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We've developed a special tradition of fabulous holiday displays.
If you come to Merrifield Garden Center for plants and gardening supplies but you've never visited during the holidays, we strongly encourage you to do so.
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You'll be amazed to see that our garden center has transformed into one of the most spectacular Christmas Shops you'll ever see.
Complete Story >>
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 Merrifield Chef Lilienne Shares
Her Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
Thanksgiving is the one holiday of the year where food is the focus.
We spend weeks planning and preparing the holiday feast. We pull out recipes that have been passed down through generations, dust off the good china, polish our silverware and iron the tablecloth.
Complete Story >>
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Celebrate The Season
We've developed a special tradition of fabulous holiday displays.
If you come to Merrifield Garden Center for plants and gardening supplies but you've never visited during the holidays, we strongly encourage you to do so.
You'll be amazed to see that our garden center has transformed into one of the most spectacular Christmas Shops you'll ever see.
Each year our designers attend trade shows, visit suppliers and search for the latest and greatest Christmas ornaments and decorating accents. After sorting through thousands of possibilities, their selections arrive at Merrifield Garden Center to be creatively arranged and displayed in more than 20 themes. Each theme represents a different idea, style and color.
Browsing through our displays is sure to entertain and inspire you with ideas for your home. "Big Meadow" is a theme that's like taking a walk in the woods. With ornaments and decorations inspired by wildlife, this is a popular tree with children. They love the owls, bears and other wild animals peeking through the trees.
Here are some of our many other one-of-a-kind displays:
"Naughty and Nice" – Very whimsical and colorful, this tree is another hit with children. At our Merrifield location, you'll be amazed at what our designers have created with this display. You've got to see it to believe it!
"The Beach" – Angling for a unique look this holiday season? Consider our fun-in-the-sun theme with rainbow-colored fish, playful dolphin, sparkling shells, coral garland and other beach-inspired decorations.
"Fairy Tales" – Add some fantasy to your Christmas tree with jeweled butterflies, twinkling icicles and colorful fairies decked out in all their finery.
"Shimmer and Shine" – Bring a touch of glamour and glitter to your holiday displays with gorgeous gold and silver ornaments that are breathtaking to behold.
Along with the contemporary designs, you'll also find the time-honored traditional ornaments and decorations. Mouth-blown glass ornaments have been a part of decorating Christmas trees for hundreds of years. And this year is no exception. Their beauty and elegance stand the test of time.
The same care and attention given to selecting and displaying trees and ornaments applies throughout the Christmas Shop. We offer candles and potpourri from quality manufacturers, including Root Candles and Colonial Candle - and fragrances from Thymes and Aromatique. Even if you have an artificial tree, you can still enjoy the fragrance of a fresh cut tree with Frasier Fir candles and reed diffusers. We have nativity scenes and figures from Fontanini, and artificial wreaths and garland that are so lifelike you'll need to touch them to make sure they're not real.
We carry Christmas lights – including energy-saving LED lights - accessories, and a greenhouse full of lush foliage and the exotic blooms of holiday plants. Our holiday plants are purchased from area growers and delivered fresh to our greenhouses, where they'll receive expert care until they find a permanent home at your residence or office.
When you step into the tropical greenhouses, you'll be greeted with colorful poinsettias, cyclamen, Christmas cactus, anthurium, Norfolk Island pine and many other beautiful holiday plants.
Cyclamen thrive in temperatures of 55 to 65 degrees with bright, indirect light. With cool temperatures and close attention to watering, these plants will bloom for months with bright red, pink or lavender flowers.
You can't miss the poinsettias with their gorgeous red, pink and white blooms. In addition to the traditional colors, we're getting some painted in gold and blue, and sprinkled with glitter. These stylish poinsettias are typically in big demand. Poinsettias prefer slightly warmer conditions of about 70 degrees and consistent moisture. They'll also flourish into the New Year.
All our planning and preparation is unveiled during our Holiday Open House, which begins the day after Thanksgiving at all three of our locations. We can't wait for you to see the final results of our efforts to bring you the most fabulous holiday displays.
Of course, you're invited to come in at anytime for a sneak peek and to get a head start on your shopping. Please let us know how we're doing and have a wonderful holiday season!
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Merrifield Chef Lilienne
Shares Her Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
Thanksgiving is the one holiday of the year where food is the focus.
We spend weeks planning and preparing the holiday feast. We pull out recipes that have been passed down through generations, dust off the good china, polish our silverware and iron the tablecloth.
For many families, the turkey is the centerpiece of the holiday feast. If you're not familiar with brining your turkey, we suggest you to try it. Not only does it help keep the turkey moist, but it provides extra flavor.
Brining takes a bit of planning, but it's certainly worth the effort. This method involves immersing the entire bird in a solution of water, salt and sugar. You can add herbs and spices if you like.
The end result is a juicy, tender turkey. Your star will shine - we promise!
We're including a brining recipe from the National Turkey Federation (They certainly should know what they're talking about!). Merrifield Chef Lilienne Conklin added a few of her own touches, such as an orange filled with cloves, a star anise a popular Chinese spice - bay leaves and rosemary. Be creative and throw in some of your favorite herbs!
We've also included two of Lilienne's traditional Thanksgiving treats Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Pumpkin Seeds Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Apple Cranberry Turnovers.
These are must-haves in our house, along with mashed potatoes and stuffing, Lilienne says. People will eat a salad when it's the Butternut Squash Salad. Otherwise, people pass up garden salads for the thousands of starch options.
This dessert is Lilienne's adaptation of Stonewall Kitchen's recipe for an apple cranberry tart. If you wanted to do a dessert buffet, you can also make these as miniatures by cutting the pastry squares even smaller. As always, use your imagination, be creative and put your own twist on the recipe.
For the dessert, Lilienne uses Stonewall Kitchen Apple Cranberry Chutney, which we carry at all of our locations. This chutney is also delightful on toast or spread over cheddar cheese. It's a wonderful condiment to keep on hand.
Enjoy the recipes! Have a great Thanksgiving!
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Indoor blooms: For beautiful flowers indoors this winter, plant paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis. These bulbs are easy to grow and will flower four to six weeks after planting. They can be grown in pots - or in dishes or bowls filled with water and decorative gravel. Paperwhite narcissus are very fragrant. With just a few bulbs, you can fill a room with their intoxicating scent. 'Inbal' is a mildly fragrant variety.
Bulbs: There's still plenty of time to plant bulbs. Crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, allium and all other spring flowering bulbs can be planted anytime before Christmas. Use Merrifield Starter Plant Food to get bigger flowers and add Ro-Pel or VoleBloc to keep away the pests.
Trees and Shrubs: Now is a great time to fertilize trees and shrubs. Roots will continue growing until January. And fertilizing now will improve growth next spring. We recommend Merrifield Tree and Shrub Food for shade trees and evergreens and Merrifield Flowering Plant Food for all blooming plants.
Evergreens: Apply Wilt-Pruf to protect evergreens, such as Southern magnolia, camellia, hollies and other broadleaf evergreens, from winter injury.
Pruning: When the leaves have fallen off and the branching structure is visible, prune your deciduous trees and shrubs. Bring a photo to the nursery and we can advise you where to correctly make any needed cuts.
Lawns: Now is the time to make your final application of the year of Merrifield Select or Merrifield Premium Lawn Food. Lawn weeds, such as bittercress, chickweed and henbit, have germinated and will survive the winter unless they're treated now. We suggest spraying this month with a broad spectrum, selective herbicide, such as Speed Zone or Trimec, to prevent these weeds from growing and blooming next spring.
Firewood: Call Merrifield Garden Center and order a load of our kiln-dried firewood, which is easier to light, burns cleaner and is more heat efficient than other firewood. We can deliver and stack the wood for you!
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| Good Dirt: David Yost Blogs His Gardening Adventures |
 A Visit To Merrifield Will Put You In The Holiday Spirit
Last month I was bragging and feeling smug about being ready for the fall season. Having planted pansies, bulbs and ornamental kale for seasonal color, I was all caught up in the garden and the leaves had just started changing to their fall color.
Well, that was last month and as everyone knows, that smug, proud, caught up feeling can only be a short, fleeting moment in the life of a gardener.
Today, everything is buried under a layer of wet, fallen leaves. It's time to dig up the bananas and bring them in for the winter, cover the eucalyptus, edge beds, etc. At times, I start stressing out over the things that need to be done in the garden and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours of daylight to keep up with it all.
When this happens, taking a moment to remind myself why I garden helps. I garden for the therapeutic benefits of being outdoors, participating with nature, nurturing beautiful plants and many other good, positive motives. Stress is not one of them.
This is somewhat similar to the holiday season. It's a wonderful opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, decorate, share traditions and celebrate this special time of year. But it can also be a very busy and stressful time. When you start to feel stress creeping into your holidays, it's time to visit Merrifield Garden Center.
Just walking through the store to enjoy the spectacular displays, seeing vibrant holiday plants, and smelling the fragrance of fresh greens and Christmas trees is guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit. Our decorations will inspire you with ideas for your home and we have friendly, knowledgeable staff to help you with everything from answering questions or tying a bow to loading your car.
We're committed to making your visit here as pleasant and enjoyable as possible. Please visit often, have a wonderful holiday and good luck finding time to rake up the leaves in your garden!
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