Norm's Fall Update & Customer Appreciation Fall Festival Invitation!
Hello there!
Thanks for joining our monthly (or so) Notes from Norm’s- a quick overview of our month with photos of the greenhouse and nursery, an occasional garden project update, farmer’s market display, a plant we want to rave on, conference details, or a new garden design tidbit.
We’ve been growing the best of the old and new varieties since 1971. We continue to operate our Aurora, SD retail location May through November with helpful team members to assist with your garden project needs. Our plants are in good shape for the fall season, we’ve been caring for and growing a great variety of trees, evergreens, shrubs, and perennials.
Our roots in growing and retail plant sales have expanded over the years to include services in tree planting, naturalistic garden installation, management, consulting, and garden design.
We’re excited to invite you to our 2027 Customer Appreciation Fall Festival on Saturday, October 17th!
We’ll be offering 30% off plant purchases. Our biggest savings of the season! You can find more details on the promotion and the event below, along with a few thoughts on fall garden care and planting!
Happy planting,
Colin & Connor Evers
Norm’s Greenhouse & Nursery Team
The 2026 Norm's Team
We’re grateful for a team of plant loving individuals. Each season brings familiar and new faces, with many years of experience and backgrounds. It’s been a pleasure working together with our customers this season!
Mackenzie, Robin, Frank, Nick, Jonda, Colin, Connor
Not pictured: Rylan and Truen
Norm's in September and October
Fall perennial cutbacks? Who needs it.
How do we contribute to habitat for essential insects in our ecosystem through the fall and winter? Stem boring bees and insects nest inside plant stems.
Habitat and nest material is directly effected by fall blowouts, leaf raking, cleanups, and landscape disturbance as our season approaches dormancy. If you’re signed up for a “fall cleanup”, or plan on hauling away the plant material and leaves, we’d encourage you take the time to understand how the material could help your landscape more by staying on the site.
The pause on fall cleanup activities provides an additional layer of organic matter in your landscape beds, which impacts organic matter and microbial activity in your landscape system for years to come. The plants in dense landscapes can improve nutrient levels in the landscape system on their own. Grasses, stem cuttings, leaves, and seeds are all mulchable materials that create healthier landscapes.
Recourse from traditional fall cleanups sounds extreme to some. But a quick look at the necessity of some of the cleanup tasks and plant material damage being done may lead to some questions. The focus around groomed and maintained yards is a unique and nuanced cultural experience.
Gardening is done by people, after all. “What if I just enjoy it?” Rake away. Blow away. From the driveway. From the sideway. Off the patio. Clear the lawn space used for play. Then, shift your perspective in the landscape.
Then, you might find more time for observation. Take a closer look at shrub and tree shapes for winter dormancy pruning. Observe transplanting, seed collecting, dividing, and planting additions you’d like to make to your landscape beds. Fall dividing, seeding, and planting is very successful with proper care.
Conservation of materials is important. Paying for amendments or plant health care products to care for your landscape can be costly. Using the material already provided by your plant material is a low cost solution. See if there’s a way to keep all of those leaves and organic debris on your property, or share it with your neighbors. Try to avoid trucking it away or paying for removal. After all, the plants are giving you free organic matter.
Thanks for reading.
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