Wilson’s Garden Center Specializes in Plants that Thrive in Central Ohio

You can grow a vegetable garden in containers.

Vegetable gardens are making a comeback as people desire healthy, flavorful home grown produce. Grow your own and know that it is safe and wholesome. You can grow a few vegetables in pots on your patio or fill up a large backyard plot. It is so rewarding to taste the goodness of vegetables and fruits that you grew yourself.

Organic products to tie into vegetable garden:

	GARDENERS GOLD	Organic potting soil if you are growing in containers
	BUMPER CROP	Organic soil amendment to enrich your garden soil
	DANIELS PLANT FOOD	Natural organic based plant food to grow your crops lushly. Click here to find out more.
	PESTFIGHTER ALL SEASON OIL	To knock down insect pests in the garden

NEW varieties for 2011 at Wilson’s:

	Alfresco Mix Lettuce	This colorful and nutritious mix includes red and green leaf lettuces with arugula, endive and radicchio to give a true Mediterranean flavor and look.
	Global Gourmet Mix Lettuce	This tasty mix includes a combination of red and green leaf lettuces and Asian greens that are both colorful and ideal for salads and stir fry.
	Burpee First White Cauliflower	A prizewinning cauliflower with all-around great performance. It looks and grows great, but tastes even better.
	Bush Champion Cucumber	Great for containers and raised beds. You won't believe the large number of crisp, bright green slicers you'll get from the pint-sized plants.
	Ivory Eggplant	Ivory is a beautiful miniature eggplant that is oval in shape, white skinned and grows to about the size of an egg.

Swiss Chard Bright Lights		Jan watering vegetables		Spiral Lettuce Loma and Galactic		Cabbage Cardinal Red

Each spring gardeners all around town are thinking the same thing, “what can I do in the yard?” This is the perfect time to think VEGGIES. There are several vegetables that can be started as soon as the soil is workable in the spring. A few examples of cold crops are broccoli, collards, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, peas, and spinach.

Although long ago tomatoes were believed to be toxic, today growing (and EATING!) tomatoes are a popular American pastime. Neighbors compete for the title of earliest tomato; friends claim the most bountiful crops; and Wilson’s boasts the largest selection in town. Whatever your tastes for tomatoes may be, Wilson’s has a match. From our sauce tomatoes like ‘La Roma,’ to straight off the vine goodness given by ‘Super Sweet 100,’ we love our tomatoes! Check out 66 kinds of tomatoes available at Wilson’s Garden Center this spring .

Red Plastic Mulch

With all the local competition for growing the earliest tomato, our eager customers are always asking, “How soon?” The best time to plant tomatoes outdoors is after the threat of frost has passed. This is usually around the middle of May in our area. Of course, for those die-hard tomato growers, Wilson’s has large plants available a bit early. We have giant tomato plants that will allow you to have the first tomatoes in the neighborhood. We recommend using red plastic mulch to speed up growth and chase away bugs.

Choosing the right tomato

Out of all the varieties of tomatoes at Wilson’s, how’s a person to choose? First, decide what you like in a tomato and how you would like to use it. For example, if you are looking for a cherry tomato, great for salads and easy to grow in a container, choose the ‘Super Sweet 100’ or ‘Sweet Baby Girl.’ These cherry tomatoes do very well in containers and are extra productive.

We have a long list of heirloom tomatoes for that old fashion tomato taste. We have modern hybrids that are disease resistant and very heavy bearing. We have red ones, yellow ones, pink ones, orange ones, and purple ones. Plant a rainbow of tomatoes for interesting salads and delicious eating.

Tomato Celebrity

Tackling Tomato Trouble

Often times just when summer truly becomes hot and the tomato grower is anticipating her first ripe tomato, something goes wrong. Commonly, gardeners notice a leathery brown rotting on the blossom end of the tomato fruit. This condition is cleverly called Blossom-end rot. Although the affected fruit cannot be saved, future fruiting of the same plant can often continue as normal if precautions and care are taken. Proper calcium levels in the soil can prevent blossom-end rot. Master Nursery Tomato & Vegetable Fertilizer with its extra calcium is what we recommend to counteract this problem. Commit to consistent watering practices. Heavily pruning tomato vines may promote blossom-end rot, too. So using tomato cages and letting the plants grow through them rather than staking and pruning will counteract blossom end rot.

Heirloom Vegetables

Wilson’s carries several different Heirloom Vegetables, such as Cherokee Purple tomato and Old Fashion Striped German tomato. What’s the fuss for Heirlooms? Heirlooms vegetables are basically super old plants. Many gardeners consider heirlooms to be pre-1950’s, which is about the time folks started hybridizing our favorite veggies. However, many common heirlooms are over 100 years old. Another special aspect to heirloom vegetables is that they are open pollinated. Simply put, each generation will look, and taste, more or less like its parent. Although the definition of heirloom is highly debated, how interesting some of these plants are cannot be questioned. Take for example the heirloom tomato ‘Brandywine.’ This dense fleshed tomato is known for its oddly deep red to purple color and nostalgic flavor.

Peppers 47 Peppy Peppers From Wilson’s Garden Center

Rainbow Mix of Peppers		Sweet Pepper Super Heavyweight

Wilson’s also carries a wide array of peppers. It is fun to grow these different varieties and delight in their different shapes, colors, and flavors. We have peppers from very sweet to burning hot and everything between. Check out our list of Pepper varieties .

Plant your salad

We have different lettuces and greens that combine for interesting salads. Try planting colorful lettuces in designs to fascinate your friends.

We carry a complete line of vegetable plants from asparagus to zucchini . Our seasoned garden experts will help you have your healthiest, most flavorful garden ever.

Click here for instructions on starting your vegetable seeds.

The Ins and Outs of Asparagus

Growing asparagus is a wonderful long-term investment in good eating! Keep these hints in mind when planting your own asparagus bed.

Fresh Wild Asparagus		Asparagus		Asparagus

• Asparagus is best planted as one-year-old crowns.
• The asparagus grower should choose all male varieties such as Jersey Knight or Jersey Giant. The reason for this is that female plants produce pesky weed-like seedlings all over an asparagus bed, cluttering an otherwise tidy garden.
• In our area, mid-April to late May is the appropriate time to install asparagus beds, once the soil is at least 50 degrees or more. Growth will not only stall when planted earlier, but also the crowns are more susceptible to rotting if exposed to the cold, wet soils of spring.
• A well draining bed is a must for growing healthy asparagus.
• Apply Master Start to the bottom of a 6-inch furrow. Lay the asparagus crowns in the furrow like the spokes of a wagon wheel and backfill to the original soil level. If planting multiple rows, space each row five feet apart, in order to ensure air circulation.
• Asparagus should not be harvested during the planting year but cut in subsequent seasons when the diameter of the emerging stalks are larger than a pencil diameter.
• For further information, See OSU Ext Fact Sheet HYG-1603-94