Grow Big Flavor in Small Places

If you love the flavor of homegrown fruits and veggies but think you don’t have enough space to grow them, think again! Even if you garden in a small space, like a balcony or patio, new compact cultivars of your favorite edibles make growing food a breeze in any space. Some of the newer introductions even grow well inside on a sunny windowsill or on a tabletop. The key is to find a cultivar with “dwarf,” “compact,” or “mini” in its name.

While indeterminate tomatoes can reach more than 7 feet tall, new introductions designed with the small-space gardener in mind let you enjoy sweet summer fruit in a small patch of sunlight. The “Kitchen Minis” series of tomatoes, as well as sweet and hot peppers, include plants that reach only 1 to 2 feet tall, while still producing big harvests. Dwarf ‘Fairy Tale’ eggplant grows beautifully in a patio pot, reaching only 2.5 feet tall and producing pretty lavender and white striped fruit. Or, if you crave delicious homegrown berries, try compact plants like the Bushel and Berry® Collection, which includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries for container gardening.

No matter where you garden, compact plant varieties give you lots of options for homegrown goodies. Choose a pretty container with drainage holes from your favorite garden center, fill it with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Potting Soil [Eastern & Midwestern Regions | Western Region], add your compact edible plants, water well, and you’ve created a mini-homestead on your balcony or windowsill! Don’t forget to feed your plants with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Tomato and Vegetable Food to keep the plants growing and blooming all season long.

Of course, if you have a small backyard with space for a raised bed, you can fill it with a diverse planting of dwarf edible plants for a terrific homegrown harvest. Give your plants a great start with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder [Eastern & Midwestern Regions only] for filling raised beds.

Need more gardening inspiration? Click here.


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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Tomato and Vegetable Food
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Organic Soil Builder
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Spice Up Your Culinary Creations with Herbs

Need an additional idea for a Mother’s Day gift? Create an herb garden for Mom! The week before Mother’s Day is National Herb Week—a perfect time to celebrate the delicious flavor and fragrance of herbs by creating an herb garden for someone who loves to feed her favorite child with delicious homemade meals. (You just want to make Mom happy, right?!) If you really want to “wow” Mom, make her dinner using herbs that you’ve grown. Trust us: she’ll be impressed! Whether she loves pasta made with homemade pesto, pizza with fresh oregano, or coq au vin flavored with bouquet garni, the fact that you’re cooking for her—with homegrown herbs—will definitely win you favored-child status.

The nicest part of growing herbs: it’s easy. You don’t need a big garden plot. Pretty pots of herbs are perfectly happy growing on a sunny windowsill inside or on a bright balcony. The second nicest thing about herbs is: they smell amazing. Even if your culinary skills need some assistance, just inhaling the scent of herbs provides soothing benefits.

But of course, the real reason most of us grow herbs is that they taste great. Homegrown herbs add much more intense flavor to your recipes than the dried or limp “fresh” herbs found at the grocery store. Plus, growing your own herbs adds convenience: just pluck a few leaves from your favorite herb plants instead of running to the store for over-priced, lesser quality ingredients. You’ll amaze friends and family when you casually mention that you need to “chiffonade the chervil.” With fresh herbs at your fingertips, you can’t help but create delicious, Michelin-star-worthy recipes!

Of course, your herbal aspirations may be as simple as a pot of homegrown basil to pair with summer’s top fruit, tomatoes. Before you begin your herb garden, take a minute and think about your favorite flavors and recipes, then select plants that you’ll enjoy. Some herbs, like basil, need warm temperatures, good moisture, and full sun, while others, like parsley, tolerate cooler temperatures and part-sun. Mediterranean herbs, like oregano, rosemary, lavender, and thyme, need well-drained soil. Make sure to group herbs with similar needs together for best success, or plant in individual pots.

Take a trip to your favorite Master Nursery® Garden Center to find your ideal herbs for your garden. If you have questions about which herbs grow well together, you’ll find great help from the experts there. Make sure to pick up Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder [Eastern & Midwestern Regions | Western Region], Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Starter Food, and Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Tomato and Vegetable Food to give your new plants a great start.

Need more gardening inspiration? Click here.


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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Organic Soil Builder
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Starter Food
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Tomato and Vegetable Food
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Queen for a Day: It’s Time to Celebrate Mom!

You KNOW you’re her favorite—(although she swears she doesn’t have a favorite). Even if she denies favoritism, it’s time to spoil your mom silly—or grandma, favorite aunt, or other influential role model—with a day filled full of gifts and gardening.

Beautiful, long-lived blooms for the garden always make a great gift. Consider giving Mom a gorgeous rose bush, fabulous fragrant lilac, or stunning repeat-blooming hydrangea for a long season of color. Is your mom a bird-lover? Consider a pretty new bird feeder, bird bath, bluebird house, owl nesting box, or even a fun motion-sensing bird camera that records feathered visitors. Add a shepherd’s hook to your gift so she can place a feeder where it’s easily seen from inside. As an added bonus, download the Merlin app to her phone to help her identify winged visitors to her new bird resort!

Or maybe your mom jumped on the hot houseplant trend during the pandemic. Look for a pretty, unique, highly sought-after houseplant like Monstera Alba or Pink Princess Philodendron to boost her collection. Or start a new tradition for your mom with a family namesake garden. Pick plants with cultivars that boast your family’s names, like Clematis ‘Elizabeth’, Aster novi-belgii ‘Jenny’, or Lythrum salicaria ‘Robert’. Perhaps collaborate with your siblings, with each giving your mom their representative “named” plant. No matter what present you want to give to Mom, your local Master Nursery® Garden Center stocks lots of great options to help you find the perfect Mother’s Day gifts.

Of course, Mother’s Day gifts don’t need to be expensive. When little ones are part of the family, heartfelt homemade gifts often top pricey presents. If you have a young sprout at home, make a cute painted tulip pot to fill with pretty annuals from your favorite Master Nursery® Garden Center. It’s easy, a little messy (so make sure you and the kiddos wear old clothes), but it’s sure to earn the giver a big smooch from Mom or Grandma!

What You Need:

  • Terra cotta pot with drainage hole and saucer
  • Acrylic paint in assorted colors
  • Paper plate
  • Sponge paint brush
  • Artist paint brush
  • Newspaper or cardboard to cover work area
  • Paper towels or old rags for clean up

How to Make:

  1. Cover your work area with newspaper or cardboard.
  2. Place the pot on the covered area.
  3. Choose which colors to use for handprint “tulip flowers” and squirt chosen paint on the paper plate.
  4. Wrangle young child to work area. Using the sponge paint brush, dip into the paint and cover the child’s open palm with paint. Prepare for giggles while painting the palm.
  5. Quickly press the kiddo’s open palm onto the terra cotta pot, trying to center the handprint. Remove quickly without smearing. Add more paint to palm and repeat around the pot.
  6. Quickly wash child’s hand before paint ends up on walls, doors, your face, or the dog.
  7. Depending on the child’s age, have them add a stem and leaves with paint to the handprint “flower.” (For young children, you may want to take artistic control and finish the flowers.)
  8. Let pot dry completely.
  9. While the pot is drying, take your young artist to your local Master Nursery® Garden Center, and let them pick out a pretty plant for the pot.
  10. Fill with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Potting Soil [Eastern & Midwestern Regions | Western Region].
  11. Help your child add the plant to the pot, firm soil around the plant, water, and delight Mom or Grandma with a sweet gift made with love (and patience.)

Of course, one of the best gifts you can give Mom is the gift of your time. Take her to visit your local Master Nursery® Garden Center to wander through the aisles, letting her pick out plants that she loves. (Make sure to pick up some Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder [Eastern & Midwestern Regions | Western Region] to give her garden soil a boost.) Pick up the tab, and then help her plant the new beauties in her garden or containers. Honestly? Spending the day with you in the garden is sure to be a gift that she’ll love!

Need more gardening inspiration? Click here.


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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Potting Soil
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Organic Potting Soil
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Organic Soil Builder
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Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder
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