Hello My Dear Gardening Friends,

After so many days with warmish sunshine it is raining; a cold wet piercing rain. I keep telling myself it is what the gardens need!!!

Something that I found in a book somewhere and I found interesting:

Feelings that I too share! What on earth would I do without my garden??? However – I am wondering what I am going to do with my fish? There are so many now that I am cleaning out the tanks twice a week. The water goes really cloudy so it means that the tanks have to be emptied and the aquariums washed out without soap just warm water. It is oh so time consuming and I would much rather be curled up with a book or planning my next year’s garden!!

Question: My favourites in the garden this year were red hot pokers. Can they be stored in the winter months?
Answer: Yes they can be stored and now is a very good time to do dig them up. Store them in boxes, unless you have the luxury of a cold frame. Store them in sand or peat moss in the cellar or basement. Make sure that you have also dug your tender stock, such as tuberoses, salvia patens, caladiums, cannas and glads. Just make very sure to leave as much earth around the roots as possible, Put them in a cool place until the winter ends – I like to sprinkle them with water around the middle of December, and again in February. By the middle of March you should see some new growth. Bring them into the light and start all over again.

Question: Should bulb soil be fertilized?
Answer: Yes indeed, put some fertilizer or plant food into the soil whenever you set out your bulbs, if you have already planted them and you didn’t use plant food, rush outside and do it at once because the ground is starting to freeze. Dig it in very gently around the area where your bulbs are sleeping.

Question: How often should the beds of lily of the valley be made over?
Answer: About every four years. Now is a good time to divide and reset them. When you do divide the lily of the valley be sure that there are at least six roots to every clump. Set them at least two to three inches deep. You can bring in some of the clumps, place them in a bushel basket, again keep them barely moist – at intervals, bring some into the light and you can have blooms all winter. Queen Victoria loved them and her gardeners had to have some blooming all the time. They were placed by her bedside in the winter, spring, summer and autumn – oh to be rich!!!

Here are some good tips for you:

When you are storing away your hose for the winter (I still have to do mine), hang it very carefully making sure that there are no kinks or bends. Be sure that it is well drained to prevent freezing and cracking. Check your lawn mower for any needed repairs before you store it away until next year. Even if it doesn’t need any repairs do not forget to clean and oil it – this will prevent any rusting. Empty the surplus gas out of the tank and the carburetor.

If your spring flowering bulbs did not do well last year, they did not give you the large blooms that you had hoped for again. Maybe they need to be divided? Separate the clumps and replant the new, smaller sections - you will be pleased with the results.

Old raspberry canes should be pruned out and destroyed. Diseased, spindly canes should be cut out now to prevent them harbouring disease over the winter.

When your trees are dormant and that will be soon, it will be a good time to apply fertilizer around them so the nourishment will be ready for them when the ground thaws in the spring. We are always looking toward that spring weather, as soon as the summer is almost over!!!

You still lots of work to do in the garden! At least the garden chairs and swings are in the boat house – the boats?? Of course they are stored outside!!!

Question: How should garden chemicals be stored in the winter?
Answer: This is a good question. Your garden pesticides (and I do hope that they are not the toxic ones) should be put away for the winter, otherwise they will be useless in the spring. Keep bags or cans of wettable powders and dusts on a shelf, rather than on a garage floor etc. where they may become damp. Fold over the top and tie it with a string or tape this will not only keep out the dampness but also prevent accidental spillage. Place these packages in either heavy plastic bags, or store them in a cleaned out paint can, with a tight fitting lid. Liquids of course must be stored where they cannot freeze. Do not store disease and insect control chemicals beside any weed killer that you might have, or weed killer herbicides as they may become contaminated.

You do actually use this stuff on your garden??? A good cleaning of dusters and sprayers reduces the corrosion of nozzles and valves. Flush out the sprayer with clean water, drain and dry them. Oil the plungers so that they will stay pliable, and of course oil all bearings and any moving parts. PLEASE, please do not do what a neighbour once did – he washed his sprayers etc. in the lake!

Question: When should I start my Amaryllis?
Answer: For early spring, flowering your bulbs should start now. Plant them in a soil made up of a fibrous loam with some fertilizer added. Add sand to heavy soil, if that is what you have – go and buy some good potting soil for better results. You must provide good drainage, otherwise the bulbs just rot. Large bulbs should be planted one to a six inch pot. Keep the amaryllis cool and water sparingly until the roots are well started, then you will have to increase the watering. This will help the plant to produce those huge, fabulous flowers.

Question: Is there one simple rule for watering house plants?
Answer: Do not underestimate the importance of correct watering. Yes there are a few simple rules. Too much water will kill a plant as quickly as if you used too little (which is why I stress – sprinkle the plants that you are over-wintering in the basement – this will help to prevent them from rotting). The plant roots need to breath and too much water robs the roots of the valuable air they must have in order to survive. Waterlogged plants just will not do. Water less frequently and check to see that each pot has proper drainage. Keep some gravel or broken pieces of pottery in the bottom of each pot. When you do water, soak the soil to the bottom of the pot (I like to stand the pot in water – that way I know that it is wet right to the bottom, in fact the water is drawn up through the holes in the bottom of the pot). Wait until it is just dry to the touch before you water again. You will soon get used to the feel of the soil and will know when water is required.

Question: Just how much moisture is needed in the air around house plants?
Answer: Dry atmosphere in the home can often cause plant failure or injury. Dryness is also inviting to such insects as red spider mite, thrips and fern scale. If you place a pan of water on say a radiator – it will help a little, but you should also spray your plants every now and again with warm water. Set your pots on a tray of pebbles, making sure that the bottom of the pot does not stand in the water. I use a humidifier in my home, helps to keep me healthy too – anything that will raise the humidity in your home is a bonus to you and your plants. My gold fish in their “condominiums” help to keep the air moist.

I love her books and am looking for the other four flower fairy books. I do have this one and the flower fairies of the trees. There are Flower Fairies of:
The Spring
Summer
Winter Garden
Wayside and even a Flower Alphabet

If anyone has one to spare I would be most grateful to be able to purchase it from you. I promise to continue to share the “stories” with you. I am afraid that most of them are out of print now.

Well my dears it has been an exhausting and stressful day – Aileen Dean and I are going to try and fill Gordon’s shoes for a little while on Wednesday the 16th and speak to the Women’s Institute of Selwyn – it is our Silent auction and regular meeting afternoon.

I have been asked to talk about orchids next week – so for now I am going to say bye bye! Good gardening, hats (warm ones for the wind is cold), warm gloves and perhaps a scarf. Remember to still keep on with that sunscreen!

Lovingly, Beryl