Betsy's Garden |
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December 12, 2001 Holiday gifts Plants and gardening-related items make great holiday or hostess gifts. Here are some ideas I’ve seen recently. The Minnesota State Horticultural Society (MSHS), which specializes in helping the northern gardener, has a wonderful gift shop full of garden- related items. Eric Johnson, gift shop coordinator, pointed out live bamboo plants, which, according to tradition, symbolize good fortune for new ventures, new baby, new job, new house, new year. Bamboo is easy to grow and should be planted in multiples of two. The MSHS and Cold spring Press published two new books this year by Melinda Johnson and edited by experienced Minnesota gardener Chuck Levine. Minnesota Gardener’s Guide is organized by plant topics and chapters. It gives good tips for successful gardening in our region. There is a section of color photographs, and I found helpful suggestions for selection, culture, and maintenance of plants. Month-By-Month Gardening in Minnesota gives timely suggestions for gardening in our climate. There is good background information and details for twelve months gardening activities. The MSHS building is on Prior Avenue, St. Paul. Call 651.643.3601 for additional information. Local gardening shops are also filled with attractive and useful-looking gardening items. Two of my favorite tools are two floral snips from Fiskars, the scissors people. The smaller snip allows for precision cutting and angling into small spaces. Fiskars claims “micro-tip precision” with this small tool. I like to use it for deadheading and for snipping stems for flower arrangements. Slightly larger, the “Softouch” floral snip is good for pruning, grooming, deadheading larger stems. It features soft handles for comfort when trying to cut through resistant stems. In addition to bamboo, there are a number of attractive plants that make good holiday gifts. They are all available from local shops. Potted plants can continue to brighten a room after the holidays. The amaryllis and poinsettia plants provide bold, cheery splashes of color. Another excellent choice is the peace lily or Spathiphyllum. This plant has long, shiny, dark green leaves and will tolerate medium-low light. Most plants need bright light to produce flowers, but not the peace lily. It will produce beautiful oval white flowers on long stiff stems once or twice a year when it is grown in indirect light. The Christmas cactus, Schlumbergera ssp.,and its cousins the Thanksgiving cactus and Easter cactus make excellent gifts. these plants are among the easiest to grow and bloom again. The biggest problem they have is if they are exposed to sharp changes in temperatures or if they are rotated while in full bud, the flower buds may drop off. The plant will be fine, however, and will grow on to flower again. keep these plants out of direct sunlight and don’t allow them to dry out completely. Exposing Christmas cactus to cool temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees F for 3 to 4 weeks in the fall will stimulate flower bud formation. Once flower buds are visible, the plants can be grown at normal room temperatures. Another good choice is the Norfolk Island Pine. This is an attractive foliage plant that grows like a small tree. it can be used as a miniature Christmas tree because of its dark green, needle-like leaves. indoors it grows slowly to 4 or 6 feet in medium light. Norfolk Island pine tolerates temperatures from 45 to 75 degrees F. It needs plenty of water while it is growing actively and less water while it is dormant. For useful, timely information, beautiful pictures, and support of a good cause, consider giving the University of Minnesota Extension Service 2002 calendar. Timely gardening tips are given on each month’s display, and the daily calendar spaces have room to write notes and memos. The attractive calendars are available at area bookstores, the MSHS, or the Washington County Extension Office. Check the University of Minnesota Extension Service Yard & Garden News at www.extension.umn.edu. The December issue gives good information about what to do if we have another heavy wet snow that weighs down tree and evergreen branches. Betsy Halden is a Master Gardener with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. University of Minnesota Extension Service materials were consulted in the preparation of this column. You can reach Betsy Halden at eahalden@comcast.net |
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