Fairy Gardening 2016 (ALL NEW) Introductions

Get a  sneak peek at the greenhouse before it opens!  This is also the first chance to see the brand new 2016 fairy garden plants and accessories! You will  plant a fairy garden.bring home a magical miniature garden home for your fairies to live.

Class fee includes 1 small bag of soil and design help. Accessories and plants are an additional cost, approximately $20 and up.

Tuesday - 4/19/16 from 4:00-6:00pm Class Fee: $8.00 plus materials

Spice It Up! Herb Class 2016

Let’s talk kitchen herbs! Create a Kitchen Herb Garden container with 3 herbs for you to take home. Beier’s Greenhouse’s her...

 Get your garden ready for the end of the season!

Vegetable Gardens

Don't forget to water. This is a critical time for ripening veggies so don't let them dry out if the rain slows down. Water deeply and thoroughly.

Keep harvesting. Get out into the garden every day if you can to keep everything picked clean at the peak of ripeness. Beans, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and so on will keep producing if you keep picking. Share extra with neighbors and loved ones, or preserve for the long winter ahead.

Plant some quick crops. All kinds of greens will pop up and be ready to eat before first frost if you plant them now. No open space left in the g...

By Susan Patterson Mastser Gardener

Gazing balls, also known as gazing orbs, have been incorporated into both formal and informal gardens for centuries. Gazing balls are typically seen tucked alongside pretty flowers and fountains or grouped together as an artistic garden feature.

Gazing Balls in the Garden

Gazing balls come in so many colors and styles that they suit just about any garden setting, from rustic to elegant and everything in between. Here are a few ways that you can incorporate a gazing ball into your outdoor space.

Tucked Among Flowers

Gazing balls add height, texture, color and interest when tucked alongside flowers in your garde...

10 Fun Facts About Butterflies

• 

  Butterflies can't fly if their body temperatures are below 82 degrees. That's probably why butterflies are found on all continents except Antarctica.

• Butterflies do indeed taste with their feet. Since taste sensors are located in their toes (tarsi), when they land on a plant they can instantly tell whether it will provide a tasty meal or a good place to lay eggs. Their toes also have claws to help them cling, even upside down.

• Though your mother may have warned you about this, butterflies will not instantly die if you touch them. However, too much touching rubs off the scales that create color...

Common Minnesota Butterflies and What They Like to Eat

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia): Caterpillars like pansies. Nectar plants include black eyed Susan, verbena, butterfly bush, globe amaranth, marigold, New England aster, oregano, red clover, and zinnia.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus): Caterpillars only like milkweed. Nectar plants include verbena, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, milkweed, globe amaranth, heliotrope, Joe Pye weed, lantana, marigold, mustard greens, New England aster, oriental lilies, coneflower, and zinnia.

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta): Caterpillars like hackberry. Favorite nectar plant is late-flowering bo...

Top Tips for Butterfly Gardeners

You thought your toddler was a picky eater? Try planning a butterfly garden! Caterpillars would rather starve than eat the wrong plant, and adult butterflies will move on to tastier pastures (literally) if you don't have what they're looking for. Monarchs are the most famous picky eaters: Caterpillars eat milkweed only, thank you very much.

No matter what species of butterfly you're aiming to attract, all butterfly gardens have five elements: plenty of sunshine, roosting spots sheltered from the wind and predators, nectar sources (blooming flowers for adults), host plants (food for caterpillars), and water.

Th...

Eleven Reasons Everyone Should Have a Garden Fountain

Why should you include a fountain in your garden landscape design? Here are 11 reasons to get your creative juices flowing.

1. 

   Flowing fountains cover background noise, turning your yard into a soothing oasis from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life. Don't forget a strategically placed bench to complete your meditation spot.

2. The water attracts birds and butterflies, bringing these little friends into your life all summer long. 

3. Space-saving wall fountains are perfect for garden nooks or apartment dwellers. Set up a small grouping of potted plants underneath for a picture perf...

Growing Tree Peonies: Easy Care with Big Rewards

Ahh, the tree peony, elegant queen of the garden. Tree peonies create giant blooms in an array of soft or shocking colors, making them the centerpiece of color-themed cottage gardens or the foundation element in more formal French-style gardens. Once you introduce these beauties to your perennial beds, you'll wonder why you waited so long to bring them home.

Keep in mind that shrub peonies are long-lived plants and with a little care produce blooms for a century or more. Depending on the zone where you live, a mature tree peony could set 100 flowers in a season! It only takes 5 to 10 years to...

Spring Pruning for Perennials - The Ins and Outs of Pruning.

Developing an eye for pruning perennials is rather like learning to appreciate fine art: Studying why an artist placed a brushstroke a certain way is helpful to understanding the work of art, but sometimes you just have to stand back and look at the whole.

In other words, it's helpful to the gardener to read everything possible about pruning and to ask lots of questions, but when you're standing there on a sunny morning with the shears in your hand you simply have to feel what the garden needs. Pruning is practical, certainly, but develop your eye by looking at gardens you admire to...