Hello my dear gardening friends,

The gremlins have attacked my computer – I had almost finished this weeks epistle, I saved it and now it has vanished!!! So I start again…

Hanukkah is almost over; tonight is the last night. Looking outside the sun is trying to shine, but oh what a lot of snow is out there – now we are looking forward to Christmas. This is a very good time to go outside and check that your perennials are tucked in safely.

When the Christmas and New Year seasons end, put your tree and evergreens on the garden borders. This serves a double duty, for not only do the evergreens trap snow, and this is one of Mother Nature’s best insulators, but it helps to protect your plants through the alternating freezing and thawing which is the chief culprit of damage to your flower borders.

The boughs also keep both people and animals away/off your borders. It delineates where your beds are. A good place to throw the snow providing it does not contain any salt.

It is time to place wire screen guards around any young trees now that the ground has started to freeze. If you are bothered with mice and rabbits, pebbles placed around the base of the trees will help to keep them from chewing the bark on any vulnerable trees and bushes.

Question- How do I keep deer out of my garden?
Answer- I heard this evening that a friend had a Moose come to her cottage and eat all of her Hosta’s. Hopefully it will have forgotten about them by next spring!
You can try painting or spraying a commercial rodent repellent on trunks and branches. The spray tastes so vile to the deer, rabbits and mice that they are discouraged and look elsewhere for better tasting food. It is interesting, but I enjoy seeing deer – they only visit once in a while. The small amount of greenery above the snow line that they can forage, I really do not miss.
Also, I heard that a six foot fence, in staggered rows, creating a maze, will veer off deer. Not only do the fences veer them off, but the deer will actually stay away when they are confronted with something so complicated, something like geese and shoreline inhibitors.

Now for a little fun! I was reading the Canadian Almanac and found this interesting little tid-bit: Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine took a shot at weather forecasting (he was into everything wasn’t he??). He said that if you had a mouth sore, it was a sign that warm winds would soon be coming up from the south, while winds in turn, caused headaches and sluggishness.
Modern research has discredited this sort of medical /meteorological Greek thinking, but it has confirmed a similar notion. Here in America, hot dry Santa Ana winds blowing out of the interior desert onto coastal southern California have correctly been blamed for nose bleeds. It seems that this is due to the very low humidity of such windy air, which can drop way down to two percent. This can indeed lead more commonly to chapped lips … and shorter hair!!! Seemingly hair loses abut 2 percent of its length as the relative humidity falls from 100 per cent to near zero, which is why your hair grows faster during those long humid dog days of summer and you can go longer without a haircut in the winter time!!!!

Yuletide:
December 20th to the 23rd we begin in the heart of darkness. Winter is full upon the earth, snow covers the landscape, thin trees are brittle with ice, and stars are so very bright. The air is cold almost metallic, so sharp to breathe, wood smoke drifts in the sky over roofs outlined in twinkling Christmas lights, porch lights gleam from early afternoon until quite late at night.
It is the winter Solstice known as Yule or Yuletide, the longest night of the year. In some traditions this night begins the New Year; this is the holy night of re-birth, when the days start to turn once again toward the light. In ancient times people gathered on this night by a hearth ablaze with fire, every window sill and table had candles trying to coax the Sun back to the dark Earth.
Evergreens that are brought in the home are an ancient Celtic symbol that life continues, even in the darkest winter, mistletoe is the Druid symbol of fertility and lovers. Holly and Ivy invoke protection and good fortune, reindeer symbolize the Horned god (whatever that is) and the colours, red, green, silver and gold represent Fire, Earth the Moon and the Sun.
So, when we are busy forcing bulbs into bloom through these dark winter days, putting up twinkling lights and decorating the tree, now you know what is prompting you. It is the life force that all gardeners experience. Stay up on the solstice night, watch the stars and sunrise, toast the returning sun with hot ginger-spiced cider. It may not help the sun to either arrive or stay, but it will taste very good and the whole experience may be more exciting than New Years Eve (probably colder too)!!!

I talked about flower arranging last time – try something like this one:

Strips of bark, grouped in a compatible container with base, creates a sculptural effect for a few flowers. White roses are wonderful for Christmas – oh I was in the I.G.A in Lakefield today and saw large bunches of white tulips. They were beautiful and a few would do very well in this kind of arrangement, but always remember that tulips continue to grow after they are cut.
You will find bark even now when you are out walking. Place the pieces in a flowing shape. If you have a pin-holder use it to anchor the bark into the container – the stability of the bark, will add to its balance and its rhythmic lines will be improved. When you have the shape that you really like then add a few flowers, three at the most (always use odd numbers) or a single vibrant red amaryllis, a white or yellow single lily, a few small carnations will also be very effective. Use your imagination – nothing is “wrong” in flower arranging, just let it please you. That is when you are doing it for yourself – if entering a floral competition that is another story!!!

Good gardening to you all. Hats, large woolly ones, gloves also warm ones, sunscreen, yes you still need it.

Lovingly, Beryl.