“Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it,” Mark Twain (1835-1910) once observed. Perhaps not so true now: “Thinkin’ about hibernating for winter,” recently tweeted rock performer Pink. Certainly that is what most of the garden believes in commencing this time of the year.
As meteorologists predicted, an extended warm fall has resulted in the soil barely commencing to freeze. This has delayed applications of mulch, all to the good since a few adventurous weeds are still attempting to expand their lebensraum at cost to more desirable plants. So yes, it is back to weeding, but take heart: Hard work improves the taste of food, a study at Johns Hopkins University discovered. Doubtlessly liquid nutrition also.
Diversion No. 1
In an effort to protect President Barack Obama on his visit to Mumbai (Bombay), officials ordered the removal of coconuts that might fall on his head from trees, reported BBC News. Every year in India people are injured and even killed by falling coconuts.
Gift plants to give and be given are one of the wonders of the festive season. Some are but fleeting visitors to the home whatever care is lavished on them; others may become permanent guests with a modicum of care and attention. Despite lurid tales, few are poisonous, particularly the oft-maligned poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). The Christmas or Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudo-capsicum) most certainly is, while decorative peppers (Capsicum) if not actually poisonous are potentially hot. All do best in bright light though perhaps not direct sun, maintained on the cool side – 15 to 20ºC is just fine – and kept barely damp. Pocketbook Flower (Calceolaria) and Cineraria (Senecio) are but fleeting visitors, often just days rather than weeks and the ubiquitous Chrysanthemum plant not much better. Amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybrids) bulbs and Gloxinia (Sinningia speciosa) tubers are certainly worth saving but Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum giganteum) corms can be trickier – household conditions are usually to hot and dry for them to flourish, as they are for gift Azaleas. Many find that the Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus) thrives on neglect, some even becoming family heirlooms. So what about those flashy poinsettias? They seem to last and last and last, perhaps even until Easter. Then – well, given the exquisite demands to repeat flowering, so sorry, but it must be sent to the great green compost heap in the sky.
Diversion No. 2
Size for size, the male bush cricket has the largest testicles of any species on the planet, report British scientists in Biology Letters (and widely reported elsewhere in world media). “Jiminy Cricket!” exclaimed the Toronto Sun. “It makes you wonder how they fly with those things.”
It now takes a minimum of muss and even less fuss to have a containerized Christmas tree in your home, if you are prepared to rent one at $100 to $150 for the festive season – and if there is a supplier for such in your area. Every year, some 33 million Christmas trees end in wood chippers. Out on the left coast, from British Columbia to California, some thought it a shame. A few years ago, these entrepreneurs started businesses delivering potted trees prior to the holiday and picked them up afterwards for replanting. The idea has even spread to Britain but not apparently to the rest of North America, outside the environmentally concerned west coast.
Perhaps a better choice and in the long run cheaper, is the “tropical” Christmas tree, or Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla). Often sold at this time of year, keep warm bringing it home but once inside it requires cooler temperatures, about 15ºC or so, and preferably direct sunlight. The usual cause of failure is alkaline, or high pH water. Many experts suggest resorting to rainwater. Presumably they live in more moderate climates than ours.
Diversion No. 3
Allan Henderson, a gardener at Lessner Park in Charter Towers, Queensland, is challenging the state’s Sustainability Minister Kate Jones to spend a day working underneath the park’s trees which harbour 20,000 flying foxes, reports Brian Williams in The Courier-Mail.
Winter Solstice falls on 21st December, at 11:38 p.m. to be exact so the scientists say who also know it as the Solar New Year. Most of us will be content to acknowledge it as the first day of winter, the shortest day, longest night. For indoor gardeners it marks several weeks of withholding fertilizer from all indoor plants except those in bloom or bud. In most cultures, the Winter Solstice represents rebirth and has been celebrated accordingly. In days of yore, as excess livestock was slaughtered, feasting on fresh meat was enjoyed. Wine from the fall grapes and other fruit was, and still is, also enjoyed. For the ancient Romans, Saturnalia commenced on 17 December, then Juvenalia, a celebration of youth and finally Bacchanalia acknowledging the god Bacchus.
Diversion No. 4
Researchers have laid bare the secret sex life of truffles. A team at the Plant Genetics Institute in Perugia, Italy revealed Tuber melansporum are either male or female. This makes truffles different from other fungi, which are usually self-fertile or may even reproduce asexually, notes The Sunday Telegraph.
An old proverb tells us that a good workman may be judged by his tools. Certainly the same applies to any serious gardener, nowadays if for no other reason than the tools’ cost. Implements belonging to the good gardener will be found suspended from wracks in garage, shed or basement. They have been cleaned of all soil and debris. Those requiring a cutting edge – spades, hoes, turf edgers, shears – will have been sharpened on a whetstone. All metal parts will have been rubbed down with an oily cloth, wood handles smoothed with sandpaper and then rubbed down with linseed oil.
Machinery such as mowers will receive similar attention before being stored away. Push mowers may benefit from professional blade sharpening. Never attempt this at home but have it done over the next few weeks before the early spring rush for such services commence.
Despite some distributors claims, earthenware and concrete planters and statuary may flake and crack when exposed to northern climes. Wait until dry then move into the garage or similar shelter. Save garden stakes, peony rings, tomato cages and similar garden hardware safely inside as well. Traditional bamboo stakes may shelter earwigs in their open, hollow ends. Prevent this by plugging with putty, plasticine or a similar filling.
