In the Upstate, we have a Spring & Summer season, followed by a Fall & Winter season. Our Fall & Winter Season typically begins early September. The plants purchased in this season are expected to last till April, when Spring Annuals are available again.
Pansies & Violas
In the South, pansies and violas are a necessary evil. Pansies and violas bloom throughout fall, winter and early spring. We have an occasional winter storm that deposits ice & snow across the Upstate. But, once melted a week later, the pansy and viola plants are still viable and the blooms are intact, thus giving us the must-have pops of color in our winter landscape.
At Martin Garden Center, we grow 10-12 varieties and colors of 4″ trailing pansies and sell 1000+ each year. We also supplement our trailing pansies with those purchased from our vendors. The upright pansies and violas come in 4-packs and flats purchased from our vendors. We sell thousands and thousands of pansy and viola flats each year.
Flats consist of eight 4-packs per flat for a total of 32 plants. We carry hundreds of varieties of pansies and violas. Pansy series include, but are not limited to, most of the varieties in Delta, Matrix, and Magestic Giant series, supplemented by varieties in Atlas, Colossus, Dynamite and Mammoth series. The Viola series include Colormax, Penny and Sorbet but are not limited to these varieties.
Customers often ask the difference between pansies and violas. Pansies have far larger blooms and look great nearby, whereas violas are more floriferous and have numerous smaller blooms which look great from far away. Some customers insist that violas can prosper with less sun. Additionally, Pansies have four petals pointing upwards and only one pointing down. Violas have two petals pointing up and three petals pointing down.
The upright pansies and violas are perfect for landscaping and for containers. The 4″ trailing pansies are specifically designed for containers and hanging baskets. We also sell 10″ hanging baskets of trailing pansies but cannot promise any given color will be available at any given time.
We attempt to have our pansy and viola tables stocked with 200+ flats from September through early November. In the winter, we generally taper the number to about 80 flats, but these are available through mid-February early March to fill in. As for 4″ trailing pansies, we often sell out by December.
Snapdragons
For height and texture, Snapdragons are always good. We carry Snaps in flats and 4-packs. The varieties we see include the small Snaptini series, Snapshot and Speedy Sonnet series, and the tall Rocket Series. Snaps provide fall and early winter color, but they may or may not last through the winter depending on the weather. If they die back to the ground in the winter, they often come back in the spring.
Mums
Mums provide a pop of fall color. We grow 8″ mums and we also import them from our vendors. We also purchase 4″ mums from our vendors, but their availability is limited, and we won’t have all colors at all times. Mums in 10″ pots and hanging baskets are also available for a short time frame from our vendors.
The Mums we sell are perennial garden mums, but most customers use our 8″ mums as drop ins for a quick color fix near Halloween. We try to have 3 + full tables of 8″ mums of every color available from September through October, but we often sell out before Halloween. By early November, our mums are usually bloomed out.
Pumpkins & Gourds
During September and October, we also carry a wide selection of accompanying pumpkins and gourds to help with fall decorating. The key to pumpkin longevity is to keep them out of the sun. We try to keep the white Baby Boo and the Jack-B-Little orange varieties available with a wide assortment of gourds. Some of the larger heirloom and other varieties that we carry include Cinderella, White Boer, Casper, Porcelain Doll, Fairytale, Jarradale, Long Island Cheese, Marina Di Chioggia, One Too Many, Peanut and the most popular Warty Golblin.
Ornamental Vegetables
At Martin Garden Center, we sell thousands of Ornamental Cabbages & Kales in the fall, and these include varieties we grow, and varieties offered through our vendors. We try to have 3+ full tables of 4″ and 6 full tables of 8″ available until December, when our Christmas season begins.
We take great pride in growing enormous ornamental veggies and the most popular varieties are sold out before the season ends. Note also that most ornamental veggies do not begin to color up until the weather drops below freezing, but after the cool weather begins, the colors are amazing. After the weather cools, the best plants have usually been purchased. Buy early and don’t worry about the color, because if you wait for the plants to color up, all the good ones will be gone.
Ornamental Grasses
Another facet of the fall/winter season is the use of Ornamental Grasses. These are perennial evergreen grasses including Juncus (rush) grass Blue Arrow, Blue Dart, Twister and Spiralis and combinations of the same. Additionally, the yellow Japanese Sweet Flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’) is extremely popular. In the fall and winter seasons, these grasses look beautiful in mixed containers. In the spring, they should be moved to a part sun location because the extreme heat in the South may distress them causing browning at the tips.