Rush Creek Growers, Inc. Wholesale Catalog 2015 Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com 1 Echibeckia‘Yellow’ Colocasia ‘Blue Hawaii’ Plant Descriptions Key Plant Name ‘Cultivar’ h 6-12” w 8” U Height Light Width Requirements Benefits abbreviations: Form/Habit B = attracts pollinators such as bees U for upright; T for trailing; DR = deer resistant ST for semi-trailing H = attracts hummingbirds 2 Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com Rush Creek Growers 2015 Catalog 2015 Plant Descriptions Key ............................................................2 Greetings! ............................................................................... 4 Our Growing Methods —Updates for 2015 ............................9 Birds in the Greenhouse ........................................................13 Annuals & Baskets Specialty Annuals—4” compostable pots .............................10 Specialty Foliage—4” compostable pots ..............................43 Annual Grasses—4” compostable pots ................................55 Border Gems—jumbo 6-packs ..............................................57 Early Spring Pansies & Violas—1204-packs ..........................71 Large Annuals—8” x 6” gallons and 5¼” square ....................74 Baskets—10”, 12” & 16” fiber maché baskets ......................81 Fairy Gardens—4” compostable pots ....................................85 Annual Vines—5¼” square ....................................................86 Summer and Fall Programs ...................................................89 Edibles Edibles Charts ........................................................................90 Edibles—jumbo 6-packs and 3½” pots .................................94 Deluxe Edibles—1.04 gallon pots .......................................117 Herbs Herbs Charts ........................................................................119 Herbs—3½” compostable pots ...........................................123 Perennials Perennials—4½” deep, color coded pots ...........................138 Natives—4½ deep, color coded pots ..................................175 Ferns—4½” deep, color coded pots ...................................180 Perennial Grasses—4½” deep, color coded pots ................181 Tree Peonies—trade gallons ...............................................184 Perennial Groundcovers—jumbo 6-packs ..........................185 Life at the Greenhouse Our Favorite Greenhouse Jobs ........................................... 189 Tribute to Frances Williams .................................................193 Index Plants to Category ..............................................................195 Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com 3 Greetings Plant Lovers Well, we predicted a good year in 2014 and darned if it didn’t come true. The weather wasn’t perfect. The economy wasn’t perfect. The political atmosphere was far from perfect. But, in spite of it all, gardeners shopped, gardens grew and we sold out. Thanks to you and your loyal customers, we had our biggest season ever. We are extremely grateful for your partnership with us in this endeavor. Your support of both our philosophy and our plant list spurs us on to try even harder in 2015. Most of us here at Rush Creek Growers are middle aged and beyond, although we did add a couple of youngsters to the crew this year. Somehow, that increases the joy of seeing these new young gardeners entering the marketplace. It’s like handing down a treasured family heirloom to the next generation. Edibles have been their passion so far. According to a National Gardening Association study, food gardening is at the highest level in more than a decade. Spending on “food gardening” has increased by 43% in the past 5 years. And many haven’t even bought their first home yet. You can check out this study at www. garden.org if you have a “blue” day and need some forward thinking cheering up. We continue to innovate here. Our growing practices are worth a read. We have heard your concerns about pollinators and share them. Suzanne has addressed this her update on our growing practices. Our edible and herb lists are deliciously creative. Perennial sales are up again and we have added 120 new varieties. Our 4” annual program is eclectic and extensive. We work hard to fill your needs for the heirloom, the new, and the sustainably grown. We hope to visit you soon and get planning. Your hard work educating, marketing to, nurturing and “Wowing” gardeners is inspiring. Come see us sometime to see our part of the process. The best in 2015, Suzanne Baker, Vicky Weis and all the staff (animal and human) at Rush Creek Growers, Inc. 4 Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com Our Growing Methods Soilless Mix: For this coming year we have a new custom blended mix that will be 20% coir, 20% perlite and 60% peat. Last season it became clear that several of our staff members were having trouble with the fungi in the composted pine bark so we’ve gone back to the more inert ingredient, perlite. And we are increasing the percentage of the coir, which is a waste product from the coconut industry. Living Soils: Upon planting into the soilless mix, we immediately introduce beneficial organisms. The beneficials can be mixed with water and applied through our irrigation system. They colonize the root zone preventing disease organisms from gaining a foothold. The products we’ll be using this year are Actinovate and Cease. Compost Tea: In the first week after being transplanted, each crop receives a drenching of compost tea to further raise its biological activity. If the weather cooperates we keep applying the tea on weekly basis. Our tea is brewed from worm castings which have a fantastic selection of microbes. The 24 hr. brewing process increases the populations of the microbes. Aeration of the tea selects for the aerobic bacteria. The microbes are fed with Nature’s Source and some liquid kelp during the brewing process. Fertility: Nature’s Source soybean based fertilizer is our fertilizer of choice. It is applied in the irrigation water. We’re Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com 5 using a bit of sulfuric acid to deal with the alkaline nature of our well water. This keeps the iron and other micronutrients available. Disease Control: We are using a variety of products to supply the plant roots with beneficial organisms. These organisms take up residence, protect them and produce beneficial substances. Healthy plants resist diseases, are drought resistant and hold better in their pots. Containers: We have made a commitment to using compostable pots. We are still using attractive, sturdy rice pots in our 3½” herb and vegetable programs. The pots are made from rice hulls, bamboo and straw. Green colored wheat based pots unfortunately will not be available this year. So after our current inventory is gone the 4” annual program will temporarily be housed in lightweight green plastic pots. A plant-able rice pot is used for the annual vine program. It features slotted sides through which roots can grow. It’s also noteworthy that horticultural plastics very often use recycled material as a portion of their make-up. Rainwater Harvesting: We’ve been very happy to have a rainwater supply. During the winter and early spring it really helps to have this water to avoid pH problems on the rooting cuttings and small seedlings. We also reserve its use for certain sensitive crops throughout the year. We’ve been working out the bugs in the filtering system. Insect Control: My, oh my. This certainly has been the hot topic this year. The decline in the populations of pollinators and butterflies is alarming to all and is going to have a profound 6 Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com Ladybugs effect on our industry. It’s really encouraging to hear week by week that so many growers and propagators are shifting away from the use of neo-nicotinoid pesticides. Here at Rush Creek this past year we really focused our pest control efforts on the use of beneficial insects. We had great success controlling whiteflies with Encarsia formosa, a tiny parasitic wasp. Aphids are always a challenge to control, we used two different parasites. Aphidoletes miraculously cleaned up a few spots in hanging baskets. Aphidius wasps took care of odd far flung spots. It’s still a nerve wracking business. I also used beneficial fungi; products called Botanigard, Met52, Preferral and No Fly will be used this coming season if need be. Fungus gnats can be prevented by avoiding overwatering. We drench the plants twice in the spring with beneficial nematodes through the use of a product called Nemasys®. It’s a mass of Steinernema feltiae nematodes that eat the larvae of Fungus gnats and thrips! This has helped to control thrips in the summer. We’ll keep spider mites in check through the use of predatory mites and beetles depending on the conditions and temperatures in the greenhouse. Also with fungus in Met52. One new strategy we’ll be trying this year is to place a few plants that are beneficial to our predators in the appropriate greenhouses. Mullein plants and eggplants, because they are highly attractive to whiteflies, means a predator will have a better chance of finding food. Pepper ‘Purple Flash’ has been Rush Creek Growers, Inc. • 800-669-2971 • www.rushcreekgrowers.com 7 found to be a great source of pollen to sustain the thrip predator, Orius insidiosus. Also there is pollen