Holiday Plants - Green Gift Giving

Holiday Plants - Green Gift Giving

I was putting together a gift basket this weekend for a friend's fundraiser for AIDS and I decided to include one of my favorite holiday plants along with a gift certificate for an hour on my time.

The Christmas Cactus is a beautiful plant that doesn't have a sting of a cactus and all the color of a beautiful flowering house plant. Three similar “holiday cacti” are called by this name, but only one is the real thing. The branches of the much rarer Christmas cactus have scalloped edges—no “teeth”—and like to bloom from December thru March.

Most of them are blooming in the nurseries and stores now. Place it in a cool spot away for heat and it will provide you with lovely blooms for months.

However as with poinsettias, to promote blooming next year, keep the plant in total darkness from around 6pm to 8am each day; during the day, it should receive bright, normal light. After about six weeks, you’ll be rewarded with nice big fat flower buds. After that, keep it in bright light during the day with nighttime temps in the mid-sixties, and those buds should open in another six weeks or so.

So think green this holiday season and give the gift of living plants. Shop your local nursery for one that is sure to please even the pickiest of friends.

Happy Digging,

the Garden Goddess

http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

The Hurry Up & Wait Game

The Hurry Up & Wait Game

Now that the new season's gardens are all planted there really isn't much to do - but wait! Boy I was Hell-bent to get the beds planted - and in the midst of an injured foot. I had all the seeds, knew how I wanted to plant them out and what to put where and now that is is all done, I have lost my motivation!

Oh I get out to the gardens daily to check on them, see what's sprouting and what's not, pull a few weeds and maybe harvest a few swiss chard leaves or a summer sweet pepper or two.

But other than that, the hard work is done for a few months. You think I would be ecstatic, but I enjoy working with my hands in the soil and creating the new beds. There is something almost artistic in the creating of the garden bed from just a patch of dirt.

Watching seedlings emerge from the ground and the leaves unfold is also magical, but I am less involved in that activity. That is all mother nature at work.

Now all that is left is pruning and replacing a few landscape plants that didn't make it this summer. But maintenance isn't all that exciting to me.

I am thankful for the abundance that is growing in my gardens and I am thankful for all those who helped me get the gardens in when I was injured. Now I need to exercise patience while I nurture the plants into maturity.

How is your garden coming along?

Happy Digging,

The Garden Goddess

http://www.down2earthgardens.com/