Some Things Never Get Old...Just Better

On this December 30 morning I am doing as I always do every morning. I am sipping green tea and while sitting on my favourite chair, reading The Toronto Star from back to front my mind is dozing. This morning is a little different as there is a crispness about the environment as a heavy white frost coats the lawn and trees. I peer out the front window and wave to the same dog walkers and see the same cars drift down the street carrying sleepy workers to their jobs.

Through these hazy eyes I see my old friend the Christmas cactus. It is now the main attraction in the front window as the Christmas Tree is packed away for another year. I see it in a different light as it was pushed to the background for a few days and now appears as it should as a solid fixture in our home. It has a glorious history being over 150 years old. It once graced the home of my mother in laws's husband's grandmother's home in British Columbia. As the previous owners have long gone to their kind reward the plant became the property of my wife Theresa.

It is large by any standard and when Theresa decided to come East to live in Ontario it appeared that the plant would land in the hands of a stranger. When I first saw the beautiful flowering cactus I decided to make it my own and when returning from a visit to B.C. I tucked it in the back seat of a Honda Civic. It was quite a job to get it in the small car and it took up all the back seat space. As I travelled East I watered it but forgot to protect it from the sun. Part of it got burned along the journey.

I removed the plant from the car and established it to its place of importance and it has been there ever since, I have made many plants from the frowns of this cactus and its babies are just as beautiful as itself. A cactus such as this becomes a living symbol of the beauty of nature and during the cold winter months this flower not only blooms once but twice. The first blooming begins in December and lasts about two months and the second one begins in March and lasts until April. This show of colour brightens our spirits during a long winter.

This cactus just shows us that some things never grow old but get better with age. We can take a lesson from this when dealing with old folks.

Dreary Weather

The last few weeks have been dreary from a weather perspective but good for the garden and trees.A damp fall brings needed moisture to the ground and the trees have a good water base for winter. The garlic I planted only six days ago is now sprouting well and I fear it will grow too much before snow cover.

Strawberries I transplanted several weeks ago have been sending out runners and are healthy. I shall cover them with mulch for the winter and clear the mulch in the spring. This year I had some peach curl on my nectarine tree and I have to be careful to collect all the leaves and destroy them as well as treat the tree fall and spring to get rid of that disease.

I was in a transplanting mood and moved my two high bush blueberry trees to a new location. Cedar droppings stunted these young trees and I had no berries this year. I moved some of the rhubarb for the same reason and should have more success next year..

We have a problem with sunlight as tall trees surround our property and this cuts the direct sunlight to a few hours a day in the front and back parts of our lot. The side spaces are narrow but get plenty of sunlight and do well. Unfortunately they are narrow .

The weather is so important and here in Southern Ontario a late frost in spring or an early fall freeze up can be disastrous. I am ready early this year and have put all my plants to bed and the beds prepared for planting next spring. I make the mistake of gathering the seeds for next year and not labeling them. This fall I have done this for the first time and should be off and running in the spring if I can remember where I put them for safe keeping. Dreary weather is really not that bad.