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Volume:12 Issue:1 Web site address: www.squamishgardeners.com Date: January 2009 |
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Letter from the Editor: "Down the Garden Path" by Ellen Grant
Twelfth Night or Epiphany is here and, as tradition would have it, I have taken down the last of the purely Christmas decorations. I have finally looked up this on the internet and discovered the origins of this celebration of the end of the Christmas season. It seems that the spirits of the woods and fields were allowed to reside in our homes for the twelve days but if we did not return them to the outdoors at that time spring would not return and we would have poor crops. In feudal times the season went until Candlemas, February 2, Groundhog Day or the half way point of winter. It was then that all the holly and ivy were thrown out. During the Victorian times, when Christmas became such a great celebration with trees and boughs added as decorations the date was moved to Epiphany. This Christmas has been unusual for me in several ways. First, I usually fill the house with cut flower arrangements and give flowers arrangements to family and friends. This year I had so many house plants around that I decided to just incorporate them into the décor. I added painted white and blue twigs, some money plant and some glass and white ornaments to a dark green and white leafed plant in a black pot. A pair of silver deer at its base gave me a wintery coffee table center. Another just needed the addition of some berry branches and a few artificial mums in reds and yellows to highlight the chartreuse tropical leafed plant on the table in the family room. And the jade plant on the hall table was given prominence by tiny lights, bronze birds and encircled by metallic balls of different sizes. Of course I had live flowers for the table center as usual but it was nice not to have to relegate my potted plants to the spare room for the holidays. The weather also made a difference to the outside decorations. Early in December I had bought several sets of light twigs to set among the shrubs in the yard and in the planters by the doors. As the snow piled up the displays changed. By New Year’s the twinkling lights were glowing encased under the drifts. They continued to add colour but in such an unexpected way. Amaryllis plants usually play a prominent role in my décor in winter. This year I chose only one to place in the south window. I paid a premium price at a garden center in Vancouver and worried that I was being extravagant. It was white with red veining. Before Christmas two stems appeared and they bloomed together with six flowers each. What a display! I cut down the stems and noticed a third stalk emerging. It started to open January 1st and now has the full complement of flowers. |
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Twelfth Night is actually celebrated on the fifth of January and not the sixth because in early times a day went until sundown and not until midnight. At any rate, I have put away the seasonal things, and we celebrate with simpler meals of cabbage rolls, stews and winter soups. Out come the catalogues from the seed companies and I settle in to dream about spring.
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This year however I did get extra bulbs for outdoors. I can’t resist a bargain! When stores get rid of the old stock I usually buy a few. I bought them and a bag of potting soil all prepared to plant them up for the usual Valentine’s Day display. The soil was very wet from the fall rains and it froze solid in the back of our truck, as did the shovels in the wheelbarrow full of my soil mixture. I hope the coming rain will free the tools in the shed from their bondage. In the meantime those catalogues keep me occupied! As soon as the snow melts I know that I have a great clean-up task in the yard. That week of windy weather in the late fall left many branches scattered across the lawn. To these we have to add the dead limbs that the rain-laden snows have stripped from the trees and shrubs. The blanket of snow has hidden them from sight during the holidays but soon they will be revealed. Both the “Heavenly Bamboo” by the door and a couple of Japanese maples appear to have suffered severe frost damage too. I imagine that this winter has been unkind to many plants. We have been lulled into thinking that global warming will allow us to enjoy many semi-tropical plants in our gardens. Indeed some that are well established and protected may have survived the cold, drying wind but I shuttered to think of the palms in Vancouver that have been the pride of the city being lost.
Before Christmas I ordered, from Lee Valley tools, some disposable compost bags. They were suppose to last for three days but I have found that peelings and eggs shells etc. can actually be collected for a week before being taken to the bin. I can’t tell how long it will take before the contents will compost down or when the bag will rot but it certainly is handy and keeps my compost pail much cleaner. With this snow our wild encounters have been very few. A pair of flickers have done their acrobatic tricks as they ate at the suet feeder and a red-tailed hawk chased the crows and seagulls away from the scraps that we share with our feathered beggars at our front door. But the bears seem to actually be hibernating this winter and even the raccoons seem to have avoided our neighbourhood. The tracks in the snow tell us that the squirrels are still around but I haven’t seen them for several weeks. This year the eagles are making low passes over the house on their way up the Squamish River to see what the other birds as getting at our place but they haven’t landed yet. This year I received only one gift that was even remotely connected to gardening. Don gave me two beautiful pillows adorned with water lilies and bamboo. They are like having summer in a snowstorm. Can you envision me curled up with catalogues and my pillows! Winter can be Beautiful. These are amazing pictures of the recent snowfall at Butchart Gardens.....enjoy! Of course, it's well known that it never snows in Victoria....but when it does.......Click on: http://www.jamesfernandes.com/photos/2008/butchartlights/ |
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Membership Reminder
Memberships are due this month. They are still $15 with family memberships at $25. This fee has not changed in many years and provides you with special discounts at nurseries here in the Valley and even some on the north shore. It also gives you guest speakers and special group rates for special tours. December Social The December gathering at the Brackendale Art Gallery was the usual success. The warm fire and the even warmer hospitality of Dorte and Thor was a great start to the season. Dave Colwell’s raffle of his hand-made flower pot snowmen decorations added to the fun. The food, as always, showed the multi-talents of our membership. Yummy! Special “thank you” goes to Carla and her crew who arranged the evening and picked up the wreaths from Vancouver. First Meeting of 2009 The first meeting of 2009 will be held Monday, January 19th at the usual 7pm time in the Library. The outgoing program committee has designated this meeting as a Members’ Forum.
Bring your ideas, a sharp pencil and your catalogues!!! to the next meeting. Let’s share our expertise and enthusiasm! New T.V. Program
There is another program on T.V. designed for those gardeners who like to bring their blooms inside. It has the catchy name of “Petal Pushers” and is about the commercial flower arrangers. There are many hints about the use of flowers in the home from using vodka to keep paper whites short and erect to wrapping arrangements in paper to keep petals together. Although there are some obvious ‘temperamental” artistic types involved to keep the personal drama in the show, you may find some entertainment and ideas while you wait for spring to arrive.
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On a warmer note the plants in my sunroom seem to be enjoying the new thermo-heated tile floor that we installed this fall. The orchid is in bloom. The white calla is in its glory and the clivia has buds. I have to water them more frequently but they don’t seem to loose as many leaves as in other years.
What resolutions have you made regarding your gardening for the coming year? What problems do you need to solve? (eg. How do you repair the damage left by this winter weather? or where can we find good top soil for sale?) How can other members help you achieve your objective? What activities, speakers and/or focus would you like the Squamish Gardeners to adopt for the coming year? Do you have questions, observations, successes or suggestions that may assist others in reaching their goals or enriching the collective enjoyment of the group? How can we provide for the needs of the membership and be creative community partners?
