August is always a time of transition here at Scenic Nursery. We still feel the heat of summer, but know that fall is right around the corner. Read about our participation and award from this year's Stanislaus County Fair; with an Mad Hatter's theme, you can imagine just how much fun we had in creating our display. Check out the pics for inspiration for your own Mad Hatter's garden. 

Herbs are great in the garden. See what herbs are best to take you through fall. Learn how to make your own herb butter, vinegar, and mustard using herbs fresh from the garden. 

Got turf troubles? Check out the article on the subject! Bring in a sample for more definitive diagnosis and treatment options. 

Are your Japanese Maples looking a little dried out to the point of losing your fall turn? Take our advice on stripping maples for a great fall show. 

Get tips from Jim on becoming more water wise. Just because we had able rain this year doesn't mean we shouldn't get into a water saving mentality. Check out his seminar on watering in fall and winter on September 25th. It will look more extensively into irrigation controls and hand watering. 

Finally, enjoy your garden grown bell peppers, Southern style, by stuffing them with rice and vegetables. This is a fabulous, easy recipe to make and quite scrumptious! 

Don't forget, there is always a coupon in our newsletters! Thanks for reading!

Here is the link. Simple click on the blue URL!

http://scenicnurserynews.com/news/10/31

We felt so blessed to have so many of our constant friends at our 61st Birthday Celebration! We thank you all for coming! The weather was fabulous with temperatures in the mid 80s, finding everyone comfortable and ready to enjoy the festivities. Shannon Duncan and Jim Stanley offered wonderful musical ambiance for the event and were AMAZING! We thank them for coming. Captain Ron was on hot dog detail, making some of the best dogs we've ever tasted! Thank you Ron! With hotdogs, our loyal customers enjoyed fresh fruit from the Modesto Certified Farmer's Market. To Taylors Farms, J & J Farms, Ciponeri's Family Farms, and Racho Azul, we say thank you for supplying the most delicious, nutritious fruit available of the season! We all enjoyed it very much!

And there was more fun to be had. Children enjoyed making cards and bookmarks for Dad, nature rubbings, and other nature based projects such as planting a container filled with plants of their favorite colors. Smiling faces were adorned with cute face painting images. A balloon artist came and created the most amazing shapes with each kid's request.

We ate, we drank, we were merry! Come in and see us today for suggestion on plant material, gardening success tips, and to just soak up the beauty that lies within Scenic Nursery.

We are SOOO excited about our birthday celebration and customer appreciation sale going on this weekend, June 18th - 20th. Enjoy 30% off of all Trees and Shrubs and 25% off of EVERYTHING else. We couldn't have done it without you!

Want more? Come and celebrate our 61st year doing business in Modesto with BBQ, fresh fruit from the Modesto Certified Farmer's Market, live music by Shannon Duncan and Jim Stanley, tons of fun for kids, and info booth. We'll be collecting cans, too, during our event for the Salvation Army Emergency Food Programs, so bring a can if you are able. We'll see you there! 

This month's newsletter is jam packed with information. Whether you are wanting to achieve container perfection through the "Thrill, Fill and spill" method, to know what to do in your garden in June, to install great cut garden plants, to learn more about roses in honor of National Rose Month, or to understand how to be more water wise in your new plant material choices and care, June's newsletter has it all! Of course, Jungle Jim shares his advice for June. Check out our 61st birthday flyer for a fun gardening community event complete with sales, BBQ, Live Music by Shannon Duncan and Jim Stanley, fresh fruit from the Modesto's Certified Farmer's Market, kid's activities and more from 11- 1, Saturday, June 19th, 2010. 

http://scenicnurserynews.com/news/10/22/

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Looking around the bedding department, so many sun loving plants are blooming beautifully! Among the most showy are coreopsis, guara, gerbera daisy, verbena, dahlietta, salvia galore, phlomis, veronica, Marguerite daisy, angelonia, gaillardia, centranthus, kangaroo paws, St.Johnswort, zinnia, and yarrow.

This is in addition to so much more! Come in today to fill in bare spots in garden beds!

To all of you who attended the hyper-tufa workshop this past weekend, we say "Thank you!"  April had such a great time leading the hyper tufa stepping stone class this past Saturday. Each participant created a stepping stone or birdbath decorated with Sierra Tumbled Glass (recycled right here in Modesto). Check out the creativeness!!! Our next seminar is Getting Buggy with Anne Schellman for Sunflower kids, which seeks to get kids closer to bugs with a viewable collection of bugs and corresponding information. A kid must attend event! 

The saying, "April showers bring May flowers" has certainly proved true this year. With an extended cool Spring, we've had an amazing opportunity to plant and grow flowers that will last throughout the summer. If you are looking for inspiration this Spring, check out our May newsletter. In May's newsletter, we look at the holidays honored in May, such as Mother's Day and Memorial Day. You'll find out how these holidays came into celebration and what you can do in the yard to honor moms and fallen soldiers. Though they are almost finished with their spring migration, if the rose chafer beetle is bothering the white blooms on roses, citrus, fruit trees, and other blooms, find out how to combat this garden pest. Need a prompt on what needs to be done in the garden this May, check out 'May To Do List." Got weeds? Find out from Jim which products he recommends for annual, perennial, and seedling weeds. Wondering just how safe Neptune's Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer is around pets? Laugh with Katie as she relays her puppy's account with this product. Highly humorous! Looking for color, Kym breaks down where to find it. Looking for compliment and contrast cues? Check out Drew article on the subject. As always, if you need additional help, let a Scenic Professional help you build the best gardenscape ever! 

Here is the link: http://scenicnurserynews.com/news/10/18/ 

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We were so glad to have Stuart Shimms, the giant pumpkin Kahuna, come speak with us about the fun in growing GIANT pumpkins in late April. His presentation on growing pumpkins, along with the care and maintenance tips, were extremely helpful to us all. A thank you also goes out to all those in attendance. We look forward to hearing how large your largest pumpkins grow. We know that they'll be the biggest in the neighborhood! For those who missed this presentation, but still want to grow giant pumpkins, check out his blog, www.pumpkinmania.blogspot.com. You can see where Mr. Shimms has been speaking on his speaking circuit. Check out some of the photos from this fun seminar. 

We have been so pleased to have hosted elementary school field trips recently. We love to see the fresh faces of our gardening youth. The teachers well prepared these young gardeners for their trip to the nursery, and these kids really knew their stuff! Still, with so much to learn in gardening, there was plenty of new information for these young minds to digest. We say thank you to the teachers, parents and students for coming to see us and plant with us. More pictures to follow!

Lately, we've had a good number of classes and workshops here at Scenic Nursery. We've had several schools come by on field trips. But, we always love to have the Garden Club ladies come by to see us, too, as was the case this past week. With such a large, productive Garden Club in Modesto, the Budding Gardener sub-clubs help to group people who may not know each other as well as some others so that new friendships may be formed and more ideas shared. To the ladies who participated, we say thank you! What fun we had creating themed herb containers topped with recycled, tumbled glass. The arrangements smelled as delicious as they looked! Thank you ladies!

We are so excited to say that Jungle Jim has worked his magic on Scenic Nursery's front beds. Earlier this year, we took out the old and now we've put in the new plants. Leaving some existing plants like the large coleonema made this revamp a challenge, but Jim brought the look together by using a consistent planting of marigolds and white profusion zinnia edged with bender board. He then planted grafted 'August Beauty' patio tree gardenias (that can take full sun), 'Kaleidoscope' abelia, Frasier's photinia, statice, additional roses, mugo pine, manzanita, and an assortment of nandina plants. He planted with the intention of leaving space as we know that these plants will grow with age. We planted with drought tolerance in mind.

We've recently gotten in some really cool wine barrel containers, perfect for those who can't or don't want to plant veggies, herbs, annuals/perennials, shrubs, vines or roses in the ground. Some of the options include: traditional half wine barrels, wine barrels cut lengthwise, two tiered, three tiered and third barrel with legs (this one brings the garden to above waist height, making it very easy to garden).The gardening possibilities are endless!

I stumbled upon this useful bit of information about cucumbers and felt I HAD to share it. Let me know if you try any of the uses and if it works!

 1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5 Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemicals will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Who knew, right??? We have a great selection of cucumbers available, so come down and get yours today.

We all love the colors and shapes that tropical plants afford us; and now, they are in stock! We've got bougainvilleas, hibiscus, banana plant, mandevillas, bird of paradise, palms and more. Though they often need protection in the winter from hard frosts, these plants make wonderful additions to your garden scape. Here are some examples of plants that look great in a tropical plant design. 

A thank you to Stephanie Ripple for her informative and fun talk about identifying bugs to know the bad one's from the beneficials. We had a great group of folks in attendance learning about how to incorporate companion plants to support the good bugs in the garden, such as lady bugs and preying mantis. We sell those here in the store. Lady bugs--$7.99 for about 1500. Preying Mantis--$9.99. 

Orchids are in stock, too. In fact, they are on sale for 25% off the original price. Original prices vary from $15.99-$35.99 and include Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, and Cymbidium varieties. Come in today!

So, we're going to start doing a plant of the week to highlight some of the interesting and beautiful plants we offer here at Scenic. Last week our plant of the week was...drum roll, please, heuchera! Prized for its variety of colored foliage and spiked small blooms, this evergreen perennial is a staple for any shade garden. This week's Plants of the Week (one for shade and one for sun) are calibrachoa and fucshia.

We've got so much color in bedding, it's dizzying! In addition, we are your veggie headquarters for standard, heirloom and unusual varieties of tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, melons, cucumbers, beans, okra, strawberries, pumpkins and herbs (including organic options). 

Spring is always such a fun time for us at Scenic Nursery. Not only do we get to see some of our favorite friends again, we get to enjoy the sights and smells of Spring blooming plants. Here are a few stunning azaleas. Notice how well statuary looks next to these bright blooming beauties. Love the 3 tier azaleas, too! 

Color Bowls On Sale:

8"  $4.99--- Reg. $7.50

14" $14.99-- Reg. $19.00

15" square $36.99-- Reg. $47.00

25% Off Flags and Stands

Flags Reg. $9.99-$19.99

Stands Reg $9.99-$19.99

A big thank you to Mike of Sierra Tumbled Glass for presenting his exceptional seminar on using recycled, tumbled glass in the landscape as well as to those who were able to attend. We enjoyed learning about all the varied uses for this product including (but certainly not limited to) creative mulching, pathways, dry rivers, pot decoration, mosaic tables, mobiles and more. Other practical features of this product include uses as slug, snail and cat deterrent. As a mulch, tumbled glass also insulates, keeping plant roots cool in summer and warm in winter. Again, Mike, thank you for coming in and we are glad to be carrying your eco-friendly tumbled glass at Scenic Nursery.

Heirloom Tomatoes

Black Cherry

Costoluto Florentine

Black Prince

Ghost Cherry

Goliath

Pineapple

Copia

Zebra Cherry

Juliet Hybrid

Black 

Cherokee Purple

Paul Robeson

Delicious

Early Wonder

Jelly Bean

Kentucky

Isis

Black Krim

Caspian Pink

Mortgage Lifter

Orange Oxheart

Mr. Stripey

Marglobe

Stupice 

Legand 

Old German

Zebra Green

Marvel Stripe

Black Frumtula

Tangerine

Lemon Boy

Juliette Grape 

Yellow Pear 

A warm thank you to all who attended Roelyn Poot's Cactus and Succulent Seminar. We thank Roelyn, as well, for the wonderful information she extended. Though it was a bit blustery, we appreciated the turnout and learned much.

Simultaneously, Harlan Smith with the Camellia Society was on hand to answer all of our Camellia questions. Harlen brought wonderful, hard-to-find examples of beautiful camellias! We truly enjoyed all of his feedback to customer questions!

For more information on Camellia's, go to the Camellia Cavalcade this weekend at the Gallo Administration Building (not the Gallo Arts center).

www.americancamellias.org/assets/Modesto_Show_Schedule-2010.pdf

Our next event-- a Scenic Sunflower Children's event this weekend, March 20th at 12:00 pm. The event will be Planting Seeds to honor the first day of Spring. We will help your child understand how a plant progresses from seed to plant form. This will be a fun and informative workshop! We hope to see you there. $3

Our next adult seminar will be on March 27th with Mike from Sierra Tumbled Glass. Get that WOW factor in your garden. Dry rivers, pathways, mulching, mobiles...the options are limitless! This free class will start at 11 am. All participants will receive a coupon for being present.Free.