News + Updates

Green. for. Life! with Goodview Elementary

Talk about a great time! The Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) has initiated and Governor Dayton approved another statewide “Green for Life” day of service, this year’s being on September 22, 2011. This volunteer project’s purpose each year is to plant trees at over 100 schools across the state, and Winona Nursery participated by planting a tree at Goodview Elementary with Ms. Jacobson’s third grade class. Not only was this special because the whole school came out to see the tree get planted, but also because the tree was dedicated to Mrs. Grant, a favorite and long-time custodian, who recently retired.

Goodview Elementary gave us three cheers, and we say, “Right backatcha!” Thanks for letting us visit with you, and thanks to the students for all their help shoveling, fertilizing, mulching, and watering via Bucket Brigade!

Winona Nursery

Hibernating? Well, not exactly…

…but we are holed up in the toasty office for the winter.

On these cold, short winter days, you will find us on top of our design game, just plugging away and dreaming of baby green leaves and the warm days ahead.

Winona Nursery

Channeling a little Monet

In this industry, the-outdoors-is-nature’s-canvas-we-are-the-artistés references abound. Depending on the context, it either sounds good or cheesy. But we have some bona fide artistry going on in some of our landscapes, thanks to the classy little My Monet Weigela.

When this plant was first introduced a few years ago, we were was skeptical. The name seemed to set up lofty expectations. The pictures showed crisp green, white, and pink-variegated foliage that you just knew would fade with summer’s heat and/ or not be anywhere near as pronounced in real life. And it was being marketed in a white pot (white variegation in white pots? really?).

We kept our distance from My Monet Weigela for a while, but slowly, slowly the landscape designers began using one here and there. We waited for the heartbreak to begin.

Except it didn’t! The weigelas turned out to be little powerhouses, staying small, the variegation staying true. They combined well with tons of other plants and provided some “wow” factor.

A recent follow-up site visit found the My Monets doing their job, complementing brickwork and contrasting nicely with surrounding shrubs. It was a sparkling little gem out there…My Monet is living up to its name.

Winona Nursery

Attention Leaf Peepers

I’ve always wanted to use the phrase “leaf peepers” in a post. It just sounds so cute. Although to me peeping means taking a little peek and when it comes to fall colors, don’t you just want to soak it all in? We’ve known customers to pick a tree based solely on its fall color and that makes sense to us.