April 2014 Newsletter

Viola’s News

We are officially OPEN for the 2014 season! Flagstaff is showing the first signs of waking up from winter and so is Viola’s! Warmer temps, more sunshine and the famous Flagstaff windy Spring days are all what await us in a few weeks. Be warned though! Flagstaff loves to tease us with a week or two of Spring and then bring back Winter for awhile. Giving us the Flagstaff season, Sprinter.

With the promise of Spring approaching we will start to fill up the store with more and more color to add to your yard! Our first shipments of hardy Spring annuals have arrived along with perennials, seeds, and loads of other Spring essentials to get you back into the garden!

Need some instant Spring? Come in and take a look around, we have a great selection of early spring flowers and color for the garden. Iceland poppies, ranunculus, stock, pansies and violas all add a punch of color to the garden.

Planning ahead? We also have everything you need for amending and adding to the garden. Replenishing nutrients and adding organic matter to gardens is a great start to the season.

For those of you who are ready to plant we have our onion sets, seedling potatoes, asparagus and strawberry starts in for those wanting to put something edible in the ground ASAP!

Shaniqua

Shaniqua February 23, 2001-March 28, 2014 Flagstaff's Hardest Working Dog Has Passed Away.

Shaniqua started her career at Viola's at the young age of 3 months old. She loved going to work to greet our customers. Especially the ones that had a little happiness in their pocket (she could pick out a UPS truck from a mile away).

Shaniqua loved to be in the action, during the busiest days she was often found laying right in front of the registers or on her back in the middle of our entrance. We all learned to step around her. She was often found with flowers in her collar or some crazy hat on her head. Always a good sport.

Shaniqua had many friends (people and dogs) that used to come in just to see her. We thank all of you that treated our dog like she was your own. Especially our employees, past and present, who often shared their lunches with her. Shaniqua hated to see fellow employees take lunch by themselves.

We’re so glad we had her in our lives for thirteen years. Shaniqua had a wonderful, unique, blessed, life and she will be missed.

If she touched your heart or you would like to do something please make a donation in her name to Second Chance Center for Animals or the Flagstaff Humane Society. A nice note on our Facebook page is good too.

Pansy Party 2014-April 12th

Come celebrate the beginning of Spring at Viola’s with our Pansy Party on Saturday April 12 from 12pm-3pm! We will be offering fun, innovative ways to enjoy these pretty posies as well as light refreshments and entertainment to remind us the season has started. Dress in your spring gardening finest and receive the chance to win a $100 Viola’s Gift Certificate!

As Spring slowly begins to show itself around town, everyone is catching a critical case of planting fever. Pansies are a cold hardy, colorful annual that is perfect for the fluctuating Flagstaff weather. So come on out with your floppiest gardening hat and join us in celebrating the beginning of another great planting season!

Tomato Fest 2014-May 3rd & 4th

Time to gear up for the vegetable garden and attend Viola’s Tomato Fest! Every year Viola’s loves to start the vegetable season with a big salute to the almighty tomato. For the Tomato fest this year we are planning numerous exciting guest speakers, seminars and events for the entire family! Tomato Fest is scheduled this year for Saturday and Sunday, May 3th and 4th.

Tomato Fest is a celebration of the great red vegetable (or fruit) and we are planning a great event with great demonstrations and over seventy-five varieties of tomato plants. We will have more upcoming information about Tomato Fest on the website and Facebook.

So remember, Tomato Fest is the Best!

Back To Basics-Soil and Such

With the wild and weird weather we get around this time of the year it is hard to imagine that in a mere handful of weeks we will be queuing up the gardens for tomatoes and other tender veggies and flowers. This is the time of year that the garden is just beginning to wake up from the winter snooze. Now is the best time for amending the garden and adding soil or other organic material to the garden while we wait for the weather to warm up a little bit more.

The winter slows the metabolism of the soil processes and micro-organisms. In order to boost the soil activity and add needed nutrients to the soil, a soil amendment or fertilizer can be used to enhance the garden. At Viola’s we have just about everything you could want for soil amending, from our Farmyard Blend composted manure to fish bone meal to help enrich the garden and add nutrients for growing everything you want this year.

Soil Secrets:

The Soil Secrets line is based around 4 main products. These products work together to jump start the natural soil process, they add and propagate soil micro-organisms and work to feed and enhance the progression of natural soil production. Basically, the products work together collectively to “grow” you better garden soil.

Roots Composting:

This year Viola’s is proud to also carry local, organic and sustainable products from Roots Composting LLC, a company that utilizes the compostable “wastes” from local restaurants, businesses and grocery stores to create a high quality, nutrient dense, local compost. The compost is hand screened to provide three grades of compost that are best suited for different gardening tasks. For more information on the company, visit the Roots Composting LLC website.

**As of April 4, 2014, due to high demand, the Roots Composting products are OUT OF STOCK at Viola’s. We expect to be restocked within 2 weeks. **

Seed Starting

Jump starting the season is easier than you think with an indoor seedling kit. While our weather fluctuates and varies day to day this time of year, an indoor seedling kit can help soothe Spring fever by starting vegetables, herbs or flowers inside to transplant as it gets warmer. It is also a great means to a gain a much needed head start on our notoriously short season, especially if the variety is a hard to find, cold-hardy, and short-season tomato. Or just a fun way to show the kids that Summer Break is just around the corner.

We have seed starting kits, early vegetable sets, seedling soil and a whole building filled with flower and vegetable seeds. So come on in and take a look at some of the many different seed varieties and pick out something fun to try.

Water Wise

As our Winter ends and the weather warms up all the garden perennials, shrubs and trees will waking up and that means everyone should be starting to water now. Our winter did not leave us as much precipitation as we wanted, so start sliding back into a regular watering schedule. As we ease back into the growing season start with watering once or twice a week to wake up the lawn, garden and landscaping. Increase watering as the weather warms up.

Start thinking about planning an appointment to get watering systems checked and readied for the season. A layer of mulch around the base of trees, shrubs and perennials will help retain moisture and prevent weeds.

What to do?

Pre-Spring cleaning time! Take this opportunity to clean up and survey the garden and landscape. Prune back winter damage on trees and shrubs and cut back your perennials if you have not done so already.
Time to prep! Spring always seems to take forever in arriving, but the warm weather is merely a month or two away, so time to start those seedlings and dig out the Flagstaff Planting Guide for some inspiration.
Invest in some Spring color. Nothing says “Spring is Here!” like some bright Violas or hardy Pansies in the garden or in a pretty planter.
Visit us for the Pansy Party! Get in the planting mood and join us for a celebration of Spring.