Fall Letter from Craig

Dear Gardening Friends,

When the angle of the sun changes, when day length shortens, and the tiring of foliage in the garden is obvious, the inevitability of winter starts entering into our thoughts.  Still with one good garden display month left, the abundance in our orchards and borders now are that much more special in this last hoorah of warmth and verdance.

It’s been a very busy summer season at CBLD with weather dragging us around by the tail, from excessive water early on to drought conditions by the end of July.  Now we’re back into torrential, almost tropical downpours multiple times a week!

Both human and mechanical management of plant care this year has been in high gear.  Well-established plantings have needed to be regularly monitored for extreme cultural changes over the growing season, let alone the newly installed plant materials.

In mid-September, our installation department finished up two major new house and garden construction projects built from the ground up.  Soon our crews will be battening down the hatches to help the gardens endure winter’s fury.

As the temperatures drop, we will be shuttling the tender plants, dear to our terraces and potagers, back to be overwintered at our nursery.  When all is packed up for winter, we fill three 80-foot long heated hoop houses with this bounty.  Come the middle of winter, we will harvest citrus and deliver to our clients who own the trees.  Walking amongst these luxuriant houses helps us all get through the brutal outdoor winter temperatures we typically have to deal with.

Also note that our growing facility is actively increasing the breadth of succulent, tropical, and specialty plant crops for 2019 and beyond.  Stay tuned as these plants will not be limited to just our current clients, but will be available to the public next spring.  More updates to come!

Being a fall-born baby myself, fall has always been a celebratory time for me.  Being lucky enough to have a few out of state projects in warmer climates, it is icing on the cake after autumn’s blaze here at home.  I am lucky enough to love what I do for a living wherever the job takes me.

Enjoy your fall season, it is so fleeting,

Sincerely,

Craig Bergmann

Proprietor