Florida Gardening

Public and Community Gardens are Invited to Apply for

Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards

The Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award, a new award program to give national recognition and $5,000 in plants to community groups and organizations who are improving their local environments, has been announced by Nature Hills Nursery. The award will be presented annually, beginning in April 2009, to groups and organizations that are literally “greening” their communities, parks, schools and public spaces by planting trees, shrubs and other plants.

The winners of the inaugural Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be those nonprofit groups and organizations that truly are making a difference in their local neighborhoods. The Grand Prize winning garden project will receive $2,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery. The First Prize winner will receive $1,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery, and the Second Prize winner will receive $1,000 in plants. The plant materials can contain any combination of trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds that Nature Hills Nursery offers.

The award winners will be chosen from those groups who submit a local community gardening or “greening” project that makes best use of the trees, bushes and shrubs that Nature Hills Nursery will award. Potential Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award winning projects could be:

·        Creating or refurbishing the landscape in a community park.

·        A local soil erosion control plan that utilizes plants to stabilize steep hillside slopes or river banks.

·        The reclamation of an abandoned lot with the creation of a fruit orchard that will provide much needed fruit to nearby low-income residents.

·        Creating a wildlife habitat for birds or animals on donated land that is (or has been) abandoned or neglected.

Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Nature Hills Nursery is a website-only retailer that sells trees, shrubs, perennials and other plants. The company created the Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards as a way to give back to the communities and people who have contributed to the success of the seven-year-old company.

“Nature Hills Nursery has been fortunate to prosper from growing and selling plants,” said Jeffrey Dinslage, President. “All of our plant production is carefully managed so the soils we depend upon are not depleted of their resources, ensuring a healthy soil environ-ment for continued plant growth. We feel it is time to give back a portion of the plants we produce annually to projects that will help reduce carbon dioxide and beautify communities.

“Our goal is to help communities reclaim land, turning eyesores into oases. We want to help dedicated individuals, groups and organizations make their local communities better by providing a living gift of trees and plants that not only clean the air but also provide respite and a natural retreat. With each project, wildlife and beauty can once again flourish.”

Applications for the Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be accepted nationwide from October 15, 2008 until April 1, 2009. The winners of the 2009 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award will be announced on April 17, 2009. To apply for the 2009 award online, visit the website at http://www.naturehills.com/green_america_awards.aspx.

Are you looking for that perfect plant or gift to give for the Holidays?

How about a new way to make compost?

Well here are some suggestion from: Mark Govan, Florida Gardening

Garden Cuttings-Holiday Edition  October 15, 2008\
 
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR GARDENERS

Is there an avid gardener on your holiday shopping list? If so, there is a delightful variety of great gifts for "green thumbs," beginners who are just discovering the joys of getting real soil under their fingernails, and folks who might not be gardeners but appreciate delicious fruits and veggies.

Here is a selection of great gifts:

THIS PLANT ROCKS!

Here's a unique gift for any gardener on your list. The Hawaiian Volcano PlantT is a Red Anthurium that has been specially hybridized to grow as a trouble-free houseplant.  It's planted on a responsibly harvested, hand-selected volcanic cinder that has been blessed by a Kahuna (a spiritual leader of the Hawaiian community) to bring joy and prosperity to anyone who possesses it. Each rock is unique and original and provides an excellent habitat for growing exotic plants. The Red Anthurium will continue to flower when grown in bright, indirect light, and the flowers last for weeks. Keep the lava rock in a shallow saucer of water. The lava will soak up water like a sponge, making an ideal growing medium for your plant. Each plant sells for $19.95 from Logee's Tropical Plants, (888) 330-8038, www.logees.com.

DON'T PANIC, GROW ORGANIC

Growing organic vegetables just got easier with the introduction of the Organic Ready-to-Grow Kit from EarthBox. The kit contains everything your favorite gardener needs to grow organic vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers quickly and easily. Included are bags of organic OMRI Registered potting mix, fertilizer, and dolomite with trace elements. The heart of the system is the patented EarthBox growing container, which measures a compact 29 inches long, 13.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall. The EarthBox controls soil conditions as water is wicked up from the water reservoir into the potting mix. The result is twice as many tasty tomatoes or other veggies as conventional gardening-and all you need is a porch, patio or balcony. The Organic Ready-to-Grow Kit is available directly from EarthBox (www.earthbox.com) for $52.95, or at garden centers nationwide.

A MUG TO WARM A GARDENER'S HEART

When it is too cold outside to garden, a cup of hot coffee or tea in a decorative gardening mug will surely warm a gardener's heart. A garden mug by Kelly Gardens ArtT is truly art inspired by nature. Two botanical art print mugs are available-a tomato plant and a lovely daffodil. These large (15-ounce), high-quality ceramic mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe, and they have a chip and crack resistant finish. Each decorative mug sells for $19.95 from Mantis, (800) 366-6268, http://mantis.com/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=1142 

MASON BEE NEST ATTRACTS GARDEN POLLINATORS

Gardeners know that honeybee populations are down-and without bees to pollinate flowers, garden harvests are diminished. A Mason Bee Nest attracts industrious Mason Bees to your garden and gives them a place to feel right at home. These little gems are about two-thirds the size of a honeybee, and they are up to 90% more efficient at pollinating plants than honeybees! Plus, Mason Bees don't sting.

In the wild, Mason Bees nest in holes created by woodpeckers and beetles. The attractive Mason Bee Nest is a similarly designed habitat that invites these hard-working pollinators to nest and help pollinate your garden. Made of durable, decorative cedar, the Mason Bee Nest is easy to hang, and no assembly is required. Each nesting box includes 10 nesting tubes and two replacement tubes. Available from Audubon Workshop for $39.99, (513) 354-1485, www.audubonworkshop.com.

THE WEEDER'S DIGEST   

There are more than 100 gardening publications that offer "how-to" tips about growing everything from roses to organic squash, but only one that celebrates the joy of gardening. GreenPrints is a digest-sized quarterly that is packed with humorous and inspirational stories from gardeners about what makes gardening special to their lives. Edited by Pat Stone, a former garden editor at Mother Earth News, GreenPrints truly goes where no other gardening publication dares to tread-and the result is pure gardening magic. A one-year subscription costs $19.97. Call (800) 569-0602 or order online at www.greenprints.com.

LET WORMS MAKE COMPOST

Worm composting is an efficient way to convert kitchen scraps-and even junk mail and shredded newspapers-into nutrient-rich compost for your garden. Just as the worms in your garden eat organic matter and continually improve the soil, the red worms in a worm composter turn kitchen scraps and other waste into nutrient-rich worm castings. These worm castings are a powerful kind of compost that will energize your garden plants.

The Worm Factory® is a self-contained worm composting bin that makes it easy to create and harvest worm compost. The Worm Factory's unique, stackable, multi-tray design allows it to hold the largest capacity of compost in the smallest amount of space, making it possible to compost indoors year-round-even underneath the kitchen sink. Each Worm Factory comes with a 16-page instruction book and everything you need to get started. (Worms are not included with the bin, but a list of sources for worms is included.) The Worm Factory sells for $89.95 from Cascade Sales at 1-866-592-2403 or www.cascadesales.com.

For more great gardening gifts available online or through mailorder catalogs, visit the Mailorder Gardening Association's website at www.mailordergardening.com. There you'll find links to more than 100 garden catalog websites, as well as lots of helpful gardening information.

Garden Cuttings is published by Schultz Communications, a full-service public relations agency that provides services to gardening companies and organizations including Gardens Alive!, Mantis, Summit, Wood Prairie Farm, Thompson & Morgan, High Country Gardens, the  Mail-order Gardening Association, Logee's Tropical Plants and EarthBox. For more information, contact (505) 822-8222 or schultz@schultzpr.com, or visit the website at www.schultzpr.com.