Bountiful Gardens

The weather is finally starting to warm up, and some of the best blooms of the year are bursting once again! Spring is a spectacular time to get out into the garden and take in the beauty of the natural world around us, and when it comes to beauty, it doesn’t get much better than flowering trees! In this post, we’ll be taking a look at three different kinds of trees you can plant NOW for early season splendor: Cherries, Magnolias and Redbud! Timestamps: Cherries - 0:35 Magnolias - 2:49 Redbud - 4:25 Ornamental cherries are beautiful specimen plants to have in your landscape in early Spring. They range in size from 15-30 feet tall at maturity, though some can be a bit bigger or smaller. They mostly come in shades of whites and pinks. They prefer full sun, though can handle a little shade, and they do best in average to moist well-draining soil. Cherries can be used as specimen, or standalone plants, or they can be planted in masses, like along driveways or roadways. In general, cherries bloom from late March through early May. Some of our early blooming varieties are ‘Yoshino’ and ‘Weeping Snow Fountain’. Later bloomers include ‘Kwanzan’ and ‘Flagpole’ cherries. One of our favorite cherry trees is the ‘Kwanzan,’ which is also known as ‘Kanzan’. These are the famous trees that you’ll see all around the basin in Washington DC and all over Central Park. Petals from flowering cherry trees are edible, and are commonly used to make a tea, traditionally called Sakura tea. The tea has calming, peaceful effects with a soft, delightful flavor. Go out to a cherry tree near you and brew up a cup! No matter what variety of flowering cherry you choose, you’ll be getting yearly bursts of Spring splendor for years to come. If you’re looking for cherry trees that actually produce fruit, you’re in luck! Bountiful Gardens has a full selection of fruiting cherry trees, featuring favorites like ‘Bing’ and ‘Montmorency’, as well as an enormous assortment of other fruits, veggies and herbs to fill out your food forest. Magnolias Magnolias come in a wide range of colors and sizes, including pinks, purples, whites and even yellows! There are some that are evergreen, like our native Southern Magnolia, and others that are deciduous and give you a big pop of color in the Fall, including Star and Saucer Magnolia. Similar to cherry trees, Magnolias prefer moist to average well-draining soil and get about 15-30 feet tall depending on the variety. They do best in full sunlight, but can still thrive in a little bit of shade. Magnolias make a great feature plant, working as an anchor in the landscape. Not only are Magnolias a great food source for pollinating beetles, the petals are actually edible to us as well! They have a flavor that’s comparable to ginger crossed with cardamom. Magnolias evolved on earth approximately 90 million years ago, predating the existence of bees, so these prehistoric beauties were originally pollinated exclusively by beetles. Up next is a native beauty—Eastern Redbud! Redbuds come in a wide variety of shapes and foliage colors, ranging from yellow to red, purple, green, orange and white leaves. They typically flower in mid-April, blooming for about a month, featuring uniquely beautiful purple-pink flowers that can emerge straight from the bark! The tree ranges in size from 8-20 feet tall and wide depending on the variety you choose, and they do best in full sun, but can handle partial sun or dappled shade. After planting your Redbud, you’ll need to make sure to water them frequently to help them establish, but after that, they’re highly drought tolerant. Here’s a Redbud fun fact: Redbuds are a member of the Pea family, meaning they take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil, improving the fertility of the ground around the tree and greening up grass. Their membership in the Pea family also means Redbud flowers are fully edible. You can pop them onto a salad for a rush of fresh flavor, or you can even pickle them and use them as a substitute for capers thanks to their similar texture. When the Redbud blooms in Spring, their edible blossoms are a great snack for humans, and in Fall, their seed pods are a crucial snack for birds. Another thing that makes Redbuds a great fit for New Jersey is that they tolerate our heavy clay soil exceedingly well. Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! Spring is in the air! In this video, we're doing something special: taking a look at blooms out in the wild! Specifically, we're diving into some of our favorite Spring Ephemerals! But what's an Ephemeral? Like their name suggests, Spring Ephemerals are plants that come up in early Spring, while the trees are still bare and the forest floor gets more light and warmth. They have a spectacular bloom, and then they vanish until the following year. Despite their short appearance, their importance to early pollinators and insects is undeniable--they're some of the only food sources for those flower-friends. By planting Spring Ephemerals, you can have blooms in your garden as early as March! Some of the most classic examples of ephemerals are daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and crocus, but there are so many NATIVE ephemerals to choose from that can benefit local wildlife. Ike will introduce you to Dutchman's Breeches, Trillium, Trout Lily, Virginia Bluebells and Bloodroot--five of the finest native Spring Ephemerals you can add to your rich-soiled garden. And for those celebrating this Sunday, Happy Easter!! At our Lawrenceville location, you can find an incredible assortment of custom-planted Easter baskets full of Spring annuals and bulbs, as well as a whole forest of Easter Lilies to wander through--you have to smell it to believe it! And of course, our floral experts are always ready to craft up a fresh arrangement for you! Here are the timestamps: What's an Ephemeral? - 0:14 Dutchman's Breeches - 0:44 Trillium - 1:12 Trout Lily - 1:46 Virginia Bluebells - 2:07 Bloodroot - 2:31 Lawrenceville Easter Update - 3:12 Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! We’re back in Ewing this week to talk about another fantastic early Spring blooming perennial: the Pulmonaria! Last week we talked about how Hellebores are one of the first blooms of the Spring season, and soon after blooms the Pulmonaria! Their blooms start to pop open around the first or second week of March, and are one of the first food sources for honeybees and insects. Another feature that Pulmonaria shares with Hellebores is that they thrive in shade gardens. They do best in an area that is evenly moist and shielded from direct sun. A common name for Pulmonaria is “Lungwort,” because in the Middle Ages, people thought that the spotted leaves of the pant resembled diseased lungs. Curiously, they thought this meant the plant could be used to treat lung diseases. These days, we know that’s not the case, but those leaf spots sure are a pretty feature! These plants are closely related to Borage, so they have fuzzy leaves with raised flower stalks. And speaking of those speckles, they’re actually caused by pockets of air that separate the top of the leaf from the bottom, acting like cooling chambers. This helps the plant make it through hotter temperatures. The flowers on Pulmonaria range from pink to violet and even silvery blue. On some varieties, you can even get multiple colors, with flowers staring pink and then changing to a blue or purple. Because the leaves and stems are covered in tiny little hairs, Pulmonaria is considered deer and rabbit resistant, but that doesn’t mean we can’t munch on them! The plant is edible to humans and kind of tastes a bit like a green bean. Plus, those fuzzy leaves really help to hold onto dressing in a salad. Whether you choose to call it Pulmonaria or Lungwort, these dazzling perennials are sure to add a breath of fresh air to your shade garden. Come out to the nursery and start Planting More now! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

Spring is finally back here at Bountiful Gardens! We can finally step outside, take a breath of fresh air, and start planting some of our favorite Spring perennials, starting with the Hellebore! If you don’t know much about Hellebores yet, here’s a refresher: Hellebores are one of the most valuable plants that you can have in your shade garden. It’s deer resistant, evergreen, and it flowers at a time when you need blooms the most—late Winter into early Spring. Hellebores do well in moist, rich, well-draining soils, but they can become drought tolerant once established. We’ve actually seen Hellebores do well in a variety of conditions, as long as it’s not getting baked by afternoon sun. Right now we have over thirty varieties of Hellebore at both our Ewing and Hillsborough locations—the most we’ve ever had! Hellebores are a beautiful, compact, mounding evergreen perennial that have an average of 12-24” in height and width, with some varieties reaching up to three feet tall and others staying as short as 9”. They can bloom as late in the year as November and December, or as early in the year as February and March. These perennials attract a variety of early and late flying insects such as butterflies and bees, and the flowers can persist for up to four to five months! Though they’ll fade in color, the flowers provide a lot of focal interest in the garden for a long period of time. Hellebores are one of our most popular end-of-season perennials, and there are plenty of reasons why. For one, they have beautiful, lush dark foliage with beautiful leaf striping to them, and they come in all different patterns and shapes. Not only is their foliage gorgeous, they also put out delicate blooms during colder temperatures when most other plants aren’t flowering, like early Spring and late Fall. The flowers come in a wide range of hues, but what really makes them popular amongst New Jersey gardeners is their deer resistance—deer and rabbits won’t touch these! This makes them fantastic for border plantings or as a verdant feature for a container garden. Hellebores are known by many a name—Hellebore, Lenten Rose, Christmas Rose but one you may not have heard of is Oracle Rose. Back in the old times, they used use the flowers of Hellebores to predict the weather of the Winter and the transition to Spring by seeing when the blooms appeared! Since we opened our outdoor selection for the season, we’ve been getting so many phone calls from people trying to get their hands on these spectacular Spring bloomers, and as we mentioned earlier, we currently have more varieties in stock than ever before—from classics like ‘Merlin’ to some new and interesting varieties for the season! First up is ‘Charmer,’ with deep, rich magenta hues and upright flowers that let you really appreciate their beauty. They also have gorgeous leaf venation! Up next is ‘Pike’s Peak,’ which has a more understated green flower with a yellow center. What it may lack in showy flowers it makes up for in fancy foliage! It’s silvery, spiky leaves are sure to stand out in a shady area, and they kind of look like a ‘Spine Singer’ Epiumedium. When a lot of people think about Hellebores, they think about downward facing flowers, but we love getting varieties like ‘Cinnamon Snow’ that’s a bit taller and features upright flowers that are easy to enjoy. ‘Mahogany Snow’ offers stunning cream-white flowers that are just bursting with pollen, accented by pink-tipped anthers! Another variety with really tall, dramatic clusters of flowers is ‘Dana’s Dulcet,’ with its deep, rich colors and huge center sacks of pollen that add a pop of yellow. ‘Moondance’ is a variety where the foliage takes center stage. Its venation is incredibly pronounced, and its large, umbrella-like leaves make gorgeous ground cover swaths. ‘Penny’s Pink’ has a lot of the same appeal with its foliage, but with a pink hue! And of course, you also get tall, delicate flowers floating over top. Ike’s top pick this year is ‘Ivory Prince,’ which features white and green flowers with neon yellow-green centers, accented by anthers that resemble a little crown! ‘Cheryl’s Shine’ almost belongs in a cut flower garden. Its petals are fuchsia-tipped, fading to a light pinkish white near the center. We have ‘Winter’s Bliss,’ which has tons of variety between its individual flowers. Some can be deep green, while others are closer to Daffodil-white, and pollen amounts vary from bloom to bloom. And of course, we’ve got the classic ‘Pink Frost,’ which was a bestseller last year thanks to its tall stature and delicate pink blooms. No matter what variety you choose, Hellebores are the perfect perennial to add to the garden to help you get excited for the start of Spring and all the things you can be doing outdoors this year! Come out to the nursery and start Planting More now! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/

Spring has Sprung here at Bountiful Gardens! In this video, Ike will guide you through some of the best early season annuals, bulbs and custom containers we have here RIGHT NOW in Ewing! When it comes to early season annuals, you'll find Pansies, Ranunculus, Primrose, Bidens, Bacopa, Alyssum, Brachyscome and more. Each has its own value in your garden: Ranunculus is a beautiful centerpiece, while flowers like Bacopa tend to "spill" over the sides of containers creating a wild, cottage garden effect. As far as bulbs, you'll see some gorgeous Daffodils, Hyacinths, Tulips, and Crocuses. Spring is the most exciting time of the year, and we have new plants coming out from our greenhouses each day! These bulbs can all be planted on your property now, or in the Fall, and make an incredible natural investment in your landscape. For a big splash of color, we also offer seasonal baskets of individually potted bulbs and annuals that can be planted outside once they're done beautifying your home for the season. We also have a vast selection of hanging basket arrangements, expertly planted and begging for a spot on your patio. There's so much to see here at Bountiful Gardens this Spring, and we're just getting started! Here are some timestamps for you: Pansies - 0:22 Ranunculus - 0:50 Primrose - 1:21 Spring Bulbs - 1:47 Custom Easter Baskets - 2:21 Bacopa, Bidens, Brachyscome, Sweet Alyssum, Stock - 2:36 Hanging Baskets - 3:28 Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

It may be chilly right now, but a great way to beat the Winter blues is to look to the future and think of all the gorgeous flowers planters you can plan ahead! Keeping planters overflowing with beautiful annuals is a perfect way to add color and interest to your front porch, back patio, or anywhere around the home that you think could use a burst of vibrance. This lush entrance to our Ewing garden center was designed by Ross, and features thrillers, fillers and spillers—the three core elements of any successful planter. We always like to plant in layers, using thrillers to draw the eye up as a focal point, fillers of different colors and textures to catch the eye, and spillers, which will hang over the sides, softening the overall look of your arrangement. One of Dan’s favorite planters is potted in a converted fountain and features a great variety of complimentary flowers and foliage to visually feast upon. Some stand-outs include the golden-yellow pops of ‘Zahara Double Yellow’ Zinnia, the striking fuchsia of this ‘Fuego Pink’ Verbena, and the gorgeous tones of the Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ Joe’s favorite Summer planter also happens to be a converted fountain, but this time with two tiers, allowing for the imagination to run wild! Joes advice? Get creative! Your planter is your space to experiment—there are no limits to what you can plant, and so many innovative options to use as vessels for your creation! Planting with a mixture of Summer and Fall annuals is a great way to seamlessly blend your planters with the seasons. And again, get creative! Swap out your tropical annuals with Fall annuals for endless blooms. And while you can opt to use only annuals and perennials in your planters, evergreens like Boxwood, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Inkberry, Dwarf Hinoki False Cypress and more offer year-round focal points when used as thrillers. Simply plant your fillers and spillers around your evergreen centerpiece and voilà! Some great annuals to dress up your evergreen focal point include multi-toned Dwarf Lantana, Bright colors like this Vinca ‘Cora Apricot’, the yellow-chartreuse of Creeping Jenny, and multi-toned Petunias! If you don’t want to plant in a pot, you can always spread some seeds or plant some seedlings like we do! And if you live in a colder climate, you can remove spent annuals when frost comes and dress up your evergreen planter with natural decor for the holidays. When it comes to planter placement, there’s no limit on where you can put them! As long as it gets sun and you can water it, your planter will thrive. Once Spring finally arrives in the Northeast, you can head over to our New Jersey locations in early March to find a full assortment of Pansies, Ranunculus, Primrose, Bacopa, Stock, Snapdragons and so much more. We hope this inspires you to hop out of those Winter blues and get excited for all the planting possibilities that come with the New Year! Come out to the nursery and start Planting More now! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

As hard as it is to believe, the holidays are here again! This is a time for reflection and celebration, with the New Year offering everyone a chance for new growth. Of course, it’s also the best time of year to gather with those you hold dear and share stories and passions over festive feasts. And when Winter hits its coldest, keep in mind our tropical greenhouses in Ewing and Lawrenceville are open year-round, offering you an escape to a lush, vibrant paradise. Our greenhouses are like botanical gardens you can bring home with you, and no matter your level of experience, we have the species and the expert guidance you’ll need to watch your new plants flourish. We’re also fully stocked with custom planters, top-notch substrates and tons of tools and accessories to make indoor gardening a breeze. If we don’t carry it, your plants don’t need it! So if you’re feeling stuck in the cold this Winter, come visit us in Ewing and Lawrenceville for the soul-restoring retreat you’re after. We can’t wait to see you. And of course, from all of us here at Bountiful Gardens to you, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We can’t wait to see you in 2026. Come out to the nursery and start Planting More now! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

As we head into Winter, there’s a good chance your yard may start to feel a little…exposed.  After deciduous perennials, trees and shrubs drop their leaves, your garden loses all those layers of interest, privacy screening, wind protection and noise reduction for an entire season.  That’s where evergreens come in! With the right planting design, you can achieve a landscape that encapsulates you in year-round natural comfort.  In this video, we’ll be introducing you to our favorite evergreens for just that purpose, and giving some pro tips on how best to incorporate them into your yard.  So bundle up and follow me–time to get started!  Giant Green Arborvitae - 0:54 Starting off, we have the Green Giant Arborvitae—one of the best evergreen privacy screens you can buy. With its shiny green foliage and formal growth habit, this tree gives you amazing structure and color, reaching 20-30 feet tall and up to 10 feet wide! Green Giants are incredibly deer resistant, and as they grow, they maintain a very dense look without any intensive pruning. Leyland Cypress - 1:59 Next up is the majestic Leyland Cypress. If you’re looking for a fast-growing evergreen privacy screen that is also highly deer resistant, this is the tree for you. At a growth rate of 2-3 feet per year, the Leyland Cypress can max out between 30-50 feet tall and 10-15 feet wide. These trees also experience little to no impact from pests or diseases, and require very minimal care. White Pine - 3:01 The largest conifer in Eastern North America, the White Pine is loved for its majestic structure and the fact that it can climb up to 80 feet tall and 40 feet wide. They’re also loved for their use in decorating for the holidays—you can trim some branches or collect pinecones to add to your arrangements. White Pines even produce one of nature’s finest mulches simply by dropping their needles! Just let those needles lay where they fall for a natural boost of fertilizer and moisture retention. Canadian Hemlock - 3:28 Another beautiful North American native is going to be the Canadian Hemlock. These evergreens have short, stubby needles that are actually really fragrant when you crush them. They climb to about 70 feet tall and are fairly shade-tolerant, so they’re great for a wide variety of spots in your landscape. Skip Laurel - 3:44 Whenever someone says they want something deer-resistant, evergreen, and with broad leaves, the first plant we steer them towards is the Skip Laurel. Even in the coldest of colds, these shrubs offer deep, glossy greens. Skip Laurels work amazingly when planted as a hedge, reaching a max height of about 12 feet, though you can easily trim them back to maintain them as you like. Norway Spruce - 4:09 If you have a sunnier spot in the yard and you’re looking for an evergreen with a more refined, uniform look to it, a Norway Spruce might be the right tree for you! They grow between 2-3 feet per year and reach a max height of about 60 feet tall. They also produce cones that are great for decorating! Colorado Blue Spruce - 4:31 They Blue Colorado Spruce is also known for its dense, uniform growth with one main exception: it’s blue! This tree stands out as a focal point in the landscape, and like the Norway Spruce, it grows really densely and provides excellent habitat for wildlife and birds. Another noticeable difference between Norway and Blue Spruces is that the latter grows much more slowly—only about a foot per year. This means the Blue Spruce is a great choice if you want a tree that will keep its shape and stay a similar size for longer. Eastern Red Cedar - 4:56 Next up in our evergreen arsenal is the Eastern Red Cedar, which is actually one of our native Junipers! These are planted for their gorgeous foliage and reddish bark, which stand out in the Winter landscape. They grow between 1-2 feet per year, maxing out at around 50 feet. They can also withstand a ton of environmental stressors since they’re a native pioneer species. Photinia - 5:24 If you want even more Winter color, you can always opt for a Photinia. These broadleaf evergreens keep their reddish hues throughout the winter, so you’ll always have some nice color to enjoy. These stunning Winter shrubs can grow about 10-15 feet tall and 10 feet wide, making them a great choice for planting a screen hedge, or they can be trimmed to whatever size you like. By including these incredible evergreens in your landscape, you’ll have a yard that’s dressed for any season, turning Winter from bare to Bountiful.  So what are you waiting for? Our Winter evergreen displays are up and ready for you to come find your favorites today.  Come out to the nursery and start Planting More now! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!