Hudson Valley Seed Library Guest Blog

As the leaves fall and we put our gardens to bed, seeds keep next year's garden alive in our imaginations. They grow in our dreams.

And as you gear up for the fast approaching holiday season, everyone here at Victoria Gardens wants to encourage you to forgo the usual mall picks, and give everyone on your list the promise of spring.

What better way to do that than with Hudson Valley Seed Library Art Packs? Here are some fun gift pairings we put together for everyone on your lists:

The carnivorous plant theme is a great gift for kids of all ages. The Venus Fly Trap lures insects into its clutches with a sweet smell, and when the unfortunate victim lands, the open jaws snap shut! (What entertainment!) A good match for these Muncher Cucumbers with teeth!



For the dreamer on your list, this fairytale-inspired grouping matches mercury glass mushrooms with Tiny Tim Tomatoes and stain glass inspired hummingbirds and butterflies. The colorful insects are on clips for your tree or suction cups for anywhere!



For the introspective thinker on your list, give the gift of Zen with beautiful glazed Buddha heads and an assortment of seeds. (They have all winter to contemplate which ones they’ll plant.)



Just like the lady you love, Orchids have an elegant and long-lasting bloom. A sure winner for moms, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters alike, by the time the flower fades; it will be time to start her favorite seeds inside.




For the gardener who has everything, we recommend this pair of garden defenders. The praying mantis garden stake is more of a talisman, where as the packet of Good Bug Blooms will bring real insect predators to the garden to eat aphids and other destructive garden pests.



And for every Secret Santa in the office, we recommend pairing Hudson Valley Seed Library Art Packs with these animal ornaments for a very affordable, adorable gift.







You can find these and other great gift ideas, indoor plants, and gift certificates at Victoria Gardens on Rt. 213 and Cottekill Rd between Rosendale and High Falls. Now that Rt. 213 is open, it’s easy to get to us. For directions, hours, and more gift ideas, visit our website www.victoriagardens.biz.


*Of all the reasons we at Victoria Gardens love Hudson Valley Seed Library, and there are many, (they help maintain food diversity with heirloom varieties, their regional seeds are accessible and affordable, plus Ken and Doug are just so gosh darn cute!) the reason we love HVSL the most is their fun and fabulous art packs.

Local artists and local seeds are only the beginning of what has become a network of people and local small businesses cultivating a different kind of consumption. In the spring we carry organic, heirloom vegetable starts, which are grown at Regeneration Farm on Clove Valley Rd. in High Falls (3.5 miles away). Many of the vegetable starts are from HVSL seeds (Ken and Doug are only a couple miles away from Regeneration). So from seeds to our greenhouses, your baby veggies have traveled less than 5 miles! Talk about shopping local!*

More Locally Hand-crafted Jewelry

Handmade in the Hudson Valley: silk flower rings by local artist Iris Rivera ($22 each).

Locally Handcrafted Jewelry at Victoria Gardens

Designs by Local Jewelry Artist Linda Stella. Beautiful hand-crafted necklaces and earrings make the perfect holiday gift. Prices range from $18 -$84.

Live Evergreens For Your Doorstep And Winter Planters

Still want to put together festive planters for your stoop or doorway? It's not too late!

We still have a selection of plants available for your porch or festive planter:

Dwarf Alberta Spruce Doorstep Planter with Gold-thread Cypress under planting in red holiday pot.

Berryific Blue Holly (male and female) in red holiday pot.

Blue Maid Holly (Pyramidal Shape)

'Goshiki' Variegated False Holly in red holiday pot.

Honey Maid Holly in red holiday pot.

Blue ice Arizona Cypress with red holiday pot.

Blue feathers Cypress in red holiday pot.

Cripps False Cypress in red holiday pot.

Elegantissima Variegated boxwood in red holiday pot.

Flaming Silver Japanese Andromeda in red holiday pot.

Red Sprite Winterberry with red holiday pot.

Baby Blue Blue Spruce in 2# and 5#.

Korean Fir in 2# and 5#.

Christmas Trees at Victoria Gardens

We have Christmas trees for sale!

Victoria Gardens
1 Cottekill Road Rosendale, NY

Poinsettias: Keep them Warm!

Poinsettias cannot be cold! You should even shield them from the cold on your way home from the store. When you get them home, they will last longest in bright light. If you keep them in low light, they will drop their leaves.

Poinsettias are a holiday favorite, but many people ask how to make their poinsettia rebloom. BUT the regimen you need to follow to rebloom poinsettias is so strict we don’t recommend it. Just toss your spent poinsettia on the compost pile and call it a day. If you really, really want to try to rebloom your poinsettia you will need three things: a warm house, a dark closet, and dedication!

Read on for the full directions and timetable:

April 1st: Cut your poinsettia back to about 8" in height. Water regularly and fertilize with Neptune’s Harvest Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer, or another organic, balanced fertilizer.

May 15th (Or after all chance of frost has passed and night temperatures average 55° F or above): Place your poinsettia outside in indirect light, on a porch, or in dappled sunlight, and continue regular watering. Fertilize with the fish and seaweed emulsion every 2 to 3 weeks.

June 1st: You may transplant your poinsettia into a larger pot. Select a pot no more than 4 inches larger than the original pot. Keep up the fertilizing!

July 1st: Pruning may be required during the summer to keep plants bushy and compact. (You could do it later in the summer, but do not prune later than September 1.) Keep the plants in indirect sun and water regularly.

Here’s the tricky part:

October 1st: Your poinsettia must be kept in complete darkness for 14 continuous hours each night! Stray light of any kind, such as from a streetlight or household lamps, could delay or entirely halt the re-flowering process. Avoid stray light by moving the plant to a totally dark closet at six o’clock each evening and take it out at seven o’clock each morning.

During October, November and early December, poinsettias require 6 - 8 hours of bright sunlight daily, with night temperatures between 60 - 70° F. Temperatures outside of this range could delay flowering.

Continue the normal watering and fertilizer program. Carefully following this regime for 8 to 10 weeks should result in a colorful display of bracts and blooms for the holiday season!

Christmas Cactus

Christmas cacti are among the easiest, showiest, holiday houseplants you can grow and rebloom easily. Keep the cactus in a cool room away from the fireplace!

Care must be taken not to underwater it, as a Christmas cactus is in origin a
tropical plant, not a true cactus. Unlike many cacti, this variety cannot tolerate completely dry soil. If the soil gets too dry, the flowers buds will drop, and the plant will wilt. Feel the soil with your fingers; if it feels dry, it's time to water.

Don’t keep the soil sopping-wet all the time, however! Too much watering will cause spots from white rot to appear on the leaves, and the leaves will likely fall off. The soil should be evenly moist for best growth. Mist leaves as well as
watering the soil, and fertilize with a low nitrogen fertilizer, like Earth Juice Bloom.

They do well in bright indirect sunlight, but they also do just as well in florescent light in a windowless office. Direct sunlight can stunt growth and burn the leaves. When you move the plant outdoors in summer place it in a shady location.

And yes, despite its succulent appearance and lack of spines, it is a cactus, and it does bear their sparkly, iridescent flowers during Christmas.

What’s more, they’ll live for years. Certain specimens are said to be 75 to 100 years old. So start a new family tradition. Instead of exchanging a much-maligned heirloom fruitcake, give a Christmas cactus that will last from one generation to the next.