Click to read the topics in this issue:
Boots fit to keep your feet
When annuals opt out at
midsummer
The gardener afield, report from Egypt
Green Thumbs up and down to kids who grow up in
gardens
This week's work:
Why poinsettias die
Squirrels direct late bulb planting
Tending gloves
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This week in our gardens
Grow with us as we:
Toss a poinsettia
Toss out, or advise someone to toss, yet another failing
Poinsettia. So many fail so quickly because they're carried from
store to car, or car to home, unprotected. A closed paper bag (not
plastic!) can trap enough warm air around the plant to keep its
cells from dying from cold during that trip. If the cold reaches
it, tips die, leaves die but remain attached and the plant dies a
very unattractive, gardener-esteem-busting, leaf-dropping,
yellowing death.
The same fate befalls many gift plants, and houseplants moved to
new homes in the winter. Most of them are tropical species, so
bundle them against anything colder than 40°F. Even a very brief
exposure can kill them. More on poinsettias, cold damage symptoms
and prognosis in Cold kills holiday
plants.
Heed our local squirrels...
...to deal with leftover bulbs
Squirrel watching tells us that the ground's not frozen yet but
we'd better get a move on if we've got anything to stash. We'll dig
some quick holes and dump in the last bulbs.
Wash and sort gloves.
Once those bulbs are in we're pretty much done with the dirty
stuff for the year. We still have pruning to do but for that we can
wear our warmest gloves. Most of these gloves we're readying for
next year are great for garden work but not so "hot" when it comes
to insulating.
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