The weather person, (I’m not going to get myself in trouble by blaming a specific gender,) is driving me crazy. One day is lots of snow and the skis are ready to go and the next it’s back up to +8C and all the snow is gone. I found the hose and filled the pond but foolishly did not bring it inside. Yesterday was -6C and snowing and tomorrow is supposed to be +11C. Is the gardening season over or is it not. There is always a bit more cleanup that I can do or that I could cheerfully ignore. I really must empty the rain barrels. Doing so is a great opportunity to make sure that all of the evergreens are deeply watered. Winter damage to most evergreens is not because of the cold but rather from the warming sun. Late in winter the sun warms up the needles on the evergreens and they wake up and start to transpire. That’s a fancy horticultural term meaning to pass water out of the pores of the leaves in order to create a flow of water and nutrients from roots to leaves. The problems occur when the leaves give off water and then call on the roots for more and there is none there or it is totally frozen. Making sure the soil around your evergreens is thoroughly moistened in the late fall helps to prevent these problems. That’s where much of the rain barrel water goes now. The rest will go on the soil where the new bulbs were planted to make sure that they have sufficient water to power their colourful display next spring.




The Rutabaga and Brussels Sprouts we had for dinner Thursday night were fresh from the garden and delicious. The great freeze only enhanced their flavour. They are frozen again now but if the crazy weather person is correct I will be harvesting again tomorrow. There are also Leeks and Parsnips waiting out there for me. That was the last of the Rutabagas but there are several more meals of Sprouts and Leeks. I will get them all out of the garden during this thaw and store them in the refrigerator. The Parsnips will stay in the garden and be pried out of the frozen ground as we want them or they will stay there and be the first vegetable on the table in the spring. The berm has not been mulched and that is starting to look like a spring chore as it’s unlikely that I can find a mulch supplier whose piles are not frozen solid. I notice all these things while sitting in the sunny warm solarium where great things are happening. The big yellow flowered Cymbidium is showing colour in its buds. The large Hibiscus tree that I was going to sacrifice to the snow and cold this year has found its way inside because I had a couple of requests for it. It was frosted a bit and has now been severely cut back to see if it will spring back to life. One of the real treats is the Hibiscus that I did decide to keep. It is a new variety with multi coloured blooms that was one of Loblaw’s exclusive plants this spring. It did not do that well early in the summer until I moved it into more sun. Now in the sunny solarium it has 3 - 5 blooms open on it most days, that’s if I remember to water it. It seems to want water more often than the other plants but the results are worth it.

Now it’s time to answer a few of my reader’s questions. Don’t forget to check the front page of the Website for frequent short ideas for current gardening activities.