You can shop all weekend long this long weekend. Our stores are open Monday through Friday 9 AM until 8 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM to 5:30 PM. On Monday May 20th you can shop from 9 AM until 5 PM.
If you would like to take a virtual tour of our Vancouver store click here.
Click below to view our TV Ad. This ad is running on the MeTV Network (KVOS) which is celebrating their 60th Anniversary this year.
If you enjoy growing Tomatoes and are looking for something unique and different try growing the Tomato ‘Tomaccio’. This grape sized Tomato have an intense, sugary flavor when picked fresh or dried at home. Tomato aficionados love them as a sweet snack or a gourmet ingredient in pastas, pizzas, salads and other dishes.
For more information about this great variety visit the website at www.tomaccio.com.
One of the easiest and most rewarding vegetable crops to grow on your own are Tomatoes. Now they are even easier with the new Mighty Mato grafted Tomatoes. Mighty Mato Tomatoes are like superheroes they are stronger, faster, more able to fend off pests and diseases than regular tomato plants. They are also most drought so you can miss a watering or two. They are also more cold tolerant so they can begin producing earlier and continue producing later in the season. But most importantly they produce bigger crops of tomatoes.
How do they do this? They are better because they are “grafted”. Grafting is where the top part of one plant is attached to the root system of a separate plant (the rootstock). The top part of the plant fuses with the bottom part of the plant and combine the rootstock’s vigor and disease resistance with the exceptional fruit quality of the top plant. These are NOT genetically modified in any way. They are some of the same great varieties that have been grown for many years including several Heirloom varieties. One important difference between grafted and non-grafted tomatoes is that the graft must stay above soil level, and you should prune lateral suckers for best fruiting.
The Mighty ’Mato line-up includes twelve heirloom and four hybrid varieties. For 2013 you can choose from the following varieties at our stores:
Amish Paste
Beefsteak
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Brandywine
Cherokee Purple
Early Girl
Green Zebra
Mortgage Lifter
Stupice
Sun Sugar
Sweet Million
Yellow Pear
For more information about the varieties please click here. To see the picture below please click on them.
The weather is finally warm enough to start thinking about putting tomatoes outside in the garden. It is still recommended that you provide some protection from the cold night temperatures. You can do this by covering your tomatoes with plastic or a white cloth like our “Crop Cover” or “Frost Blanket”. When the night time low is above 10 degrees Celsius, or 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you can leave them uncovered.
Whether you are a seasoned tomato growing veteran or a new gardener here are a few tips to help you grow better tomatoes:
Tomatoes are heavy feeder, they are the teenage boys of the plant world. You should add manure and fertilizer to the soil before you plant.
When you plant the tomatoes plant them deeper as new roots will develop along the stem helping your plants grow faster and stronger. (Except ‘Mighty Mato’ grafted Tomatoes, do not plant them below the graft)
Water regularly all summer, twice a week early in the season and daily during the summer months. Tomatoes that do not get regular water are more likely to develop diseases and are less likely to produce as much fruit. They also develop thicker skin if not watered properly.
Fertilize weekly with a water soluble fertilizer like Miracle Gro Tomato Food 18-18-21 or monthly with a granular fertilizer like Evegro’s Vegetable and Tomato Food 10-15-19.
Add Lime to your soil before you plant and every month during the growing season. Lime helps balance the pH and provides Calcium and Magnesium to the plants.
With so many varieties of Tomatoes to choose from here are a few varieties that perform well in our climate:
Ball Extra Early – a medium sized tomato that produces early
Beefsteak – one of the largest tomatoes with lots of meaty flesh
Early Girl – a medium sized early producing variety
Sungold – a golden cherry tomato
Sweet 100 – an excellent small cherry tomato
Sweet Million – a smaller version of the sweet 100 that produces an abundant crop
Tumbler – a great cherry tomato for hanging baskets that produces all summer until frost
Tomaccio – a super sweet grape type tomato that is great for making Sun Dried Tomatoes
In addition to these varieties you can choose from a selection of Heirloom Tomato varieties including:
Bloody Butcher – a medium sized tomato that is great for slicing
Brandywine Black – a large heirloom tomato
Latah – an early producing medium sized tomato
Nyagous – a medium to large early to mid season tomato
Prudens Purple – a medium tomato great for slicing
Be sure to stake your tomatoes as they grow to give them support as the fruit matures. You can stake them up with a basic bamboo or cedar stake or buy a “Tomato Cage” that provides support for the leaves as well.
Click here to download our information brochure on Tomatoes.
Summer Never Ends for the Endless Summer Hydrangeas!
If you have ever had a Hydrangea that did not flower and did not understand why this is the variety for you. The Original ‘Endless Summer’ Hydrangea is a mophead hydrangea that can bloom on both old and new wood. So no matter how you prune them they flower every year. There are now four varieties in the Endless Summer Collection to choose from:
Hydrangea ‘Bella Anna’ – the newest addition to the endless summer collection this is a beautiful pink
The repeat blooms of the Endless Summer® Collection truly offer gardeners an endless summer of incredible colour. These hardy plants are perfect for everything from foundation planting to container gardening. They even make an ideal floral arrangement or table setting as cut flowers.
The colour of the Original Endless Summer can be altered from pink to blue. For more information visit www.endlesssummerblooms.com.
If you are looking for a Rose that has all of the beauty with none of the work you should try the new Easy Elegance Roses. For more information click here.
Gone are the days of high-maintenance roses. With Easy Elegance®, you can have hardy, disease-resistant, chemical free roses without all the effort and attention. Let it be known – these are not your grandmother’s roses. You don’t have to spend all day in the yard to make them last. All you have to do is plant them and enjoy the beauty. And there’s nothing easier than that.