There’s Always a Reason for a Seed Packet!

At American Meadows, we (not surprisingly) love seed and in the past few years have expanded our selection of Seed Packets to reflect the growing demand for them. Whether you are hosting a baby shower, getting married, going to a tradeshow or simply want to spread your love of wildflowers, our seed packets are the perfect choice! Choose from over 70 designs for your next event.

Personalization

Any of our Ready-to-Ship seed packets are easily-customized with an Avery Label that fits exactly over our logo on the front of the packet. This is a great place to put a business logo or names & date of a special event.

Special Events Packets

Seed Packets are a great giveaway to guestsat your event because they will not only be able to enjoy the gift for months,but also remember your special day when the flowers bloom! If you are getting married, try any of our Wedding-themed packets, all filled with an easy-to-grow annual mixture.

If you are having a baby or bridal shower, choose from these adorable packets. Having a garden party? Try giving out a variety of our flower and herb packets. Our Bee Happy and Favor-Sized Packets are perfect for birthday parties.

Business Packets

Whether you are going a trade show or are simply looking for a great giveaway to perspective clients, choose from over a dozen business-themed seed packets. Unlike a business card, people won’t throw away a seed packet! Looking for larger quantities? We offer full customization of our seed packets; Request a quote here!

So the next time you are looking for a fun giveaway for a business or special event, try our seed packets! They are economical, easy to customize and ship quickly.

Happy Gardening and Promoting!

February 20, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · Comments Closed
Tags: Birthdays, Business Promotions, custom seed packets, Packets, Seed Packets, Showers, Special Events, Weddings · Posted in: Custom Seed Promotions, How-Tos, Wildflowers

5 Reasons to Plant Lilies

1. Their blooms are wonderfully-fragrant. Lilies are famous for their sweet scent and we recommend planting several fragrant varieties together for a summer garden enveloped in their sweet smell.

2. They make great cut flowers. What could be better than a hand-picked Lily bouquet from your own garden? Save money and plant enough Lily bulbs to make a bouquet for your loved-ones or friends!

3. Lilies are fabulously-easy to grow. They will thrive in full sun all the way to half sun/half shade and are easy to grow, adapting to many soil types. Today’s favorites are no more work than growing a tulip or daffodil bulb!

4. They take up little ground space and come back year after year.  Since they are upright and take practically no space at ground level, it’s easy to plant Lilies between other established perennials and shrubs. Lilies are perennial bulbs, meaning they will find a home in your garden and delight you with fragrant blooms each summer.

5. Over 35 varieties to choose from. We are excited to be carrying over 35 different varieties of Lilies in all different colors, shapes and sizes. Choose from our selection of Oriental, Asiatic, Tiger, Trumpet and Wild Lilies. There is sure to be one you fall in love with!

This season, whether you are creating a whole new bed of Lilies or simply tucking a few bulbs among your existing perennials, get creative and plant a variety you may never have heard of before!

Happy Gardening!

February 15, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · One Comment
Tags: lilies, lily, Oriental Lily, tiger lily · Posted in: Flower Bulbs, Gardening in Fall, Gardening in Spring and Summer, Perennials

Gardening is a Universal Language Too!

I’m always happily surprised in the amount of e-mails we receive from gardeners not only in the US but all over the world.  Through the years, we’ve shipped our seed to countries like Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Switzerland and the Ukraine to name a few.

I recently reached out to a customer in the UK who started “The Field of Dreams” back in 2011 and as you will see through their beautiful photos and videos, it’s been a great success.  We worked together to formulate custom mixtures for the property to their exact specificiations.  The results were stunning! 

Custom mixtures have certainly become more and more popular in the past few years.  We are able to recommend varieties that will grow best in your climate and soil conditions, whether you live in Fargo, North Dakota or London, England.  That’s the beauty of wildflowers; They are adaptable to many different growing climates and conditions!

Now I know they say “Love is a Universal Language” but I’d vote gardening a very close second!

Happy Gardening! – The Seed Man

February 12, 2013 · Mike Lizotte · Comments Closed
Tags: Customer Stores, Field of Dreams, wildflowers · Posted in: Customer Stories, Wildflowers

Valentine’s Day Blooms

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to feature some of our most romantic plants in all shades of pink, red and white. Although not blooming on February 14th, these stunning varieties bring extended romance to your lives in the spring and summer months, both in the garden and cut for endless bouquets.

Valentine Blooms

The Biltmore Estate Dahlia Valentine Mixture lights up the summer garden with a splendid variety of Dahlias in all shades of red and white. Dramatic in the garden, in containers, or cut for summer bouquets! Biltmore Estate also has the same Valentine Mixture for Gladiolus, which are famous cut flowers. The Bleeding Heart Valentine boasts deep red blooms that are sweetly-fragrant. This early-summer bloomer thrives in shade and creates a unique statement in the garden.

Love, Love, Love!

Love in a Mist is a cottage garden favorite, with feathery foliage and pretty blue flowers. Semi-Dinnerplate Dahlia Crazy Love puts on a magnificent show with full, white blooms and purple edging. Our Let Love Grow packet is the perfect handout for weddings, parties or simply to put a smile on someone’s face! Love Lies Bleeding gets its name from a combination of its color and the surprising downcast spell it weaves. A melancholy tale, the blushing beauty symbolizes passion while the sad, downward-facing blooms tell that a great love is lost.

Create your Own Romantic Statement

Plant Peonies in shades of pink, red, and white for the ultimate romantic, fragrant statement. The unique, spiky plumes of Astilbe create a colorful display in the shade. Try grouping a white, pink and red variety together. Hydrangea’s huge, full blooms make a grand statement in the shade garden. Try planting the true-blue All Summer Beauty or Pinky Winky for a romantic statement in the summer months.

I hope your Valentine’s Day is full of fun, laughs and love and that your garden brings you the same joy this season. Happy Gardening!

February 8, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · Comments Closed
Tags: Bleeding Heart, dahlia, gladiolus, Hydrangea, peonies, Perennials, spring bulbs, Valentine · Posted in: Flower Bulbs, Gardening in Spring and Summer, Perennials, Wildflowers

Award-Winning Garden Plants

With the excitement of the Academy Awards finally over, it seems a good time to start thinking about red-carpet plants. What will the best-dressed gardens be wearing this season? You can get a preview of what’s likely to be popular by looking at this year’s award-winning plants.

Several organizations offer awards for outstanding plants and each has its own criteria for selecting winners. Some of the groups are regional and promote plants that are particularly well-suited to that climate; others are international in scope. Some promote only new varieties, while others award plants of outstanding merit, new or not. Some limit their choices to varieties available as seed.

Whether spring weather is knocking at your door or you’re still in daydreaming mode, browsing these award-winning plants is not only enjoyable, it’s also a way to narrow down your plant choices if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the options.

Perennial Plant Association
A professional trade association dedicated to “improving the perennial plant industry by providing education to enhance the production, promotion and utilization of perennial plants,” the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) chooses one perennial as its annual Perennial Plant of the Year™. There are four criteria. The plant must be:

• suitable for a wide range of climate types
• low maintenance
• easily propagated
• exhibit multiple seasonal interest

Here’s a list of the winners since 1991, the year they started the awards.

• 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year: Solomon’s Seal Variegatum
• 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year: Brunnera macrophylla Jack Frost
• 2011 Perennial Plant of the Year: Amsonia hubrichtii
• 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year: Baptisia australis
• 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year: Japanese Forest Grass Aureola
• 2008 Perennial Plant of the Year: Geranium ‘Rozanne’
• 2007 Perennial Plant of the Year: Catmint Walkers Low
• 2006 Perennial Plant of the Year: Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Feuerhexe’
• 2005 Perennial Plant of the Year: Helleborus x hybridus
• 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year: Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’
• 2003 Perennial Plant of the Year: Shasta Daisy Becky
• 2002 Perennial Plant of the Year: Phlox David
• 2001 Perennial Plant of the Year: Feather Reed Grass Karl Foerster
• 2000 Perennial Plant of the Year: Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
• 1999 Perennial Plant of the Year: Black Eyed Susan Goldsturm
• 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year: Echinacea Magnus
• 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year: Sage May Night
• 1996 Perennial Plant of the Year: Penstemon Husker Red
• 1995 Perennial Plant of the Year: Russian Sage
• 1994 Perennial Plant of the Year: Astilbe ‘Sprite’
• 1993 Perennial Plant of the Year: Veronica Sunny Border Blue
• 1992 Perennial Plant of the Year: Coreopsis Moonbeam
• 1991 Perennial Plant of the Year: Coral Bells Palace Purple

All-America Selections Awards for Outstanding Seed Varieties
The mission statement of All-America Selections (AAS) is “To promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.” To this end, since 1932 AAS has worked with seed companies to conduct trials nationwide to evaluate plants under a range of growing conditions. Many of the winners have been around for decades and continue to be popular in home gardens. For example:

• Golden Beauty Yellow Corn Seeds, 1955 Winner
• Zinnia Seeds Persian Carpet, 1952 Winner
• Cosmos Seeds Radiance, 1948 Winner
• Straight Eight Cucumber Seeds, 1935 Winner

Fleuroselect
An international trade group of the ornamental plants industry, Fleuroselect tests and promotes new annual and perennial flower varieties, and also acts as a watchdog for illegal propagation of patent-protected varieties. Toward its goal of supporting growers and stimulating plant breeding efforts, Fleuroselect conducts plant trials across Europe. Here are a few past winners:

• Bellflower Champion Blue, 1998 Winner
• Bellflower Champion Pink, 1998 Winner
• Coreopsis Early Sunrise, 1989 Winner

So what will the best-dressed gardens be wearing this season? You can bet this year’s award-winning plants will be in vogue. However, if you’re like me, your garden might wear the latest plant fashions but you, on the other hand, will be far less fashionable — unless old T-shirts and muddy work boots find their way to Paris runways.

February 5, 2013 · Suzanne DeJohn · 2 Comments
Tags: award winning plants, perennial plant of the year · Posted in: Gardening in Spring and Summer, Perennials, Vegetable Seeds

5 Ways to Use Shrubs in Your Landscape

Shrubs are an amazingly-simple way to add big, bold statements in the garden with little work. They are large in size, many provide year-long interest in the garden and delight with stunning blooms. Whether you have sun, shade, dry soil or not – There is certainly a place in your garden for a shrub! Below you will find 5 popular ways to use shrubs in your landscape.

Create a Focal Point. The sheer grandeur of a Hydrangea bursting in blooms makes it one of the most impressive plants in the garden. The lovely blue blooms of the Hydrangea All Summer Beauty are a true conversation-starter and the whimsical contrast of lime green and pink in Pistachio’s blooms will also create a “wow” statement in the summer garden. The massive, bright blooms of Hibiscus will also draw attention and have (literally) stopped traffic at the American Meadows’ test gardens.

Add Year-Round Interest. Weigela Merlot Rose is a dramatic shrub that blooms a lovely pink in early spring, keeping its handsome bronze foliagethroughout the seasons. It will also thrive in sun and shade. Elderberries illuminate the spring garden with golden, finely textured leaves and blooms in the summer, followed by wonderfully-bright berries.  

Create Privacy & Hide Unsightly Views. Have a neighbor that is a little too close for comfort or want to hide an ugly chain-link fence? Large, vibrant shrubs such as Hydrangea, Butterfly Bushes, Hibiscus and more are perfect for doing this work for you!

Build “Garden Rooms.”  Because of their height and spread, Shrubs can be planted as “walls” to create a charming garden “room.” Place your favorite hammock or outdoor seat in your garden room for the ultimate relaxing place to read a great book in the summer months.  

Provide Cover for Birds & Other Wildlife. It’s probably not much of a surprise that winged wildlife love Butterfly Bushes and can not only feed but take shelter in them. Other shrubs that can be planted to help attract and provide cover for wildlife are Hydrangea, Hibiscus and Forsythia.

Try planting shrubs (or one, depending on your space) this season to add interest to your garden year-round, create a dramatic statement, add privacy, or to build your own garden room.  You will not only gain a beautiful focal point in your space, but will also provide food and shelter for birds and butterflies.

Happy Gardening!

January 30, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · 2 Comments
Tags: butterflies, Butterfly Bush, Garden Rooms, hibiscus, Hydrangea, Shrubs · Posted in: Gardening in Fall, Gardening in Spring and Summer, How-Tos, Perennials

It’s the Year of the Wildflower!

Whether it’s the first time reading one of my blog entries or you’re a devout follower, anytime the topic of “Wildflowers” comes up in the gardening community, the Seed Man gets excited. So you can image how ecstatic I felt when the National Garden Bureau declared 2013 “The Year of the Wildflower!”

Each year, a number of garden professionals get together and select one flower, one vegetable and one perennial to be showcased during the upcoming year. It seems fitting that wildflowers were chosen this year on the heels of the Lady Bird Johnson – “Plant for more Beautiful” commemorative stamps that were released by the USPS in November 2012. If you haven’t seen them yet, I would highly recommend taking a look. As we all know shewas a true pioneer to the wildflower movement in the US.

“My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth. I wanted future generations to be able to savor what I had all my life.” – Lady Bird Johnson, 2002

So if you’re been thinking about a wildflower planting but thought it was too much work, this is the year to plant! You don’t need a large area. Find a sunny spot in the corner of your garden and plant it with wildflowers this spring and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Happy Gardening! – The Seed Man

January 25, 2013 · Mike Lizotte · One Comment
Tags: Lady Bird Johnson, wildflowers, Year of the Wildflower · Posted in: Gardening in Fall, Gardening in Spring and Summer, Wildflowers

Blueberries: Let’s Jam!

Blueberries are not only high in antioxidants and great for your health, but also a delicious staple in a variety of culinary dishes. This season, plant your own Blueberries for the freshest, most delicious crops each summer. Blueberry picking is also a fun activity for the family! With the right soil and proper care, Blueberries are not difficult to grow and are more than worth the effort.

Where to Plant:

Choose a sunny or partially-sunny spot in the garden with good drainage. If your soil does not drain well, we recommend amending it with sand, peat moss or organic compost to help break the soil down and create better drainage.

How to Plant:
 
1. Space plants 4 feet apart in rows that are 10 feet apart.

2. Dig a hole two times the width of the root ball in nutrient-rich, loose garden soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5, amending if necessary. (To understand your soil PH, start with a Soil Test Kit)

3. Remove the plant from the packaging and lightly loosen the bottom of the root ball to release the roots as you set it in place in the hole. 

3. Keep the top of the root ball even with soil surface and fill in around the roots. Lightly pat dirt around your newly-planted blueberry. 

4. Water well, adding additional soil if necessary.

Harvest Time: July and August

Prune your Blueberry plant each year, removing the small branches near the base of the plant and any dead or injured branches. This helps to promote an upright, vigorous bush, therefore producing larger berries that tend to ripen faster.

We carry two delicious varieties of Blueberries: Blue Ray’s huge, juicy blueberries are a home garden favorite and dependably-hardy in colder regions. Berkley is a high Blueberry Bush, producing tight clusters of large berries perfect for desserts and baking.

Many gardeners (if they haven’t already) are now growing their own vegetables in an effort to eat healthier foods and become as self-sufficient as possible. Why not grow your own Berries as well? The summer months will be filled with an abundance of crops to eat at all meals of the day!  

January 23, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · 2 Comments
Tags: Berries, Blueberries · Posted in: Gardening in Spring and Summer, How-Tos, Perennials

It’s not too Early to Start Planning your Wildflower Meadow!

As I look out my window in my office, the giant snowflakes falling from the sky create a carpet of fresh snow.  Sounds nice– Or, does it!?

I speak to gardeners all across the country and many in warmer climates are getting ready for their “rainy season,” signaling spring is not far behind.  This is also a great time to begin planning your wildflower meadow.
 

With most people relying on Mother Nature to water their wildflowers, these spring rains can provide a nice soaking to the soil, allowing for a quick germination of your wildflower seed at the same time, eliminating the need to water. 

Just be careful if you’re thinking about planting on a slope as your seed could wash away if the rains are too heavy.  If you are seeding a slope, I would recommend a light coverage of straw (not hay as it could contain seed) to hold the seed in place a little better.  If there are heavy rains in the forecast, I would probably recommend sowing after these rains have past, but still taking advantage of the moisture in the soil.

So whether you’re enjoying the cold and snow or getting ready to plant in the coming weeks, it’s never too early to start planning your next wildflower planting and taking advantage of the conditions that Mother Nature throws at us!

Happy Gardening! The Seed Man 

January 17, 2013 · Mike Lizotte · Comments Closed
Tags: how-to, Wildflower meadow how-to, wildflowers · Posted in: How-Tos, Wildflowers

A Winter Beauty: The Lenten Rose

Few evergreen plants bring such color and unique blooms to the garden as the Lenten Rose. Also known by its common name Helleborus, the colorful, rose-like flowers illuminate the garden when it seems almost impossible – In the late winter months! Shade-loving and versatile, this easy-to-grow perennial is quickly becoming more popular in all regions and we are not surprised.

Lenten Roses prefer indirect sunlight, thriving in areas with half sun/half shade all the way to full shade. These early-blooming beauties also prefer moist soil. They are an evergreen plant in warmer climates, so if you live in a heavy winter area, you may want to pot your Lenten Roses and bring them in a protected place during the coldest months.

Many gardeners plant Helleborus in pots on shady patios or windowboxes. The plants usually stay around 12" in height and the stunning flowers start in the late winter and often last for months, so be sure to plant them where you can enjoy the blooms on a daily basis! If you are planting in the garden, try pairing with shade-loving foliage plants such as Hostas and Ferns.

We carry two different Lenten Rose mixtures that burst into a rainbow of blooms in the late winter months and into the spring. The glossy, evergreen leaves offset the single and double rose-like blooms wonderfully. This spring, try planting our Lenten Rose Mix or Lenten Rose Brandywine. Both of these varieties come to you as small plants and will grow significantly in their first season, bringing gorgeous blooms to your early garden next winter.

Happy Gardening!

January 15, 2013 · Amanda Shepard · 2 Comments
Tags: Helleborus, Lenten Rose, Perennials, Winter Blooms · Posted in: Gardening in Spring and Summer, Gardening in the Winter, How-Tos, Perennials

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