Pumpkin Crisp

 Pumpkin Crisp

• 15 oz Pumpkin puree

• 2 Eggs

• 12 oz Evaporated milk

• 3/4 cup Oats, Old Fashioned

• 1 cup Brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 
  
• 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
  
• 
  
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 
  
• 1 tsp Vanilla

• 1/2 cup butter

Instructions

• Grease 8x8" casserole. Set aside.
• Combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until blended.
• Slowly mix in the evaporated milk.
• Pour mixture into prepared dish.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Mix together flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Add in vanilla and cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork.
• Work until mixture forms large crumbs.
• Set topping aside.
• After the pumpkin has baked for 30 minutes, pull from the oven.
• Sprinkle the prepared topping over the dish.
• Reduce heat to 350 and bake for additional 20-30 minutes, until the center is slightly jiggly.

What's New ?

 Knock Out, Petite Roses.

Photo courtesy of KnockOutRoses.com 

Petite Knockout is the first-ever miniature Knock Out Rose. It offers the same flower power and easy care of traditional Knock Out Roses. However, these tiny treasures will only reach a mature height of 18" tall. They are perfect for decorative container planting or as a stand-alone in a small space. If you choose a more dramatic look they can be planted in mass along borders and edges. You cannot go wrong with these bright red non-fading blooms that  last all summer into early fall.                                                                          

Pugster Butterfly Bushes

Pugster Blue

 The Pugster line of buddleia or butterfly bushes from Proven Winners offers a small plant with a big impact. You get full-size blooms on a dwarf plant that will only reach 24" at maturity with a spread of about 36".

Pugster Pink

They offer sturdy limbs to support the large dense blooms with the same ability to bring in the butterflies from far and near.

Pugster Periwinkle

Photos courtesy of Proven Winners

And, as always, the Proven Winners' name always means quality and proven success in the test gardens.  Give your butterflies something to look forward to year after year.

Winecraft Black Smoke Bush

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners

This beautiful shrub can be used as a specimen plant in a focal area or as a hedge to satisfy even the pickiest of homeowners. 

Proven Winners have outdone themselves with this one. With a mature size of 4 to 6 ft. and the same spread it is certain not to outgrow the space. Winecraft Black offers plum-colored foliage through the summer then turns almost black before giving way to its brilliant reds and oranges for the fall. The blooms are delicate and feathery and range from purple to pink until frost. Everyone will be asking where you got this beautiful shrub and all you have to say is Proven Winners and Mitchell's Nursery. (shameless plug) The only two names you need for beauty and quality.

So why not visit your local Garden center and see what Proven Winners has to offer for your landscape.

If you happen to live in the local area of King NC, Mitchell's Nursery loves to see new or old faces! (shameless plug #2)

Now is the time to plant!

Happy Digging!

Do You Have a Planting Plan?

How often have you bought a tree or a shrub and just dug a hole and stuck it in the ground? You can drive around any town in this great country and you will find that people have been doing that for a long time.

A beautiful tree hacked and maimed because they have grown into a power line or overhead phone cable. Make no mistake, the utility companies are in no way obligated to trim and prune your trees nice and neat. It is simply their job to get your tree out of their power lines. So be sure to keep that in mind when planning your future plantings. When you get a case of planting fever, be sure to know the mature size of your plants and trees. What grows well under a power line today could be the cause of a power outage in the future. Then your tree will be like thousands of others. You will end up with a tree that resembles a slingshot or something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. 

 

   You also may want to do your research before you plant. Check out not only the height and width, but find out if it has a deep or shallow root system. You don't want to plant anything with a deep root system near your water source or your sewerage lines. Always remember, the roots will grow as wide as the canopy. So if your tree has a spread of 30 ft. you can count on the roots spreading equally as far. Trees are the number one cause of power outages and cracked foundations. Tree roots don't care if they ruin your home, but, you will. 

If you live in an area where you have public water and sewer you want to be extremely diligent when planting. Paying for that repair will ensure that your kids never go to college. The same with underground power lines, fiber optic cables, and phone lines. Be sure to call 811 BEFORE you dig because after may be too late.

In short, no one will be responsible for damage caused by your plantings other than you. Not the power company, not the phone company, and not your home builder. Ultimately you are the one who makes the decision. Unless, of course, trees were already in place before you acquired the property. Even if that was the case, you need to make an assessment after you have bought the property and have trees removed if necessary. Mortgages are far too costly to allow an ill-placed tree to ruin your investment. 

Plan smart, and enjoy the comfort of knowing you will not be the reason your entire neighborhood loses power, phones, water, or the internet. That last one may spawn a lynch mob of angry teens and nobody wants that. 

Great plans produce great plants.

HAPPY PLANTING!