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Acer's Florist & Garden Center
Edition . Acer's Florist & Garden Center
spring planting

Spring planting dates are filling up fast! Take your pictures and stop in TODAY.


gifts
gifts

Acer's has new inventory arriving every week!


House Plants

Acer's is fully stocked with amazingly beautiful houseplants to keep you from winter blues and help purify your home's air. Stop in soon and bring some life into your home.



Chimineas
Fire pits
Long Island's largest selection of
Chimineas and Fire Pits!
Keep the evening chill at bay while your family and friends are over to play!
Do you know that Acer's offers free
computerized landscape design?
Call (631) 343-7123 or send pics to Jim@acersgardencenter.com.


Landscape

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The Elegance of the Easter Lily

For many people, the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers of the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) represent the spiritual essence of Easter. Over time, the flowers have come to symbolize purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life.   Throughout history, they have been mentioned--in mythology, literature, poetry and the world of art--with stories and images attesting to the beauty and majesty of their elegant white flowers.

The Easter lily is actually native to the southern islands of Japan, which was the primary producer of the plant until World War II. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese source of bulbs was cut off abruptly. Now the majority of lily flower bulbs are grown along a few miles of the Pacific Coast at the Oregon and California border.

Easter lilies actually bloom naturally in the summer throughout most of the United States. They rise from earthy graves as scaly bulbs, and bloom into majestic flowers right before Easter with a little help from some "trickery" by greenhouse growers who use a balance of moist cold and sunlight to get the flowers to bloom in time for the holiday.

Two of the great charms of the Easter lily are its great trumpet-shaped form and its wonderful fragrance. Whether you plan to give the potted plants as a gift or use them to decorate your own home, the following tips will help make your Easter lilies keep on giving.

Select medium to compact plants that are well balanced and proportional in size--not too tall and not too short. The flowers should be in various stages of blooming with only a few blooms open and the rest still puffy buds or tightly closed.

As the flowers mature, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. This gives the flowers longer life and prevents the pollen from staining the white flowers. When a mature flower starts to wither after its prime, cut it off to make the plant more attractive while you still enjoy the fresher, newly opened blooms.

Easter lilies thrive near a window in bright, indirect natural daylight, but avoid glaring, direct sunlight. They prefer moderately moist, well-drained soil. If the pot is wrapped in decorative foil, be careful not to let the plant sit in trapped, standing water. After blooming, you can transplant your lily outside for many more years of lasting enjoyment.

Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter lily serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebrating.

For some tips on planting Easter lilies outdoors, click here.



Garden Primer

Is rainwater really better than faucet water for my plants?

Answer:

Yes.

Many municipal water systems put chlorine and other chemicals in the water. Chlorine is bad for soil bacteria, not to mention our air. Rainwater is oxygenated, un-chlorinated and warmer than tap water, qualities that make it a better source for plants and safer for the environment. Cold tap water can also "shock" your plants.

There is a growing movement to conserve water by collecting rainwater in plastic barrels. The water collected this way is better for plants, plus you don't have to pay for it. It also reduces energy consumption--every 1,000 gallons of tap water requires about one kilowatt hour of energy to be treated and pumped. Reducing such water use also slows the need to expand municipal water treatment and sewage plants.

If you decide to use a rain barrel, make sure it's childproof. To be safe for kids (and inquisitive animals), it should have a secure lid that can't be opened easily. You don't want anyone using your rain barrel as a swimming pool!

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2077 Jericho Turnpike, Commack, NY 11725
631-343-7123
www.acersgardencenter.com
Open Monday-Sunday 9 AM to 6 PM