Baldwin's Nurseries

08/14/2026

Hurray for rain (and some impressive thunderstorms to bring it!) Everything seems fresh and clean this morning, so we have decided to have a special on Nishiki (Dappled) willows for today, tomorrow, and Sunday. Regularly priced at 45.00, on for half price this weekend only.
I love this shrub, which generally grows to a maximum of 10 feet tall and wide. It's a fast grower, putting on as much as three feet in a single year, and responds brilliantly to pruning. New growth shows off the common name beautifully, as it's pink with green and white. Deer mostly leave this willow alone, although the odd porcupine may find it delectable. It's a great choice for an eye-catching privacy hedge, too. Great in full sun to partial shade and is tolerant of wet soil and, once established, drier soils, too.
Come in and see Susan and get to know more about this striking shrub!

08/12/2026

Gosh, I almost forgot! Today is our glorious leader's birthday! Photo taken by Susan during the heat wave last week. Everyone say Happy Birthday to Rob!

08/12/2026

Happy Wednesday! Nice day here so far. Let me introduce you to a favourite, ancient tree, Ginkgo biloba, aka the maidenhair tree. It's a gymnosperm, related to conifers, but is considered a living fossil, with predecessors in the Jurassic age (dinosaur times). It's a tough, tough tree--interestingly, there are specimens in existence that survived the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and there are also specimens known to be more than 1,500 years old.
Ginkgos have unique, fan-shaped foliage and are extremely tough street trees, pollution tolerant and with excellent golden yellow fall colour. They are deer resistant although we all know some hungry deer will try anything once. There are both male and female trees, (the females produce very stinky fruits and so the males are preferred as street trees). There is a large, handsome female tree in the middle of the Botanical Gardens at Acadia University. Unlike most conifers, they do drop their leaves in fall, similar to larch and dawn redwood.
While the standard species can grow quite tall (up to 115 feet), they are slow growers; and there are also dwarf and standard forms available. If you're a fan of magnolias, tulip trees, dawn redwoods, you will love having a ginkgo in your yard! Plant in full sun to partial shade in well-draining soil--they are disease resistant and easy to care for, so make a space today!

08/09/2026

Meet Leymus arenarius ( aka Elymus arenarius) or coastal Blue dune grass. This is a spreading but striking grass, known for its steel blue foliage followed by yellow flowerheads.
This grass is highly drought- and salt-tolerant as well as resistant to browsing by deer and rabbits. Plant it in a location that takes into account its aggressive tendencies. It makes an effective ground cover for erosion-prone areas. It's not for everyone, but if you have an area where you have runoff/erosion issues, OR want to plant it in a container, it is a lovely thing. Some use its blue-green blades in floral arrangements, which is pretty cool.
Plant in full sun to partial shade in moist but well-drained soil. It prefers sandy soils but withstands a variety of soil types, moisture levels, and pHs.
Want the blue colour but not the rowdy tendencies? Try one of the switchgrasses such as Panicum Thundercloud, Dallas Blues, or Heavy Metal. These are clumping grasses rather than rhizome-spreaders.

08/07/2026

Hi folks, once again, for the safety of our staff and customers, we are closing today at NOON. See you all tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be cooler.
Photo is from the Agricultural Campus in Truro part of the Rock Garden. Go visit!

08/06/2026

Another hot one so again, we are likely closing shortly after noon--please call if you are thinking about coming out. My recommendation is stay home in the shade with a cool lemonade or tequila sunrise. We don't judge.🍹
Since we're mostly all hiding in the shade or indoors, a little reading for you, on when to water your garden. I watered one section this morning and have to do the containers this afternoon later.

Most home gardens need deep watering one to three times a week, adjusted for soil, weather, and plant type.

08/05/2026

Attention! For the safety of our staff and our customers, we are closing at 130 today, and this will continue for the duration of this heat warning period. Stay cool, everyone!

08/05/2026

Welcome to Wednesday, friends, and we hope you enjoyed your long weekend if it's a thing where you are! I know we posted about a hydrangea the other day, but when I saw THIS one, I squeaked and have been trying to decide where to plant it. It's called H. macrophylla 'Grin and Tonic' from the fine folks at Bloomin' Easy. Gorgeous dark green foliage is complemented by mophead flowers that start green and turn snowy white. It only grows to a max of 3 feet tall and wide, so I'm sure *I* can add it to my burgeoning collection of hydrangeas. Partly it's the name (I love a good plant pun), and partly the green flowers that turn white. t's a rebloomer so it will keep you delighted for many weeks through summer.

08/02/2026

Before we start talking about this plant, a reminder: we now are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays each week, so after today, we reopen on Wednesday at 9 am. I was away yesterday til evening so I forgot to post... but I did bring home a couple of new perennials I'm itching to get planted!

As a gardener, writer, and author, I trial a lot of new plants before I can recommend to nurseries that they try them, or entice other gardeners to do so. In recent years (we've talked about this before) the number of hydrangeas available has exploded, and for the best reasons. Used to be that many people sought blue hydrangeas like Nikko Blue, which bloos on old wood--and in our climate, tends to die back to the ground in cold winters so it never blooms in colder areas of the region. BUT these newer cultivars bloom on old and new wood, so even if they die back in winter, they bloom in the summer.

I first spotted this Eclipse bigleaf hydrangea up in Masstown, and I made that funny squeaking sound I make when something excites me. We have a few other dark-foliage varieties like Pink Dynamo, but I believe this may be the darkest one yet. And unlike Pink Dynamo, which is more of a lacecap type, this is a mophead with cranberry or amethyst blooms depending on your soil pH. And as the flowers start to open, they have green-white centres to each floret.

We have a limited number of Eclipse available, and we think you'll love it, too. Remember to plant hydrangeas in well-draining, compost rich soil, and you should mulch around the root area to help prevent wilting on warmer days when it's dry. (I put marine compost in the soil when I plant hydrangeas (also available at the nursery) and then bark mulch around the plant. Many hydrangeas will wilt down on hot days but they bounce right back once the sun is less intense (or if you need to water).

Alas, we don't have a cure for deer snacking on these plants, but if you can plant where the silly bratty beasts can't reach them, you will definitely be delighted.

07/30/2026

Before we talk about today's plant, just a warm thank you to all who take the time to comment and give their experiences with particular plants. I don't always have time to respond because I work a fulltime (and then some) job and can't be online all the time, but I read every comment and share them with Rob and Susan, who have even less time to be online. Thank you all!

Meet a rather unusual flowering grass that you probably need to add to your collection. This is Northern Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium, its common name in reference to the similarity of the seed heads to those of oats.

Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of poor soils, but prefers moist, fertile soils, and is also one of the most shade-tolerant of grasses. Plant in the border, shade garden, native plant garden, naturalized area, along streams or on the edge of the water garden. Seedheads are good in fresh or dried arrangements.

According to literature (Missouri Botanical Garden, and others) this plant self-seeds but sadly, has never done so for me. It's native to the eastern US, is very showy when the flowers and seedheads come out, and naturally it's deer resistant.