Geranium Putting Out Roots

I was dusting the window the other day (useless task to avoid studying) when I noticed that one of my little geranium cuttings is putting out some nice roots.

Not sure if this is the variable that's making a difference, but the one that's growing better is in an olive oil bottle (bigger) as opposed to a spice jar (smaller). Every time I change the water in the spice jar there is a thin layer of greeny film on the bottom. I'm wondering if the smaller volume of water is allowing the mossy stuff to grow faster and somehow stunt the growth of the cutting? Of course, I have no scientific basis for saying that, but it's just my hunch.

Poinsettias

If you have time--and are lucky enough to live near a nursery--go in on your lunch break sometime and walk through the poinsettias. I snuck into Sunrise today to do just that and it was like stepping into another world. First of all, it's freezing outside and the greenhouse is perfectly warm. And inside, rows and rows and more rows of perfect "Christmas red" leaves--puckery "Winter Rose" poinsettias, poinsettias with leaves like flaming maples, and a tiny miniature poinsettia in a baby pot that came home with me.



For a long time I thought we weren't going to be able to have a poinsettia this year because of the pups. At some point someone told me they were poisonous to dogs and cats, but I did some research and have found that that's a myth. Well, not entirely a myth, but even little Moe would have to eat about 300 leaves. My little mini-poinsettia might just barely give him a stomach ache.

Poinsettias originally came from Mexico, and were used by the Aztecs to dye cloth. They were imported to the United States by Joel Poinsett, the first American ambassador to Mexico--hence the name.

But sometimes legend is more fun than fact.

"Legend says that Pepita, a poor Mexican girl, had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve mass. As Pepita walked slowly to the chapel with her cousin Pedro, sadness filled her heart. Not knowing what else to do, Pepita knelt by the roadside and gathered a handful of common weeds, fashioning them into a bouquet. Looking at the scraggly weeds, she felt more saddened and embarrassed by the humbleness of her offering, but felt her spirit lift as she knelt to lay the bouquet at the foot of the nativity scene.

Suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into blooms of brilliant red, and all who saw them were certain that they had witnessed a Christmas miracle. From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as Las Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night, for they bloomed each year during the Christmas season."

Gobble! Gobble!

We picked out a turkey today! Well, we didn't bring it home--no room in the fridge, too many bulbs--but it's sitting at the store with our name on it.

Nice in-laws said that since my birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, I could pick what we had for dinner. I think I kind of surprised them when I said my only request was that we get to bring the turkey. Why, you ask?

Well, I saw that the Merc was going to have local, happy-raised, fresh turkeys for sale. So we're having a liberated turkey for Thanksgiving--very, very cool! I'm also very interested to try a fresh turkey and see how it compares to a frozen one--a very non-scientific Thanksgiving taste test, if you will.

Liberated Poultry Rocks My World!

It's Kansas, If You Don't Like the Weather...

...Wait A Day.

Last week it was eighty degrees out. Today it's snowing. Not real snow though--not the sticking kind. Just big, fat flakes that melt before they hit the ground.

Fall Roses=Not Good

So, ok, it got cold in October so I pruned my roses back for the winter as Martha and all other rose gurus told me I should. But now it's warm again and my silly roses think it's Spring. Not only do they both have lots of red, new growth, but the Bacara has buds and even one tiny actual rose. They're supposed to be going to sleep and they're waking up instead. This is a problem.

My Bit of Dog?

For the past few weeks I've been having a teeny-tiny problem--well, teeny-tiny in the grand scheme of things, but pretty perplexing in my relatively problem-free life. If you haven't figured it out by now, our doggies are, for all intents and purposes at this time, our kiddos. So naturally, I would like to write about them more. But the puppies really don't fit within the original scope of this blog which is to have an easy to keep, easy to read garden journal. They kind of get in the way--they're good at that....

Happily, last night in the wee smalls, I found a solution at Dogster.com. Dogster is a very fun place where your dog can have it's very own webpage. Basically it's like a blog, but kind of better for my purposes. I can post pictures and Moe and Porter can keep "diaries" so the basics are covered. I can also search for and communicate with other Welsh Terrier owners, which is something I'm always looking for when the inevitable questions come up.

Some of the features are a little silly, but some are kind of fun too. For example, Porter and Moe's pages are linked as "family" and if any dogs they know join Dogster then they can all be linked as "friends"--a little cutesey, yes, but kind of neat in that we can all keep up with each other.

So, henceforth, all things puppy will be on Dogster. For Porter news check out "Porter's Post" and for Moe's comings and goings take a peek at "Moe's World". Be sure and leave a bone!

Aww, Nuts!

If you've been reading, you will know that a few weeks ago I started an acorn experiment, planting some outside and some inside to see how they would grow. All the directions I read said, "Make sure you protect the acorns from squirrels." But I thought, "I have two dogs who love to chase squirrels, surely that will be all the protection I could need." Wrong!

I was pulling up to the house in my car yesterday afternoon, when I noticed a fuzzy little fellow frantically ripping up what's left of the greens in my grow box to dig up my poor sweet acorns. He was right there in front of me--bold as brass--with a look on his face that was clearer than if he could have spoken--JACKPOT!

So, a few notes to self:
1. Dogs do not = acorn protection
2. There will be no oak saplings in the grow box this spring to compare with the ones kept inside

But watching the squirrel--and indeed, making his day--was probably more fun than watching oak saplings grow would have been, so I won't hold a grudge.

Christmas Blooms

I'm becoming one of those people. One of those Christmas-starts-at-the-stroke-of-midnight-on-Halloween-Thanksgiving-does-not-exist-get-the-tree-out-and-lights-up people. I'm trying to fight it, but I get a little worse every year. Last year we put the tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving (under protest from Sweet Husband), this year I already have wrapped presents ready to go in our spare bedroom. I justify it to people by saying that law school finals are rough and I need to get my Christmas stuff done early so I can study properly. But that's a big fat lie. I could easily do it all in December, I just like to get some extra mileage out of Christmas.

But one thing that really does need to be started early in order to be ready are the bulbs for my Christmas flowers. I went to Sunrise Garden Center the other day to get paperwhites to wrap up as gifts, and the cashier told me that if I want a Christmas Amaryllis, now is the time to start it.

So I picked out a "Mont Blanc" which is an all-white Amaryllis (we're having blue and white and silver decorations this year). I potted it up in soil up to the top third of the bulb, as per instructions, and am watering sparingly until it begins to grow. The best part is that, because Amaryllis don't need a dormant period, the bulb and pot are now sitting on my kitchen table instead of in the fridge.

The paperwhite bulbs were enormous, and also don't need refridgeration, so I went ahead and got some of those for myself too. I usually wait until closer to Christmas, but by then the bulbs are usually much more picked over and thus much smaller.

Paperwhites generally only take about a month to grow. Looking back, last year I planted around December 7th and they were just barely blooming for Christmas. I'd like them to bloom earlier this year because we'll have guests for graduation on the 16th, so that would ordinarily mean a mid-November planting. But I wanted to go ahead and pot them up while I had the dirt out for the Amaryllis--one mess instead of two--so I went ahead and put them in dirt, but won't give them water until mid-month. Hopefully this will stay their growth enough to get the timing right. Paperwhites are good about holding their blooms for a few weeks, so even if I'm a little early it should still be ok.

And maybe if I have flowers growing we can put off the tree for a few more weeks at least....

November

There's something very romantic about November. It has a touch of melancholy that no other month has. Like an old couple that have had their sweet springs and hot summers, and just don't need all the show anymore.

I've pulled out my thick sweaters and my winter-white coat. It's dark by dinner time and we're having warm soup and chili. The house is all buttoned up, and we can have a fire almost every night.

"The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. The mite which November contributes becomes equal in value to the bounty of July." HDT