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November 30, 2021
How to Build a Bird Garden in Wisconsin Build a Bird Garden in Wisconsinno-repeat;center top;;auto0px Watching backyard birds is relaxing, entertaining, and educational. Seeing a bright red cardinal in the middle of winter is uplifting. A visit from a ruby-throated hummingbird outside the breakfast nook can be a great way […]
January 12, 2021
2021 Color of the Year & Your Plants Hopefully, the 2021 Color of the Year will help offset my family’s recently muted New Year’s Eve plans. No bar revelry. No toasting with friends and strangers at midnight. Instead, I spent a contented night at home with my husband and 4-year-old […]
December 29, 2017
Chickens & Japanese Beetles This is Effie. Effie is a chicken. She belongs to a boy named Ethan, whose mom works at Johnson’s Nursery, and they often share Effie’s eggs with the staff. But besides laying delicious, organic, protein-rich eggs, Effie and her friends provide another service for her human […]
December 29, 2017
Leaf Lore: Yarrow Leaf Lore: Yarrow The 1986 edition of the Old Farmer’s Almanac featured the article “How to Find the Perfect Mate”. They listed several superstitious acts to perform if you want your true love to appear, beginning the list with “Pluck a stalk of yarrow and stick it […]
December 29, 2017
Plant Size & Investments Plant Size & Investments There is an old grower\’s adage about plant size — \”If it\’s not growing, it\’s dead\”. Aware of this truism, Johnson\’s Nursery provides a range of mature heights and spreads for shrubs, trees, and evergreens. A plant’s mature size and how well […]
December 29, 2017
2018 Color of the Year – Ultra Violet 2018 Color of the Year – Ultra Violet The Pantone Color Institute has announced the 2018 color of the year…and it’s going to be “reigning” purple. 2018 will have a cosmic hue, the final color in the rainbow spectrum – Ultra Violet. […]
October 26, 2017
Fall Harvest Fall Harvest no-repeat;left top;;auto Fall HarvestFall harvest at Johnson\’s Nursery, and autumn in Wisconsin, is a special time. Roadsides are painted in orange, red, and yellow. The air smells crisp and it’s time to get out the sweaters. The cooler temperatures invite most people to slow down from […]
October 16, 2017
Seasonal Needle Drop The cooler temperatures of autumn are approaching and while humans are putting on extra layers of clothes, evergreens are shedding their old needles. This annual occurrence is called “Seasonal Needle Drop” and is completely normal. Think of it like people shedding their hairs. So don’t panic when […]
October 9, 2017
Perennial Mums vs. Hardy Mums When the morning temperatures turn chilly and the air smells of dried leaves, I get the overwhelming urge to buy chrysanthemums. The summer annuals on the porch are running out of steam and being threatened by the first frosts anyway. Luckily, garden centers, like Johnson’s […]
October 6, 2017
Fall Planting Fall Planting In the fall, I am asked the same question over and over: Is it too late to plant? The answer? Not at all. But it is a good idea to get perennials and evergreens in the ground by mid-October. You want to give perennials enough time […]
October 2, 2017
Native Pollinators Did you know the phrase “the bee’s knees” originally described something tiny and insignificant? Since then it has evolved to mean something outstanding. And in August, I find nothing more outstanding than the sight of native pollinators in the landscape. One of the basics of plant life is […]
September 25, 2017
Fungus Among Us There is more going on with autumn leaves besides the color changes of yellow, orange, and red – fungus. September is when fungal spotting has reached its peak, causing many of your favorite plants to defoliate or go dormant early.See, in spring, fungal spores are everywhere, dancing […]
August 12, 2017
Battling Buckthorn Wisconsin gardening comes with many obstacles: rabbits, deer, cold winters, and invasive non-native plant species. In the war against invasive plants, one of the worst enemies is Buckthorn, specifically Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and Glossy Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula). Many times we’ll be at a customer\’s site and they […]
July 17, 2017
Plant Sex Wisconsin summers are like a tumultuous love affair. They can fluctuate from hot and steamy to cold and rainy in the course of one night. Did you know that summer love affairs are happening all around us in broad daylight? Plants everywhere are fornicating, right in front of […]
July 13, 2017
My son, Jack loved to grab, throw, and chew on books when he was one year old. He also adored books being read aloud to him. I was reading him “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and it occurred to me that we often overlook these juvenile versions of […]
July 2, 2017
Rabbit Resistant Perennials and Shrubs Recently, my husband and I were babysitting my cousin\’s kids, so we dusted off my husband\’s complete set of Looney Tunes DVD\’s and put it on to watch. I learned two things from this. 1) Kids today don\’t have an appreciation for the sophisticated comic […]
May 25, 2017
Phenology The calendar says that spring is officially here, but it doesn’t really look like it yet. Today’s tip touches on a branch of science called phenology, meaning when climatic conditions correlate with plant and animal behaviors. Some say spring has arrived when you spy a robin. I say it […]
May 16, 2017
2017 Spring Plant Draft Picks We’re excite to announce the 2017 spring plant draft picks. Tulip blooms dotting the landscape aren’t the only sign that spring has arrived. Football fans eagerly watch to see who their favorite teams will acquire to create a winning line up in fall. These players […]
April 18, 2017
Cultivar What is a cultivar? What are their advantages? My husband and I are expecting a little seedling in the fall. Thank goodness there is only one in here, but say I were having identical twins. They would be genetically identical, just like a plant “cultivar”. When the seeds of […]
April 10, 2017
Delicious Landscapes We are in the age of sustainability. We buy energy-saving light bulbs and hybrid cars. I will furiously rummage through the office trash to retrieve an aluminum can that didn’t make it into the correct recycling bin. We want our ribeyes to be grass-fed, our eggs to be […]
April 5, 2017
Signs of Spring Signs of Spring Officially, the calendar says March 20th is the Vernal Equinox and the first day of spring. But in Wisconsin, where a snowstorm might still be around the corner, I know that spring isn’t official until I see certain signs every year. Sign #1 – […]
April 1, 2017
Harvest Windows Harvest Windows Throughout the spring season, we hear from a lot of panicked people who think that their trees have to be in the ground by June. So not true! And although this video pertains to harvesting field-grown plants in the spring, the theme is the same for […]
March 22, 2017
Green Screens: Living Privacy Fence with Evergreens The first signs of spring bring me to our tree farm in Jackson. Our fields are full of trees for potential green screens to hide your neighbors, a shed, or whatever obstacle you want to block. Ben Franklin wrote, “Good fences make good […]
February 18, 2017
Forcing Tree Stems We are smack in the middle of a long cold winter and that darn groundhog says it won’t be over soon. Today I’m going to show you how to bring a little spring indoors by forcing tree stems. Cutting stems of spring flowering trees and bringing them […]
January 25, 2017
2017 Color of the Year – Greenery I think we can all agree that 2016 was a hell of a year. An unprecedented presidential election. Syria. Brangelina Split. Zika Virus. Brexit. Prince died. Russia. McDonalds now serves all day breakfast. RIP Princess Leia. 2016 was pretty tumultuous for me on […]
January 17, 2017
Proper Snow Removal Instead of telling you to lift with your knees, it’s all about saving the branches of your trees. Contrary to what you might have heard, it is important after a heavy, wet snowfall to remove what has accumulated on certain plants like arborvitaes, boxwoods, and pines; basically […]
December 15, 2016
Top 6 Things To Do While Your Garden Is Sleeping Do you have a sleeping garden? I love winter! I get excited to break out the warm coats (I may have too many in the closet) and put on a pot of hot tea. These gray months of cold and […]
December 2, 2016
Winterizing Evergreens Just because winter is here, doesn’t mean ignoring the garden. The freezing process draws moisture out of a plant. The “polar vortices” of Wisconsin’s winters can be hard on certain evergreens, especially if they don’t get enough water in fall. When hit with repeated cycles of very cold […]
December 1, 2016
Family Tree Discount If you have recently had a baby, congratulations! Johnson’s Nursery has a Family Tree Discount. We offer 25% off the retail price of any one plant, whether a perennial, shrub, or tree to commemorate your bundle of joy. Baby and tree will grow up together. If you […]
November 9, 2016
Sporty Specimens Sporty Specimens In the T.V. special \”It\’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown\”, Linus sagely muses, \”There are three things I have learned to never discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin\”. I think we could add sports team allegiances to that list. In my family, the […]
October 13, 2016
Fall Blooming Plants for the Pollinators Using fall blooming plants in the landscape will give insects an extra boost for late-season and winter. These days, insect population decline has more attention than ever. The most popular of which is the Monarch Butterfly. There is also frequent news over the Honeybee […]
April 20, 2016
Landscape Compatibility Test I was shopping at a Trader Joe’s recently for some groceries. I say groceries, but I really mean affordable bottles of wine. While checking out, the cashier asked to see my ID (haven’t been under 21 in a long time so I’ll take that as a compliment […]
February 13, 2014
Maple Syrup Lore It’s unclear when people discovered that pancakes with maple syrup were the perfect combination, but we sure are glad they did. Traditionally, pancakes were made to use up the decadent ingredients milk, butter, and eggs that were forbidden during the Lenten fast. Thus, Fat Tuesday (Mardis Gras) […]
March 12, 2009
March Madness Leaf Lore: Peach Baskets And Basketball Peach Basket-ology March Madness is upon us. Have you selected your brackets yet? Brackets. Sounds a lot like baskets. Did you know that peach baskets play a key role in the history of basketball? Credit for invention of the game is given […]
April 4, 2000
Leaf Lore: Daylily Leaf Lore: Daylily “Day O! Day O! Daylily bloom and me wanna take home!” Let’s sing it loud and proud for daylilies! Some people may say they are ordinary, but daylilies are one of those great perennials that are easy to grow for beginners because they handle […]