Dear Friends:This is my last column relating to gardening and horticulture on the Internet. Our web site which has existed for some eight or none years will close in a matter of a week. Effective January 1, 2008, our web site will no longer appear and be updated on the Internet. Until then, it is in your best interest to check the information offered in our "data sheets" so you download as much pertinent information about your specific garden interest as possible. Download what you need so you profit from our experience, good and bad, over the past 45 years.
Thank you for allowing us to become a part of your horticultural experience.
Jack Eden
With Christmas only heartbeats away, it’s time to relax, forget the urge to fight the mob at the mall for last-minute gifts, and enjoy the precious moments before Christmas. It’s time for your family, for carols, for filling the home with the fragrance of Christmas, but let’s not forget the tasks that need doing while you celebrate.
* If you are displaying a cut Christmas tree in the home or apartment, remember to check the reservoir of the treestand every other day to make sure there’s ample preservative for tree uptake. If you moved the tree indoors last weekend, you should have made your second batch of preservative before now. Remember to omit the borax when you make preservative from here on.
* Cut trees not treated with the preservative may not be safe trees in the home. Should your tree start to drop needles, extinguish all tree lights and leave them off while the tree is in the house.
* Ball-and-burlap (B&B) Christmas trees must be watered every morning without fail, slowly pouring a quart of water over the top of the rootball so roots have their fill of water. Next week’s column will have details on planting the tree in previously-dug holes or overwintering in an enclosed garage.
* Don’t neglect poinsettias and other holiday plants over the holidays. Poinsettias need lightly moist soil to keep their colorful bracts. Avoid drafty locations, and set the pot on the floor when you retire at night so plants don’t lost moisture. Cyclamen needs fairly cool overnight temperatures below 60 degrees to continue flowering over the winter. Holiday cactus prefers cool day and nighttime temperatures to keep their flowers. If your holiday cactus is in a warm room, the flowers last but a few days.
* Make time today and tomorrow to create a Christmas fragrance in your home. Add a pint if water to a saucepan, then a tablespoon of whole cloves, one whole nutmeg, and three broken-up sticks of cinnamon. Bring to a boil on the kitchen range, then let simmer for 30 minutes or more. The fragrance works its way throughout the house.
* On the day after Christmas (so-called Boxing Day in Britain), call your nursery to ask if they are discounting their Christmas poinsettias. Don’t call chain stores because their poinsettias aren’t worth showing in the home.
* Next time you visit the nursery, buy several bags of chunky mulch to protect fall-planted shrubs and trees, perennials, and overwintering herbs and vegetables. A two-inch layer of mulch should be applied around these plants soon after the ground is frozen. Forget shredded mulch, even if they’re giving it away in the holiday spirit.
* If you’re entertaining over the holidays, welcome guests in the yuletide spirit as they do in parts of New Mexico and Texas. It’s an ethnic tradition to erect “luminarias” to light the way to homes, churches and such. You’ll need several things: a dozen or so #10 paper bags, a box or two of votive candles, and a large bag of sharp sand (this from a hardware store). Prepare the luminaries indoors ahead of time, positioning bags every six feet or so on each side of the walk leading to your home.
Start by folding the top two inches of each paper bag to form a rigid collar for the luminarias. Into each bag, pour a three-inch layer of sharp sand, placing one votive candle into each bag. Set each candle so it’s buried two-thirds into the sand, only the top third exposed. Fifteen minutes before your guests are due to arrive, move the paper bags outdoors along the walk. Light your votive candles using a long fireplace match. When guests arrive, your luminaries will light the way. When your votive candles burn down to the sand, they will extinguish automatically, otherwise they will continue to light the way when your party is over.
Finally, we extend our heartfelt wishes for a happy and peaceful Christmas and a wonderful year ahead.
