White poinsettias, for the traditionalist

Still stuffed from your Thanksgiving feast?  Me, too.  That’s why I’ve got an easy question for all you gardeners today.  What’s the most popular flower sold at Christmastime?

That’s right:  the poinsettia.  According to growers, about 75% of us buy red poinsettias for our holiday decorations.  But why settle for red, when there are so many beautiful varieties out there?

Marbled poinsettias

 One of the newer poinsettias on the market is ‘Ice Punch,’ currently available only at Home Depot stores.  The bracts are a familiar shade of rich red, but they have frosty white centers and a collar of dark green leaves—very pretty.  Breeders say that ‘Ice Punch’ is tough enough to last through the holiday season even in a hot, dry home.  Click here to see what the fuss is about:  http://www.pauleckepoinsettias.com/icepunch.html

Another new beauty is ‘Plum Pudding,’ said to be the first true purple poinsettia.  I also like ‘Marblestar,’ a bi-color with salmon pink and white bracts, and ‘Jingle Bells,’ which has red-toned bracts splashed with cream.

If you’re a non-traditionalist, you can find poinsettias that have been sprayed with paint and glitter to add dazzle to your decor.  Look for plants in shades of blue, lavender, gold, and silver, or create your own rainbow hues with floral spray paint.

Yesterday I found some lovely 4-inch potted poinsettias for just a few dollars.  Wouldn’t a holiday plant like that make a nice gift for a school bus driver, a shut-in, your hair dresser or babysitter?  Make the gift even better by tucking in a ticket to the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show.  Tickets are available online now.

cheers,

Lynn

Hey—anybody out there?  I thought so.  You’re all out shopping, searching for sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving that signals the start of the retail holiday season.  I don’t blame you.  (Guess where I’m going as soon as I finish posting this message?)

But you’ll be back, because there’s leftover turkey in the fridge, and cranberry sauce, and maybe a slice of pumpkin pie that you’ll nibble on since you’re going to get back on that diet Monday anyway.  Flower-friends, I know.  I’m right there with you.

So when you battle your way home after all that shopping mall madness, peel the shoes off, and start surfing the Net again, I’ll be here to help you with your Christmas gift-ing.  You won’t even have to get out of your chair, I promise.

Just check out this link:   http://www.flowershow.org/plan.html.   Then forget the slipper socks for your great-aunt, the cologne for hubby, and finding yet another vampire book for your sister.  Give them something fun and different, with a package to the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show.  It’s perfect for an out-of-town friend or the mother-in-law who has everything.  

Atlanta blooms at the 2009 SE Flower Show

Because the package comes with accommodations at the Courtyard Marriott Atlanta Cumberland Center or the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, it’s ideal for an all-girlfriends’ weekend or a couple’s getaway.  Or treat yourself.  Don’t you deserve it, after slaving over that hot stove on Thanksgiving Day?  

The Marriott and Renaissance Waverly are ooo-la-la hotels, and this exclusive package includes an overnight stay, breakfast for two the following morning, free hotel parking, and two tickets to the flower show.

There, you see?  Your shopping problems are solved.

As for being tempted by the leftover pumpkin pie….go ahead.  You can walk it off next year, when you explore the acres of beautiful gardens at the flower show!

Lynn

From most accounts, the Pilgrims weren’t exactly savvy gardeners when they arrived in the New World.  The Native Peoples had to teach them about cultivating corn, pumpkins, squash, and beans in a climate very different from England’s, or they might have starved while walking around in those funky shoes and weird hats.

But at least the Pilgrims got one thing right. After a long sea voyage, and a rocky start in their new home, they decided to rest for awhile and express their thanks for nature’s bounty.   

Tomorrow we’ll gather round our dinner table, like many American families, and give thanks for the blessings of faith, family, friends, and homes.  But today, I’m going to play pilgrim by making a short list of just my garden blessings: 

BrownTurkey figs

I’m grateful for the Brown Turkey fig tree that provide us with delicious fruit for preserves.  

I’m thankful for spring rain. 

I appreciate the cherry-pie perfume of summertime heliotropes. 

Summer heliotrope

I welcome the bats that wing through our yard, snapping up mosquitoes.

I’m grateful for non-profit seed exchanges, like Seed Savers of Decorah, Iowa, which helps preserve heirloom fruits, flowers, and vegetables.

I’m grateful for sun-ripened tomatoes that taste so good on bread spread with mayonnaise and a little salt and pepper. 

I’m thankful for timers that help keep the garden watered even in a drought.

I appreciate Plant-A-Row-For-The-Hungry, an organization that helps gardeners share generously with the less fortunate.

I’m thankful that we gardeners keep finding exciting and new plants to grow, thanks to hybridizers, developers, growers, and researchers. 

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, why not take a moment to count your own green blessings, and remember to express your gratitude, your love, and your gardening passion–the watchword for the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show—every day!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Lynn

www.LynnCoulter.com

All right, garden-lovers.  The question of the day is:  What can you grow in cement?  We’re not talking about that hard, dry, sun-baked red clay that passes for our soil here in Georgia.  It is cement-like, but for today’s purposes, we’re asking, what can you grow in REAL cement?

Answer:  Nothing, of course!  If you said anything else, it’s back to Green Thumbs 101 for you.

But you’ll THINK flowers grow in cement, along with leafy trees, fabulous shrubs, willowy grasses, tropicals, bulbs, perennials, veggies, and much more, when you see the landscapes on display at the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show.

Are those hyacinths blooming from the cement floor in the Cobb Galleria?

If you’ve visited the show in years past, you know what’s in store.  Experienced landscapers and designers haul in tons of dirt, truckloads of sod, and acres of plant materials to create indoor gardens that rival anything you’d find outside.  All these amazing gardenscapes look as if they’d sprouted right up out of the cement floors of the building.

When you come to the show and find a landscape you like, feel free to stop and talk to the designers, who are often on hand, or pick up a list of plants they’ve used to create the scene.  You’ll take home lots of inspiration as well as practical ideas for re-creating that beauty in your own backyard.

Keep watching this space.  Soon we’ll be giving you some sneak-peeks behind the scenes, at how these indoor landscapes are created for the show!

cheers,

Lynn

Every plant looks good in blue–a blue ribbon, that is.  So how do you get one for your gardening specialty? Simply enter one of the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show’s juried competitions.  You don’t have to be an expert; beginners are welcome, too. 

Remember, this year’s theme is Passion:  How Do You Bloom?  Here’s how just one of the competitions plays off that theme:

“Hot for Horticulture!”

So are you hot for horticulture?  Got a fever for ferns?  A sizzle for succulents?  A burn for begonias?  Better check out this link for entry forms, guidelines, and tips for competing:   http://www.flowershow.org/horticulture.html#artistic . 

Your plants are gonna look great in blue!

Thanksgiving is almost here.  Are you panicking yet?

Suddenly I’m slamming into a boatload of things I meant to do before the holiday.   I was going to polish the furniture with the good paste wax; clean the windows; iron my best tablecloth; wash the pretty glasses that never get used until company comes, and….well, you get the picture.

But now my son is home from college with a duffel-bag full of laundry, and his friends are swarming over the house; my husband is about to start a new job, and I just realized I haven’t even bought a turkey yet.  So I’m a wee bit behind.

But I’m still planning to make a pretty arrangement for the mantle.  We have a few mums that survived the cold, and lots of acorns and hickory nuts.  I can weave them into a garland of silk (that is, fake) autumn leaves, along with some blush-colored apples, an ivory-colored pumpkin left from the garden; and a couple of candles placed inside glass globes.  There…that’s one thing done.

Thanksgiving is about bounty.  But even though I’m grateful that our gardens are filled with flowers and foods, I’m remembering to stop and say thanks for simple things, too.  Take a look, for example, at this single aster blossom, with all its glorious color and symmetry. It’s the Tatarian aster, which can look rather like an oversized weed in the landscape, but which earns my respect because it’s late blooming and even holds its looks during light frosts.  (For more about this charming flower, see http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/aste_tat.cfm).

There are many things to be thankful for at this time of year, including the simple gifts of nature!

When I opened my mail today, the first thing I saw was a catalog reminding me that “Books Make Great Gifts.”   Colorful gardening books with glossy pages are especially welcome at this time of year, when the landscape itself is becoming pretty dull and dreary.

If you’re looking for a holiday gift for your favorite gardener–or just want to treat yourself–check out Ken Druse’s new book, Planthropology: The Myths, Mysteries, and Miracles of My Garden Favorites.

Ken, as you may know, is a writer and photographer who has already produced several gorgeous, award-winning gardening books.  You can hear his informative podcast, Ken Druse Real Dirt, at www.KenDruse.com .

Ken’s new book is packed with stories of the adventurers and explorers who discovered new plants from all across the globe.  Since I have a long-standing interest in the history and origins of heirlooms, his book struck a chord with me.  But I admire it, too, for its abundance of good, solid gardening advice.

Planthropology, the new book by author and photographer Ken Druse

As the days go by, I’ll have other great book recommendations for you.  Then, when the Southeastern Flower Show opens, you can browse through all the wonderful volumes you’ll find for sale at Eagle Eye Books, one of the show’s many fine vendors.

Cheers,

Lynn

www.LynnCoulter.com

There are many things that gardeners can grow besides flowers and veggies.  Take our families, for example.  What parent doesn’t want to produce great kids?  If you’re into gardening, nothing is better than sharing your passion with the younger members of your family.   Gardening encourages them to forget about the TV and computer for awhile and become stewards of the earth as they nurture plants, learn to conserve natural resources, and observe the world around them.

Maybe your children are already following in your sometimes-muddy footsteps in the garden.  But if they need a little nudge in the right direction, check out Georgia’s Junior Master Gardener (JMG) program, which is currently active in several elementary schools in Hall County.

The JMG’s goal is   “To grow good kids by igniting a passion for learning, success and service through a unique gardening education.”  We can relate, because the 2009 flower show is all about passion, too! 

Whether you’re a parent, educator, or gardener, you can find out more about the JMG program, which is offered worldwide through Texas A&M University, at http://jmgkids.us.   You can also call 979.845.8565 for information, or, before you call, check out their FAQs at   http://www.jmgkids.us/index.k2?did=2022&sectionID=2019 .

You’ll also find terrific ideas for getting kids interested in gardening at the upcoming show.  We’ll post some of the activities you’ll find there in the next few weeks.

So dig in.  Your kids are worth it!

cheers,

Lynn

With Atlanta’s temperatures hovering around 40 degrees all day today, wind gusts that took your breath away, and the mercury plummeting into the 20s tonight, I’ve got to ask:

Is it cold enough for you?

Don’t you hate people who ask silly questions?  Sorry, but I had to, because I wanted you to notice something about the picture that’s attached here.  It was taken at last year’s Southeastern Flower Show, which ran in January and February. 

Go on, take a close look.  What stands out, considering that this photo was made in the middle of the winter?

That’s right.  You’re looking at a tree in bloom, one that had been coaxed into early bud and then planted inside last year’s venue, to inspire visitors at the show.  A tree covered in colorful blossoms and young green leaves, just like you’d see in springtime.

You see, the show is all about bringing spring to Atlanta during our dreariest, coldest weather.  It’s meant to spark our passion for plants. 

So tonight, when you’re wrapping your pipes and bringing Fido and Fluffy inside; when you’re stashing your last hanging basket in a brightly-lit spot in the basement, or digging up that tropical banana tree in the front yard; think spring, and hold on.

The next Southeastern Flower Show is getting closer every day!

Lynn

www.LynnCoulter.com

Remember that Oscar-winning movie from 1987 called Wall Street?  Michael Douglas played an absolutely snarky, loathsome character who believed that money was everything.  His mantra was, “Greed is good.”

His motto was slightly off, of course.  As every gardener knows, “GREEN is good.”  

In fact, green is good no matter how old you are.  Did you spot the story in yesterday’s paper (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) about the lively seniors who reside in Decatur Christian Towers?  Five years ago, a few of them came down from their 14-story living facility and decided to grow some vegetables on a nearby patch of land. 

Today, the seniors’ garden has blossomed into some 21 rows of veggies and flowers, each one enthusiastically hoed, weeded, and harvested by men and women who have passed 70, 75, and even 80 years of age.  They raise tomatoes and peppers, beets and turnips, collards and peas, and much more.  Some of them tend indoor plants by sunny windows; others fill their freezers with home-grown okra, beans, and squash.

Since gardening provides plenty of exercise in the sun and fresh air, these delightful elder-gardeners also reap good health.  They plant seeds of friendship, too, as they work together, and their hobby keeps their minds active as they plan ahead for each new growing season. 

Starting Jan. 28, 2009, the 22nd Annual Southeastern Flower Show will blossom (that is, open its doors) to senior gardeners, kids, master gardeners, landscapers, hobbyists, and even beginners whose thumbs are barely green.

A doff of our straw gardening hats to you, seniors.  Long may your garden flourish.  You’ve discovered the not-so-secret secret:  green is good!