Monday, November 28, 2005

Christmas poinsettias 2005

We now have 16 red poinsettias and 2 cypress trees (decorated with red bows) in our greenhouse-we picked them up at Rona after supper - they finally got their shipment in - they have been waiting for it since last Friday. I will tend them until just before Dec. 25th and then we will take them to the Church. We still have to pick up 4 tiny poinsettias before the 25th. They will surround the Nativity scene along with the cypress trees.
I do not have a clue about cypress trees - there is no info card on them - but thanks to the INET, I will research them. Hopefully, I will keep them growing after Christmas in the greenhouse and we can use them next year.
I also purchased a pound of Eucalyptus branches at Michael's today - they will be used at church Dec. 11th, when we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the building of Blessed Sacrament church. I plan to use my silk roses (pink and white) and the branches will add some filling to the vases-hopefully, they will be ok.
I can't wait till tomorrow AM - then I will actually get to look at the poinsettias in the daylight.
Enjoyment: Watching my red cylamen bloom-my husband bought it for me 2 years ago for Christmas-it has 3 little blooms on it now.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Greenhouse Update!!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a month - what is wrong with me?? I am retired and I am too busy...but worthwhile busy, hopefully. We had a very successful church bazaar and my plant table brought in $135.00 and I sold most of my plants on the tables - just brought home a small tray, so I was happy. You would never know that 2 carloads of plants left my greenhouse 20 days ago. Since the bazaar, I have been repotting and working on a lot of the plants that were a little neglected during the sale preparation. All the plants are doing great - we have had some nice sunny days and they just love that. The plants that came in from the garden are thriving - geraniums are blooming - begonias are flowering constantly. My poinsettias from last Christmas are starting to flower - they are huge plants now - I learned too late at my recent Horti Club meeting that I should have cut them back in July. We had a flower shop owner, David Minaker, as guest speaker and he told us all about poinsettias - did you know that most of them are started by a grower in California named Ecke. Did you also know that they are not at all poisonous and they are a member of the milkweed family. I am fascinated by poinsettia info. We will be shopping for our Church's poinsettias very soon. We will bring them home to our greenhouse and I will get to enjoy them till Christmas eve. The poinsettias seem larger this year and they are more expensive. Last year, we paid $3.88 ea. at Rona and they are $7.98 now but twice as large which means we will likely buy 12 large instead of 24 small pots.
Oh yes, I did get all my bulbs in the garden - they are scattered everywhere and I will likely forget where I planted them by next spring and will be totally surprised when they all bloom.
Our garden is rototilled - everything is away for winter and today we had snow so my garden is covered now.
Enjoyment: Watching my Christmas cactus bloom - it is a beautiful salmon colour.