bird sitting on branch

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2025

Spend time in your favorite places watching birds–then tell us about them! In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify them, count them, and submit them to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. If you already use eBird or Merlin, your submissions over the 4-days count towards GBBC. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to …

Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Control

Tired of unwelcome insect guests crashing your indoor garden party? Fear not! Bonide’s got your back with a secret weapon that sends bugs packing without breaking a sweat. Say “adios” to aphids, scale, mealybugs, and whiteflies – they won’t even know what hit ’em! BONIDE Systemic Houseplant Insect Control provides insect control for up to 8 weeks. Protects plants from aphids, whiteflies, and other listed insects. -Protect your plants from insect pests for up to 8 weeks-Protects from aphids, whiteflies, …

red geraniums planted in container on window

Geranium Winter Care: How To Save Geraniums Over The Winter

Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum) are grown as annuals in most parts of the United States, but they are actually tender perennials. This means that with a little care, getting geraniums to last over the winter is possible. Even better is the fact that learning how to keep geraniums over the winter is easy. Saving geraniums for the winter can be done in three ways. Let’s look at these different ways. How to Save Geraniums Over the Winter in Pots When …

Do you know the Legend of the Poinsettia?

Poinsettias are prefect for bringing Christmas into your home with their long lasting red bracts that work great in any decor setting.  They also make the ideal living gift for that person that you never know what to get for Christmas. This enchanting legend of the poinsettia dates back several centuries, to a Christmas Eve in Mexico when a little girl named Pepita had no gift to present to the Christ child at Christmas Eve Service. As Pepita walked slowly to …

Clever ways to use your Christmas Tree after the holidays.

The holidays have come and gone and we’re all getting ready to take down the decorations. But instead of tossing out that real Christmas tree, we’ve compiled some clever reuse ideas. 1. Mulch… Pine needles dry quickly and decompose slowly, making them an excellent moisture- and mold-free mulch for ground-covering crops, such as strawberries, to rest on. 2. Create a bird sanctuary… Place your tree in its stand outdoors. Fill bird feeders and hang them from the boughs, or drape the tree with …

monarch butterfly on flower

Butterflies are Blooming Exhibit

Celebrate the changing of the season and beat the winter blues by visiting the Butterflies are Blooming exhibit at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. This exhibit is celebrating its 30th year, debuting on March 1st and will give attendees the chance to experience thousands of butterflies up close and in person. Butterflies are Blooming is one of the nation’s largest temporary exhibits of the insect featuring 60 different species of butterflies fluttering about the garden’s …

Grow Better Plants with Espoma Bio-tone Fertilizer

Using Espoma Bio-tone when planting offers a range of in-depth benefits that promote healthy, thriving plants: Enhanced Root Development: Bio-tone contains a unique blend of mycorrhizae and beneficial microbes that encourage robust root systems. These microorganisms form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, improving their ability to absorb water and nutrients, resulting in stronger and more resilient plants. Improved Nutrient Uptake: The organic ingredients in Bio-tone improve the soil’s structure and fertility, making essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium more …

plants that glow with firefly

Firefly Petunia

Wenke Greenhouses is excited to have the opportunity to offer the Firefly Petunia, an extraordinary new flower that glows in the dark. The Firefly Petunia combines the genetic coding of a petunia and a naturally bioluminescent mushroom. This cutting edge horticultural innovation has earned the Firefly Petunia a spot on Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2024.  What to Expect By day, the Firefly Petunia performs as any annual petunia would – reliably producing white flowers on a compact plant which …

Jack’s Petunia FeED

Jack’s Petunia FeED is designed for plants that do not take up iron efficiently in the root zone. The foliage of iron hungry plants like petunia, calibrachoa, bacopa, verbena, vinca and salvia can begin to lighten or turn yellow if not fed adequate levels of iron. Petunia FeED helps keep the foliage of these iron-dependent plants green. This formula is especially effective in hanging baskets and containers that are watered often. Available in 1.5 lb and 4 lb containers at …

Greenhouse Fire

Over the weekend, one of our greenhouses experienced a fire. The fire was not at our retail store which is the location that most of you are most familiar. This fire happened down the road at our Young Plant facility where we do our seed sowing and grow plugs and liners. Many of you may have heard about it in the news, and we want to share the details with you directly. We are incredibly thankful that no one was …