The Dec. 11–12 “atmospheric river” rainstorm yielded almost five inches of welcome rain in our unofficial home rain gauge during the two-day period. Dukes County has been in mild drought, while the rest of the commonwealth has been in critical drought.
The roaring winds sent lawn furniture spilling out onto the grass. On the mainland, strong gusts were recorded, with miles per hour in the high 60s. During the night, the distant, low rumble of the surf gnawing away at the shore was an audible bass note.
The wreath
It takes only a small amount of wreathmaking material, if the garden contains a selection of evergreen plants. The homemade wreath pictured is composed of green thuja and golden chamaecyparis, with accents of wine red (immature) flower panicles of pieris ‘Dorothy Wycoff.’
Artistic wreathmakers find inspiration in many places outside the garden: driftwood, shells, feathers, berries; be mindful to do no damage if foraging in public lands.
When should we take down our wreaths? Back in the day, the Island custom was to leave the wreath up until Good Friday, symbolizing rebirth through the ecclesiastic calendar. The shape of the wreath represents a circle of life. Symbolically, evergreens represent continuity of life and nature. They remind us that spring and new growth will come, and berries represent fertility.
The wreath is also said to represent the wheel of the year, in recognition of the fact that the darkness and cold of winter will eventually fade away. Which is lovely to be reminded of, as the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, is just around the corner.
Next things
It is something of a truism by now, saying that fall is when the coming year’s garden is made, but actually, much work for the coming year can be envisioned or accomplished, especially in soil improvement, as we put the past year’s efforts behind us.
The seed catalogues are piling into mailboxes, and availability lists into in-boxes. Let the imagination roam, and think about what the coming year can bring in your garden. Think also about seed farmers and the work they do, assisted by their lowly insect pollinator allies, both of which make our gardens possible.
Looking around at what’s on view publicly; we may take in competing styles of gardening and landscaping. Many are maintained in — dare I write it? — an anal-compulsive, overly perfected style that is rapidly falling out of favor with environmentally aware garden influencers.
“Chop and drop” and “no dig” are far more worthy of consideration than ever before. Loss of habitat and loss of pollinators are at the top of lists for those who balance care for their gardens and premises with concern over what will happen in the next quarter-century. Visit this RHS link to learn more: bit.ly/RHS_NoDigGardening.
Vases and cachepots
Much as cooks need full arrays of equipment, their batterie de cuisine, also so do gardeners need their batterie du jardin. In winter, when growing efforts turn indoors, a windowsill, tabletop, or sunny floor space become home to plants that keep our thoughts green.
Preventing damage to the surfaces becomes the task of various devices and staging aids. In any case, staging these plants is a nice trick and fun, where cachepots or moss-filled bowls are useful.
For many, cyclamen are as emblematic of the holidays as are poinsettias. However, all holiday bloomers, including cyclamen, perform better when in locations cool and bright, but out of direct sunlight.
I am a sucker for cyclamen, both the florists’ cyclamen hybrids, and also the hardy species we plant outside in the garden, with which I am more successful. The flowers’ shades and hues, and the patterning and color of the leaves, are irresistible. I just picked up four mini-flowered ones in plastic pots that are part of holiday home beautification efforts. Into cachepots they go, hiding the plastic.
For those with intense desires to be successful with these winter-blooming favorites, check out “Success with cyclamen” at Growing With Plants, Matt Mattus’s always-informative blog: bit.ly/MM_CyclamenSuccess.
Killing trees
It has become doctrine that trees afflicted by pests or pathogens must be killed, taken down, removed. To this layperson, this doctrinaire approach needs revising. The end product of wholesale tree removal, whether in the face of threats or as policy, becomes mere “stumpage,” releasing of the stored carbon into the atmosphere.
Tree species, globally under pressure from many differing stresses and directions, will not be permitted to evolve to survive threats to them if they are extirpated. Vertebrates, lesser organisms, and soils are deprived of the habitat trees and materials from forests they require for life.
Being skeptical of informed decisions allows the death of expertise. In some instances, entire stands are removed, as in the proposed removal of non-native white pine from the State Forest. It must be remembered that the State Forest is more valuable as a fire-managed oak forest.
Read this to learn why these approaches are problematic and need rethinking: bit.ly/FTGU_PestilenceParadox.
Snowdrops
Carolyn’s Shade Garden, a Pennsylvania nursery specializing in snowdrops by mail, reminds us that snowdrop bulbs pushing up to the soil surface need a scoop or two of soil placed over them. This is also a sign of overcrowding, and that it is time to spread the minute bulbs to create those eagerly awaited, late winter expanses of snowdrops.
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