Growing guides
Plant-parenting advice from the family
Thirty-plus years of growing chemical-free teaches you a few things. These are the questions we answer most at the greenhouse — written down so you can take them home.
Containers & Baskets 10
New for 2027: 19 new plants
What’s joining our benches this spring — a yellow osteo from seed, a mildew-proof shade impatiens, wallflowers and more.
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Winterizing pots and containers
Which pots crack, which can stay out, and how to keep a perennial or shrub in a container alive until spring.
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Soil & mulch calculator
Add your pots, baskets and beds and see how many bags of potting mix and mulch to bring home.
Work it out → Containers & Baskets
Potting mix vs. garden soil
Why garden soil turns to brick in a pot — and the honest answer on reusing last year’s mix.
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Feeding containers
Baskets that quit in July aren’t dying — they’re hungry. The simple rhythm that keeps them blooming to frost.
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The mid-season haircut
Cutting a leggy basket back hard feels brutal and works every time. How far to go, and what the two ugly weeks buy you.
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How to plant a fairy garden
A pot that drains, plants that match, and a mossy lawn that lasts all summer — the project kids remember.
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Eight container recipes
Thriller, filler, spiller combos built from plants we actually grow — for shade, sun, hummingbirds, and deer country.
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Keeping hanging baskets happy
The watering rhythm that keeps a basket full and blooming all the way to frost.
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How often to water hanging baskets
Daily in summer, twice on hot days, less in May. The lift test, watering so it counts, reviving a dried-out basket, and when to hang them.
Read the guide →Perennials & Shrubs 15
Protecting a new shrub through its first winter
Your shrub's first winter is its riskiest. Water until the ground freezes, mulch the right way, and keep the rabbits off.
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Getting roses through a Minnesota winter
Hardy shrub roses need less than you think. When to stop feeding, when to mound the base, and why the pruners stay in the shed until April.
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Fall cleanup: cut it back or leave it?
Most of the garden is better left standing for the birds and the snow. The handful worth cutting now, and when to finish in spring.
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Hydrangeas, explained
Panicle, smooth, bigleaf, oakleaf — which ones actually bloom in Minnesota, and why yours might not.
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Perennial bloom times
A month-by-month chart of what blooms when — and how to build a bed that never has a boring month.
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When to divide hostas & peonies
Hostas: spring or September. Peonies: September only. The timing, the how, and when not to bother.
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Best shade perennials
Hosta, astilbe, and coral bells lead — a full Minnesota shade bed, layered tall to groundcover.
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Is it too late to plant perennials this fall?
Usually not. How late you can plant potted perennials in Minnesota, which ones to hold for spring, and how to help them through winter.
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Will my mums come back next year?
Sometimes. Why most fall mums don't return in Minnesota, and how to plant and winter them so yours have a real shot.
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Drought-tolerant perennials for sandy soil
Sandy soil dries out fast. The tough, sun-loving perennials that thrive in it anyway, and how to get them established.
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Best shrubs for Minnesota yards
Hydrangeas, lilacs, ninebark, weigela and tough natives: how big they get, when they bloom, and the pruning rule that saves the flowers.
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Ornamental grasses for Minnesota
Feather reed grass, switchgrass, little bluestem and more: which ones come back, how tall they get, and when to cut them back.
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How to build a rain garden
Where to put it, how big and deep to dig, and native plants for the wet bottom, the sides and the dry edges.
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Plants for hummingbirds
Salvia, cuphea, fuchsia and lantana among annuals; bee balm, columbine, penstemon and cardinal flower among perennials. When they arrive and what to bloom when.
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Perennials for clay soil
Coneflower, daylily, bee balm, Joe Pye weed, swamp milkweed, hostas and astilbe for heavy soil, what fails in clay, and how to improve it without sand.
Read the guide →Minnesota & Seasons 22
Planting spring bulbs in Minnesota
Tulips, daffodils and alliums go in during fall for color in spring. When to plant, how deep, and how to outsmart the squirrels.
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Fall watering: when can you stop?
The garden keeps drinking after the leaves fall. What to water, how much, and when it's safe to put the hose away.
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Fall leaves: rake them, mulch them, or leave them?
Most of your leaves are worth more in your yard than in a bag. Mow them into the lawn, leave some in the beds, and keep them out of the street.
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Hard well water & your plants
North metro wells run hard and alkaline. What that does to your pots by August — and what actually helps.
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What “full sun” really means
Six hours is the magic number, and most yards have fewer than you think. Map yours in one Saturday with just a phone.
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The Minnesota planting calendar
The whole growing year at a glance — what to plant when, and where the frost lines really fall.
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Minnesota native plants we grow
The 14 wild Minnesota species — milkweeds, wild bergamot, golden alexanders, little bluestem — that we grow ourselves in East Bethel.
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Will it survive a Minnesota winter?
Minnesota's hardiness map changed in 2023 — what the new zones mean and how hard to push them.
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Plants for monarchs
Milkweed makes the monarchs; late nectar fuels the flight to Mexico. Both, from our own benches.
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Is it safe to plant yet?
This week’s overnight lows for East Bethel, checked against tomatoes, peppers, annuals and more. Live every spring.
Check this week → Minnesota & Seasons
When to plant tomatoes
The last week of May — once nights hold 50°F and soil hits 60°F. Why the calendar patience pays, and how to cheat it safely.
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Saving geraniums, dahlias and cannas over winter
None of them survive a Minnesota winter outside, but all three are easy to keep. When to dig, how to store, and how to wake them up in spring.
Read the guide → Minnesota & SeasonsHardening off: why new plants sulk (and how to prevent it)
Greenhouse plants need a week to adjust to real sun and wind. The simple schedule that prevents sunburn and transplant shock.
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Starting seeds indoors: when to start and what you need
A Minnesota seed-starting calendar, plus the lights and habits that keep seedlings short and strong instead of leggy.
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Gardening in sandy soil
Anoka Sand Plain soil drains fast and holds little. How to build it up, water it right, and the plants that thrive in sand.
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Pollinator gardens & Lawns to Legumes
Blooms from April to October, homes for native bees, and how Minnesota’s Lawns to Legumes program can pay up to $400.
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Gifts for gardeners
Gift cards that arrive on the day you pick, spring workshops, and ideas for every kind of gardener on your list.
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When to plant pansies in Minnesota
Mid-April for spring, early September for fall. How much frost they take, pots vs. the ground, and keeping them blooming into June.
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Annuals that can take a frost
Hardy, half-hardy and tender: which annuals go out in April, which wait for Memorial Day, and what to do when frost is forecast.
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Last frost dates for East Bethel and the north metro
Spring and fall frost dates for East Bethel, Blaine, Ham Lake, Andover, Forest Lake, Elk River and the Twin Cities, from DNR normals, and what to plant when.
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Best annuals for shade in Minnesota
Impatiens, begonias, coleus, caladium, torenia and fuchsia, sorted by how much shade you have, with tips for dry shade under trees.
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What to plant in June in Minnesota
The tender annuals and vegetables that finally go in, perennials and containers, June chores, and what to sow in July and August.
Read the guide →Problem Solving 7
Why evergreens turn brown in winter, and how to stop it
Brown arborvitae in March almost always dried out, not froze. How to prevent winter burn, and how to tell what will green back up.
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Wilting: too much water or not enough?
Both extremes cause the same droop — and the wrong guess finishes the plant. The ten-second test that tells you which.
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Powdery mildew & leaf spot, no fungicides
Break both diseases with spacing, airflow and watering habits — the way we’ve grown chemical-free since 1991.
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Understanding your soil's pH
The single number that decides whether your plants can actually use the nutrients you give them.
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Why are my leaves turning yellow?
Reading the pattern of the yellowing tells you whether it's water, nitrogen, or iron.
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Why won’t my peony bloom?
It’s almost always planting depth. The six causes of a bloomless peony, in the order to check.
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How to fix leggy petunias
Why petunias stretch, the three-week staged cut-back that keeps flowers on the plant, and which types need pinching or a July haircut.
Read the guide →Pests & Critters 4
Deer- & rabbit-resistant annuals
The annuals and herbs browsers usually skip, the "candy list" to protect, and how to tell who's eating what.
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Deer- & rabbit-resistant perennials
The long-lived perennials browsers walk past — sun, shade, and native picks — plus the four to protect.
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Chemical-free pest control that works
How we handle aphids, Japanese beetles, slugs and more without synthetic sprays, and how you can do the same at home.
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Japanese beetles, without the chemicals
When they show up, the morning bucket routine that works, why bag traps backfire, and the plants they skip.
Read the guide →Houseplants 4
Bringing plants inside, without the pests
The fall move-in done right: the soak trick, the two-week quarantine, and why some leaf drop after is normal.
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Houseplants in winter
Furnace air and 4:30 sunsets are a lot to ask of a tropical plant. Water less, chase the light, add real humidity.
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How to build a terrarium
The layer recipe for a little world that runs itself — and the two mistakes that turn it into a swamp.
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Pet-friendly houseplants
The houseplants that are safe around cats and dogs — and the popular ones that surprisingly aren't.
Read the guide →Veggies & Herbs 5
Edible flowers & how to use our herbs
Pansies, rose petals, squash blossoms, bee balm: what’s safe to eat, how it tastes, and what to cook with every herb we grow.
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How long until I can pick it?
Days to harvest for every vegetable variety we grow, with your harvest date and a first-frost check.
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Seed-starting calendar for East Bethel
A seed-starting calendar for 42 vegetables, herbs and flowers, counted back from our May 20 last frost. Printable.
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When to plant vegetables in Minnesota
Crop-by-crop planting windows for the north metro: what goes in mid-April, what waits for June, and the soil temperatures that matter.
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Best vegetables for containers
Patio tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, beans, cucumbers, chard and herbs, with pot sizes, a north-metro planting calendar, and how to water and feed.
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No guide on that yet
We’re adding more all the time — and in the meantime this is exactly the kind of thing we love talking through in person. Call us at (763) 742-8774 or stop in and ask.