Natureworks | 518 Forest Road | Northford, CT 06472 | 203-484-2748

IN THS ISSUEQuiet Please

FREE Milkweed SeedsWow, Great SalesUpcoming Events

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Natureworks

Greetings! I walked into Natureworks on Tuesday morning tofind a LOT of things had changed over theweekend. I took Saturday off as I was feeling a bitunder the weather so I hadn't been at the shop inthree days. What a difference! My staff has beenhard at work basically reinventing the inside andoutside of the store. Wait until you see what they'vecome up with!

If you want to feed the hungry bees in latewinter and early spring, plant CROCUS

bulbs now!

Quiet Please...

I woke up Saturdaymorning to the sound ofloud engines running.So much for sleepinglate when I was feelingyucky. All of myneighbors wereoutside, powerequipment in hand,blowing every leaf inthe neighborhood tothe curb. Even with thewindows closed, it wassuch an annoyingsound that went on forhours and hours. Myhusband, who isn'tmuch of a yard workguy, immediatelystarted worrying that

We are kicking off the holiday season in style withour first ever Ornament Extravaganza this comingSaturday and Sunday. We will fire up our hotmulled cider and it will be a very festiveatmosphere. Relax and browse our all-newornament collection. We are very selective in whatwe choose and we don't buy many of each style.The best selection is right now. While you arehere, be sureto takeadvantage ofour 25% offsale on springbloomingbulbs. Forsome reason,we keep ongetting morein. We areplanting like crazy in all of our client's gardens andI still have a large harvest basket of bulbs to plantin my own yard, an annual November ritual. If youhave deer and voles, we have some great options

OUR leaves wouldblow into theneighbor's yards. "Wehave a service" Ireplied. They arecoming next week. Itwill be fine.

Well, in the afternoon,after all the engineshad gone quiet, hegrabbed an oldfashioned rake and abig tarp and headedoutside to rake up theleaves in our front yard.I joined him, cuttingdown perennials anddoing a bit of easyweeding. "Wait!" Iexclaimed as hestarted raking them tothe side of the road.Those leaves are freefertilizer. They areinvaluable for buildingmy new beds in thelower back yard. Weare saving ALL theleaves. In fact, I wouldtake all the neighbor'sleaves if I could. Helooked at me as if I hadlost my mind.

Nevertheless, weproceeded to haul

for you.

Allium 'Moly' combined with Alliumcristophii in May. Wow!

Daffodils of course, and Alliums are great choices.Allium 'Moly' is one of my go-to bulbs when doingbulb plans for my clients. It blooms in late May withclusters of yellow flowers under 12" tall. I massthem in sun or shade, and have them poke upthrough Lamium, creeping phlox, Veronica'Georgia Blue', and other spring blooming groundcovers. The clumps get larger every year as theyare true perennials. Leucojums are another bulb Iinclude in all of my designs for deer country. Thecommon name is "summer snowflake" but theyreally bloom in May. They look like giantsnowdrops, reaching 12-15" tall and make greatcut flowers. Click here to connect to my latest blogpost on the beautiful spring blooming bulbs that wehave in stock and how to incorporate them intoyour gardens.

Winter aconites bloom as soon as the

snow thaws on the south side of our

shop. They are immediately covered with

pollinating bees who are so hungry at

that time of year. They naturalize well,

and you can have a nice patch of them in

just a few years.

We have lots of little plants, including ferns and

succulents, that just arrived. We also have all the supplies

you need to make terrariums and miniature gardens.

many large tarps filledwith dried, lovelyleaves down to thenewly cleared "backforty" in my way backyard. We dumped theleaves directly on thepiles of branches tosmother them and startbuilding soil. Somewere piled by theraised beds so I cancover the soil once Ifinish harvesting my fallcrops and plant mygarlic.

For the next two daysthat I was home, theblowers would start upevery morning. Theassault on my senseswas constant. Whenthey would finish, myhusband would gooutside and continuehis quiet raking, asound that was musicto my ears. I grew up inHartford and the fallleaf raking was anannual event in ourneighborhood. Wewould make giant pilesand jump in them. Itwas fun and it smelledwonderful.

At an EcologicalLandscape Allianceconference I learned

Bulbs are the "bling" in the spring garden, thefrosting on the cake, the one extra, added elementthat will double or triple the color in the garden, justwhen you need it most. Trust me on this.

Next week, on Thursday, November 19th, we arehaving a party to celebrate the opening of ourChristmas Design Studio. Welcome to theGreens House (the building formerly known as ourgreenhouse). We will have three design stationsset up and all kinds of cones, pods, berries, andribbons on display as well as freshly harvested

greenery. Wewill be takingorders for bothThanksgivingarrangementsand custom-decoratedholidaywreaths,roping, andbaskets of

greens. If you have ordered from us before, we willhave your previous orders available for you toreference. I walked in Tuesday morning to find wealready have three orders on the board. I LOVE ourloyal customers and they LOVE our all-naturaldesign style.

about a movement inthe Boston area calledQuiet Communities.They teach that loudlevels of powerequipment enginenoise affects our healthin so many ways- ourhearing, our breathing,and so much more.

To learn more, go toquietcommunities.org

FREE Milkweed Seeds

We have beengathering, cleaning,and bagging up ourmilkweed seeds for thepast two weeks. If youwould like to establishthis very importantplant in your yard,please come intoNatureworks and pickup some free seed.

Monarch butterflies laytheir eggs ONLY onmilkweed and othermembers of theAsclepias family. NOW

If you are looking for a Thanksgiving arrangement that isvery naturalistic and made with lots of interesting foliage

and berries, Natureworks is the place to go!

The HALF PRICE outdoor plants are going to beplanted in OUR gardens within the next 10 days. Ifound three more plants that I am taking home (aneverbearing strawberry, a Vernonia, and acolumnar Baptisia) and you probably will too if youcheck out the benches. The bagged mulch andshredded straw is still on sale and we have addeda couple of bagged organic products from our shedto the mix. Check out the SALE box below.

Kassie is planting spring blooming bulbs in the

gardens at Natureworks. We feed the soil with Pro

Gro or Dr. Earth organic fertilizer. Repellex

Systemic can be seen in the container on the left

to help deter voles. It is absorbed into the bulbs

and makes them taste like hot pepper.

I know it feels like a transition time in our gardensand our homes as the harvest season graduallybecomes Thanksgiving and we begin preparationfor all of the festivities that follow. Thanksgiving is a

is the time to plant theseeds as they need awinter chill periodoutside in order togerminate.

The seed is availableas long as our supplylasts. Hurry in and plantmilkweed today.

Quick Links...Our WebsiteDirectionsEvents

mere 15 days away, Hanukkah is 26 days away,and Christmas is a mere 44 days away! Yikes! Ifyou are looking for a pretty, joyful place to shop,come to Natureworks. Shop locally this year andyou will learn how much fun it can be once again.

I'll see you very soon...

Wow-Check out these great SALES!!!

All outdoor bulbs 25% offAll outdoor plants HALF PRICE

All Pro-Holly organic fertilizer for acidloving plants (25# and 50# bags)- HALFPRICEAll grass seed 20% offAll shredded straw 30% offAll bagged mulch HALF PRICE

TAG SALE going on in shed

These sales will continue until the products aresold or we plant them or use them in our

gardens!

UPCOMING EVENTS

HoursGardening HandoutsLandscaping ServicesOrganic Lawn Care

Click belowto view our

Photo Gallery

BulbsAnnuals

PerennialsEdibles

Shrubs/TreesIndoor PlantsThe Seasons

Saturday, Nov. 14th & Sunday, Nov. 15th Ornament Extravaganza All Day, Both Days!Join us as we unveil our new collection of gloriousdecorations and Christmas ornaments for the 2015Season.

Saturday, November 14th Terra-cotta pot Snowman Workshop 11 am -12:30 pmIn this hands-on workshop we will paint a pot andturn it into a cute snowman. All ages are welcometo create their very own table top decoration forChristmas.Please call to register $10 fee.

Sunday, November 15th

High Hopes Holiday Market, 36Town Woods Road, Old Lyme CT

12-4 pm.

This will be our third year participating in theHoliday Market which features gifts, food, andfamily activities. High Hopes is a therapeutic

horseback riding center that offers programs toindividuals with cognitive, physical, and emotionaldisabilities. Admission to the Holiday market and

activities is free with a suggested donation of anon-perishable food item for the Shoreline soup

kitchens. All proceeds from this event benefit the

programs and participants of High Hopes. Clickhere for the details.

Thursday, November 19thOpen House: Introducing Our ChristmasDesign Studio 5 - 7 pmCome to Natureworks to enjoy wine and cheese aswe unveil our design studio where we will sooncreate our famous, hand-made Christmas decor.We welcome you to use this time to pre-order yourcustom designed wreath, arrangements or swags!

Visit naturework.com/events for

more information!

For our November-December flyer, click here.