For years, you've probably heard that poinsettias are poisonous to pets and children. I, for one, believed it--there are all kinds of plants that are toxic to animals and humans, so it just seemed to make sense.It turns out, however, that the idea that poinsettias could ever hurt you or your pets is entirely false! There has never been a documented case of poinsettias actually killing or poisoning any human [...]
Come celebrate Christmas with us! For years, my grandparents John and Ada welcomed the community to the nursery at Christmastime for an open house, complete with olie bollen, hot coffee and a great, festive atmosphere.We'd like to thank you for your business in this last year by once again hosting an open house for you! Please join us tomorrow (Saturday), December 4 from 10AM-3PM for fresh olie bollen (Ada's recipe), [...]
Having already had our first snow of the year, some people may have started the Christmas music a little bit early. Did you? I did--it was just too hard to resist!Now that we're officially started with the Christmas season, Vander Giessen Nursery is fully stocked with Christmas trees (both living and cut), fresh, fragrant wreaths, top-quality poinsettias and gifts for gardeners and non-gardeners alike! We encourage you to stop in [...]
Happy Thanksgiving from the family at Vander Giessen Nursery! As we enter another holiday season, we want to express our sincere thanks to you, our customers, for another good season of business. In the last year the economy has shown few signs of improvement--and for some, things have gotten worse--but even with budgets tight and extra spending money scarce, we've been blessed by your faithful patronage. Whether you bought [...]
I love autumn—it’s truly a beautiful season. In the last several weeks, we’ve been blessed with the rain we needed after a fairly long, dry summer. The light frost we had a couple weeks ago brought out the fiery colors of fall in the trees around town—and who doesn’t enjoy the sunny autumn days we’ve had? As we settle into the rhythms of fall, you’re likely winding down your gardening [...]
If you've driven by in recent days, you've probably noticed some big changes here at the nursery! So, what's going on? Several years ago, when we remodeled much of the nursery to expand back into shrub and tree sales, we tore down most of the house on the corner as it severely limited the space we would have to use for plants. At that time, we converted the remaining portion [...]
In case you've had your head in the sand these last few days, our fall clearance sale wrapped up on Saturday. And if you're at all like many of our customers who've stopped at the nursery in the last week, you're wondering, "So now what--do you close for the rest of the year?"The simple answer? NO! We understand if you think we do--for years we did. But last year we [...]
In the garden industry, a major trend over the last several years has been toward container gardening. We’ve all seen the pots of flowers sitting next to a neighbor’s front door or large planters overflowing with color in front of businesses or churches. If you’re like a good percentage of gardeners today, you have “patio pots” or other similar planters you use around your house, too. This spring, as you [...]
On Tuesday, November 17, 2009, my grandfather John Vos, long-time owner of Vander Giessen Nursery, passed away suddenly. For many years, John, along with his wife Ada and brother-in-law Lawrence, operated Vander Giessen Nursery. In the Lynden community and beyond, John was well-known for his commercial spraying, barn whitewashing and other services.After retiring from the nursery in 2003 at age 82, John--and Ada--continued to frequent the nursery, where they enjoyed [...]
This image has not been doctored in any way--this is the true fall color of this Japanese Maple!Acer palmatum "Viridis"