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 | Pre-order perennials at M. R. Gardens!
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You can now reserve your M R Gardens plants for the 2023 spring season! Our Pre-Season Service ensures you get the varieties that you prefer, and allows time for you to plan out your landscape.
Photo of M. R. Gardens passive solar greenhouse by Vickie Burick Photography
We’ve made some changes to nativeplantsasheville.com that might be of help as you design your landscape, or at the very least should improve how quickly the site loads. When you go to the home page, you’ll see that native perennials are now divided into sections based on height. That way you can think of the best plants for the back of your garden versus the front.
The home page (which has helpful information about pickup dates and ordering instructions) is best to view on a desktop or tablet. If you’re on your phone, you might appreciate viewing the pants on this page.
If you’re looking for a specific plant, you can always try typing the name of it into the search form at the top of the site (click on the magnifying glass). Or if you’re well-versed at native plants and your eye is better trained to look at a list of botanical names sorted alphabetically, you’re welcome to view our entire offering here.
Pickup dates vary depending on species, but most should be ready mid-March through May. We send an email within 24 hours (or the next business day) after you make your order to let you know when you can expect to hear from us next to arrange plant pickup. Our farm is in Southeast Asheville in the Oakley community.
Keep checking the website throughout the spring as we continue to add to our plant offerings. We update our inventory for annual groundcovers and herbs by early April so you can reserve them at that time.
Customers also have the option of placing their order directly with us. Send a list of plants and quantities to megan@mrgardens.net or leave a voicemail at 828.333.4151.
M R Gardens focuses on plants that attract wildlife such as songbirds, pollinators and other beneficial invertebrates. We strive to be as sustainable as possible, growing in a passive solar greenhouse—no extra heat is needed in winter other than the sun’s rays, as heat from the sun is stored in water barrels and emits out at night. We also use coconut coir-based potting soil, limiting the use of peat. Almost all our plants are grown from seed, and we operate on a small scale, ensuring high quality.
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| Spring open houses at M R Gardens
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M R Gardens opens the nursery for plant shows throughout the spring, offering native wildflowers as well as complementary plants such as groundcovers and herbs.
This spring, plants shows are on select Thursdays through Saturdays:
March 23 to 25;
April 13 to 15;
April 27 to 29;
May 18 to 20;
and June 8 to 10.
Hours for the listed dates above are:
1 pm to 6 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and
11 am to 4 pm on Saturdays.
If you'd like to visit on a date other than what's listed above, please make an appointment before visiting, and let us know what you're planning on purchasing before arriving.
Find us at 441 Onteora Blvd., Asheville. Looks or the green M R Gardens sign. The event is outdoors.
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|  | Plant spotlight: Purple Giant Hyssop
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Pollinators put on quite a show around this tall beauty, followed by Goldfinches, which sit on the stems enjoying the seed. An occasional hummingbird stops by to drink from its tubular summer flowers, propped up on a sturdy spike. Giant Hyssop can serve as a deciduous screen along borders, or positioned at the back of the garden with other tall plants. It can also be cut back in early summer for a later bloom on a shorter, bushier plant. Full to part sun. Medium-wet to medium-dry soil. Deer resistant. Space: 2 feet. Height: 6+ feet.
Look for Purple Giant Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia) in the Tall Native Perennials section on our home page.
Or view the item here.
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| Thanks so much to our talented helpers!
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At last, the timing seems right for this business—which has been in operation since 2011—to expand to a respectable size (knock on wood!). We've rearranged our offering to focus mostly on native plants since the demand has increased quite a bit in the last three years. At the same time, we found some additional tricks for excellent germination in the passive solar greenhouse, so the number of plants we're producing is increasing dramatically. Thankfully this good fortune is arriving at a time when we have a few talented helpers committed to offering their good work here on a regular basis.
Brenna has been with M R Gardens since the spring of 2021, helping with transplanting as well as cleaning our farm stay/vacation rental. She arrived with two years experience at another nursery and also grew up around plants in her grandmother's garden.
Tim also has years of experience assisting native nurseries as well as with landscaping in general. We also appreciate his first hand knowledge (and sympathy) of what's it's like to run a small business. Tim has been helping us since the summer of 2022, primarily in ecological landscaping and handyperson tasks, and also assists in the nursery in the busy season.
We're also excited to have Grace with us this season as she completes an internship at UNC-Asheville with the Environmental Studies program. Grace is involved with a wide variety of tasks at the nursery and farm, and is especially interested in landscape design.
Much appreciation for their reliability, attention to detail, fun personalities and dedication to the business, from Megan, the owner of M R Gardens. Also thanks to Vickie Burick Photography for brightening our social media with her beautiful images. |
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| Certify your yard as Wildlife and Pollinator Habitat
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Asheville has excellent resources for residents turning their yards into wildlife and pollinator habitat! Signage helps your neighbors better understand the unique native landscape aesthetic.
You can be celebrated as a Song Bird Hero at Wild Birds Unlimited in South Asheville, which gives you a special t-shirt once you register your yard with National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat program.
Visit a Pollinator and Wildlife Habitat garden at the Buncombe County Cooperative Extension Learning Garden anytime. They are planning to hold a Pollinator Plant Saturday Seminar on June 17. Check the Master Gardener's website two weeks prior to the event to register. |
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| Help your local nursery by washing used plant containers
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On occasion a customer drops off a pile of reusable pots—with no cracks—that have been thoroughly washed and selected to match the sizes that we typically use. The feeling we experience when we receive such a gift might be akin to what a customer feels when we hand them a tray of plants to which we gave a season, or sometimes several years, of attention.
We know you are busy. It is completely understandable if you don't have time to wash and sort your pots. We just ask that if this is the case, you choose another plant pot recycling program than ours if you'd like your pots to be reused rather than going to a landfill. (We're in the midst of researching other pot recycling programs—we'll let you know what we find out). Most nurseries opt not to collect plant containers because of the labor required to wash them. Not to mention the concern about pathogens, which hang out in the dirt in crevices and corners of containers.
We really hope to continue our pot recycling program as our business expands since sustainability is a founding principle of M R Gardens. But we need your help.
Please be sure the size of your pots fit the description posted here. We take containers that are:
More than three inches wide and less than three gallons;
Square if smaller than a half gallon;
We do take circle pots if they are a half gallon or larger,
as well as trays of any shape or size.
And please spray out all dirt with a high pressure hose—don't be afraid to get wet! If a film of dirt remains, please soak them in soapy water before returning them to the farm. Pro tip: You may be able to skip some of the steps if you have a dishwashing machine. Feel free to give it a try if you have one—but be aware that pot plastic easily melts in heat.
When you're ready to drop off your pots, just send an email to megan@mrgardens.net so we know who to thank, and drop them in front of the main door of our greenhouse at your leisure.
We certainly keep our eye on developments regarding biodegradable plant containers, although the transition to these is not simple or immediate.
Many thanks to your cooperation!
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In the Oakley community of Asheville
441 Onteora Blvd.
828.333.4151 (voicemail - not text)
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