Décor Mustards in the Fall

Mustard ‘Dragon's Tongue’

Another in our collection of cold weather foliage crops in the versatile 6-inch pot is mustard—by now you must know it’s one of our favorites. Mustard delivers the goods: stunning deep burgundy reds and bright greens, unique texture, and an abundance of flavor. It’s also extremely winter hardy; like lettuce that we discussed last week, red and green mustards become more vivid as the temperature dips.

Mustard tastes sweeter in the frosty weather, too, and you may even wind up harvesting some from under the snow. This is one ornamental grown as much for eating as it is for its good looks. Flavors range from mild to spicy—we use the tender young leaves in salads and the more mature versions in stir-fries and hearty soups and stews. 

As popular as mums are, they don’t come in every single color and for a certain look, asters deliver. ‘Pink Magic’ is the most sought after variety, with little daisy flowers and bright yellow eyes. It has just the right look with just the right color. In gymnastics, they stick the landing when they finish well and that is what ‘Pink Magic’ does.

Our ‘Pink Magic’ is prime this week—just cracking color—so order your asters now if you haven’t requested them yet. This is a dwarf aster that fits in well with our mum offerings, reaching about 16 to 20 inches with a very mum-like mounded habit.

Of course, we can complement your aster order with ‘Peter III Blue’, ‘Days’, ‘Daydream’, and ‘Purple Magic’ as well. They have all budded up and are on the edge of showing their color. All of our asters are available in the 8-inch pot.

We encourage our landscaper customers to stop by the office and walk through our display gardens, especially if you are interested in learning to build an additional revenue stream by offering color. Our material is planted using basic designs that are easy to implement and you can learn a lot just by standing in front of the garden. We employ crews just like you do, so we like designs that translate well into simple instructions and solid successes.

Even if your main focus is in other green materials, color is nice supplemental income, allowing you to add another job or two for existing clients. It gives your service some personality that makes you stand out from the other services pitching to your customers. A nice color garden gets noticed, often resulting in a few more referrals. Once you become skilled at deploying color gardens, it can become a major revenue stream in itself.

If you’re serious about kicking your color revenue into a higher orbit, stop by the office and talk to us.