New Year resolutions

Happy New Year 2017

Mother Nature made her presence known this past month. She has a way of doing that. Between the 25 inches of rain that fell in December alone up here in Bonny Doon and the short but impressive cold snap that descended upon us before Christmas I?m humbled. As the calendar turns to a New Year these are some of my thoughts for 2017.

Happy New Year 2017

Dreaming is more than an idle pursuit. It’s good for you and improves the quality of your life over the long haul. We gardeners are eternal optimists. Why else would we plant a tree, a seed or a garden?

Enjoy your garden. Set realistic goals. After all, who cares if there are a few weeds here and there when you’re sitting under a shade tree next July. Enjoy a beverage of some kind often in your garden. That clean up or transplanting will still be there tomorrow.

New Years resolutions for gardeners should be mere suggestions. Don’t worry if you don’t get to everything you hoped to accomplish. It’s all in the baby steps. Your wish list will serve you well during the cold, wet days of winter even if you don’t get them implemented. Sure planning a landscape that conserves water will benefit the environment and your budget. And ordering seeds for the spring garden is great therapy for winter blues. But there’s always next year or next month or the summer after next.

I did fulfill some goals I had for this year, adding more pollen-producing flowering plants to attract beneficial insects. They?ll keep the good guys around longer to eat the bad bugs. And I learned what quite a few of the good guys look like. I?m going to count this as two resolutions.

I sat in my garden and enjoyed it- not jumping up to rearrange containers or deadhead. This one was easy.

I accepted a few holes in my plants and walked around the garden regularly to identify if a problem was getting out of control and I needed to break out an organic pesticide.

I tried to plant more edibles but my growing conditions thwarted me. The Farmer?s Market and generous friends helped fill the gap. Edibles in the garden feed both the body and the soul. More than just vegetables and fruit trees growing food connects us to the earth and to each other.

When you grow something you are being a good steward of the land as you enrich the topsoil using sustainable organic techniques. You connect with neighbors by trading your extra pumpkins for their persimmons. Knowledge of how and what to grow can be exchanged, seeds swapped. Do your best even if you only have a few containers to grow an Early Girl tomato or some Rainbow chard.

Enjoy the simple things. Laugh often. Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. Everyday is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.

Happy New Year to all of you fellow gardeners from The Mountain Gardener. May your tomatoes be sweet and your roses as fragrant as a summer’s eve.

Christmas poem

A Christmas Poem by The Mountain Gardener

Hydrangea Christmas tree

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the garden,
The creatures were stirring, the deer got a pardon.
The hummingbird feeders were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that the Anna’s soon would be there.

The flowering cherries were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of spring glory danced in their heads.
The summer vegetables were harvested and beds put to nap,
The compost’s a brewing so next year’s a snap.

When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter,
I ran into the garden to see what was the matter.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a big flock of chickadees and eight black-tailed deer.

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,
The chickadees devouring aphids with amazing teamwork.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the deck,
Prancing and pawing, the deer making a wreck.

A hydrangea here, an abutilon there, this garden’s a feast,
With edibles and perennials at the very least.
We love this garden, they whispered to themselves,
With any luck, they’ll think we’re the elves !

Beautiful flowers and nectar and fragrance abounds,
We’ll include this forever on one of our rounds.
The birds can sing and fly in the skies
But we have the charm with huge brown doe-eyes.

We get a bad rap, it’s not all our fault,
Most of our feeding grounds are covered with asphalt.
Just give us a sleigh and we’ll make you proud,
We’re good for more than just eating roses, they vowed.

Call us Dasher and Dancer and Comet and Vixen,
Or Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,
Then maybe you’ll forgive us for our past mistakes,
We can’t help that we eat plants, we don’t eat steaks.

Now if you’ve been good this year, go ahead make a wish,
And each time you see us, think welcome, not banish.
And all of us creatures will give it our best shot,
To feed and nourish your garden with nary a thought.

So everybody listen carefully on Christmas Eve,
And maybe you’ll hear us and then you’ll believe.
You may even hear us exclaim as we prance out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

My thanks to Clement Clark Moore who wrote the original poem in 1822 in New York. I’d like to believe that he would enjoy my version for gardeners everywhere.

Christmas wreaths, holiday wreaths, pruning for wreaths

Holiday Wreath Makers Invade Felton

Somewhere in Felton near the San Lorenzo river sits a home beneath the redwoods. Surrounded by a white picket fence it?s the site of the annual holiday wreath makers get together and this year we have gathered to kick off the season with pink champagne, cranberry-orange scones and the tools of our trade: gloves, clippers and paddle wire.

Wreath of mixed evergreens, roses and tulips

Our hostess Barb Kelley and her husband Reg ventured forth earlier in the week to collect evergreen boughs, holly, flowering branches and various berries for us all to use in our wreaths. Since this extravaganza of supplies and good cheer continues for a week many will return time and time again with grandchildren, friends, neighbors and relatives to make many a wreath. One year Barb counted 50 wreaths made in a single week. This year 44 were made by over 30 wreath makers. To say we have a great time would be a gross understatement.

It all started 13 years ago when Barb needed a quick Secret Santa gift for her bunco card group. She?s a talented lady with flower arranging expertise so a wreath was an easy item for her to put together.

A few of the 30+ wreath makers including Barb on the right.

I am always amazed at how many creative people come for this annual event that. One of the show stopping wreaths this year incorporated red and pink roses long with dark pink tulips. Dried hydrangea blooms are always a good accent and we all agreed that the blooming Ruby Glow tea tree branches and the Chinese pistache dark pink berry clusters added just the right amount of color to the other types of variegated foliage.

Long time attendee and material gatherer Martha was up in Tahoe skiing due to the early snow and was greatly missed. I think she holds the record for most wreaths made in a single season. Barb holds the record for the biggest which also weighed the most. Described as a ?Kardashian? it lacked nothing in glitz and glamour.

Variegated holly and conifer wreath

This year I had my eye out for good wreath making plants that also have low water requirements in the garden. Besides the leptospermum ?Ruby Glow? I also found that many of our drought resistant native plants have thicker leaves by design and are perfect additions to a holiday wreath. I haven?t found a manzanita or ceanothus variety that doesn?t last well in a wreath. Also madrone, bay laurel, mahonia, toyon with berries, Douglas fir and redwood boughs and cones look right at home in a wreath or swag.

A wreath in progress

Take advantage of this opportunity to prune your evergreen shrubs and trees to use in a holiday wreath. Besides the plants already mentioned cuttings from strawberry tree, pines, cedar, boxwood, camellia, privet, bottlebrush, pittosporum, leucadendron and nandina berries are long lasting in a wreath. At this time of year, prune your shrubs and trees from the bottom up and from the inside out. Avoid ugly stubs by cutting back to the next largest branch. If the plant has grown too dense, selectively remove whole branches to allow more air and sunlight into the plant.

I look forward to getting together with my fellow wreath makers each December. This is my fourth year and I wouldn?t miss it. You can?t make a bad wreath. They all turn out great plus your shrubs get a little early pruning too.

The Mountain Gardener's Weblog