We have one more full week to get ready for Christmas celebrations. Hopefully you have found the perfect Christmas tree and some great poinsettias. Mimi likes to get some super fresh poinsettias to the house right about now so they will be looking their very best for the week of Christmas when we have a lot of people coming and going. We have learned to place the plants in places where drafts from the door opening and closing or drafts from the air vents as they are pushing more heat with these cooler temps wont cause too much damage.
Poinsettias are a little fragile, I think most of the damage comes from loading and unloading them from your car. Once they are safely in place they are easy to maintain. I like to let them dry out pretty well between waterings. That frequency of watering will differ with every house. If you tend to let your house run on the cool side they will need less water than those in a really warm house.
We have now sold our last Christmas tree for this year, they started selling really early since
there were fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. We delivered about half of the trees that were sold and about half were tied them on peoples cars with a hope and a prayer that no marital bliss was disturbed by the getting it in the door fiasco. We get asked a lot about the best way to make the trees last. By giving the tree a fresh cut on the bottom of the tree, like a cut flower the tree is able to take up some water which will keep the needles fresh and green. Like a poinsettia it is better if you can avoid a draft from the heater wherever you put your tree.
Keeping that tree stand full of water the whole time the tree is inside will give you the
best chance of making it through the holidays. Garden centers around town will have fresh garland for you to decorate inside and out with. We offer Western Red Cedar and Frazier Fir garland. We don't bring any garland inside the house until right about now so it will make it through the holidays. I think it’s safe to hang garlands outside on the earlier side since it will be cooler. We offer fresh wreaths with berries and cones to add to the decoration options.
Traditional Christmas plants like cactus and paper whites and other forced bulbs can be found at all the garden centers now. Mimi is having great luck with her Daffodil bulbs sprouting on beautiful vases covered in colored rocks that she designs every
chance she gets. One of her very best finds ever are the waxed covered Amaryllis bulbs with colored wax varying with metallic gold and silver to reds and pinks. They are perfect for
decorating and make wonderful gifts for all ages. These bulbs simply sprout and bloom
wherever you set them. I wish I was the genius that thought that up, they are a huge hit and
they show back up for other holidays now. We have so many other gifts for gardeners and non gardeners. Wind chimes, birding supplies, live house plants and the favorite, gift certificates so the recipient can decide what they need all year long. We have some great succulents and succulent combo pots that make great gifts for people who enjoy the easiest plant of all.
Our Christmas at home is very traditional, we have people coming and going from out of town prior to the final days then our family starts to pour in. Our daughter Mia and her boyfriend, Cody will get in from Greenville, South Carolina on the 23rd, Max and his new wife Madeline live here in town so they will be coming and going as our events unfold, they will have two families in the north side to be a part of so we will be glad for every occasion that they can make it for. I am realizing that traditions evolve as the kids are out on their own and taking care of their significant others. Mimi's family is from the Delta so they will be here for parts of our celebrations and they will be coming in with our first babies from her side of the family. Little children make the moment so much brighter and we look forward to getting to know these papooses better.
On Christmas Eve Morning we will host both sides of the family and anyone else who is stray dogging with a wonderful brunch that Mimi and her mom put together so beautifully. There will be around 30 people, mostly tied to agriculture in one way or another. We will have Delta farmers, retail garden center owners, florists, landscape architects and passionate gardeners. On the Martinson side we have 12 people who are in the gardening world as careers and on Mimi’s side just about everyone is farming on a large scale and in the lumber business. You can imagine how Mimi and I want the yard to be as perfect as it can be this time of year. We have planted lots of Pansies, snapdragons, Icelandic poppies, foxgloves and other blooming annuals in the right places. The Rye grass is fluffy and green in some of the more visible spots around the yard, the Shi-Shi Sasanquas (pink and white) are blooming like crazy and most of my maples are finally showing their true colors. I think the yard will pass the sniff test, who knows if we will be wearing shorts or down jackets that day.
We don’t usually go anywhere around this time anymore. When the kids were younger we have woken up on the day after Christmas and taken some long drives. One year we drove all the way to Santa Fe to ski, one year we drove out to Big Bend and Marfa, Texas. We just aren’t feeling the need for a big drive this year. We have the Atlanta market to look forward to in January. We have fun on that trip every year. We get to reset the garden center and go out for some great food and music. Hopefully this summer we will find another great trip to experience, until then we are perfectly happy to watch the world go by from our little perch right here in Ridgeland.
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