Tag Archives: Dallas Plant Sale

Seed Starting 2023 and Save the Date for our Plant Sale

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Dallas Garden Buzz

February 1, 2023

Real gardeners are not letting grass grow under their feet; they are busy starting seeds. By starting seed indoors you can extend a plant’s growing season, scoop up new and varied varieties of seed rather than depending on garden center transplants, and maybe even save money. Packages of seeds are so much less expensive than transplants.

The Master Gardeners at Raincatchers Garden have seed starting operations in their homes.

This is Joe Armitage, Class of 2019, and his set up with LED lights. He started Tasmanian Chocolate and VR Moscow tomato seeds on 1/10/23.

Jackie James has a simple set up in her sunny window for seed starting and uses reading lamps to provide extra light.She enjoys up cycling take home containers. They work just as well as store bought trays with humidity domes for germination.Pimento peppers planted January 14th are already sprouting.

Peppers in production are:

Mad Hatter, Purple Jalapeno, Lemon Spice Jalapeno, Orange Spice Jalapeno, Aji Amarillo, Hot Hungarian Banana Pepper, Cherry Bomb, Pimento, Shishito, Fish Pepper, Hot Pops Purple Ornamental, Santos Orange Ornamental, Wicked Purple Ornamental. 

Sheila Kostleny has started pepper seeds for the North garden at Rainctcher’s and our plant sale. Sweet Jimmy Nardello, Northstar Hybrid, Gypsy Hybird, Habanada and Early Jalapeno are in production.  

As seen on the bottom rack, Sheila is trying paper towel germination for Marconi Sweet pepper, Tam Jalaepeno and Rainbow Blend Lunchbox Peppers.

Jim Dempsey uses a grow light with three trays and each tray holds two 72 count seed trays. He planted the peppers around January 18 and plans to start tomatoes in the next few days. Next he will plant flower seeds.

Jim has a total of 175 peppers in this tray.

These seedlings will be potted up and planted at The Raincatcher’s Garden in the spring. Many varieties will also be sold at our plant sale in May.

Ann Lamb, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2005, with input from Beverly Allen

NEWS-OUR PLANT SALE AT THE RAINCATCHER’S GARDEN IS SCHEDULED FOR MAY 4TH!

1 Comment

Posted in Seeds and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

COMING SOON—–SAVE THE DATE

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Dallas Garden Buzz
Some of our sales from last year

The inbox is full of dates we dare not miss.  BUT this is the real thing:  RAINCATCHER’s PLANT sale is coming.  It’s May 19th from 10am-3pm and you really don’t want to miss it

Raincatcher’s gardens are special and the sale is too.  It is a chance to buy plants grown right here not brought from greenhouses or plant farms miles away.  These are the plants that did well.  That could be divided and passed along.  Conditions here are tough—only the strong survive and thrive—and those are the plants you will find at the sale.  There will be plants from the gardens around you as you shop and plants grown by the friendly gardeners that will help you pick the ones that will work for you.  Raincatchers is not just one thing—its large and diverse with sun, and shade veg and herbs plants for pollinators and plants just because they are lovely.  

Every garden should have a bit of fun and you will find that too—maybe just the pot you never knew you had to have or a piece of garden art for the finishing touch.  One of a kind things—to inspire the thrill of the hunt.

Of course it’s a fund raiser for the gardens—but its more RAincatchers goal is to spread the love of gardening and the sale is an important part of that.  The gardeners that will assist you really want you to find things that will work for you will make you happy and brighten your part of the world.

So —save the date May 19th.   We will see you soon.

Plant sale 2021

Susan Thornbury, Dallas County Master Gardener, Class of 2008

Pictures by Starla Willis, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2011

Leave a comment

Posted in Spring and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Pruning Demonstration from the Raincatcher’s Orchard

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Dallas Garden Buzz

April 8, 2022

It was a grey day in March when Raincatcher’s volunteers gathered in the orchard to learn about fruit tree pruning with Jeff Raska.

Fruit trees are pruned to stimulate the growth of new fruit bearing wood and control the direction of the new growth, allowing for maximum harvest, sunlight and airflow.

You may feel like I do and would like to have Jeff standing beside you as you begin. We have provided this video and *some very good notes you can use next year before wielding those shears.

Seasoned Master Gardener Volunteers and Interns in the Orchard, happy with their work having learned the secrets of pruning from our Dallas County Extension Agents

*Fruit Tree Pruning Notes

Ann Lamb, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2005

Pictures and video compiled by Starla Willis Class of 2011

Notes by Katarina Velasco Graham, Dallas County Extension Agent – Horticulture.  

Dates to Remember:

Dallas County Master Gardener Spring Tour-April 30 and May 1st

Raincatcher’s Plant Sale-May 19th

Leave a comment

Posted in Fruit Trees and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Raincatcher’s Pansy and Plant Sale

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Dallas Garden Buzz

Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills is pleased to offer pansies and violas at a fantastic price for your fall and winter landscape color. “What’s the difference?” you might ask. Pansy blooms are larger than viola blooms, but violas are reported to have more blooms per plant and be somewhat more cold-tolerant. We love them both! We’ve also added alyssum this year – so pretty in container plantings. All plants are sold in 18-count flats of 4” pots.

Sale Date: 10/7 at 7am through 10/11 at noon.  All flats $19 (including tax)

Pick up purchased plants at Raincatcher’s on Wednesday, 10/27, 1-4pm (details below)

All pansy orders must be paid for by Thursday, October 14th. If you opt out of paying through Signup Genius, you may bring cash (exact change only please) or check made out to DCMGA to the Raincatcher’s Garden on Tuesday, 10/12, from 9am until noon or email Lisa Centala at lcentala@gmail.com to make other arrangements. 

All prepaid pansies and plants may be picked up at Raincatcher’s from the shade pavilion in the north garden on Wednesday, 10/27, from 1pm until 4pm. Raincatcher’s is located on the campus of Midway Hills Christian Church at 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, TX. We offer delivery in the Dallas area for large orders of 10 flats or more. Please indicate “delivery requested” in the comments section of the signup, and we will notify you to make arrangements. Volunteers will be available to help pull and load your order.

Place your order using the following link:

Sale Dates: 10/7 at 7am through 10/11 at noon.  All flats $19

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084EAFAD22A4FC1-raincatchers7

Thank you for your order!

Leave a comment

Posted in Fall and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Aji Dulce – Paco’s Peppers

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Dallas Garden Buzz

April 29, 2021

This article is about my friend Paco.  We met on a pickleball court 5 or 6 years ago and have been good friends ever since.  The first time I stepped into his backyard, I discovered we had something other than pickleball in common – gardening!  Paco is from Puerto Rico and he has turned his backyard into a tropical paradise.  Last year at a summer pool party, I noticed a pepper plant with small, wrinkly looking red and green peppers.  He explained that he collected the seeds from peppers he got in Puerto Rico because it is an important ingredient for sofrito.  I left the party with a baggie full of seeds.

The Aji Dulce peppers (Capsicum Chinese) are small, sweet peppers.  They have the shape and size of a habanera pepper but without the heat.  They start out light to dark green and eventually turn red and orange if left on the plant to mature.  Aji Dulce is used to season dishes in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Cuba.  My research found that in Puerto Rico, it is most commonly used in sofrito (which translates to stir fry or sauté in English).  It is a perennial in the tropics but is an annual here.  

With the seeds Paco gave me last year, we have been able to start a number of these pepper plants for the Raincatcher’s Garden annual plant sale which will be held at the garden on Thursday, May 13th.  I am looking forward to growing a couple of these plants myself this summer and will be looking up sofrito recipes once I get a good crop going!  

This plant goes by several names.  In Puerto Rico it is know as aji dulce, ajicito or ajies.  In the Dominican Rebuplic it is called aji gustoso and in Cuba it is aji cachucha. To me, this plant will always and simply be referred to as Paco’s peppers!  

Jackie James

Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 1993 

We will be posting more details on this blog about the May 13th plant sale in the near future.  

2 Comments

Posted in Vegetable Gardening in Dallas and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Basic Iris Care From The Raincatcher’s Garden and Important Plant Sale Information

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Dallas Garden Buzz

Raincatcher’s volunteers have always loved Iris. We have some beautiful blue iris in our garden that came from our orginal garden, and we have a happy surprise for you.  We are dividing iris and have some to sell! Abbe Bolich, Dallas County Master Gardener, gives an iris tutorial below. By the way, Abbe will become our new Dallas County Master Gardener Association President next year. We are thrilled she will be sharing her abilities with the Association, which supports the Dallas County Master Gardener program including Raincatcher’s. She follows a long line of selfless, capable Dallas County Master Gardener presidents.

Plant sale information will be below the video.

RAINCATCHER’S PANSY AND PLANT SALE

Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills is pleased to offer pansies at a fantastic price for your fall and winter landscape color. We are also offering iris and crinums divided from our own collection, as well as plumerias generously donated by Carol Walsh in memory of her husband and 2020 DCMG Intern, Ed Walsh.

A flat of 18 4″ pansy pots is only $17 including tax. Prepaid orders will be filled by Green Lake Nursery and brought to Raincatcher’s for customer pickup next Tuesday, 11/3. All pansy orders must be received by Friday, 10/30, and paid for by Monday, 11/2, at noon please. Green Lake may sell out of your variety, so paying via Signup Genius using your credit or debit card is the best way to ensure availability. You may bring cash (exact change only please) or check made out to DCMGA by Raincatcher’s Garden on Thursday, 10/29, from 9am until 2pm. You may also contact Raincatcher’s garden through Sign Up Genius by clicking on the mail icon next to “Created by:  Raincatcher’s Garden” at the bottom of the sale description or “Contact Raincatcher’s Garden” at the bottom of the signup confirmation after you’ve placed an order to make arrangements to drop off your payment. 

Payments for irises, crinums and plumerias may be brought when you pick them up. Please bring a check or exact change if paying in cash. Volunteers will not have cash on hand to make change due to safety restrictions.

All pansies and plants will be staged at Raincatcher’s for you to pick up from the west parking lot. Raincatcher’s is located on the campus of Midway Hills Christian Church at 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, TX. We will offer delivery in the Dallas area for large orders of 10 flats or more. Please indicate “delivery requested” in the comments section of the slot , and we will notify you to make arrangements. You may pick up your order on Tuesday, 11/3, from 9am until 2pm or contact the garden to make other arrangements for pickup. Volunteers will be available to load your order using strict social distancing and safety measures. You are asked to remain in your vehicle and please wear a mask.

Order pansies and plants here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084EAFAD22A4FC1-raincatchers3

Video by Starla Willis

More about iris care, click here.

Ann Lamb

Leave a comment

Posted in Perennials and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.