How Did the Garden Gift Givers Do?

Dec26

In the days leading up to Christmas and Hanukkah, I heard and read a lot of different stories about “the best gifts for gardeners.” I may have shared a few on Twitter myself.

But I probably shared very few because for the most part very few of them actually appealed to me!  Call me jaded–or perhaps it’s just that after 20-plus years of gardening in the same location, I have what I need–but lots of suggestions for gloves, pruners, twine and things like that I just didn’t find the least bit appealing.

For one thing, I have very tiny hands–so tiny that I will occasionally buy child-sized gloves. Anyone who buys me gloves is going to have to know me pretty well to get that correct.

And that will go for pruners as well. First of all, after all these years, I have literally dozens lying around the garage–and house. I have them in just about every room (with all those house plants, they come in handy!) But I don’t like just any pruner and when I am outside pruning most things a particular pair of Felcos™ is my go to pruner of choice. I don’t want–or need–anything else.

I did get a gardening book for Christmas but I have so many that it’s one I specifically asked for. Again, unless you know your gardener well–or unless it’s one of the very latest offerings from a publisher, how do you know the gardener hasn’t read it? I adore books as gifts and think winter is the perfect time to catch up on new reads and new gardening techniques. But I wouldn’t just spring a book on an unsuspecting gardener unless I were somehow sure he or she hadn’t read it.

The one suggestion that I heard a few times that I thought was good was a garden gift certificate. Yes, it’s unimaginative–one step above cash–but at least you know your gardening friend will truly be able to put it to good use for plants, tools or books that he or she really wants. Nothing wrong with that.

So if you haven’t finished your gifting yet–and some of you haven’t, with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa just beginning–maybe these thoughts will help you with the gardeners in your life.

 

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Dec23

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On this day before the big Christmas weekend, I thought I would have at least one photo of my tree.

No debates about the merits of fresh cut versus artificial. You folks can decide that for yourselves. We do one of each at our house.

For those celebrating Hanukkah, beginning tomorrow, enjoy your celebration of light!

For those celebrating Christmas on Sunday, Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday–Christmas Red

Dec21

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I promised no more zygocacti on Monday. But if it’s Wednesday, it must be zygocacti day. So here we go.

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Although the camera is showing these to be very orange-you, they are a true red. Very stunning. This is one of my new Logees acquisitions and it is called ‘Dark Marie.’

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This is a close up of the large flowered zygocacti I showed in the top photo. It came from a box store without a name.

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This is another of the new Logees plants. This is ‘Coral Red.’

This year my zygocacti are going all out for Christmas. Good thing I saved some amaryllis and paperwhites to get me through winter!

What to Do When a Poinsettia is Not for You?

Dec19

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I promise, no more zygocacti today at least. Yes, there are other plants you can grow this time of year in a cold house that are not poinsettias  (although I confess, every time I walk by a display of those brightly colored plants, I eye them wistfully. The glittery ones are even starting to look good to me. That’s how you know that I have poinsettia envy.)

One of the best plants for a bit of Christmas color  (and yes, I mean Christmas–the plant is red and green) is the red-leaved aglaeonema, otherwise known as a Chinese evergreen, shown in my photo above.

These stunning plants come in lots of color variations but the variations are mostly green and white. This variety with a red variation is perfect for Christmas.

What’s better is that it tolerates the cool house that I have (into the upper 50s at night and no higher than 70 at best during the day ). It also doesn’t need full sun–it prefers bright indirect light and will burn if put too near my east window.

These are generally readily available. Mine came from a box store. I have had it over 2 years and only repotted it once so far. It hasn’t had any pests since I have owned it. And it tends to keep its neat shape. I can highly recommend it.

Let’s Put This Year to Bed Before We Have Next Year Harvested, Okay?

Dec16

I adore garden catalogs. Back before I had a garden, I pored over garden catalogs as if they were aspirational reading (correction: from the time I was a child, I was always growing something. What I meant was when I was still growing perennials, trees & vegetables in containers  on a balcony and  not in the ground–although that too can be a perfectly good garden if you’re happy with it. I  wasn’t.)

I learned most of my botanical Latin from poring over these same garden catalogs. It just sort of stuck with me.

But these days it seems, like so much else, the catalogs not only arrive earlier and earlier and they practically promise harvests before things are planted.

And then there are microgreens. Plant today,  harvest this weekend ( well, not quite, but almost.  In most cases, you can begin harvesting by Monday.)

And of course with hoop houses, poly tunnels and the like (never mind our changing climate patterns) we plant earlier and harvest later than ever before.

There is still a reason that I live in a place with seasons, particularly as I age. It’s to give me a rest. I don’t want to garden year round  (other than in the house, with my collection of hundreds of house plants).

So while I adore seeing all the seed and plant catalogs come in, please do not expect me to placing tomato seed orders before New Years. Let me finish out one year before I begin thinking of the next.

Wordless Wednesday–Fuchsia Explosion

Dec14

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It’s Wednesday so here’s another amazing zygocacti flower. This is one from my oldest plant. I have no idea how old the plant is. It’s actually 2 small 4″ plants combined in one pot and I’ve had it maybe 2 decades or so.

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This is more of the plant. It’s in a 12″ pot, which you can barely see under the bracts and blooms.

Thank You, Santa

Dec12

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Okay, you knew this was coming, right? And I confess. Santa didn’t really come early to my house. It was our friendly mail carrier, David, who brought me these zygocacti. (Of course, the decorative outer pots are mine.)

And yes, of course they come from Logees. After rhapsodizing about some of those descriptions, how could I resist when they had a sale?

Now, while I have been assured that they will bloom this year, I do expect to lose some, if not most of the buds. These plants have just come from a toasty greenhouse, been sent through the mail (admittedly only overnight but still) and they have now arrived at my Siberian-like home. If you were a plant, wouldn’t you protest?

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Here are the plants, with others I already own, nicely nestled into the window where I grow these. I may not be able to grow those tropical, heat loving poinsettias, but these I can grow!

You may see evidence of spectacular blooms later this season. You will definitely see them in years to come.

Merry Christmas to me.