North Mississippi Gardening Tips
November/December, 2006
Flowers
The poinsettia is by far the most popular flowering plant for the holidays. Today’s poinsettia breeders have greatly widened the color range of these beautiful plants from every shade of white, red, and pink to variegated combinations of these. There’s even a purple poinsettia appropriately called Plum Pudding. Also, there are poinsettias with double red flowers that look like huge roses! This selection is appropriately called Winter Rose. If you are the one purchasing the poinsettia, always examine the flowers. No, not the colorful petals, which are, actually modified leaves called bracts. The tiny buds located at the center of the whorl of bracts are the true flowers of the poinsettia and are called cyathia. Select a plant if possible that still has the flowers buds tightly closed rather than fully open displaying the fuzzy yellow stamens. Definitely pass over plants that do not have any cyathia or are missing some. These are old plants because after flowering, the cyathia abscise and fall from the plant.
At home keep the plant away from heat and water only when the soil is dry. More indoor plants are killed by over watering than any other practice. Keep your poinsettia in a cool room with bright light and it should stay attractive well into January. As it begins to decline, my inclination is to chunk the whole thing in the trash. It is simpler for me and less aggravating if I just support my local nurseryman and buy new poinsettias every year!
But if you’re a gardener who likes a challenge you can keep it after the holidays, plant it out next summer and try your hand at coaxing it into bloom for next Christmas. For complete instructions on how to do this go to the county Extension office and ask for Information Sheet 227, Caring for Poinsettias.
Trees
Christmas is just around the corner and it’s time to put up that tree. If your family’s holiday tradition includes a freshly cut Christmas tree, your search for “The Tree” has probably already begun. Part of our holiday ritual when I was growing up on my family’s farm was to scour the nearby fields for the perfect specimen. This activity commenced the minute we were let loose from school for the holidays. My sister, Spoonie, and youngest brother, Johnny, would make a real expedition out of our hunt for “The Tree.” Our tree of choice was always an Eastern red cedar. When the fattest, most symmetrical tree was located after we had marched all over creation, it was felled with several well-placed blows of the axe accompanied by the obligatory, “Timmmm-ber!” We would then close ranks, hoist our victim, and march toward home while singing our rendition of “O Tannebaum” which was retitled in our young barbarian way as “Oh Atomic Bomb.” Mama never failed to oooh and ahhh at our magnificent selection even though we always seemed to bring home a tree that was several feet too tall to fit in the house.
Nowadays, most folks who use freshly cut trees buy them from a retail outlet. What should the discerning shopper look for in a Christmas tree? Freshness is the number one consideration. Be bold and ask a salesperson where the trees were grown. Why? Because the closer to home the trees were grown the fresher they will probably be. If they were shipped in from Canada or other far off places up north, the trees were more than likely cut weeks before the more locally grown specimens. Can’t find out where they were grown? Do the tree freshness test recommended by the National Christmas Tree Association: grasp a twig between your thumb and forefinger approximately six inches from the tip and pull your fingers toward the branch tip. If any of the needles come off in your hand, then pass that tree by.
Once you get the tree home, keep it in a humid place until you are ready to bring it inside and decorate. If you know the tree had been cut several weeks or more before you bought it, recut the trunk at least four inches to help the tree absorb water before placing it in the tree holder. It is also important to close all heating vents in the vicinity of the tree. Trees should be placed well away from the dry heat of a fireplace. Keep the holder filled with water at all times. Remember that live Christmas trees are very flammable. Improperly wired lights and nearby candles can spell disaster. Make sure your fire extinguisher is full and in an accessible location. Be careful. A dried out tree will literally explode into flames. In which case singing “Oh Atomic Bomb” would be appropriate as you evacuate the house!
Vegetables
Now is the time to plant your garlic cloves. Plant cloves pointy end up, two inches deep and six inches apart. A rosette of foliage will form and last through the winter. Harvest in late summer when the tops turn tan and tip over. Spread or hang in a sheltered spot until the tops wither, then store the bulbs in a cool, dry place.
Lawns and Groundcovers
Fallen leaves provide natural mulch for trees that aren’t standing in grass, as well as mulch for hedges, shrubs and other plantings. What a perfect, carefree, natural system! So, leave those leaves be in those situations. Make sure, however, that the leaves have not piled up in layers too thick for the perennials and other small plants that might be smothered underneath. Never allow leaves to lie for long on lawns. They will cut off light and air from the grass and encourage the growth of fungi.
Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes North Mississippi Gardening Tips monthly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.