Greenhouse Preview Soiree

Friday, April 26th, 7pm - 9pm

Join us for a celebration of Spring, and an evening of beautiful flowers, before we open the market for the season!

At our Spring Soiree we'll feature our favorite new annuals and perennials of the season, and highlight butterfly and bee attractors. Browse garden gifts and Spring decor in our market, and special displays in our greenhouse.

Light refreshments include Cider Punch, Cherry Dessert, Cheese and Fruit Board, Iced Tea, and Product Samples from the market. Door Prizes throughout the night will include a Hanging Basket, Perennial Trio, and Fruition Seeds Packets!

You're invited to tour the greenhouse with Tim Kirby, as he explains our IPM program! Did you know we put special insects to work for us in the greenhouse? Learn how certain beneficial insects help us control pests. Grower Tim Kirby will introduce you to our tiny friends, and explain how this ecosystem works. Tours begin at 7, 7:30, and 8.

We’re hoping to see lots of familiar faces to help us start off the new season, and plenty of new ones too!

September Color

This is such a beautiful and exciting time of year! Summer and Fall merge, in a glorious display of color.

You can find pumpkins, strawbales, gourds, apples, and apple cider at Kirby's. A great start to the Fall season!

 We love growing a variety of pumpkins and gourds...

This giant gourd variety grows into some very interesting shapes and colors.

Little orange and white pumpkins are adorable, in just as many shapes and sizes.

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Our large Mums are exploding with color!

And there are a lot of colors to choose from. Complement your mums with some interesting foliage plants from our perennial area. Perennials are all 25% off!

Produce Update

Tomatoes are at their peak, while peaches are beginning to come to a close. Right now we have Cresthaven peaches, which are a freestone variety that's excellent for baking, eating, freezing, and canning. We also Babygold, a clingstone variety that is our personal favorite for canning. They have excellent flavor, you don't have to peel them, and their firm flesh holds up well in a jar.

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Apple Varieties Available now:

Honeycrisp, Autumn Crisp, Gingergold, McIntosh, Paula Red, and Jonamac

Other homegrown produce in season:

Sweet and Hot Peppers, Eggplant, Lettuce, Kale, Beets, Broccoli, Garlic, Cauliflower, Plums, Pluots, and Nectarines.

Locally grown produce in season:

Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, and Shiitake Mushrooms

NEW Gift Shop Items, & Mother's Day Gift Ideas

May is here! Our doors are open and the market is ready for a new season. Everything is cleaned and polished, out on display, and waiting for you to visit! Just in time for an important holiday...

We have a bunch of new things in our gift shop this Spring, and so many perfect Mother's Day gifts.

These rustic bottle vases are a lot of fun, and we ordered a huge variety. Single double or triple, tall or short. They're perfect to add a little cheer to any corner of the house, with a single flower or a small bouquet.

Or, if you'd like to take a break from the usual flower arrangement, just pick out a container (shiny, rustic, or wooden) and plunk a beautiful plant or two inside. Our greenhouse is full of pretty and interesting plants, with lots of color and texture to choose from.  You've made a little bit of instant beauty that Mom can  enjoy as a centerpiece, and then plant in her garden to enjoy all year.

We also have tools and gardening gloves for the avid gardener. If you really know your gardener Mom's taste in plants, there are some gorgeous perennials in bloom right now. Bleeding Heart, Garden Phlox, Tiarella, and Brunnera are a few colorful examples. Or you could go with green and pick out a hosta or fern from our collection.

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Are there just too many choices? Gift Certificates from Kirby's are a very popular Mother's Day gift.

It's a lot of fun seeing them come back through the rest of the year, exchanged for plants, fruits and veggies, baked goods, jams, or a fun home accessory.

A few more gift ideas for Mother's Day: Dishes and bowls from local potter Rose Vantyne; battery powered candles; pretty mugs and bowls; or votive holders with a locally made soy candle from Sandy Creek!

April Flowers

Walking in the greenhouse today, I saw little bits of color everywhere. So I picked a little photograph bouquet! I hope you like it!

April in the Greenhouse

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So far, April is a welcome contrast to March! Those patches of snow will be gone soon enough, with weather like we had yesterday.

The greenhouses are warm and humid, especially when the sun shines. Yesterday, the skies were clear all day and it got down right HOT! The smaller houses were opened up to let out some of the hot air, keeping the perennials cool for a little longer.

But in the big house we're keeping things toasty warm, and the annuals are growing like crazy. Hanging baskets have already doubled in size, and we're starting to see some color here and there! When we open our doors on May 1st, the difference will be amazing. Less then a month away!

Replacing Impatiens

It's a sad day, as we  say goodbye to garden impatiens. If you have a shade garden, you've probably heard of or experienced the issues that Garden Impatiens are having in our area. Did you have a patch of impatiens that wilted and died no matter what you did? Powdery Mildew is most likely the culprit.

First, Powdery Mildew  causes the leaves to yellow. Then the flowers drop, and soon there's nothing but sickly stems where your beautiful impatien was growing and blooming.

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Powdery Mildew was first spotted in Minnesota in 2011, and has since been found in 32 states, including New York. It spreads through the soil, water, and it will even travel hundreds of miles through the air. Once your garden or plants are infected, there's no way to get rid of it. A similar downy mildew that effects Sunflowers remains in the soil 8-10 years after infection.

This is the first year that we completely removed garden impatiens from our roster.

It was hard to let go of a plant that brought so much color to shady areas! Last year we had a fraction of our usual numbers for those that were still able to grow them in the area. But after seeing how far the mildew has advanced, and how devastated gardens were by the infection, we realized it was time to try something new and say goodbye to regular impatiens.

The good news is, there are replacements available.

New Guinea Impatiens are the closest match. They have a similar height and growth habit, with a good selection of colors. They prefer some sun, but will tolerate full shade fairly well.

The best solution might be to select a mix of annuals for your shady garden beds. Visit the shade aisle in our greenhouse for a good selection. We have Torenia, a shade-loving plant that produces beautiful flowers, and attracts hummingbirds. Ajuga is a perennial ground cover for shade, with colorful foliage. Annual foliage plants like Coleus will provide color as well as some height. These are just a few examples. Ask one of our helpers in the greenhouse and we'll assist you in finding the right plants for your garden!

Growing in the Greenhouse

This time of year, when Spring has barely made it's presence known, the greenhouse is an inspiring place. Warm sunshine falls on thriving green plants, and flats of sprouting seeds.

One small seed placed in the soil, one of thousands transforming into tiny, tender sprouts breaking through and unfurling in the light... after a long, cold, snowy winter like the one we've had, we're all waiting for a chance to branch out in the warmth!

We start our plants by seed, plug, or bare root transplant depending on the type of plant. Vegetables destined for the field are started from seed (tomatoes, peppers, brcooli, etc), as well as enthusiastic annuals (marigolds, allyssum, lobelia, for example) and perennials.

The photos below in the center and on the right show our broccoli seedings. Every two weeks, another crop will be transplanted into the field, giving us a constant supply of broccoli from June until November. 

Most perennials that come in as plugs (young plants growing in trays) are planted in smaller quart pots. Delphinum, Columbine,  and Dianthus are pictured below on the right, growing happily in quart containers. Look at that green!

All bare root transplants are put in gallon pots to give these large root masses plenty of room for an equally large plant. Some particularly vigorous plugs like hosta and helleborous are planted in larger gallon pots as well. Pictured to the left, for example, is Heleborous Ivory Prince with striking red stems and graceful, blue-green leaves.

Below on the left and in the center is Hosta Sum and Substance, one of the largest hostas on the market. It grew so well in the tray that they were impossible to pull out and we had to cut the tray to pieces! Look at all those roots. To keep them from becoming root bound, we sliced off a layer of the bottom of the roots. On the right is Pineapple Lilly, an exotic looking plant with  long pointed leaves and a tall flower stalk.

New Annuals for 2014 at Kirby's

Here are a few of the new annuals we'll have in the greenhouse this Spring. They're all Proven Winners, which you can count on for easy care and "vigorous, healthy, vibrant, and unique" plants. We're looking forward to trying out these gorgeous colors in hanging baskets, garden beds, and brand new combinations!

Superbells Spicy and Superbells Pomegranate Punch Callibrichoa

We added Spicy and Pomegranate Punch to our already long list of Superbell color choices. They look pretty spectacular! Those hot colors will pair wonderfully with purples, reds, and chocolate folliage.

Superbells Callibrichoa are a type of petunia with a finer foliage and many small blossoms. They are amazing in hanging baskets, container gardens and garden beds, and they can get very, very large!  One of our favorite things about superbells and supertunias is that, unlike traditional petunias, you don't have to remove the dead flowers. They'll bloom all season long with plenty of water and regular feeding.Growing Tips: If they get too big, they do respond well to being cut back. Because of the airy habit of the plant, it's best to protect them from high winds to achieve a better overall shape.For best bloom, don't let them dry out!

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Supertunia Flamingo, Petunia

A soft salmon color with delicate veining, Flamingo is a very robust Supertunia. It joins the ranks of some of our favorite annuals, including Royal Velver Supertunia, Priscilla SUpertunia, and Bordeaux Supertunia.

This beautiful plant has the potential to grow up to 18 inches high and two feet across! Like all Supertunias, Flamingo is beautiful in hanging baskets and container gardens. And you don't have to deadhead. It's always nice to avoid that sticky, unpleasant task!
Click here for more details.

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SENETTI ELECTRIC MAGENTA, OSTEOSPERNUM

Osteospurnum, (or African Daisies) have been grown in our greenhouse every Spring for many years. This season we added Senetti, an African Daisy with smaller, prolific flowers. The color is intense! 

Growing Tips: Similar to the Symphony Orange and Yellow African Daisies we usually grow, these annuals will bloom heavily in cooler weather, but will retreat in the intense heat of summer. When July comes around, be sure to put them in part shade and water often to encourage bloom.

However, these beautiful flower are frost tolerant!

We're looking forward to seeing what they do in the Fall.

Click here for more details.

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SUPERBENA VIOLET ICE, VERBENA

Lavender purple flowers on dark green folliage. This plant will bloom all season until frost, with proper care. Excellent in hanging baskets, containers, and garden beds, Violet Ice will also blend well with other flowers in combination pots.

Growing Tips:  Superbena are heat and drought tolerant!

Expect impressive results with regular watering and fertilizing. Verbena is another plant that you must deadhead, traditionally, but they were developed to avoid all that itchiness. Violet Ice will bloom for the entire season whether you remove the dead flowers or not.

Click here for more details.

Coming Soon.... photos from the Perennial House, and new perennial varieties for 2014!

Our Greenhouse in June!

The big rush to get our gardens planted as soon as this chilly Western New York soil warms up seems to have subsided. Weekends in May can be very very busy at the market!

Now that June is here, things have quieted down and there is still a great selection in our greenhouse.

There are still holes to fill in gardens out there, and porches to brighten with hanging baskets. Make sure you come to Kirby's to fill them and brighten them!

You'll be glad you did. Our hanging baskets are always amazing, and they're still looking fantastic. We have plenty of Proven Winners in 4.5" pots, and bedding plants in 6packs.

Our combination container gardens, window boxes and hangings baskets sold great this year, but we still have a few left. If you want to make an instant statement, these huge planters are the way to go!

How are your gardens doing so far? Send us a photo of your gardens and containers - we'll post our favorites on the blog!

March on the Farm

grasses

Even though the ground is still frozen (and no doubt snow will be flying before March is done) we're already seeing the first signs of Spring. With the mild winter we've had this year, green things are popping up pretty early. Have you noticed the daffodils poking through the ground? Maybe a patch of snowdrops or helleborus blooming? At Kirby's, it always gets green long before the rest of WNY thaws out completely. In our greenhouse, the first batch of hanging baskets has been planted. Happy little annuals are growing vigorously on the benches, gaining some size before we hang them up.

14 trays of onions were seeded this morning. Onions are a first for us! Farmer Tim was inspired  by our CSA program to add a few new crops. He's excited about the idea of giving our CSA members as much variety as we can throughout the season. There will be more plantings of lettuce and spinach too. Our regular customers will benefit as well, when that amazing homegrown lettuce stays around for a few weeks longer then usual, and homegrown green onions and beans show up on our market tables.

Soon there will be trays of tomato, cauliflower, broccoli, and pepper seedlings growing in the greenhouse. And before you know it, we'll be out in the fields harvesting delicious produce for your table!

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Plant Sale!

I know a lot of our customers have been waiting for this moment. Our greenhouse still has plenty of beauitful plants in it,  including big hanging baskets, geraniums... and lots more.

Starting Sunday, July 3rd, all Hanging Baskets will be 25% off and all other annuals will be 50% off!

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Perennial of the Month for June: Baptisia

Talking about getting in under the wire....! There are still a few days left in June, plenty of time to talk about this star of the Spring, Baptisia. We have several plantings in our display garden, some paired with classic orange poppies, and they are attention grabbers.

>>> And as a special bonus, a selection of Spring Blooming perennials is on sale NOW, including some Baptisia! Follow the signs to our "Back Mat" (where we keep our extra perennials) to find a stash of bargain Spring Bloomers.

And now, a few words about Baptisia from our perennial manager Jaime Brennan:

"Baptisia is one of my absolute favorite perennials, being a native plant is one of the reasons why. I only wish it bloomed all summer, but it does produce attractive seedpods that last all fall and through the winter. There are some newer varieties that have longer bloom time.  Baptisia australis is growing in the garden bordering the west side of our parking lot. They have become large beautiful bushes that have attractive light blue green leaves. Right now (June) you can see what a wonderful combination they make with oriental poppies. We have one beautiful plant of Baptisia alba located in the east garden at the edge of the road. There have been many requests for this plant that has dark stems with contrasting white flowers. My fingers are crossed that we will be able to offer them this year (several years ago I ordered Baptisia alba but they all bloomed blue).

Baptisia has a very large taproot that helps it tolerate the heat and drought we can experience here in NY at least once a summer. Their tall spikes have flowers that resemble that of a pea flower, which is not surprising because it is a member of the pea family. One interesting function that pea family plants can do is make their own nitrogen. If you've ever wondered what those small nodules on the roots were for – now you know."