In 1907 Anna Jarvis started a drive to establish a national Mother's Day. In 1907 she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother's church in West Virginia -- one for each mother in the congregation. In 1908, her mother's church held the first Mother's Day service, on May 10th (the second Sunday in May). That same day a special service was held at the Wanamaker Auditorium in Philadelphia, where Anna was from, which could seat no more than a third of the 15,000 people who showed up.

By 1909, churches in 46 states, Canada and Mexico were holding Mother's Day services. In the meantime, Ms. Jarvis had quit her job to campaign full time. She managed to get the World's Sunday School Association to help; they were a big factor in convincing legislators to support the idea. In 1912, West Virginia was the first state to designate an official Mother's Day. By 1914, the campaign had convinced Congress, which passed a joint resolution. President Woodrow Wilson signed the resolution, establishing an official national Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May.

Many countries of the world now have their own Mother's Day at different times of the year, but Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan, and Turkey join the US in celebrating Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May. Britain still celebrates Mothering Day on the 4th Sunday of Lent--but they now call it Mother's Day. By any name, and at any date, it's a special day to honor a special person.

Having trouble thinking of a gift? Why not do something a little different for Mother's Day? Instead of giving her a bouquet of roses, plant her a rose garden! If she already has a rose garden--add to it! If she lives in an apartment, consider a potted rose plant--many roses will do quite well in containers (ask us for suggestions).

Why give one bouquet that will soon fade away, when you can give years of pleasure from living roses instead?

New Roses arriving at Millcreek Gardens! 

Spring is in the air and Millcreek Gardens has just received a huge shipment of new Weeks roses. There’s an overriding theme to this year’s introductions and that is powerful perfume and saturated colors--some like you’ve never seen before in roses! 

This year’s All American Rose selection is a grandiflora named 'Dream Come True'. This stunning golden yellow rose with blushes of ruby gives a multi-color display that’s dreamy in every way. Looking to add a classic red rose to your collection? The stately 'Mr. Lincoln' is a great choice, with its deep, rich red color and intoxicating fragrance. 

How about a climbing rose to make that fence of yours come alive? We have two wonderful climbers in stock, 'Don Juan' and 'Golden Showers.' Every romantic's dream rose, 'Don Juan' has dark velvety-red, large fragrant flowers on large glossy dark green foliage. 'Golden Showers' is a popular yellow climbing rose, with large, clear, doubled yellow flowers and glossy dark green leaves. 

If you’re limited on space consider adding 'Coffee Bean' or 'Santa Claus' miniature rose bushes. 'Coffee Bean' is new miniature 2008, a mini sport of 'Hot Cocoa' that percolates shapely little blossoms that are smoky red-orange inside and shiny rusty orange on the outside. 'Santa Claus' produces large, round double blossoms that are a deep, velvety red. 

We even have a color extravaganza in the shrub rose category with 'Watercolors' and 'Wing Ding.' 'Watercolors' will knock you out with an array of yellow, pink, cerise and ruby-hued blooms. 'Wing Ding' will bring your garden to life with its searing, scarlet colored blooms. 

We invite you to stop by soon and see these new introductions along with all your other favorite roses. It’s spring and it’s a great time to shop at Millcreek Gardens! 

Looking around at the choices available in tomato plants, it's easy to get confused. What do they mean by determinate and indeterminate--not to mention semi-determinate? Should one buy an heirloom or a hybrid? Everyone knows what a cherry tomato is--but what is the difference between a beefsteak and a salad tomato?

Determinate, Indeterminate, and Semi-determinate
Determinate varieties are also known as bush tomatoes. They stop growing when fruit sets on the top bud, ripen most of their fruit in a short period, usually about 2 weeks, and then die. They generally require no staking or caging and are usually early-maturing. Pruning is not recommended. The plants and their fruit are generally smaller than indeterminate sorts. Most varieties that do well in pots are determinate.

Indeterminate varieties are also called "vining" tomatoes. They grow, bloom, and produce fruit until the end of the growing season (generally first frost). These almost always require staking or caging for support, and pruning may be required.

Semi-indeterminate varieties are basically indeterminate in nature, but have some determinate qualities, such as earlier yield and less need for staking.

Hybrid tomatoes have two genetically different parents that are crossed each year to produce the hybrid tomato seed. Although hybrid tomatoes do produce seed, the seeds will not have the characteristics of the hybrid — though it can be fun to plant them just to see what you get!

General Types:
Beefsteak Tomatoes: Beefsteak tomatoes are known for large size and thick, meaty flesh. The pulp cavity of this type is small and may resemble a 'marbled' steak — hence the name. This meatiness makes them hold together well when sliced, and the large size makes them great for sandwiches. One slice does the trick!

Salad Tomatoes: Also referred to as globe or slicing tomatoes, this variety is medium-sized, meaty enough to hold together well, and juicy. The smaller size makes them popular for salad wedges (bite-sized), or sliced to accompany a meal.

Cherry Tomatoes: Measuring less than an inch in diameter, these tomatoes make excellent bite-sized nibbles or tasty additions to salads. Cherry tomatoes are also great for grilling on skewers. Sub-types include grape and currant tomatoes, which are smaller in size but slightly sweeter than regular cherry tomatoes.

Plum Tomatoes: Also known as Roma, these are egg-shaped tomatoes that have thick skin and flesh. They are less juicy than most other varieties, which makes them good candidates for baking, canning, and broiling. They also do well for sauces and paste.

Paste Tomatoes: These are dryer than other varieties; many plum tomatoes are also 'paste tomatoes.' They are good for making tomato paste and dried tomatoes.

Come in to our garden center and speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members about the best tomato varieties for your garden. We can help you select the varieties that will best thrive in your unique light and soil growing conditions. All you need to do is decide which types of tomatoes to plant from among so many choices!

You don't have to spend all spring and summer weeding your garden beds. Using a pre-emergent before those weeds start to sprout is a good way to keep your garden free of weeds--and your back free of kinks.

Now is a good time to apply a pre-emergent grass and weed prevention product on all of your garden beds. Read instructions carefully before applying.

Refreshing your mulch--or putting some down if you have none--will also help keep weeds away.

If there is any room available in your vegetable garden, fill it with early spring vegetables. Use either transplants of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, parsley, peas, and Swiss chard, or seeds of beets, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, and turnips.

Artichokes, asparagus, and horseradish can be bought bare root. Horseradish is well worth growing, but needs ample water plus plenty of room to grow. Confine it in a special place, such as a raised bed, or it can become quite invasive.

This is the best time of the year for lettuce. It's easy to grow and a great money saver. Plant either from transplants, which will give you faster harvest, or start in weekly batches from seeds, which will give you more lettuce over a longer period of time. Lettuce seeds germinate within a wide range of soil temperatures, but sprout more quickly at cooler temperatures than warm ones, so this is a good time to start them.

Growing from seeds also gives you more interesting varieties to choose from--especially pleasing to the gourmet.

What’s the best way to over-seed a lawn?

Answer:
That depends on whether it is the entire lawn or just a bare spot. The best time to over-seed is early spring and early fall.

For bare spots, make sure to remove any old dead growth that still exists. Then scratch the soil surface at least 1-2 inches deep and level off. Apply your seed and cover with 1/4 inch of top dressing. Make sure to keep the area moist at all times until the seed has germinated and rooted. You should be able to mow the spot (on a high level setting) three weeks after the seed germinates and is visible.

Before over-seeding an entire lawn, mow your lawn to half its normal height. We recommend dethatching your lawn and removing all thatch debris before applying new seed. Then over-seed at the recommended over-seeding rate on the package of your lawn seed.

Cover the entire lawn with a 1/4 inch layer of the same top dressing mentioned above. Switch your watering cycle to at least twice daily (short cycles) the first two weeks, once per day the second week, every second day the third week and then back to your normal watering cycle from then on.

Try not to mow for at least two weeks after applying seed. Then do so at a higher than normal level setting until the new grass is well established.

One of the most beautiful and fragrant plants one can plant in a home garden is lavender. Native from England, Europe and the Mediterranean all the way down to South Africa, lavenders are now grown throughout the world. They have been valued as much over centuries for their wonderful scent and medicinal properties as for the beauty of their blooms in the garden. 

The ancient Greeks and Romans were heavy users of lavender, so the sweet fragrance and appeal of this plant is not a recent discovery. Back in Victorian times, women often had their temples bathed with lavender water to cure headaches. Lavender is featured now in many aromatherapy products for its ability to soothe and relax, which may be the real reason those headaches went away.

The flower spikes are often used for dried flower arrangements. The fragrant, pale purple flowers and flower buds are popular in potpourris. They can be dried and sealed in pouches and then placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh scent and and also act as a deterrent to moths. The plant is also grown commercially for extraction of lavender oil from the flowers which is used in soap and aromatherapy products.

Lavender plants don’t just produce flowers in their namesake color. Newer hybrids also come in shades of dark purple, blue, pink and even yellow, with some varieties more fragrant than others. The flowers also yield abundant nectar, which attracts butterflies and hummingbirdsand helps produce a high quality honey for beekeepers. The foliage color can vary from gray to gray-green to blue-gray and can craete a wonderful contrast with other plants in the garden.

Lavenders are easy to grow and take care of provided they are planted in full sun, have good drainage and are not over fed. We recommend planting lavenders in a 50/50 mix of native soil and and a soil amendment such as Utelite E to assure good drainage. Feed them once in spring and once in summer with a high quality organic fertilizer. The best time to prune lavenders is early spring when new growth starts to appear. Never prune off more than 1/3 of existing growth at any time.

We have a wonderful selection of lavender at this time of year. Stop by and visit us soon for the best selection!