Thursday, January 28, 2010

Fiesta - New Organic Selective Herbicide

Fiesta is an organic selective herbicide for broadleaf weeds in your lawn. Fiesta is based on iron chelate. It can be tank mixed but requires no tank agitation to keep it mixed. It can be applied mixed with a water soluble fertilizer but at this point this is still not tested.

Fiesta is abrasive to metals so do not use metal spray tanks. Your nozzles should be brass or stainless steel. After prolonged or extended use check your equipment for wear. 1 litre of mix does 1345 square feet, 1 gal of concentrate will cover 5,068 square feet.

You can apply Fiesta to your lawn as soon as temperatures reach 10-15 degrees C and even at these temperatures it can kill in one day. You can continue to apply Fiesta at temperatures up to 30 degrees C. Above 30 degrees C Fiesta will burn your grass. Fiesta will turn your lawn thatch black especially at temperatures above 30 degrees C. Storage is above freezing and below 30 degrees C.

Fiesta will be available in Canada in March 2010 but no distribution is set yet. In the USA I have heard that Scott's MiracleGro owns the rights for 2010.


UPDATE: March 19, 2010
Because of the red tape paperwork, Fiesta will not be available until May 2010. There is plenty of stock, no pricing is available. They believe that Fiesta will be available for both commercial & homeowner use.
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Bruce

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Hostapedia - Book Review

In The Hostapedia, Mark Zilis describes every hosta that he has encountered over the past thirty years. This includes forms he studied in gardens and nurseries throughout the United States and those he observed in native habitats and collections in Japan. It encompasses all cultivars registered with the American Hosta Society and others listed in a wide variety of publications and websites. The 1900 photos in The Hostapedia highlight the most important hostas, as well as many unusual collector's plants and hosta oddities.

  • Over 7400 hosta descriptions listed A-Z
  • 1897 color photos
  • Complete index of hosta names
  • Factual and entertaining
  • Most definitive work on hostas in print and a must for every collector, nurseryman, and gardener
The Hostapedia by Mark R. Zilis, © 2009,
9" by 12", 1128 pages, 1897 color photos, hardcover
ISBN # 978-0-9679440-1-2

Bruce has been waiting for this book for 3 years, ever since it was first mentioned. He has been told it weighs 11 lbs. Definitely NOT a light book!

This book is only available from Q&Z Nursery in Rochelle, IL so if you order this book you will have to pay duty to get it across the border into Canada.

To order the website is
http://www.qandznursery.com/hostapedia.html
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Bruce