December, 2009
In This Issue:
Mark's Choice Product of the Month
Earn a writer's scholarship in Durham Region!
How to Care for a Poinsettia
The Canadian Garden Primer, An Organic Approach
Support Evergreen - Give the Gift of Nature
The Perfect Hostess Gift
Amaryllis: What to do After Blooming
Middle-Aged Spread - Moving to the Country at 50
2010 Toronto Tree Portraits Calendar
Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac 2010
Toronto Organic Conference, 2010
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I have been looking for Christmas cards to send to my clients and suppliers. I only have two requirements: that they have an environmental message and that they be printed in Canada.
I have been into the Bay, card shops and you name it, to no avail. Why are all of the Christmas cards printed in the orient??? Dumb question, I guess.
So we (assistant Brenda) and I are making our own.
We are putting an image of a tree that I took while visiting the Oxford Botanical Gardens in the U.K. with daughter Heather this summer.
Inside the card we are wishing everyone a great Christmas and using my favourite gardening quote of all time,
“The garden is not an escape from reality. It is an escape TO reality.” Karen York.
Karen is a very good friend of mine in Victoria. She edited my latest book The Canadian Garden Primer and did a mighty fine job of it too (go to www.markcullen.com for details).
I mention this because it may be something that you would want to do –make your own cards that is. If you are reading this electronic, paperless newsletter on your computer it is likely that you could design your own card and print off one of your favourite photos with less effort than it takes to get in the car and buy them. Go to www.office.microsoft.com for tips and techniques for designing your own cards.
As far as your garden goes, well, let’s just say that this is the beginning of your season off. I remind you that this is one of the gifts of being a Canadian gardener – 4 or 5 months to goof off each year. Not a bad gig really.
To do in your garden this month.
December is the month to reflect on the garden of 2009 and answer some burning questions like:
 what outgrew its’ space and needs to be moved or replaced?
what empty space in the garden needs a plant in it?
should I add some containers for a burst of colour next year?
what annuals performed best this year and will I plant more next year?
what veggies performed best this year and will I plant more next year?
where did I leave my favourite pruners/gloves/trowel and is it too late to go on a search to retrieve it?
Write the answers down and put them where you will find them next spring. Like in the pocket of your windbreaker, along with the Halloween candy that you store there.
Note that the early frosts – the ones that stick around during the day - before the snow flies – are perfect for picking up after the dog. There is nothing worse than letting it snow for months and doing this during spring thaw. I am sure that there is something worse, but it has been years since our kids were in diapers, so there is nothing worse for me right now.
If you have not experienced the permanent snow fall of, say, northern Saskatchewan, it is not too late to wrap your upright evergreens in burlap, hill up your roses, apply Wiltpruf to broad-leafed evergreens and wrap plastic spirals around the trunk of your young fruit trees. See my October and November newsletters for more details (archived in the left column of this letter).
Christmas decorating.
For December, well – get out there and make merry with all of that great looking natural stuff that makes for a festive dinner table, fireplace mantle and (generally speaking) home.
I am referring of course to evergreen boughs (pine, spruce, fir), holly fruit (check out your Blue Holly plants), crabapples, rose hips, Mountain Ash fruit and – heck – take a tour of your place and see for yourself. You might be surprised at the low hanging fruit that is just waiting for the picking in your own back yard… or for that matter in the public parks/conservation areas that are not too far from where you live (you didn’t hear this from me… but then, you are going to use good judgment when ‘stealing’ stuff like this from public spaces, aren’t you?)
A word about one of my favourite products: Wiltpruf (with apologies for the spelling – it is an American thing, like ‘donut’). This stuff works wonders at preserving the natural moisture in evergreen boughs and even your live Christmas tree. I use it outdoors too, to prevent the drying out of broad evergreen leaves on my rhododendrons, yews and dwarf Alberta spruce.
You can find Wiltpruf at Home Hardware www.homehardware.ca or independent garden centres everywhere.
Christmas Gifts for gardeners.
Now – a moment to reflect on some gift suggestions for the gardeners on your Christmas list. Here is my partial list. For more info on this subject please check out my blog on Yahoo!.ca at http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/home-garden/blog/markcullen/456/the-best-time-to-start-gift-buying
I will be adding to my gift suggestions each week leading up to Christmas on my Yahoo! blog – please don’t miss one.
For now, my list:
Corona hand pruners. When it comes to gardeners gifts, we have all used second rate tools – quality saves the day. Look for the Mark’s Choice version at www.markcullen.com or www.homehardware.com.
Amaryllis. I give about 20 of these away each Christmas season, mostly to seniors who absolutely love to see the flower stalk progress daily and climax in blooms 6 to 8 weeks later. And to kids who are like seniors in the same regard, only shorter. See the new amaryllis kit that I have developed for Home Hardware (featured below) and note that the secret is in the size of the bulb. I only use a 32 cm bulb (measured in diameter) which guarantees two large stems and 8 blossoms and often more.
The book Middle-Aged Spread by Sonia Day of the Toronto Star. A great story of moving to the country by one of Canada’s great gardeners. Available at Book City and on line from Indigo/Amazon. Retails for $24.95.
The book Canadian Garden Primer, by me. Mark Cullen. An organic approach for experienced and novice gardeners alike. Available at Chapters/Indigo and Home Hardware. Go to www.markcullen.com/buyers_guide/books.htm for more info.
A nice blank notebook for creating a gardeners journal, a digital camera JUST for taking garden shots, a new pair of rubber gardening boots (look at Mark’s Choice Holey Soles at www.homehardware.ca), new gardening gloves with reinforced fingers tips for men and a comfortable, flexible fit for women (www.markcullen.com/buyers_guide/markchoice_products4.htm), a bird feeder, bird house, quality bird food (www.markcullen.com/buyers_guide/markchoice_products3.htm) quality garden tools and a gift card to your gardeners favourite garden retailer for whatever their heart may desire (this is NOT a copout, especially if you are not a gardener).
To do……
Please join me for a reading of Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ Saturday December 5 at 7:30 pm, Central United Church in Unionville, Ontario. The atmosphere in this historic old church has state of the art acoustics and sound system. Go to www.centralunitedchurch.com for more info. I will be reading with my friend David Seglins of CBC radio and others. Tickets are $15.00.
Unionville is located about 30 minutes north/east of Toronto in the town of Markham.
I hope that you enjoy a fabulous December and festive, happy Christmas.
Talk to you when the turkey has disappeared.
Yours as ever,
Mark
p.s. many many thanks for your condolences regarding the loss of my Aunt Charlotte last month. It never ceases to amaze me how engaged you are – dear readers/listeners/viewers. I respect your privacy and your feedback above all! Thank you again.
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