Spring showers bring May flowers! Our showers during the week are a welcome bath for all of the spring plantings. Celebrate Passover and Easter with roses, rhododendrons, and dogwoods, just to name a few beautiful bloomers! Our Houseplant Buyer has a glorious collection of orchids, calla lilies of vibrant colors, hydrangeas and azaleas. Come in and transform your home into a spring basket full of all of the colors of spring!

Just in time to answer your spring gardening questions!

Bob Tanem will be broadcasting from Wegman’s, Sunday, April 19th from 7 am to 10 am. Come early for a great seat. The first 100 attendees will receive one free 8 quart polling soil compliments of Kellogg’s.

A mid-season bloomer, this rhododendron is just beginning to come into bloom! The 'Scintillation' Rhodie’s color is just as the name implies: a strong purplish-pink shaded lighter towards the center that will glitter in your garden. This plant has the added benefit of being attractive to bees, butterflies and birds! The perfect spring gift for your favorite gardener.

Looking out over our Bedding Department is like looking at an impressionist painting! Use your imagination to create containers, borders, flower beds, and private retreat settings using the color palette of bedding plants of all hues and colors and textures available at Wegman's. Our staff is available to help you compose the right plants, colors and textures that, crafted together, create your own garden paradise.

Good News for Annie’s Annuals aficionados!

Wegman’s is carrying a small selection of Annie’s Annuals. Please let our Bedding Manager, Paula, know your favorites or what is on your wish list so she can order them.

Maybe you remember your first orchid as part of the corsage you were given or gave before the Prom back in high school. Since then orchids have always been associated with romance and fond emotions. Perhaps you have wanted to grow your own orchids but decided against it because you thought it would be too difficult or that they were too delicate for our environment. Easter is coming up--when could be a more opportune time to give an orchid to help renew some of those fond emotions and learn that caring for an orchid is not difficult or a chore.

The corsage orchid was probably a Cattleya, which unquestionably is not the easiest orchid to grow at home. You will need a greenhouse or a glassed in sunroom for your Cattleya to bloom successfully and regularly. It needs quite a bit of light and can not withstand temperatures much below 55°F.

Your first orchid might best be a Cymbidium orchid. The flower on a Cymbidium looks like a miniature Cattleya except the colors are not quite as dramatic. However, the Cymbidium is almost 'bullet-proof' as far as its growth requirements and care are concerned. Cymbidiums grow and bloom best in a favorable outdoor environment and are hardy to temperatures as low as 25°F. In our hard frost during the winter of 1990 when temperatures dropped to 18°F, Mr., Ed covered some of his 40 or 50 Cymbidiums with a plastic cover and put the rest on a covered porch. Only two did not survive!

Cymbidiums grow best in a mixture of one half medium fir bark and one half orchid mix. You can fertilize monthly with special orchid fertilizers or sprinkle Osmocote (14-14-14) in the pot once every four months. Water once a week in the winter and probably twice a week in warm weather. Water until it runs out the bottom of the pot.

Speaking of pots--Cymbidiums grow equally well in terra cotta, plastic or wooden containers. They will be happy there for up to tree or four years, when they should be put into a larger pot or divided. Cymbidiums bloom best if they get at least 4 or 5 hours of direct sun each day (east facing on the porch is good). Some of Mr. Ed's 40 plants have gotten full sun all day but that's too much and the leaves turn yellow and then brown on the edges. If the foliage is a nice glossy dark green, the plant is not getting enough sunlight. The foliage should have a slightly yellowish tinge.

Cymbidiums may be either standards with leaves up to four feet long, blooming generally after Christmas or miniatures with leaves about two feet long and starting to bloom before Christmas. The flowers of miniatures are about three-quarters the size of the standards. Also, in order to bloom properly, Cymbidiums need a nighttime temperature of 55°F or lower during October or early November, hence raising them outdoors provides the perfect environment here in the Bay Area.

You can bring your Cymbidiums indoors as they come into bloom. The flowers will last longer if the plant stays outdoors but may be more enjoyable indoors. The flowers on the potted orchid will last six or more weeks. If you cut the flowers and bring them indoors, they will last about three weeks.

So, if you want to grow an orchid, a Cymbidium should be your first choice to guarantee success.

Start all of the plants you purchase on sale out right! Buy 3 bags of either Master Nursery PayDirt or Bumper Crop and get ONE FREE!

Sale ends April 16th!