'Tis the Season of the Christmas Tree

Tis the season of Christmas trees and greenery. Most of us probably don't think about what the origins of the Christmas trees, boughs, and wreaths that we decorate our homes are. These evergreens have an interesting background. Long before Christmas and the advent of Christianity, plants that remained green all year were believed to keep away witches, ghosts, illness, and evil spirits. Evergreens were also displayed during the winter solstice to remind everyone that green plants would grow again and the sun god would become strong once again. Early Romans decorated their homes with evergreen boughs during the solstice to mark the coming of farm production, the Vikings thought that evergreens where the special plant of the sun god. Across all cultures evergreens represented light and new beginning. Germany is credited with the Christmas tree tradition as we know it. Christians brought decorated trees into their homes to celebrate Christmas. It is said that 16th century Protestant reformer Martin Luther was walking home one evening and saw the stars twinkling amidst the evergreens and wanted to recreate that beauty for his family so he adorned the branches of his tree with lighted candles, hence the beginning of lighting the tree. German settlers brought the Christmas tree tradition to the US with little acceptance from the Puritans, seeing it as a Pagan symbol. In the 1600's most Christmas traditions we know today such as the Christmas tree, decorated front doors, candles, and Christmas carols were considered offensive. It even went as far as people were fined for having any Christmas decorations. However, the influx of German and Irish immigrants soon overpowered the Puritan ways and by the 1890's Christmas decorations were arriving from Europe and Christmas tree popularity was soaring. The most famous tree in the US, the Rockefeller Center tree was set up by construction workers during the depression to bring cheer to passerby's. Today the Rockefeller tree is a staple of the Holiday season.

www.history.com

Today Christmas trees adorn houses all over the country. Here are a few facts about Christmas trees today.

• There are 350 million real christmas trees currently growing in Christmas tree farms in the US alone, all planted by farmers.
• There are more then 4000 Christmas tree recycling programs in the US.
• The average growing time for a 6-7 foot Christmas tree is 7 years.
• The top tree producing state is Oregon.
• There are 25-35 million Christmas trees sold in the US every year.

realchristmastrees.org

No matter the history of the tree today we make them our own. Whether it is a traditional Frasier Fir with classic ornaments or a bright blue tree full of flair they represent our style, our family traditions, and the Christmas spirit.

Spruce Tip Pot Decorating

It has been a beautiful fall with lots of color and sunshine. The leaves are falling off the trees and the breeze is getting cooler which means that the planting season is coming to a close. Don't let that get you down. Your front porch does not need to go bare. It is the season of the Spruce tip pot. There are so many creative ways to decorate your pot. You can keep it simple with dogwood and berries or really bling it up with sparkles, ornaments, and bright Holiday decor. You can decorate them for Thanksgiving, then change it up for the Christmas and the Holiday season. If you are not feeling creative you can come on in and get one of our custom pots that fits your style. If you need a little inspiration to get you going Pinterest is always a great tool. If you have never decorated with a Spruce tip pot now is the year to try it. I promise, you will love the color and style it will bring you your front porch.

Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery in a Nutshell

Lynde Greenhouse and Nursery is a 5 generation family business built and run with passion. Ed Lynde and his son Derek Lynde run the business together. Today we have a garden center, a landscape division, a wholesale department, and a commercial design and installation crew.

Our landscape designer Joe Annis was voted the best landscape designer in Maple Grove this year. Joe and his crew consistently design creative and sustainable landscapes for Maple Grove and its surrounding suburbs.

Our Garden Center carries high quality and unique product. We have a knowledgable staff with years of expertise! Whether you are looking for a few plants for your front porch or trees, shrubs, and perennials to re-do your yard we have what you need.

Our wholesale department sells to big and small retailers, grocery stores, and garden centers. We also have fundraising programs for community organizations, sports teams, and schools. We have a spring and a winter program that both offer huge selections of plants and combinations. It is a great way to raise money for any organization.

If you have walked around Arbor Lakes, The Shoppes, Main Street, Maple Grove Hospital, Woodbury Lakes, or Excelsior and Grand you have seen our commercial design. Kelsey Ness, Our lead commercial designer works with each location to create designs unique to each location.

Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery have an amazing staff that works hard everyday. From the landscape crew, from the Garden Center staff, to the greenhouse workers and the office staff, everyone plays a crucial role in the functioning of the company.

Fall Planter Ideas!

Just because fall is coming that does not mean that it is time to throw in the shovel on your outdoor planters. Fall is an amazing time to transform your front porch into a brightly colored, pumpkin filled,   festive display. I personally think fall displays are the best of the year. You have pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, colorful annuals, scarecrows, grasses, & and mums. When you get to October add your Halloween decorations within the planters. Use lights and carved pumpkins to illuminate your design. There are just so many opportunities to be creative and unique. Here are some of my favorite ideas:

The Succulent Pumpkin:

Carve out a real pumpkin or use a pumpkin planter and put succulents inside of it. It is a twist on the usual fall plants and is the perfect centerpiece for a party or a great gift for a friend.

The pumpkin lined garden bed:

Use small pumpkins as the first layer in your garden bed. Add mums or another colorful annual behind it and finish the layers with some annual grasses. It is a beautiful way to line a sidewalk or do a smaller scale version around your mailbox. 

Illuminate:

Add solar light or battery operated lights to your fall planters. Our garden center has ceramic globes in 3 different sizes in beautiful fall colors. These would be perfect to arrange in the front of your planter with mums, zinnias, grasses, and kale. They look amazing in the daylight as well as the nighttime. It is also fun to have pumpkin or seasonal themed lights as well. Work them within your design so the entire planter flows. I like when there is a subtle glow that illuminates the planter. With it getting darker earlier it is always nice to have little glow.

Vertical mums:
Vertical gardening has really taken off this year. Keep it going with a wall of mums. Hang planters on a fence,  from your deck or even your trees. Mums are great because they are relatively cheap, are full, and add fast bright color.

There are so many ways to create a fall paradise. The best part about fall plants is that they are cheap. The season isn't as long as summer but you get beautiful full planters for a fraction of the cost of your summer planters. And really if you start them now, because we all know our summer planters are starting to look a little under the weather, you will have over 2 months to enjoy them before you transition them into your spruce tip pots:)

Beyond the Garden Center

Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery goes well beyond our retail Garden Center. We sell wholesale to businesses, have a landscape design & installation team, as well as design and install on commercial properties.

Our wholesale customers range from small retail owners to big companies. We wholesale plants for every season all around the state.

Our landscape designer Joe Annis was voted "Best Landscape Designer" at the 2015 Best of Maple Grove Awards. From small projects to big he is your go to designer. Our landscape team has designed and installed retaining walls, fire pits, paver patios, flower beds, garden plots, water features, and so much more. Whatever your landscape aspirations we will be there from the initial concept all the way through the final product. We will work with you to design a product that is creative, unique, functional, and personal.

Kelsey Ness heads up our commercial design. Our commercial sites include The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, Maple Grove Hospital, Excelsior & Grand, Woodbury Lakes, just to name a few. Most of these sites do summer and winter decor and a few do summer, winter, spring, and fall. The spring designs consist mostly of pansies, curly willow, and dogwood. The spring season for flowers is a short one so not many sites choose to do this. The summer planting options are endless. We work with a lot of petunias because they are durable, colorful, and hardy. We use Begonias, Coleus, and Impatiens for shady areas. Grasses and Canna Lilies add height and layers. We like to use blocks of color for impact and visibility. Our hanging baskets are exceptional. We start them early in the season in our greenhouses so they are full and vibrant when it is time to hang them. Fall, like spring is a short season so only a select few locations choose to do it. I personally love fall. From colorful mums, purple kale, to bright zinnias fall planters have so much to offer. The winter season brings out the spruce tips, birch, winter greens, and bling! We also string lights in tress as well as light wreaths and spruce tip pots.

Whether it is our Garden Center, Wholesale Department, Landscape Design, or Commercial Design we take pride in our product and are passionate about what we do.

The Dog Days of Summer

It's been awhile since our last post. We had a beautiful early spring and have had a warm sunny summer so far. We are now into what some call "the dog days of summer".  Some of your plants look great and others look a little weary and wind blown. It is kind of a tricky time of year because we still have a lot of summer left but some of our plants and flowers don't look so hot. This is the perfect time to start working in some fall annuals. If you have a planter with a couple tired looking plants take them out and replace them with a rudbeckia or flowering kale. Mums are always an option too but just know that if you put your mums out now you will probably be replacing them a couple times before fall is over. Mums bloom only once and in this warm weather they will open pretty quickly and bloom for a shorter period of time then they would in the cooler weather. Fall combinations are on their way but in my opinion just wait a little longer. Give your summer flowers the life they deserve.

Should I plant yet?

Minnesota springs can be tough. One day it is beautiful and the next day it feels like December. It is so easy to want to plant that first nice weekend. A lot of stores will have their flowers out and for sale. That does not mean you should plant them yet. Retailers know that when the sun comes out and the weather gets a little warm we get anxious. Don't fall into that trap. The cardinal rule is wait until Mother's Day weekend and even then you are not always in the clear. Here are some tips to get you going. Plant cool weather plants to get you started. Use pansies, snapdragons, violas, and regal geraniums. Look at the 10 day forecast, that can help you plan accordingly. If you do plant, cover your pots during cool nights. In the end just be patient. The time will come, even though sometimes it feels like it never will.

Easter Gifts

Easter is almost here. Finding that perfect hosts gift can be tricky. We've got you covered. There are so many creative ideas out there. Some may be too expensive or some could be beyond your creative comfort zone. I am going to give you some ideas that are easy, affordable, and adorable. Your hosts will already have their table set with decorations, flowers, and bunny napkin holders. The goal for a hosts gift is to give them something they will want to use after everyone has left. Something for them personally. Fresh cut flowers are always a nice gesture but get creative with them. Tulips and lilies are beautiful and I always want to give them as a gift because I am a firm believer that you should have fresh flowers in your home year round. The trick is not making the flowers the gift. Make what you give the flowers in the gift. That way they can use it over and over. Give something different and unique. Everyone has a glass vase. One idea is giving your flowers in a moss purse or moss cowboy boots, yes cowboy boots. You will have to find some sort of vase or container that fits in the purse etc but once you do that it is so easy and fun.

Another idea is a hanging terrarium. You are seeing these all over pinterest and for good reason. They are adorable. You can make them with dirt, a little moss, and small houseplants or succulents. You can find the empty terrariums at floral shops or craft stores.  I personally buy them already made. I find by the time I get all the materials it is cheaper to buy it already made unless you are planning on making a bunch of them. We have the most adorable ones in our garden center right now.

The anticipation of spring & summer makes plants and fresh flowers so popular at Easter but don't forget about yard deco. A birdhouse, yard stake, solar lights, or chimes can spur that spring excitement just as much as plants and will be enjoyed all season! 

Whatever the gift have fun with it and don't forget to get yourself a little something in the process :) Oh, everything above we have in our Garden Center, come immerse yourself in spring!

Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery is Growing Spring!

It is 70 degrees and sunny in Lynde Greenhouse and Nursery. We have lilies waiting for easter, hydrangeas exploding in shades of pink, and annuals just popping up. We don't just put these plants in the dirt and hope they grow properly. We truly put our heart and soul into these plants. We take pride in what we grow and what we sell. Growers are pacing the isles checking the progress, watering, and pruning. We are planting everyday so our product is timed perfectly for you. This isn't just is a business it's a passion.

Winter Gardening and Decor Ideas

It is a long cold winter in Minnesota. We all get anxious for spring. We look out the window and see a color palette of white, grey, and brown. I think seasonal depression doesn't just from a lack of sun but also from a lack of color and visual stimulation. Don't get me wrong, I love a snowy landscape but weeks of clouds and grey sky takes its toll. On a day where the snow is blowing and the wind chill is 40 below we don't want to leave the comfort of our homes so my thoughts are bring the outside into your home. Not the winter outside of course but the summer outside. Fresh flowers for starters are a great and easy way to add color and life to your home. Just make sure you cover them up when they are outside, they are not a fan of the frigid air. Put them on the counter, the kitchen table, or in small individual vases around the house. Another way to bring green into your home is with fresh herbs. If you have a sunny window with an area for a small pot or a few small pots plant some herbs. Choose your favorite cooking herbs and you will always have fresh on hand. A cute way to have herbs is to hang small pots from the ceiling or attach them to the side of your cupboards in front of your kitchen window.  Remember however, if the window does not get sun the herbs will not be very happy. Succulents are another way to add color. Plant a combination of them in a pot or put a combination of small containers in an area and have a succulent collection. You can get creative with the containers by using mason jars with rocks and dirt, colorful pots, or a vintage jewelry box. Who loves fairies? A fairy garden is the perfect indoor garden. They take a little more maintenance but can be a fun winter hobby. Make them a little home with trinkets, moss, and plants. I also add color to my home with paint and decor. Paint an accent wall or piece of furniture, put up some temporary wall art, or add color to kitchen cabinets. It is amazing what a pop of color does to brighten your day.