Tomatoes

GARDEN CENTER IS NOW OPEN!

April 25, 2020 by Wendy Pettit

Dear Valued Customers:

We have opened our gates to the public! Store hours on Saturday are 10-6 pm. Beginning Monday the 27th, store hours will be 9-6 pm.

Please know that we take Covid-19 seriously and aim to protect YOU AND OUR EMPLOYEES. Therefore, we are doing the following:

Sanitizing common surfaces continually throughout the day. This includes shopping carts.
Installing plexiglass barriers at checkout stands.
Requesting our employees AND customers to adhere to the CDC recommendation to wear a mask or a fabric covering while in our store. A bandana can work just fine.
Requesting our employees AND customers to adhere to the CDC recommendation to maintain a 6-foot social distance as much as possible. We have 6 feet markers throughout the store. One way to figure is that one of our shopping carts is approximately 3 feet, imagine 2 carts. ***PLEASE*** when picking out your favorite plant, be aware of your spacing. We all need to be patient during this crazy time! If you need to pass someone in the aisle, walk past and do not stop to talk. Using common sense and being courteous will help everyone have a good experience.
Use CREDIT CARDS if possible.
No Public Restroom and drinking fountain.
Customers may still order via email with parking lot pick up the same day or next business day. Due to the heavy volume, no more phone orders or in-the-parking-lot orders can be accepted. All our employees are busy inside servicing the in-store customers.

Salt Lake Store: [email protected]

West Valley: [email protected]

No Garden Consulting at this time.

We appreciate your cooperation to protect our employees and our other customers. It means a lot to us.

We remind you of the other CDC recommendations:

If you are sick, PLEASE STAY HOME, get better, and then come to visit us! We want to see you healthy! Should you choose, you can email your order and have someone pick it up for you.
If you need to sneeze (we know it is ALLERGY season), sneeze into your elbow with your mask on!
Wash your hands regularly with soap & water. A liberal rubbing with hand sanitizer is the next best thing.
Remember to not touch your face if you haven’t washed your hands.

Covid-19 doesn’t have wings to fly on its own. It is transferred by contaminated hands or with droplets when we talk, sneeze or cough. Hence washing hands, wearing a mask when social distancing isn’t always possible, coughing/sneezing into an elbow, and keeping the 6-foot social distance are important, and very doable! We can do this!

THANK YOU for your cooperation and patience during this challenging time. We are grateful that we offer an essential service to the community and wish for your best success in growing your own food, beautifying the community, remaining healthy physically and mentally, and tending your gardens and yards this season.

Happy shopping and happy planting,

Western Garden Centers

Feast your eyes on this sampling of temptations!

A wall of peonies loaded with buds waiting to open

Healthy tomato plants

Ingrid Bergman Hybrid Tea Rose

Giant succulent plants

Sun-Believable Brown Eyed Susan

Iceberg Floribunda Rose

Marigolds of all varieties

Ruffled Red Echeveria

Begonias

Gorgeous petunias

Good As Gold Hybrid Tea Rose

Anna’s Promise Grandiflora Rose

Rosie the Riveter Floribunda Rose

Celestial Night Floribunda Rose

Western Gardens Plant Material April 2020

April 13, 2020 by Wendy Pettit

With the current pandemic situation, we now only do phone and email orders for pick up. On this page, please find some videos and photos showing the excellent prime material we’ve had delivered to our door. We will do our best to choose the best selection for your yard or needs. Just let us know what you want, and we will get it. You’ve trusted us for years, you can trust us now!

vivid orange and yellow ranunculus for early spring in utah

Ranunculaceous in vivid colors

Plant material as of April 13, 2020 –

SPRING COLOR ANNUALS & PERENNIALS

CLICK – Spring colder color annuals & perennials

GROUND COVERS

CLICK – Ground cover by Utah local growers

HERBS – VEGETABLES – BERRIES

CLICK – Berries – Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, pomegranate, currant, and more…

CLICK – Strawberries

CLICK – Herbs – cold-hardy herbs for April

CLICK – Herbs BASIL

CLICK – Tomatoes

CLICK – Vegetables cold crops

Peony

FLOWERING SHRUBS & ROSES

Our prime ROSES will be here by the end of April. We have a few that wintered over and just beginning to come out. Email your requests.

CLICK – Magnolias

CLICK – Peonies – beautiful shipment just waiting to plant in your yard

CLICK – Lilacs – an old-time favorite with fragrance

SMALLER SHRUBS for TEXTURE & COLOR

CLICK – Barberries

CLICK – Spireas

FRUIT TREES

Realize that the fruit trees are just now coming out of dormancy. Some look like sticks, but they are healthy and prime – ready for your yard!

CLICK – APPLES, APRICOTS, APRUMS, CHERRIES – bush or tree form

CLICK – NECTARINES, NECTAPLUM & FRUIT SALAD (varieties on same tree)

CLICK – PEACHES (including favorite “Donut”), PEACHOTUM, PLUERRY, COMBOS

CLICK – PEARS – all kinds including the Asian Pear

CLICK – PLUMS, COMBOS, PLUOTS, WALNUT

SHADE TREES

CLICK – FLOWERING CHERRIES – Beautiful selection of all types –

Special Local Note: If you haven’t seen them, hurry and witness the color and fragrance of the cherry blossoms at the Utah State Capitol. They are gorgeous! (April 12, 2020)

MORE TO COME

SEEDS, SEEDS, SEEDS

April 5, 2020 by Wendy Pettit

Several of our customers want to see what seeds we have available during this COVID-19 pandemic. Since we currently and temporarily are only taking phone or email orders with curbside pickup, we are posting photos of the seeds we currently have inside the store. Limited to supply on hand. We apologize if these photos are difficult to see, but until we get some closer photos, these will have to do. You may need to ZOOM in close to read the varieties.

Thank you again for supporting the small businesses in our community. We appreciate you shopping at Western Gardens for quality products and services during this more than unusual spring.

ORGANIC SEEDS

organic vegetable seed packages at utah garden center

Organic Vegetable Seeds – soybean, beets, huckleberry, sunberry, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, collards, cucumber, greens, kale, melons, peas, peppers, gourd, and more.

organic vegetable seed packages for natural garden in Utah

Organic Seeds (minus the bottom 2 rows) – radish, squash, tomato, pepper, beans, corn, peas, spinach, and more.

VEGETABLE SEEDS

Vegetable Seeds – Artichoke, Asparagus, Bean, Beets, Cabbage, Cardoon, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Grains, Kale, Lettuce, Melon, Okra, Onion, Peppers, Radish, and more.

Vegetable Seeds – Beans, Carrots, Collards, Corn, Greens, Melons, Peppers, Pumpkins, Rutabaga, Spinach, and more.

Vegetable Seeds – Bean, Berries, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Corn, Cowpea, Eggplant, Endive, Greens, Lettuce, Melons, Peas, Radicchio, Radish, Pumpkins, Gourds, and more.

Vegetables – Squash-Zucchini, Winter squash, Strawberries, Swiss Chard, Tomatillo, Tomatoes, Watermelon, and more.

HERB SEEDS

Herb Seeds – basil, chives, cilantro, coriander, dill, fennel, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, stevia, thyme, and more.

FLOWER SEEDS

Flower Seeds – Alyssum, Amaranth, Butterflyweed, Caster beans, Daisy, Gourds, Lavender, Nasturtium, Petunia, Morning Glory, Poppy, Salvia, Snapdragon, Sunflower, Sweet Peas, Mixes, and more.

Flowers – Bachelor Buttons, Cosmos, Flax, Hollyhocks, Marigold, Nicotiana, Penstemon, Poppy, Sunflowers, Zinnia, and more.

10 Veggies to Plant Now to Save Money Later

May 18, 2016 by Jenn Crookston

Hello! So glad to you’re here!

Do you love fresh, delicious produce, but you also love saving money? Then you’re in the right place! I’m sharing ten of my favorite veggies that not only taste better grown at home, but’ll keep more green in your wallet, too!

I am blessed with a household of children who love to eat veggies. When I hear parents planning/plotting ways to get more veggies into their children’s diet I say a silent prayer of gratitude that isn’t a battle I have to fight!

But because we love our veggies so much, we tend to fly through them, especially during the summer months, when it’s hot and a heavy meal is too much. This year, instead of running to the grocery store every other day, we can just run out to the garden!

Let me start by saying, if your family hates tomatoes, growing them yourself probably won’t make your kids suddenly love them (even though they definitely taste better than store-bought!).

So before you start planting, think of things your family enjoys and build around that. Eat a ton of spinach? Plant a ton! Love kale, but hate spending $5 every week for a bag of organic baby leaves? Put that on your garden list. Save money by planting what you’ll actually eat and cross them off your grocery list!

There are a ton of great veggies that grow well here in Utah. My list saves me money every year and they taste amazing fresh from the garden (and yes, I know a tomato isn’t botanically a vegetable, but in our house it falls into that category!).

Click NEXT to see what 10 garden veggies are saving me money!

Pages: 1 2

9 Plants you need for your Salsa Garden

May 14, 2016 by Kirsten

Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here!

Do you love fresh pico de gallo, chili verde salsa or red salsa with tortilla chips? Then a Salsa Garden is perfect for you! We love enjoying any of these with our favorite Mexican dishes, and what’s better than being able to make it from fresh veggies from your own garden?! The taste of homegrown tomatoes vs. store-bought is huge…homegrown tomatoes are so much more delicious and flavorful—and it’s exciting to be able to say “I grew that!”

If you have never grown a garden in your yard, I suggest getting your soil tested. The cost is about $10 and can be done at USU in Logan, Utah. You can just mail in a sample and they can tell you the P and K levels, pH, salt, and lime content, which can help you find out what your soil might need before you spend money on your plants and take the time to plant and water them. Knowing these levels can help you avoid things like bottom rot and make sure you get the most out of your plants.

Avoid planting your veggies until the overnight temps are at least 50° or above. This is typically around May 15th in Utah. Watch your local forecast…our Utah weather is famous for being temperamental!

Ready to get started with the 9 veggies? Click NEXT to see what to plant!

Pages: 1 2 3

Fresh Tomato Soup

November 4, 2014 by Becky

Fresh tomato soup is one of our family’s favorite go-to soups. It’s comfort food for sure, and pairs perfectly with grilled cheese (a staple in our home)! There are variations galore, but this is a basic, actually-tastes-like-garden-fresh-tomatoes soup.

This is one of our favorites, especially when you need something quick on a busy weeknight. It only takes about 20 minutes to throw together, and you don’t have to have a lot of special ingredients. Just a few pantry staples and, of course, some lovely ripe tomatoes!

This is a great recipe to double, or even triple, and freeze some for another night. If tomatoes aren’t in season and you don’t have any left from your garden, you can easily substitute canned tomatoes (use 28 oz whole peeled or diced tomatoes).

Ingredients

https://westerngardens.com/fresh-tomato-soup/

To make the grilled cheese croutons, butter one side each of two pieces of bread. Place cheese slices between the bread, making sure the buttered sides are facing out. Cook in a panini press until both sides are golden brown. Cut into squares and add to soup.

*Butter or avocado oil may be substituted for the coconut oil.

Spinach Salad with Marinated Tomato & Basil

September 16, 2014 by Becky

Tomatoes in a salad are nothing new. More like an old standby, really. But if you are new to marinating tomatoes before you add them to your salad, this recipe just might knock your socks off!

Perhaps unless you’re shopping at a farmer’s market, homegrown garden-fresh tomatoes really have no equal. Even a good, expensive tomato from the grocery store can never compare in flavor and texture to a vine-ripened, juicy tomato from the garden. John Denver even sang about homegrown tomatoes! If you’ve never heard the song, give it a listen. It’s cute…and true. Winter without homegrown tomatoes is most definitely a “culinary bummer!”

The balsamic dressing for this salad is simple and goes together quickly, but it adds a wonderful dimension to the tomatoes. With just a few simple ingredients, your side salad will become the highlight of your meal!

Ingredients

https://westerngardens.com/spinach-salad-marinated-tomato-basil/

Give this simple salad a try and you might just start marinating all your tomatoes!

For more great recipes using tomatoes and basil, check out:

Caprese Appetizers

September 10, 2014 by Becky

These beautiful caprese appetizers are the perfect addition to any meal. They are light, full of flavor, and fun to make! You will love them because they are easy and delicious…and when the tomatoes and basil come out of your garden, they’re inexpensive too! (And who doesn’t love that?!) caprese appetizer 5

One of the very best summer tastes is a garden-fresh homegrown tomato. And one of my favorite garden-fresh tomatoes is the Sunsugar cherry tomato. They’re sweet and delicious…and perfect for an appetizer like this! Especially if your plants are producing more than you can eat and you need more ideas to use them up! (Because when my sunsugar plant starts producing, I can hardly keep up with it!)

Stack it with some basil, balsamic, bread & cheese, and you’ve got an appetizer that just might ruin your dinner!

Ingredients

https://westerngardens.com/caprese-appetizers/

For the most amazingly easy way to slice cherry tomatoes in seconds, see our tutorial!

This is a fun appetizer to customize any way you want it. Change up the order of ingredients, or the way you assemble it! Or even make each of them different. No matter how you put them together, they taste incredible and you won’t be able to stop at just one! It’s the perfect combination of flavors…which means you might not save room for dinner. But when the appetizers are this good, who cares?!

How to cut Grape Tomatoes {Tip!}

June 17, 2014 by Becky

Today I have a great tip for you–how to cut grape tomatoes quickly and easily! {Plus a to-die-for recipe that just happens to need grape tomato halves!} With this simple method I can cut a dry pint of grape tomatoes in less than a minute!

…

Companion Planting 101

May 10, 2014 by Becky

Companion planting can help your garden flourish in ways it never has before. You can have healthier plants and a better harvest (and even control some garden pests!) by choosing with care which plants go together and which plants to keep apart. Companion planting isn’t difficult once you have a few basics down. This is, however, a very broad subject, so we’ll cover the basics here to get you started! Through companion planting you can:

enhance the flavor of your harvest (plants like herbs can enhance the flavor of nearby plants)
increase your yield (some plants help others grow better)
improve nitrogen (some plants can make nitrogen available to other plants)
repel pests (the biochemicals of certain plants can repel insect and other pests)
attract good guys (beneficial insects are attracted to or like to inhabit certain plants)
divert pests (certain plants attract pests, which can keep them away from your garden)

Companion Plants

{The list looks small, just click on it to enlarge!}

Other highly beneficial plants to consider for your garden:

catmint: deters ants
chamomile: helps keep nearby plants healthy
foxglove: lends strength and longer life to nearby plants
lavender: attracts bees and deters caterpillars, mice, ticks & rabbits
marigolds: deter pests
marjoram: repels insect pests, attracts bees
mint: repels insects pests, attracts beneficial insects
nettles: a weed, but it excretes nutrients into the soil and protects against aphids, black fly & mildew
pennyroyal: deters ants & burrowing insects
soybeans: nourishes and reconditions soil, and deters corn pests
tansy: repels pests
tarragon: beneficial to nearby plants
yarrow: good for veggies & herbs, attracts beneficial bugs

One of our favorite combinations for the garden is one of our favorite combinations for the kitchen…tomatoes and basil! Basil will add subtle flavor to tomatoes, makes it more disease resistant, and repel aphids, fruit flies & house flies, and it will attract bees! If you missed last week’s recipe for
bruschetta, a simple but amazing combination of tomatoes and basil, be sure to pin it so you can make it this summer! We will keep bringing you weekly garden-fresh recipes to give some kitchen inspiration for all those delicious fruits and veggies!

Happy planting!