Church Poinsettias-THE END!

Today, my husband and I cleared out the church Christmas poinsettias-can you believe that they lasted this long. We took them off the altar-put them in a big garbage bag-gave the altar a good scrubbing and brought them home to the greenhouse. I saved all the pots-composted the flowers-also saved a lot of the dirt which I will use in my garden in spring-didn't want to fill up my composter with the potting soil-all the red foil sleeves went in the garbage can-unfortunately. I just don't have a use for them.
The greenhouse enjoyed the sun today-it was extra bright due to the heavy snowfall we got yesterday. The plant are growing like crazy.
Enjoyable: February is near it's end-hooray!!

Crunchie cleaning

Yesterday, I did a crunchie cleaning in my greenhouse-crunchies are plant leaves that turn brown and crunchie and are easy to clean off the plant-when you clean crunchies your plants look rejuvenated. The hot sun dries the pots so fast that the plants take their moisture from the bottom leaves-I know-I need to water them more often.
I am taking my false african violet apart and have lots of cuttings started in pots. The mother plant was beautiful but is dying a slow death, it seems. She is still producing lots of flowers, though.
I noticed some mealy bug on the jade plant flowers, so I will snip most of them off and give the plant a misting.
Mealy bug is nasty and can invade your plants overnight. Also noticed some sticky aphids on some new growth ivies, so have to treat them as well. February is always the month that bugs come alive in the greenhouse and I must be very vigilant. I am trying to grow these ivies for a friend. Her daughter was married in our church in October and they left beautiful floral arrangements on the altar. There were 3 pieces of ivy in the arrangements, so I rooted them and they are growing beautifully with lots of new leaves and shoots. I actually met the bride's mum in the grocery store today and told her about the plants and she was thrilled about it. I will keep them till nicer weather arrives.
Today - sunny and cold - no snow or ice - quite a wind. Not a good day to walk. The wind off Lake Ontario hurts your face.
I watered the poinsettias at church. If they weren't clustered together, they would be awful looking. I need one more week till Ash Wednesday....then they will be composted. I brought home the mini cypress trees. I also bought a deep salmon pink african violet at IGA for $1.50.....what a bargain....regular price was $2.99 and they marked them down. I have it in my living room beside my cyclamen plant and they are almost the same shade of pink.
I am on light duties this week as I have an inflamed rotary cuff and so I am babying it so it will get better before gardening season which will be here soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's Valentine's Day and I received a beautiful valentine!!! How romantic!!
On Valentine's Day, I cannot believe how nice the church poinsettias look-last week, they lost a lot of leaves and petals, so I crowded them closer together, watered them and hoped to get another week from them. This morning, I watered them and they lost a lot more of their greenery, so I brought four smaller poinsettias from in front of the altar and crowded them together and it filled in the gap. In the centre of the two groups - I placed the mini cypress trees. They are amazing plants. They are growing and must be getting enough light as they outshine the poinsettias.
Last night at my Hort club meeting-the first one of 2006-David Minaker - www.minakers.com -from Minaker's nursery in Kingston, was guest speaker and showed slides on new annuals and perennials.....it was exciting to hear him talk about how many seedlings they have already started. He is a guy who really loves his work... a bonus for gardeners. Next month, we are having a seed exchange, so I am looking forward to that.
The greenhouse is doing well, without me working in it lately. I noticed a begonia with a flower stem shooting out of it. The geraniums are blooming and my cyclamen is fabulous.
Enjoyment: Taking geranium cuttings in February.

It's February!!

I didn't work in the greenhouse today but it is sunny and very warm there. Today, I rode my bicycle to the store and can't believe I did it on Feb. 2nd-also, it is Groundhog day all over the world. It was such a good feeling to ride my bike-I wore my lightweight winter coat, gloves and earwarmers. As I approached Lake Ontario, my eyes were watering as the air was getting colder, but riding home was just like summer...no wind, and I didn't need my earwarmers....glad I rode today as it is supposed to rain here tomorrow. This is sounding like a mini weather report.
I did go over to church today and water the poinsettias....they are surviving beautifully. They like church!!