Winter days stretch endlessly.
The cold, the rain, and the tulle fog hang.
Copyright © 2010 Dianne Marie Andre
Archive for December, 2010
Proper indoor Care for Living Christmas Trees
December 9, 2010Here are some helpful hints to keep your living Christmas tree happy and alive.
- Always pick up your tree by the container or ball-and-burlap, not by the trunk.
- After you bring your living tree home, immediately place it in a covered porch, patio, in the garage or shed for a few days. This will help prepare it for indoor conditions.
- If possible, don’t keep your living tree indoors for more than seven days.
- Once indoors, keep your tree in the original pot or its burlap wrapping.
- Don’t place your living tree (or any tree) near heat sources such as fireplaces, vents, wall units.
- Whether you choose a potted or ball-and-burlap tree, protect your floor or carpet with a saucer, or drip pan. If you slip the ball-and-burlap tree inside a decorative container, make such it has drainage holes so the root ball doesn’t sit in water.
- Don’t let your tree’s soil or root ball dry out. Check daily and keep moist, not soggy.
- If you string Christmas lights around your living tree, use miniature or LED lights to minimize burning the needles. Also, limit the time you keep them turned on. A timer works great for tree lights, and other decorations.
When you are ready to relocate your living tree outside, place it in a sheltered area such as a covered porch, patio, inside the garage or shed for a few days to prepare it for outdoor conditions. Plant it according to the nursery tag where it has plenty of growing space, in well-draining soil.
How to Choose a Living Christmas Tree
December 8, 2010
I wish every family could experience, at least once, the pleasures of having a living Christmas tree. It’s a wonderful way to honor a loved one or to mark a special milestone or occasion, first indoors adorned with ornaments, then outdoors where family and neighbors can enjoy it for years to come.
Every day I look through the windows at my living tree, a blue spruce. It anchors the perennial garden’s northeast corner. My husband surprised me with it one Christmas after learning that I had cancer. Eighteen years later, the blue spruce stands tall and bold, a thriving celebration of life.
If you don’t have outdoor space for a living Christmas tree, consider donating it after the holidays to your favorite park, community organization, school, or church. If you have outdoor space for a potted tree, choose a slow growing or dwarf variety.
Living trees do cost more than a cut tree, but it will give you years of pleasure. Here are some tips to help you choose the right tree:
- Living Christmas trees include spruce, cedar, sequoia, fir, cypress, pine.
- A good variety for keeping a living tree in an outdoor pot is blue spruce. These grow less than eight inches per year.
- Take your time, and inspect the trees carefully before making a purchase.
- Read the nursery tags. Determine if the tree’s mature size, light, soil, and drainage requirements match your planting site and zone.
- Look for new growth and flexible branches.
- Avoid trees that have yellow, brown, or shedding needles or other signs of damage.
- Never buy a tree (or shrub) that is root bound. Lift the tree out of its nursery pot. If the roots wrap around the root ball/soil like a girdle, don’t buy it. Eventually, the tree will choke and die.
- The root ball of a ball-and-burlap tree should be firm, not falling apart. Rock-hard soil is an indication of improper watering.
Tomorrow: Tips on caring for your living Christmas tree.
Christmas Tree Farms
December 7, 2010
To find choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms by county go to:
http://www.cachristmas.com/ChooseandCutFrame.html
In addition to general information (address, contact numbers, website, etc.), this site also provides a key showing services and fun activities for the whole family that is offered at each farm.
Note: Before going to the tree farm of your choice, first visit their website or call to confirm services provided, days/times of special events like hayrides, and hours.
Poinsettia Care Tips and Facts
December 6, 2010
Poinsettia Care Tips:
- Keep your poinsettia in the container it came in throughout the blooming season.
- Keep poinsettias from cold drafts or excessive heat such as portable or wall heaters, fireplaces, and ventilating ducts.
- Place your plant in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day.
- Don’t expose poinsettias to temperatures below 50° F. Poinsettias are sensitive to cold, so avoid placing them outside during the winter months.
- Room temperature between 68 – 70° F is best. If you keep your room warmer than 70° mist your poinsettia daily.
- Don’t fertilize your plant while it’s blooming.
- Avoid leaf shine products as they brown the edges of the leaves.
- Pick off yellowing leaves that may develop.
- Water when the soil feels dry to the touch.
- Remove decorative foil before watering.
- Don’t let your plant sit in water. Let water drain completely before replacing foil.
Poinsettia Facts:
- Poinsettias are not deadly. The American Association of Poison Control Centers says there haven’t been any deaths reported due to ingesting poinsettia plants. This is true for humans and animals. The plant can cause discomfort; perhaps a little vomiting, but no major effects reported.
- The colorful petals are actually leaves called bracts.
- The tiny yellow buds in the center of the bracts are the actual flowers.
- Poinsettias are sensitive to Carbon Monoxide.
- December 12 is National Poinsettia Day, designated by Congress to mark the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced the native Mexican plant to the United States.
Field Trip: Duarte Nursery, Inc.
December 3, 2010
Each year Duarte Nursery, near Modesto, California, opens their Poinsettia greenhouse to the public the first Saturday after Thanksgiving Day. The Poinsettia greenhouse sits on a 180-acre complex where the Duarte family grows mostly fruit and nut trees, vines, and 60,000 Poinsettias. Because Duarte Nursery sells to commercial growers, opening their doors to the public each November provides an opportunity to share the Christmas spirit by interacting with the community.
With over 30 Poinsettia varieties and colors, you can choose pinks, reds, burgundy, creamy white, yellow, marbled, mottled, wavy, Poinsettia trees, arrangements, pots, and vases. However, I should warn you, as you walk between the aisles, it’s impossible to choose the best and prettiest Poinsettia because each one is equally superb. The foliage is dark green, perky and plentiful. The bracts are vibrant, aesthetically balanced with dense, full growth from all angles. You won’t find one brown spot, yellow or wilting leaf. Duarte Nursery grows Poinsettias with perfection in mind.
Poinsettia hours are Monday-Saturday 8am-5pm & Sunday 10am-4pm. Poinsettias start at $8/ea.
Duarte Nursery is located at 1555 Baldwin Road, Hughson, California 95326
Phone: 209-531-0351 | Fax: 209-531-0352 | email: sales@duartenursery.com
Monday, look for Poinsettia Care Tips and Facts
December Garden Tasks
December 2, 2010
Please note: What I write in this space are lessons learned through trial and error, research, and from other gardeners and professionals. I garden in zone 9, but share garden experiences that I believe are relevant to most zones within a reasonable time frame and planting conditions.
Maintenance: Keep faucets, pipes, and sprinkler valves protected from frost by wrapping them with old bath towels or rags. Double check tree stakes and support wire. Slip flexible pipes over the end of downspouts to redirect rainwater away from the house.
In the vegetable garden: Most winter vegetables can handle frost and snow, however, a harsh wind can cripple or destroy them. Watch the weather report and be ready to protect your winter crops from wind.
In the soil, sow seeds of lettuce, carrots, fava beans, mustard, peas, radishes, bunching onions, onions, bok choy, broccoli, kale, collards, and spinach.
Plant from cell packs of broccoli and cauliflower.
Plant barefoot berries, grapes, fruit trees, asparagus, artichokes, strawberries, rhubarb.
In the landscape: Keep covering frost-sensitive plants with frost cloth. Watch the soil in potted plants and don’t let it dry out.
In the ground or in pots, plant the following annuals: Iceland poppies, pansies, violas, calendulas, flowering kale, flowering cabbage, sweet William, snapdragons, cyclamen, primroses.
At the nursery, select camellias while they are budding. This will allow you to see the flower colors first-hand.
If the ground isn’t frozen, you can still plant daffodil bulbs.
Prune rose bushes.
Copyright © 2010 Dianne Marie Andre
Events
December 1, 2010The December events has been posted. Now, go out and have some fun before the year is gone.
Landline Update
December 1, 2010After I got home from the library yesterday, my landline phone was working. Go figure. Still, the phone company came out today and tried to find the problem so it wouldn’t happen again for the third time, but my phones have to be down to locate the trouble.
The good news is that it is outside the house. The bad news is that it will probably happen again, and if I can’t get Verizon to come out while the phone is out-of-order (this only happens when it rains), I just have to wait for the “problem spot” to dry out.
The repairman told me that another couple with the same issue went 18 days without service. So, if you don’t hear from me for a while in the near future, most likely it’s because I can’t go on-line.
I sure do appreciate your patience with a country gal and her rural-living troubles.
PS: If anyone has a laptop that you don’t use and would like to donate it to “In and Around the Garden” so that I can at least go to a coffee shop to communicate as often as possible when I’m offline, I’d be grateful for the gift.
In and Around the Garden 