Hello friends!

We're thrilled to bring you the latest edition of our newsletter, packed with exciting updates and gardening tips. We’ll shine a spotlight on our featured plant of the month, share a preliminary vegetable transplant list, and continue our naturalistic garden design segment looking closer at spring clean up practices and rain gardens.

We will make an announcement on our website and social media with our official opening date for the 2025 season. We know many of you are eagerly waiting to hear an opening date announcement, we are just waiting on a few more important deliveries this month to offer you a unique selection of bareroot trees, container trees/shrubs/perennials, fruit trees/shrubs, evergreens, bedding plants, houseplants, patio pots, and vegetable transplants that you’ve come to know us by.

We hope you find inspiration, knowledge, and a sense of community within these pages. Thank you for being a part of the Norm's Greenhouse & Nursery family!

Horticulturally,

The Norm's Greenhouse & Nursery Team

We’ve released a complete spring 2025 vegetable grow

list for you to start planning your gardens!

CLICK TO VIEW LIST ONLINE

Our vegetable transplants are grown from seedlings in-house and are released in seasonal batches according to appropriate planting timing.

Some varieties are available in small quantities and will sell out quickly. Availability and varieties subject to change based on crop success.

A BOOK TO CONSIDER:

PLANTING IN A POST-WILD WORLD BY THOMAS RAINER & CLAUDIA WEST

Should I be watering

my trees and shrubs?

The short answer: If your region hasn’t received an inch (or more) of rain or snow in the last 4 weeks, start watering your trees and shrubs this month.

The last week of March and beginning of April brought an inch or more of precipitation in the Brookings area that has saturated soils for the next few weeks. If you haven’t received rain or snow accumulation in your region, we’d recommend beginning the spring watering process. Frost is nearly out in most areas, but temperatures remain cool, so a deep watering would only be recommended when the soil feels dry 2” below the surface in the root zone of the tree or shrub.

We’d recommend beginning with spring watering trees, evergreens, and shrubs if you have new plantings from the last two years. If you know you have a particularly dry site, you might consider watering trees that have been in the ground longer than two years as well.

The watering care guide below will be available at our front checkout counter of our retail location this spring. If you have any questions specific to your plantings, feel free to reach out to our email at norms@itctel.com or office phone at (605) 693-3926.

NATURALISTIC GARDEN DESIGN:

SPRING CLEANUP UP STEPS

SAVE NESTING MATERIAL

Identify possible nesting sites for native bees and other insects
Many insects rely on hollow stems in your garden to create their nests.

How to Identify Them:
- Take a walk through your garden and cut stems at waist height.
- Check inside the stem—if you see a hole running through the center (like a straw), you've found a nesting site.
Trimming Tip:
- Leave at least 18 inches of stem attached to the plant's base when trimming. This ensures these insects can continue to use the stems for nesting.

LET THE GRASSES STAND

Taller Grasses:

Let them stay longer—they add beautiful winter interest to your garden.
They benefit from protection against late frosts.
Trim only after you see 4–6 inches of fresh growth at the base.

Medium-Sized Grasses (18–20 inches):

Cut back to an 8-inch crown to encourage quick regeneration

Short Grasses & Sedges:

No trimming needed—nature handles them!
Birds often use debris for their nests, adding to the garden's ecosystem.

THE CUTBACK

Cut back plant material into small, 4-6 inch lengths.
Trim down to an 8-inch-high base, much like chopping greens—but for perennials!

What Happens Next:

Let the foliage fall to the ground creating natural mulch.
The mulch decomposes over time, enriching the soil and improving its quality.

PLANT FEATURE OF THE MONTH:

OBEDIENT PLANT

Obedient plant, botanically known as Physostegia virginiana, is a new addition to our native seed-produced perennial inventory in 2025. This unique native plant has a snapdragon-like flower, but its square stem tells us it is a member of the mint family. If the flowers are bent, they stay in the new position for a while, leading to the common name Obedient Plant.

We are looking forward to sharing more native plants with you this spring!

Obedient plant pairs well with grasses and stands tall as a structural perennial with flowers throughout the summer and fall seasons. It spreads by roots (rhizomes), and can work well as a filler plant in a planting bed.

Light Requirements: Sun, Part Shade Soil Moisture: Moist Soil Type: Moist, well-drained

RAIN GARDENS

Rain gardens collect rainwater runoff, allowing the water to be filtered by vegetation and percolate into the soil. Rain gardens are low maintenance after they are established, provide localized stormwater and flood control, and attract beneficial birds, butterflies and insects. The construction of a true rain garden requires layers of gravel, soil, sand, and mulch. An example of a rain garden’s soil layers is shown below.

Rain garden design by Connor Evers

Are you a city of Brookings resident? The City is continuing their incentive programs this spring for native gardens, rain barrels, and expanding into rain gardens.

Click below to learn more:

City of Brookings Incentive Programs