A blast of colour for a December Day

 Suddenly, we're well into December and Christmas/Yule/Solstice and winter are rapidly approaching. There are deluges of posts and articles all about Christmas plants and winter interest and other seasonally appropriate topics. However, I'm not that keen on talking only about winter topics right now,   so instead, I thought I'd offer up some observations of favourite plants past and present. Starting with this 'Forest Pansy' redbud (Cercis canadensis), which will be one of the first purchases I make to plant in my new garden. I've already told Jill at Bunchberry Nurseries to put a good one aside for me next spring! This is its fall colour--in spring, its foliage is a rich wine-purple colour, and it doesn't even have to flower with foliage like this.

 Anyone who reads my sites and articles knows that I am besotted by blue flowers, be they annual, perennial, biennial--so long as they're really blue and not dyed or painted. Not a fan of those hideous dyed blue phalaenopsis, but I love this annual, Anagallis, also known by the common names blue pimpernel and poor-man's weatherglass, because it closes up in cloudy or wet weather.

Decking them halls...

It's that time of year again, somehow! I've sort of lost the past few weeks as far as much productivity is concerned, because I had knee surgery and it slowed me way, way down. The good news is I'll be getting new knees; the bad news is, not sure when, but hopefully starting next year.

The other good news is, even if you're challenged by mobility, time or other issues, you can still do some effective and wonderful Christmas decorating without a huge amount of effort.

Amaryllis make spectacular decor when they're in bloom, but even when they're just preparing to bloom they can be highly effective simply by adding a couple of sprigs of greenery, real or synthetic, or a decorative seasonal pick. (those ready-made, corsage like clusters of flowers, foliage, accents, wrapped and wired to a wooden stick).

Blooming Friday: A "White" Christmas of sorts...

Thursday was my birthday, and on Wednesday, LongSuffering Spouse arrived home with a big box full of packing, tissue paper and the like. "The weather is milder today so I could bring this safely home to you," he said. "It's a day early, but happy birthday!"

He chose this phalaenopsis because he knows I like white flowers, and also because it has a purple 'heart' of sorts. Awwwww...So along with being a green-flowered Christmas, it's now a White Christmas too...(and we actually do have a light dusting of snow outside, which is enough for me.
To all my readers near and far, to those travelling and those at home with loved ones, to my fellow garden bloggers, writers, gardeners and book lovers...a Happy Christmas to one and all. May you receive the desires of your heart this season, and may we all see peace on this earth of ours.

Green flowers for a Green Christmas

After the recent spate of storms, including a rainstorm last night that kept us from watching the lunar eclipse live (but we saw it via the joys of the Interwebs), we are pretty much expecting a green Christmas here in Scotts Bay (and probably all of Nova Scotia). I'm okay with that, because it makes travel easier, and to me, Christmas spirit doesn't have to do with snow, but with family and friends.

Back in March as part of my coping-with-Farch techniques, I purchased my first paphiopedilum orchid, this green-flowered beauty that goes by the name of Paphiopedilum 'Limerick x Greenvale x Cherokee'. As a slightly early birthday present, 'Limerick' has presented me with a flower stalk and bud; I'm intensely excited about this, and decided a post celebrating green flowers would be just the thing.

I've always been besotted with green flowers, which seem to be a very polarizing flower colour; people either love them for their exotic beauty or dislike them because they're not some other colour, like hot pink or blazing scarlet or perfect blue. Well, I love all those colours too, but greens just resonate with me. I have several green flowered phalaenopsis (nameless but lovely).

Many flowers start out green and change to other colours as they mature, including the eryngiums that I grow. The striking bracts surrounding the central flower stalk of Eryngium 'Miss Wilmott's Ghost' are a particular favourite.

'Limelight' hydrangea is a stellar performer in my garden, producing huge, coneshaped clusters of flowers in the palest of green shades.

Others are also besotted with green flowers, as this book 'Green Flowers' by Alison Hoblyn demonstrates. I have this book and enjoy looking through it especially in the dead of winter. Naturally, it's from the good people at Timber Press.

There are green-flowered native plants to charm us, including the delightful Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)...

And more exotic choices such as the green-flowered hellebores.

I love Bells of Ireland for their faint minty fragrance as well as the complex beauty of their flowering stalks. As with many green flowers, the showy part of the 'flower' is actually a modified leaf called a bract.

In this case of Echinacea 'Green Envy', however, both the central cone and petals are delicious green. This was one of my must-have plants when it first was released and continues to be a favourite, long-blooming allstar in my garden.

I was able to acquire echinacea 'Green Jewel' this past summer, and it has also been a jewel of a performer, producing flowers until a hard frost sent it to napping.

I love nicotiana of any colour; this one isn't as fragrant as some of the species and other hybrids, but it was a great performer in containers this past summer. I'm not certain, but I think this is N. alata 'Lime Green.'

Many of the euphorbias boast acid-green flowers, (sort of the colour of Mountain Dew), which are especially attractive when planted near something dark. In the case of Euphorbia charachias 'Fens Ruby', the plant's foliage supplies the dark colour as a fabulous contrast to the flowers.

At least a couple of times during the winter, I indulge in some cut flowers, and HAVE to include green blossoms in the mix. Sometimes they're dyed, but other times they include Bells of Ireland or green chrysanthemums like these.

I look forward to the spring blooms of snowdrops with their happy green accents, but also love to see the lesser-planted but equally charming summer snowflake (Leucojum), which sort of resemble a snowdrop on steroids.

And despite the myriad of tulip colours that we can enjoy, some of my favourites are naturally the viridifloras, or green-flowered cultivars, like 'Spring Green'. They look cool and fresh alongside newly emerging hostas.

Are you a fan of green flowers? What are your favourites?

What a gardener wants, what a gardener needs...

I don't think it's really very difficult to give gifts to gardeners for Christmas. From plants to pots, from garden art to a few yards of mulch, if it has to do with the garden, we're probably going to be happy with it. I do have some suggestions for the late, panic-stricken, longsuffering spouses out there who are trying to figure out what to give their gardener this Christmas season.


I only recommend companies, books, businesses or products that I have experience with.No one has paid me to make these recommendations, though in some cases I've been given products or discounts to try something out. Just so we're clear on that. In many other cases, I've simply bought the product or dealt with the business and am more than comfortable in recommending them.

Such is the case with buying bulbs, which I do through Botanus or GardenImport. Their bulbs are always top quality, huge, and shipped in perfect condition. And here's a case where gift certificates are ideal; we gardeners love to receive gift certificates, which we can use for planning our spring planting frenzies. More on those in a minute. Gift certificates, that is, not spring planting frenzies.

I have two pairs of Ethel gloves and just love them. The newest ones I got are made of bamboo, and are very comfortable, lightweight but easy to work with. That particular style isn't waterproof, but I have others for doing seriously soggy work. Locally, they're available at Halifax Seed, or can be mailordered from Rittenhouse if you're looking for styles not in stock at your local nursery or garden supply shop.

Every gardener likes to receive well made hand tools, whether secateurs or trowels, dibbers or pruning saws. I get mine either from Lee Valley or the Nova Scotian company TrailBlazer. But don't forget the junior gardener, who will be delighted by these rainbow coloured, safe-to-use tools from Lee Valley.

I don't care for a lot of department store garden lighting, especially those horrid plastic patio lanterns or the type that look like runway landing lights. I do, however, very much like the blown glass solar powered lights from Allsop Home and Garden. These are the Aurora Glow String lights, the 'Seaglass' colour. I have brought mine in for the winter, but had them up on the arbour all summer--my only problem was getting a good photo of them in the evening, but that's a fault of the photographer, not the product. I have one of the 'Firefly' lights as well, but I think you really need to have a few of them to make a good effect.


Garden art is always welcome, providing you know what the gardener likes. I got these metal crows from a young artist a few years ago, and I wish I knew where he had moved to--he does wonderful work from these small cutout type sculptures to large pieces in the shape of coneflowers, iris, cattails and more!

I'm sure wherever you are, there are local artisans who do garden-themed work, whether photography, sculptures, plant pots, wind chimes, or jewelry. I found these papier-tole monarch pieces at the Annapolis Royal Farmers Market this summer, but I have other interesting pieces including pewter earrings from Amos Pewter and copper leaf-shaped earrings from The Copper Meadow here in Canning.

I can never find nearly enough garden-themed Christmas ornaments to suit me, but I do have a few, including those created yearly by Amos Pewter in Mahone Bay. My office is filled with garden-themed items, though, from photo frames to clay tiles done by local artisans.


It's no secret that I am highly enamoured of bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Through the wonders of the garden blogging community, I discovered the exquisite artwork of Val Littlewood. I have three of her bee prints, and also her wonderful little book of collected drawings and paintings from her art show back in June.


Gardening and birding are two activities that naturally go together. My favourite place to buy bird feeders and related items is For The Birds Nature Shop in Mahone Bay, who sell a really fine diverse product line. They have garden items as well as bird feeders, baths, houses, weather stations, bird feed, binoculars and much more, and they have very good mail order service.


Obviously, we can't buy perennials, shrubs, trees or annuals at this time of year (at least in most of Canada) and expect them to survive. However, we can give gift certificates to local nurseries, to be redeemed next spring. Most of the nurseries that I patronize offer gift certificates.


I wrote in a recent garden column in the Halifax Herald that gardeners LOVE gift certificates, including handmade ones. We never have enough compost or mulch, or topsoil...or labour to help us with applying those things.

...for those on a budget, a gift certificate for a few hours labour weeding, planting, moving soil etc is a really, REALLY great idea. Or, a gift certificate for a garden consult, for those who are new to gardening or planning a renovation.


For myself, hubby is going to rebuild my greenhouse next spring, and I'm planning on making it a TARDIS-themed structure. Sadly, it's unlikely to travel through time, nor to be bigger on the inside than on the outside. But you just never know.

Some non-Christmassy Christmas blooms

Tis the season to show pretty pictures of poinsettias, Christmas cacti, and other holiday-related plants. I'm no exception, as I love all of these and have a number of them blooming their little hearts off here in the house right now. But on this sundrenched December day, I thought we'd celebrate some of the other blooms of this season. They're not necessarily Christmas plants; they're just a feast of colour for the winter-weary eyes (this, even before winter is truly here).

Leading the pack is my blue leadwort, or plumbago. This is the first time this particular plant has bloomed indoors for me, and the secret has been to put it in the kitchen window, over the sink, where I can water it the moment it gets thirsty, and where no bad kitties will try to eat it. There is something about plumbago that some of the kitties find quite irresistible, and it's not the colour of the lovely blossoms.

My gardening- and blogging buddy Joey and I share a deep and abiding love for cyclamen, for the foliage as much as for the flowers. While I never saw a cyclamen with flowers I didn't love, I bought this particular plant purely for its gorgeous, gorgous foliage. Cyclamen like a cooler temperature than many houseplants, so they do well in my office, which isn't the warmest room in the house.

Another plant that does brilliantly for me is Phalaenopsis, or moth orchids. Currently, there are five of them in bloom in my house, and the others are resting or preparing to bloom again. This is one of my favourites, because I find green flowers absolutely mesmerizing.

Yes, I know paperwhites are considered Christmas plants by many. I have several pots of them that are a long way from flowering yet, as I try to stagger their blooming as much as possible. I love the cool whiteness of their blooms, and unlike many people, I don't find the fragrance unpleasant if the container is in a large room.

Another of the phalaenopsis blooming in my office--thhis valiant plant has been in bloom for months and months, close to a year actually, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon. I must be doing something right!

Okay, I know...we're definitely into the Christmas plants category now with amaryllis. But I'm very excited about two amaryllis I got this year from GardenImport. This is 'Cupido', one of the Sonatini varieties, which are smaller-bulbed, as well as having smaller flowers and stems. I'm expecting to have blooms by tomorrow-and all of my bulbs have at least two flowering stems, which is going to make for a long, happy blooming season.

Other amaryllis such as this 'Red Lion' are also preparing to show off before Christmas for me, but they're going to be very welcome. Anything to help cheer the gardener's soul while we prepare to get ourselves through the winter months.

What non-Christmassy plants are blooming at your house? We can pretend it's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day now. Carol won't mind. Honest she won't.

But wait, there's more! What to do with your poinsettias in January

It's the same thing every year. We decorate our homes for the Christmas season with garland and bows, greenery and flowers, including the venerable, charming and somewhat cantankerous poinsettia.

Now the tree is down, the decorations put away, and there's nothing left of the Christmas baking except that fruitcake from aunt Shirley that you've been regifted seventeen times in the past five years. And the poinsettias. WHAT should you do with them? They're living plants, after all, they were so lovely during the season, but now, they're getting a little moody, dropping leaves and bracts, feeling the weariness of having been rushed into growth and then subjected to less than ideal conditions for living.

Well, my favourite floral designer and plant buff Neville MacKay gave me an excellent piece of advice back in November, and I put it into play just the other day for one of my plants, that's been needing a bit of a tonic.

Members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Poinsettias and Other Annoying Christmas Plants (SPCPOACP) might want to avert their eyes now.

"Come January," Neville said breezily, "I just put the poinsettias outside on the deck for some fresh air for a few days. It works every time!"

Yes, yes, it does.

One down. Three more to air out in the next few days.

Bwah ha ha ha ha.

Post written by jodi (bloomingwriter) who is NOT a member of SPCPOACP

Christmas wishes in red, white and green...

Today is my birthday, and it's been a very pleasant one, with phone calls and cards, emails and visits with friends and family. Having enjoyed the awesome tourtiere made by my Long Suffering Spouse, I decided to digest it and wind out the day with one more pre-Christmas post.

Green and red have long been colours associated with Christmas, although if you're into cultural anthropology, you know that colours can mean very different things in different cultures, faiths, countries. I don't propose to delve into those various meanings, but just offer up my own interpretation as a kind of benevolent wish to all my blogging friends and non-blogging readers around the gardening world.

Green is my favourite of the three colours most used at this time of year, because it means green growing things: or as poet e. e. cummings wrote so exquisitely in one of my favourite poems, "for the leaping greenly spirits of trees." Yes.


White means tranquility to me, even when winter winds blast gales of snow in off the irritable Bay of Fundy. The purity of white flowers calms and sooths, and snow falling gently on dogwoods and willows, stone and wood, just erases the blemishes and mistakes (humanmade, not of nature). We have a blank palette on which to dream and create for the future.


And then there's red. I used to not like red, for a whole lot of reasons, but I've embraced it as a colour of brilliance and life and good fortune. There's a lot of exuberant energy in the colour red, and of course it's used in the flags of many countries, including mine, our good neighbours to the south the USA, Britain and France and Italy and many more, around the world. So I like to think these three colours tie us all together as one great big gardening family, no matter where we live, no matter what hardiness zone we garden in.

So as we move into the season of Christmas, of Solstice, of celebrating family and friends and joy and hope (whatever your faith or reason for celebrating), I hope that each of you will have moments of introspection and thankfulness, giddiness and peacefulness. The coming months (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) will be time of rest and rejuvenating for gardens and gardeners alike. May you never lose that sense of excitement that comes with watching tiny seeds sprout into baby plants and grow steadily into "leaping greenly spirits" of trees, vegetables, flowers and fruit.

Happy Christmas, friends.

The tulips were snuggled all tight in their beds...

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday morning, there were beautiful frost flowers and ice crystals festooning the car, when I came out to go to Halifax and pick up my son...


The sunrise over the sleeping, snow-covered Annapolis Valley and Minas Basin was glorious. The day was wonderful...and then sometime, overnight, the rain and mild temperatures came...

AND I GOT THOSE DARN BULBS PLANTED THIS MORNING!
Yes, Christmas Eve, and I was finishing the bulb planting; about 3 dozen tulips, 15 or so large alliums, and somewhere around 150 snowdrops, iris reticulata, small allium, crocus, leucojum and species tulips...these were the leftovers from when I started the bulb-planting, some weeks ago. I waded through water on the lawn, battled gale-force winds, rain and fog, and dealt with frozen ground in most places and muck in a few other spots...but it's all done. and I hurt all over, of course. But now let the weather do whatever it wishes!

So we're officially ready for Christmas, although we've started assorted revelries already, what with family here yesterday for my birthday. Since my son had only a couple days off and needs to split it between various parts of the family, we did some of Christmas unwrapping this morning before he went back to be with his Dad tonight in Halifax.

Meanwhile, the catchildren are on their very best behaviour as they wait for Santy Claws to come. As much as I love amaryllis, I think Toby Soprano is even more delightful...and he was very glad to use this recycled bulb box for a place to sit.


Mungus, of course, is the only catchild who would try to peek at presents, though they all enjoy chasing bows.


Simon Q likes to sleep with his feet in the kleenex box, for reasons only known to him. But at least he's not into anything!


Tigger, tired out from watching that darn squirrel outside, is catching up on his midday nap before getting ready to sleep after supper...


And Spunky Boomerang is taking the afternoon to also indulge in a little napping in his favourite chair, even though his favourite lap (mine) is busy doing other things.
The rest of the cat-children were busy avoiding the camera and either sleeping or hunting for voles in the basement. They haven't brought up any 'gifts' from there--so far, anyway.


From our house to yours, a merry, bountiful, and peaceful Christmas!