Christmas balls and glitter !

A few hours ago, we were still talking with a customer about 
"A possible brown Christmas".
And it seems, I just blinked and bam, it was all white outside.

So, it looks like we are going to have a white Christmas after all.
And to fit in this festive season, we want to show you what we all have to offer in Barrhead's own Christmas store.

It is surprising how many "nooks" we can create.  A good nickname for our store could be "The cozy nooks" store.!

Unexpected, we found a few more treasures for our store.

These cute vintage lamps add such "cozyness" to our store, sometimes it feels like you are entering a home.

These cookies are not for eating (although they look really yummy!).  They are wax melts and add a delicious aroma to your place.  (we tried the "minty" one in our store)

First reaction of many customers is :

              "How much stuff is in here"!

 We do hope that is a good thing !!??

After battling with Christmas balls and stars, we were able to give you a view from above in our store.

They often say "The sky is the limit" however in our store, the ceiling is unfortunately the limit.

And in the greenhouse we have a lot to offer you as well.

We have a good assortment of house plants and we expanded more making different and unique 

"dish gardens".  

And this is something we will keep working on in the future.

Small, decorated Christmas trees.  Perfect for inside during this season and in the spring you can put it outside.

(and then you could bring it back inside during the next winter to use again as Christmas tree)

Many of you have asked already about the Artisan Christmas Market and yessssssss on December 5 we like to welcome you all.

Please come out to enjoy music performed by 2 local groups:
The Madrigal Singers & Blind Dog Revival.  
(and there will be delicious baking again!!!!!!!) 

And as we read in social media about the uncertainty about wishing each other "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas", let us close off this blog post by wishing everyone

                 A Wonderful Merry Christmas !!
                 from our family to yours.

We thank you all for following our blog and your support during this past year.

Till next time !

I guess it is time to face the music !

According to the radio, SPRING IS OVER !

On my way home tonight, i saw a lot of campers on the high way.
Probably people who are trying to get the last camping trip out of this last long weekend.

For us in the "greenhouse biz", indeed the spring season has ended.

But, no sadness here !!  Fall is a beautiful season.

To show you, let us cheer you up with some pictures of plants we got in.

This is one of these "Fall plants".  HEATHER.
When we were young, we used to go for Sunday walks in the dunes.
Maybe, as a kid, we did not really appreciate these plants growing all over and showing beautiful colors.  We were more focused on the sweet treat that often followed these walks.
But now as we can offer them in our garden center, I really have to say these plants are great to create your fall center pieces.
Combined with a little "flowering kale" (which by the way we also offer) and a pumpkin, voila, there is your "Fall piece".

To add to all this, we have Fall colored GERBERAs, 
pinkish, reddish and orange KALANCHOEs,
and if you are not really ready for fall, we have beautiful CYCLAMEN.

We were often asked: When are the houseplants coming????
Well, they are here!
All different kinds and sizes.
And while I was taking a picture of one side, i got poked in my... by the plants on the table behind me.
So clearly you can guess that these are the "CACTI-families"

As many of you heard or read, we have started this new project.
AN INDOOR STRAWBERRY U-PICK FARM.
So far it has stayed very true to its name, because we have not had to pick so far.
Many have already enjoyed our delicious strawberries!!

We had to call in the help of a "bumble bee" hive to pollinate the plants.
Are you one of the few (really not!) people who read instructions properly.?
Well these bees come with them.  

It is almost like the Pandora box.  However when you open this box the wrong way, several quite ticked off bees come out.

(and Koen discovered how ticked off they were.  I would think these were female bumble bees??)

So to close off this blog, let us show you our turkeys.  

Soon there will be many served in a slow cooker or roaster.

Of course we got the seasonal garden mums in.

We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and a delicious turkey (or maybe chicken or ham)

Anyway, what ever the meat, we hope to see you all soon again!

Koen & Inge de Herdt

spring 2015 movie

Just for all of you to enjoy ! 
Grab a cup of coffee, get a comfy chair and don't forget the sweets.

We hope you will like this (first time ever made ourselves) movie as a looking back to this already 2nd spring season at our new location.

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by, who is still stopping by, and hopefully will stop by in the future.

Have a wonderful summer everyone !!

Koen & Inge de Herdt
De Herdt Gardens

Come with me and you'll see

A world of color and beauty 
(was someone saying "a world of imagination" as the song of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory would go??)

On this quiet evening, it was the perfect moment to take some nice pictures.
The days have sure been busy and many people are getting ready for their gardens.

So let us show you what we have to offer:

A fuchsia always reminds me of a ruffled skirt.  
They are just so beautiful !

A sunny colorful combination with million bells.  Great for a sunny location.

Yes, I climbed the ladder again.  
How else can I see what's on top of us.

And in between all the other baskets, the big town baskets are quietly growing.

Begonias like a sunny spot, BUT not the hot sun,  Best is to hang them a little bit more protected from the heat.  Great summer bloomers.

Any one fancy green hair?  No, this is green twist bamboo.  A unique addition to your garden.

Sorry, I did not dare to go higher and i got stuck in the metal arbor (don't know how i could have missed this one)

We have grown many hang baskets this season and hopefully they all get to go to a new home.

Next week, many of you will receive a flyer from us in the mail.
We are trying something new.

We are setting up the last Artisan Spring Market on May 23.
Lots of vendors will be showing you what they have to offer.

And Saturday is THE DAY of fresh veggies and freshly baked artisan breads.  Perfect for the bbq suppers and camping trips.

As my day is coming to an end, (I smell freshly made coffee in the kitchen) we would like to thank you all for your support !

Our greenhouse is a working progress and we very much appreciate your patience and understanding for things that are not all quite there yet.
(but we will work on it for next year !!)

Thank you for following our blog.
Till next time again!

Could there be a White Mother's day in the near future?

As we have been preparing our garden center for this coming weekend, a scary thought did come up after hearing the forecast. 
So while the cold wind is blowing crazily outside, lets warm you up with some springy pictures.

Hanging baskets are up and have started growing and showing lots of colors.

The colors for the communities in bloom this season are yellow and blue.

Two welcoming moose in a greenhouse can certainly make the talk of the day.

We will have lots of different basket stuffers that you can use for planting baskets and flower beds

This spring season you will have The Cozy Nook to sit in, have a cup of coffee and relax.

(just remember we close at 9 pm, then you'll have to go home)

A lot of our pretty petals garden club members will have received the invitation to the Artisan Mother's day market on may 9.  

Lots of vendors will be there and students from the Barrhead high school will be doing facepainting.  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOMS OUT THERE.

Thank you for following our blog.

Till next time !

In case you need garden seeds !

The time to start getting your garden seeds is here.

We also offer Harmonic herb seeds again this seed season.

Gord and Kathleen are the people behind this brand and if you were to have any questions,they will gladly help you out.  The brown papered seed packages are easy to spot.

Did you know they live in Barrhead ?

This season, Renees garden and Cornucopia again have a display with different varieties of seeds for the garden.

Lindenberg is the name of a latest addition.  Price wise they are very good.

A lot of our customers are looking for organic seeds.
So we added some Mckenzie varieties to choose from.

A few years ago a company called Seedcenter provided many garden centers with the big brown bags of vegetable seeds. This company is no longer in business and the Lindenberg company has filled up this empty space.  
They offer big bags for the well known veggie varieties for a very good price.

Have you ever tried seed tapes?  These have become very popular and many customers just love to seed with these.

You simply roll out the tapes, cover them with little dirt, water everything and you are done.

Good to know:

1. store seeds in a cool area (we use a big fridge to store the seeds in).  Keeping them cool will keep the seeds from germination and drying out.

2. When you buy seeds, there is always a germination percentage.  

This means that there are always some seeds that will not sprout. So if you plan on having lots of veggies, maybe seed some extras to make sure you end up with enough.

3. some seeds you should not keep over (like onions).  It is best to buy new seeds every season.

Also, a date to mark on your calender:

Hopefully spring will have a good start this year, but after 17 seasons, we realize we might have a surprise still to come.

Our store is open and you are most welcome to just stop by and get a taste of spring already.

Thank you for following our blog !

To make us think spring is coming faster, we put our trust in a little plant !

Whether it is coming or not, work at the greenhouse does not stand still.
While quite a few little sprouts are ready to go out into the world,

There is still a lot to be seeded.

With the help of our "seeding box", the seeding can be done faster.  

When you walk through the greenhouse, here and there the unexpected flower pops up:

We have had these "stock-popcorn geraniums" already for almost 12 years.  So far it has provided us with many new cuttings.

Meanwhile, we had to open the second greenhouse already. 

Here you can see the potted roses and many different varieties of iris.

And something new we are going to try.
We brought in all different kinds of shrubs.  Soon they will be transplanted in bigger pots.

Of course, this spring we will offer many kinds of herbs again.  The smell of fresh basil just makes you hungry.  

To close off, I was asked to help spread the word about this coming up event.  If you have never attended this day, I have to say that it is really a nice day out.  So if you have nothing planned, this may be something nice to come to.

Thank you for following our blog.  

Till next time again !

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