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New This Week April 9, 2024 Natives at Painters We are a Certified Native-Friendly Supplier It's national Native Plant Month!! At Painters we are proud to promote native plants and foster our collective native ecosystems here in Western North Carolina. A native plant is a plant that grows naturally in a place rather than having been introduced by humans. Unlike many cultivated ornamental plants, native plants have evolved with the local climate and wildlife and provide important food sources and habitats for native animals. When you plant a native plant, you support an entire community of native organisms–birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, fish and other animals that are dependent on native plants for food and shelter. Native plant loss due to the spread of invasive non-native plants poses a serious disruption to ecosystems here in WNC and everywhere. Interest in preserving and supporting our native habitats has become increasingly important to many of our customers and is often the reason new customers seek us out - for our wide range of native plants. But did you know that we are one of very few greenhouses in WNC certified to be on the NC Native Plant Society’s list of native-friendly suppliers, and that we have likely the most diverse selection of natives available to retail customers? (Some of which are supplied by our friends at Carolina Natives Nursery - check out their amazing website, newsletter, and visit their Bee Native Shop if you haven't already!) So what does that mean? Nurseries on the NC Native Plant Society’s list only sell nursery propagated plants, and do not sell any plants listed as Rank 1 or Rank 2 on the NC invasive exotic plants lists . Rank 1 and 2 plants are those that present the most severe threat to native ecosystems. Plants that are not native to our region and that have become aggressive invaders of natural areas pose a serious threat to biological diversity. Also, when we garden with native plants grown in nurseries–rather than collecting wild specimens–it preserves those important wild populations. (And for straight species, using plants grown from seed over clonal material when possible preserves genetic diversity--Painters has greatly increased their native selection grown from seed just this year.) These shared values make Painters an important collaborator with organizations like the NC Native Plant Society and Bee City USA /Xerces Society as we all do our part to be stewards of our natural heritage. These lists are by no means static or complete, so as they are updated, Painters is committed to reviewing our program to stay abreast of changes in our WNC ecosystem. As a result of recent updates to these invasive lists, we are no longer growing: Lysimachia nummularia - Golden Moneywort (Creeping Jenny) Myriophyllum aquaticum - Parrot's Feather Pontedaria crassipes [formerly Eichhornia crassipes ] - Water Hyacinth Pistia stratiotes - Water lettuce Vinca minor - Ralph Shugert (while a less aggressive cultivar, we now carry no vinca) We will always do our best to help our customers find native and non-invasive substitutes wherever possible. And start your research here! We’ve got a lot of great links on our website including: Native Plants at Painters Greenhouse North Carolina Native Plant Society Resources: NC Natives by Season and Color Native Groundcovers of NC Favorite Native Ferns for NC Gardens Native Wildflowers of NC 39 Harmful Ornamental Plants Still Sold in NC and Suggested Alternatives https://plants.ncwildflower.org/plant_galleries/ A phenomenal Native Plants Database where you can search for 25,198 native plants by scientific or common name or choose a particular family of plants: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Native Plants Database North Carolina Botanical Garden Resources: Native Trees and Shrubs for Your Garden* Native Wildflowers for Your Garden* Creating Your Pollinator Garden And More: Nesting & Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators & Other Beneficial Insects Plants for Birds | Audubon North Carolina

New This Week September 7, 2023 Week of Sept 11th: Fall Season in Photos Take a tour of our fall offerings

New This Week October 17, 2023 Behind the Scenes with Painter's Famous Ferns Your Giant Ferns are Growing In for Spring Those famous Painters ferns are being grown in for you to take home next spring! Peek behind the scenes as we cultivate these giant tropical beauties. Freshly planted Boston Fern plugs (they arrive as tiny 1" square babies!). Kimberley Queen Ferns are more upright, don't shed, and can tolerate a range of sun exposure. Here they are after a month of growing. Production Team members hard at work transplanting rooted ferns from pots to their final homes in hanging baskets. Painters grows thousands of tropical ferns each year, and several varieties, so you can get just the right one... or two!... or more! See you March 6th!

New This Week March 11, 2024 High Demand Plants to Find at Painters this Week Get them before they are gone! At Painters, we try to anticipate the needs of home gardeners in our community and grow accordingly! But even with the best planning, some of our stock is bound to sell out fast. Find these high demand items in stock at Painters this week! Our creeping phlox always seems the first to creep out the door! Find your favorite colors before they go... 4" Assorted Creeping Phlox, $6 Delicate and delightful. Find bleeding heart & other perennial early bloomers in the Main Greenhouse. (Click on photo for pricing) We've got a great selection of cool season veggies. Pick your favorites and start growing your own greens! 3.5" pots, $1.75/each or $31.50/flat Local supplier, Sow True Seeds always go fast, especially peas & other favorite veg. Find a wide selection of them in our seed cooler. $3.25 per pack. The favorite, super fun colors of pansies and violas always sell down quickly. They look so lovely this time of year. Don't miss 'em! Assorted Pansies & Violas, $1.75/pot or $31.50/flat And the unique designs of NC-made Mayse Manufacturing sell down fast. Find the widest selection of concrete statues, stepping stones, birdbaths, and more here at the start of our season. (Prices vary per item)

New This Week October 5, 2022 Coneflowers Growing Out of Coneflowers? It's a phenomenon known as Phyllody! Staff member John discovered coneflowers growing out of coneflowers in his garden this summer! It's a phenomenon known as phyllody . It's not a genetic mutation, but instead is the result of an infection introduced by some kind of sap sucking insect. It disrupts the plants hormones causing it to grow leaves where flower parts should be! Learn more!

New This Week August 16, 2022 Your Guide to Fall Perennials at Painters Including fall bloomers, fall foliage, groundcovers, & grasses It is always nice to incorporate fall perennials into your landscape so you can maintain texture and color in your garden as the temperature drops, the days get shorter and your summer flowers are no more. This fall at Painters we will have a lovely selection of perennials for your fall and winter gardens including grasses, heuchera, groundcovers, and some of our favorite fall bloomers. FALL BLOOMING PERENNIALS 'Samurai' Toad lily Toad lily, Tricyrtis Varieties: Samurai, Sinonome People are often amazed to learn that this plant with stunning orchid-like flowers is a perennial that blooms in the heat of August through the fall, and is a great addition to any shade garden. They're also a great source of late-summer nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies. 'Henry Blue' Asters Hardy Aster, Symphyotrichum Varieties: Purple Dome, Winston Churchill, Woods Blue, Hazy Dark Pink, Henry Blue Native Like Hardy Mums these plants flower in response to shortening days. These quick growing perennials are loved by people and pollinators alike and will continue to impress for years to come. Tip: We love purple or blue asters, like Purple Dome, in combination with ornamental kale. The colors play off each other beautifully long into the fall. 'Sheffield Pink' Hardy Mum Hardy Mum, Crysanthemum Varieties: Hillside Pink Sheffield, Yellow Quill, Cambodian Queen, Brandywine Sunset These perennials have a beautiful mounding habit and bloom from late summer through fall when many flowers have faded. Tip: pinch back the tips and flower buds on all shoots in the summer to make the plant bushier and have more blooms in the fall! Helenium 'Mariachi Salsa' Hellenium, Helenium autumnale Varieties: Mariachi Salsa, Mariachia Fuego Valued for their late summer display of bright daisy-like flowers that arrive when most summer flowering perennials are on the decline, these also attract and support butterflies and other pollinators. FOLIAGE Ferns and heuchera are two of our favorite ways to add interest to a shady spot in your yard. There are so many textures, colors, and shapes to choose from! You can also try putting them in porch pots for all-season interest; while typically more shade loving, they can handle some sun in the cooler months. Autumn Fern Autumn Fern, Dryopteris erythrosora Japanese Painted Fern Frond Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium niponicum Assorted Heuchera Heuchera, Heuchera Varieties: Multiple varieties in many colors GROUNDCOVERS Assorted sedum growing in our greenhouse Sedum, Sedum Varieties: Many varieties of creeping & upright, including Autumn Joy Sedum are great for filling in cracks in walkways as well as hilly and rocky areas. Autumn Joy Sedum is one of our favorite ways to add great fall interest and happens to be excellent support for late-season pollinators - the blooms are truly lovely, and a mature plant makes quite the statement when planted in groupings. Lamium 'White Nancy' (Photo: Gardenia.net) Lamium, Lamium maculatum Varieties: Orchid Frost, White Nancy This semi-evergreen groundcover with silvery leaves is a great way to add texture and color to shady or semi-shady spots in your yard. Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Ajuga, Ajuga reptans Varieties: Burgundy Glow, Chocolate Chip, Mahogany, Caitlyn's Giant A wonderful spreader that makes for a colorful groundcover with purple blooms arriving in mid-late spring. Also mostly evergreen which is a nice touch! GRASSES Pink Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris Native Low maintenance and beautiful, this ornamental grass turns into a floating cloud of cotton candy every fall! Truly stunning when the late afternoon sun hits the seedheads! Little Bluestem (Photo: Grownative.org) Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium Native Little Bluestem is easy to grow - being humidity, heat, and drought tolerant - and offering a long season of interest. We will be offering them in smaller pots to provide a more affordable way to incorporate native grasses in your garden this fall. Variegated Sweet Flag (Photo: Gardenia.net) Variegated Sweet Flag, Acorus calamus Native cultivar Ideal for wetter areas, this evergreen perennial is a great addition to containers, in water gardens, around ponds, and more! We love using it in year-round porch pots! To discover all the plants available during our Fall Season visit our Plant Availability List and our Tree & Shrub Availability List .

New This Week March 18, 2024 The Scoop on Soil Potting Mix, Soil, Mulch, & Amendments Find a variety of potting mix, soil, mulch, and soil amendments for all your spring garden needs at Painters. Whether refreshing existing garden beds, readying a new landscape for planting, or even repotting houseplants, we've got a wide selection! Jolly Gardener HFC/B Mix - Potting Soil $16.00 - 2.8cf A mix of Hydrafiber, Canadian sphagnum peat, processed pine bark fines, coarse perlite and medium vermiculite. A true, all-purpose mix. The medium texture of the mix holds moisture well. C/B is an appropriate soil mix for: Flowering and foliage plants, hanging baskets, and bedding plants. A Painters favorite - the blend we grow in! Organic Dirtcraft Gravity Growers Mix $16.00 - 40qt A blend of natural soil conditioners and premium organic amendments provide a complete living soil for your plants to thrive. Ideal for many uses including; raised beds, container gardening, amending vegetable & flower plantings, and more. Peat-free and sustainably sourced and formulated for superior water retention. Ingredients: Organic Compost, Coco Coir, Aged Bark Fines, Perlite, Diatomite, Feather Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Gypsum. Locally made by a small business! Just Natural Soil Conditioner $7.00 - 1.5cf Just Natural Soil Conditioner helps retain soil moisture and reduces the need to water as often. The natural and organic aged bark fines break down to help aerate heavy, clay-like soils. A favorite soil conditioner among many Painters staff. We often recommend some of this along with a bit of compost mixed with existing soils when planting shrubs and trees. Just Natural Organic Raised Bed Mix $8.00 - 1.5cf Just Natural Organic Raised Bed Planting Mix organically feeds for up to three months. Specially formulated for all vegetable and herb gardens in above-ground raised beds. Rich, organic materials help retain moisture and promote beneficial microbial activity. Just Natural Mushroom Compost $6.00 - 0.75cf All-natural, organic composted mushroom compost. Superior soil amendment that provides humus to soil. Perfect for all planting beds and topdressing lawns. The rich, composted components help to loosen and aerate heavy soils while helping sandy soils to retain moisture. We recommend it as a milder alternative to manure. It will provide great nutrients without the risk of burning. Black Kow $7.00 - 1cf Black Kow® cow manure is an odorless, weed free, rich, composted soil conditioner. 100% aerobically composted cow manure. Adds millions of beneficial microbes, nutrients and organic matter to soil. Helps break up clay soils and adds nutrients. Supports sandy soils to hold moisture and nutrients. For flowers, trees, shrubs, lawns and gardens. Mix into soil as opposed to top dressing directly on/next to plants to avoid burn. Timberline Hardwood Mulch $6.00 - 2cf Easy use for most landscaping projects. Controls moisture to reduce water use. Insulates the soil and helps control weed growth. Adds a rich, natural color to any landscape project giving a finished look and feel (undyed). Hi-Yield Triple Super Phosphate $12.00 - 4lb Hi-Yield Triple Super Phosphate encourages plants to develop sturdy root systems, increases bloom production, and strengthens fruit and bud set. Super Phosphate promotes vigorous plant root growth for vegetables, shrubs, flowers, shade, and fruit trees. Staff at Painters recommend using it at the time of first planting. Elm Dirt Bloom Juice $29.95 - 32oz, $19.95 - 16oz Award Winning Bloom Juice is specifically made to enhance and magnify flowers, blooms, fruits, and vegetables. Made with worm castings to create a living liquid that speeds up the delivery of essential nutrients for blooming plants. The phosphorus, calcium and iron-rich liquid help create the ideal environment for all plants to thrive and bloom! Life Cycle Organics Worm Castings $16.00 - 1G All natural organic goodness and made in N.C. Improves soil properties and supplies plants with essential nutrients. Increases plant growth and productivity. For best results, mix 15% - 20% by volume with your favorite potting mix for new plantings, or top dress established plants by adding 1/4" - 1/2" layer of castings around plant base → rake into soil → water and cover with mulch. BFG Supply Co Garden-tone 3-4-4 $9.50 - 4lb Developed for professional gardeners. Provides safe, continuous feeding for all vegetables. 100% natural and organic approved plant foods. The Tone products are made for complex blends of the finest natural and organic ingredients. No sludges or fillers are ever used. They are enhanced with Bio-tone beneficial microbes to help plants establish fast, develop deeper roots, and have superior blooms. Long lasting results–won't burn or leach away!

New This Week June 27, 2023 We've Got a Beautiful Selection of Perennials - Save on 6" Pots We've got a beautiful selection of Echinacea, Goldenrod, Helenium, Hardy Mums, Black-Eyed Susans, Shasta Daisies, Garden Phlox, and more! SHOP ALL THE SAVINGS DURING THE FINAL WEEK OF OUR SUMMER SUPER SALE! Multiple Varieties of Echinacea Helenium Shasta Daisies Goldenrod Lobelia Hardy Mums Garden Phlox Multiple Varieties of Black-Eyed Susan + Creeping St. John's Wort Rose Campion Salvia Caradonna and more! Looking for the perfect shade-loving plant for your garden? Hostas are versatile and easy to care for plants.

New This Week May 15, 2023 Painters 50th Anniversary Celebration Join us Saturday, May 20th for anniversary specials, giveaways, live music, special guests, and more! Come celebrate 50 years of Painters Greenhouse with the original and current owners! Date: Saturday, May 20th Location: Painters Greenhouse Join us for a brief history of Painters over the years, as well as our dreams for the next 50 years - current owners Dana, Deenie & Brad Owen will be joined by previous owners Stephen and Susie Painter to share the Painters story and photos at 12:30pm Saturday. Followed by live music by Sorella Jack from 1-3:30, & more! Jump to: FREE NATIVE SHRUB OR TREE SEEDLING THIS WEEKEND 20% OFF PAINTERS GREENHOUSE 50th ANNIVERSARY T-SHIRT FREE NATIVE SHRUB OR TREE SEEDLING On Saturday & Sunday, May 20-21st, we will be offering a free native shrub or tree seedling with purchase (as long as supplies last) - choose from Elderberry, Buttonbush, American Snowbell, or Red Buckeye! Our goal is to plant hundreds of highly beneficial native shrubs and trees to commemorate our anniversary and support our WNC wildlife. 20% OFF PAINTERS GREENHOUSE 50th ANNIVERSARY T-SHIRT Designed by Painters co-owner Brad Owen, featuring a design of a native butterfly and native tree, and printed locally by Lightning Bolt Ink. Shirts are available in 3 colors and are on sale for $17.60-$20 on Saturday, May 20th & Sunday, May 21st.

New This Week June 6, 2023 Plant of the Week: Goldenrod Fifty is the 'Golden Anniversary', and to celebrate we’d like to highlight this native, powerhouse perennial prized for all the benefits it provides to wildlife! There are two misconceptions about goldenrod that keep uninformed gardeners from adding this plant to their landscapes. One being allergies - many believe goldenrod is responsible for seasonal allergies, as it’s an easy target with showy blooms summer through fall. Most allergies are in fact caused by plants with windblown pollen, like Ragweed, which blooms at the same time but isn't as easily spotted. Goldenrod’s pollen is very sticky, requires assistance from bees to transfer the pollen from plant to plant, and is not windborne. The other misconception is that goldenrod is a weed. To the unfamiliar, goldenrod isn’t much to look at during spring or summer. For the first three-quarters of the growing season, goldenrod focuses on growing multiple stems from rhizomes and only vegetative growth is witnessed. To the bloom-centric gardeners, the colony-forming habit and leafy stalks scream “weed!”, but even the unassuming foliage is providing benefits to wildlife, including habitat and food. There are about 50 species of insects that rely on goldenrod before it even blooms, just by feeding on the stem and leaves while in their larval or nymph form. You’ll often see galls along the stems of goldenrod, and many have reported seeing downy woodpeckers and chickadees feeding on the insects that cause the galls. Goldenrod blooms late summer and fall, during a period of the growing season after many other plants have bloomed. This provides a much-needed source of nectar and pollen during a window of time where it’s needed most. Many insects feed on the nectar and pollen, including bees, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, and butterflies, which in turn attracts other insects and birds seeking to feed on these insects. Goldenrod hosts 115 moth and butterfly species as well as specialized bees: Perdita octomaculata, Melissodes fumosus, Colletes simulans and Colletes solidaginis, as well as several Andrena species. It’s also a great source of nectar for Monarch butterflies in migration south in autumn. Birds and small mammals will feed on the prolific amount of seeds in late autumn and winter, including squirrels, foxes, racoons, and opossums. Now that we all understand goldenrod’s importance to wildlife, how can we, as stewards and garden-enthusiasts, implement goldenrod into our property and gardens? Goldenrod is a very adaptable perennial and can flourish in parts of the landscape that are considered less than desirable or poor to other plants. Goldenrod is common in a wide range of conditions including prairies, grasslands, roadsides, thickets, forests, and swamps. Most species of goldenrod prefer full sun, average to poor soils, and tolerate clay or dry soils. While deer and rabbit may browse on the leaves, it is generally considered deer and rabbit-resistant. Some straight species of goldenrod can get tall, even reaching 6’ in height! Plant goldenrod in areas you’d like to naturalize, or in meadows, along driveways, banks or areas you’d prefer minimal maintenance and with ample space to spread. We also grow several cultivars and nativars that provide importance to wildlife while also maintaining a more compact size - these plants would work well in a more cultivated garden. All goldenrod works best when planted in mass and paired with asters and other fall-blooming plants to attract and support even more pollinators. Below is our current selection of goldenrod at Painters Greenhouse. All prefer full sun and are hardy in zones 3-9 with the main variations between them being height, size, habit, and species. 'Little Miss Sunshine', Solidago canadensis Tight and neat, multi-branched habit only reaching 12” tall and 12-18” wide. 'Fireworks', S olidago rugosa Grows into a bushy, upright clump reaching 3’ tall and 2’ wide. The inflorescences produce long stretches of blooms resembling an exploding skyrocket. 'Golden Baby', Solidago hybrid Compact form with strong stems make it a great cut flower. Reaching 18-24” tall and 8-12” wide. Available in 1 gallon pots for $9.50 each. 'Little Lemon', Solidago hybrid One of the most compact hybrids of Solidago, only reaching 9-18” tall and wide. Clump-forming habit has tight inflorescences. Flowers mid to late summer.

New This Week August 25, 2022 Is There Something Wrong with My Blueberry Bushes? A customer from Black Mountain recently returned from vacation and was worried to find the leaves on his blueberry bushes changing color in early August. What was going on? A customer from Black Mountain recently returned from vacation and was worried to find the leaves on his blueberry bushes changing color in early August. As a first-time blueberry grower he was concerned and reached out for advice. Luckily, we were able to inform him that his blueberries were showing very early fall color - this has been an odd summer with extreme moisture and temperature fluctuations and many shrubs and trees are turning sooner than usual. Do make sure to note if your blueberry leaves are turning reddish-orange or more of a yellow shade. While the oranger shades are typically indicative of the beginnings of fall color and natural leaf loss, yellow coloration can mean chlorosis - that the plants aren’t getting enough iron. This is a common issue during particularly wet summers (ahem! 2022!), and can easily be tested with a pH kit - if your soils show a high pH, then we suggest adding some iron sulfate or pine needle straw or feeding with an acidic fertilizer. This isn’t as common an issue in our area as our clay-rich soils tend to be quite acidic (which blueberries like) and typically contain plenty of iron, but if you're not sure if your blueberries are entirely healthy, then it never hurts to test your soil! Have your blueberry bushes started turning? What else is starting to show color in your yard? Tag us in your pictures on facebook or instagram so we can see! We have lots of blueberries along with many other edible tree and shrub varieties ready for planting when our Fall Season opens September 9th! View our Fall Tree & Shrub Availability List .

New This Week April 8, 2024 Plant of the Week: Foamflower Native and Shade-Loving Spring Wildflowers Foamflower, or Tiarella cordifolia, is a Painters favorite among spring wildflowers. And it’s blooming in the forests of WNC right now! Get out and enjoy it in the wild, and then head over here to Painters to bring some home to your own shade garden. Native to the woodlands and forests of the eastern US, foamflower usually grows under deciduous trees in hardwood forests, but you can also find it along streams in mixed wood forests. It appreciates evenly moist soil and full or partial shade. The dense mounding leaves can also make for a nice groundcover or woodland border. The pink-tinged, white blooms grow on long thin stems above a dense mass of lobed foliage. When in bloom, these light and feathery flower-spikes can together resemble a gorgeous foamy assemblage. From the beautiful full leaves at the base to the delicate almost starburst shape of the blooms rising above, foamflower adds an artful architecture to your shade-loving garden. Plus it’s an easy-to-grow native plant. It prefers full or part shade and moist, well-drained soil. Snip the spent flowers after blooming to give the plant a tidier look, if you prefer. Painters has two varieties at two price points this spring. Tiarella cordifolia , Foamflower NATIVE perennial (z4-9) part-full shade, 9-12'' tall, 1-2' wide Thrives in moist, rich, well-drained soil Dainty white-pink blooms early spring $14.00 in 6.5” pots Tiarella wherryi , or Wherry’s Foamflower NATIVE perennial (z3-7) part-full shade, 1' tall and wide Wands of airy white-pink blooms late spring Thrives in rich, moist, well-drained soil; excellent for woodland edging $6.00 in 4" pots