video of the potted mock ranges in my nursery so you can see the differences.
I know I say this all the time, but it’s true. I love walking around the nursery and my property and seeing all my plants and seeing what is still asleep and who might need a drink and just what everybody is doing. The Japanese Magnolias (both Ann and Jane) are just forming blooms.
If you’ve been scrolling through my 2026 catalog or visited the nursery last year, you might have noticed something a bit “wonky” about one of our favorite shrubs. It’s a question I get every single season: “If this is called ‘Java Red,’ why are the flowers so… pink?” It’s a fair question! In the world…
If you’ve spent any time gardening here in the Black Hills, you know it’s a labor of love that requires a certain amount of “grit.” Between our legendary spring snowstorms, the persistent prairie winds, and soil that can range from heavy clay to rocky shale, our plants have to be as tough as the people…
If you’ve lived in this corner of the world for more than a week, you know the old saying: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. But even for us seasoned South Dakotans, this winter has been—for lack of a better word—wonky. As I sit here in the nursery office, AKA the living…
Whenever I respond to a person requesting an appointment, I mention that I’ll have the gate open and most of the dogs contained. Freyja and Pepper get contained. When we get the greenhouse/shop built, and the second driveway finished, you may get to meet them.