Supporting Our Local Garden Clubs
January always begins with the festivities surrounding the Holiday Season, but reality soon returns as gardeners face short and often cloudy days, cold temperatures and a sleeping garden. Looking on the positive side, we now have the leisure of working in the Garden when our time or the weather suits our schedule, since the garden is in a state of suspended animation so to speak.
Exfoliating Bark for the Winter Garden
January brings chilly temperatures, snowfall and for the gardener, the pleasure of hunkering down in the warmth of a home with a good garden book! I have long been a fan of plants with colorful or exfoliating bark, a subtle attribute many may fail to consider and a few even find undesirable. I fondly remember the comments of a former college roommate when I showed him a tree with exfoliating bark. “I would take a belt sander to the tree” he commented! Obviously, peeling bark is not for everyone. Fortunately, that sentiment is shared by only a few and I have found many a gardener who appreciates the bark of Japanese Dogwood, botanically known as Cornus kousa.
The hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season is finally upon us! Autumn continued to provide ample moisture for new plantings, although November was drier than the previous months. The temperatures of November were seasonal, allowing plants to prepare for winter to come. Although there are ample distractions this month, early December is the time to finish the last of the autumn chores before the sub-freezing temperatures of winter arrive in earnest. As time permits between baking and shopping, continue your ledgers with notes on the weather and how plants are performing. Wishing everyone a very Happy and Joyous Holiday Season!
A Seasonably Fashionable Maple for the Holidays
December always conjures up images of preparing for the Holiday season. With cookies needing to be baked, packages wrapped and family and friends visiting from afar, there is little time to focus on the garden. It is a shame, since there are a number of plants that look seasonally fashionable and retain their cheerful colors throughout the winter. A tree I have always deemed most appropriate for the season is the Coral Bark Japanese Maple or Acer palmatum ‘Sango-Kaku’.
November is here! The cool to cold nights of October, combined with the ample rainfall has allowed most of our trees to erupt into a bonanza of spectacular colors. In addition, the soil is adequately moist to bring plants safely into the start of winter without the worry of drought. The light to heavy frosts of October have started to impact our annuals but very soon, they will need to be removed with the onset of truly cold weather. Even though the weather is becoming cooler, there is still much to do in the Garden before it can be put to bed for winter!
