November 2017 - White Flower Farm's blog

Determining Plant Hardiness in Your Garden: The New USDA Map & Other Resources

Have you recently had a perennial plant overwinter that you didn’t expect would survive because it wasn’t designated to be hardy in your area of the country? If so, you might be wondering why. A clue to the answer lies in the newly updated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) that was released at the end of 2023. The map’s information has long been relied upon by gardeners, growers, and researchers to help determine which plants will survive, and which won’t, in their growing areas. The PHZM’s updates reflect changes that impact about half of the country, with the overall…

Keeping A Garden Journal

The best gardening advice that you can get may be your own. That doesn’t discount reliable information from gardening books and magazines, or expert recommendations from your local garden center, but who else knows best about what has worked in…

Forcing Bulbs – It’s Easier Than You Think

For starters, “forcing” is a misnomer because it sounds too much like work. We’re just tricking the bulbs into thinking winter is over quite a bit sooner than it is. Forcing is an easy sleight of hand that offers the…

Our Staff Favorites for Holiday Gifting (and Receiving!)

Each year, we ask a handful of our staff members to choose their favorite gifts from among our holiday offerings. Some select classic, tried-and-true treasures including our bestselling Canella Berry Wreath or Basket, premium Amaryllis, or fragrant Lily-of-the-Valley. Others cannot…

Winter Protection

As this is written in early November, it’s still too early to apply winter protection to newly-planted perennials, but it’s not too early to plan for it, if you garden in a cold-winter area (USDA Zone 6 [-10°F] or colder).…

Fall Sale! Save 20% on All Fall Planted Bulbs, Perennials & Shrubs

An extended period of mild autumn temperatures is a boon to gardeners. The soil in most parts of the country is still plenty warm, which creates ideal conditions for settling in new plants and bulbs. The comfortable weather also means…