Winter Reading for Gardeners

By Linda McDonnell, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2013

It’s too late for fall planting, too soon to start next year’s seeds. For the next few months, especially after the holidays, gardeners are likely to get restless. With gardening tasks mostly on hiatus, it’s an ideal time to dive into a great garden book to learn something new, hone your skills, or dream up your next project.

Here are some titles to check out, recommended by members of the CSU Extension and Master Gardener community. All are chock full of information, presented in interesting, useful ways.

Hope you find something for yourself or to give a fellow plant enthusiast this holiday season.

Photo: Alison O’Connor

Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, By Dr. Michael Dirr

Recommended by Alison O’Connor, PhD, CSU Extension Professor of Horticulture, Larimer County Extension.

“This book is incredibly comprehensive and lists all of the common trees and shrubs in our landscapes – and those not-so-common, plus cultivars. And it’s actually funny! Dr. Dirr has a great sense of humor about his experiences with these plants and tells some great stories. Maple the Beagle also enjoys this book – especially the Acer selections.”

(Dr. Dirr is the author of the respected Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, another excellent resource.)

Amazon.com

High and Dry, By Robert Nold

Recommended by John Murgel, CSU Extension Specialist – Horticulture and Natural Resources, Douglas County.

“Dry humor permeates the most thorough reference on truly dry gardening in temperate climates that I have ever encountered. Gardening ‘theory,’ experience, and an extensive plant list keep this book from gathering dust on my bookshelf.”

Amazon.com

Meet the Natives: A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs, By M. Walter Pesman, revised and updated by Dan Johnson

Recommended by Merrill Kingsbury, CSU Extension, Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Denver County.

“The book’s subtitle is ‘Bridging the Gap Between Trail and Garden’ and it definitely delivers! I’ve used this book successfully when looking for native plants to add to my own garden. It details over 400 plants organized by flower/foliage color. The photos are excellent, too.”

Amazon.com

RHS Latin for Gardeners, By Lorraine Harrison

Recommended by Cassey Anderson, CSU Extension Specialist, Adams County.

“This book features gorgeous illustrations and definitions of the reasons behind Latin binomial nomenclature, revealing origin, growing conditions, color, shape, form, etc. hidden behind the Latin terminology. So much information is locked behind the Latin language and this book helps to unlock it.”

Archive.org

Wood and Garden, By Gertrude Jekyll

Recommended by John Murgel, CSU Extension Specialist – Horticulture and Natural Resources, Douglas County.

“The full title of Wood and Garden: Notes and Thoughts, Practical and Critical, of a Working Amateur says it all. While many sniff at the old-fashioned design advice provided by Gertrude Jekyll or balk at her sheer Englishness, I find this and her other titles to be the perfect escape to another world, particularly on winter nights. Jekyll’s vivid language is transportive and inspiring. Published in 1901, you can find the whole thing online at no cost here if you can’t procure a printed copy.”

Image: Felicia Brower

Dig Deeper: A Five-Year Garden Question-a-Day Guided Garden Journal, By Felicia Brower

Just published by this blog’s contributor and Denver County Master Gardener Felicia Brower, this guided journal helps gardeners connect with changes in the garden – day-to-day and throughout the seasons. Every day, you’ll get one question that encourages you to briefly pause and reflect on your efforts and the experience of creating a garden – regardless of size. It’s perfect for experienced and newbie gardeners alike.

Have a favorite garden book? Please tell us about it in the comments!

And finally, happy holidays from all of us who make this blog happen. We’re taking a few weeks off and will be back in the new year.

Taking Another Look: Indoor Evergreens for Good Health

To close out the year, we’re bringing back this popular post from 2019. It’s a timely reminder of the power of plants to contribute to our well-being while beautifying our environment.

We’re taking a short year-end break and will be back with new posts in January. On behalf of all the blog contributors, happy holidays!

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Indoor Evergreens for Good Health

An evergreen wreath on the front door and a real tree in the family room are conventional decorations for the holiday season. So are those beautiful winter containers filled with evergreen branches sitting on the porch.

But evergreens are much more than outdoor decor.

When placed indoors the greenery adds to the holiday scenery, but it’s that fresh scent that makes them indispensable.

Just like walking in the forest and “forest bathing” are therapeutic, using evergreens indoors is beneficial, too. Evergreens give us a healthy dose of phytoncides when we take a deep breath. These wood essential oils are the same airborne chemicals that trees and other plants give off in nature.

Pine scents and forest atmospheres not only remind us of the holidays, but they benefit our health physically, mentally and physiologically, according to the Michigan State University Extension.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POST

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Holiday Gifts from Your Garden Bounty

By Lois Margolin, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2011

The garden is put to bed, autumn is in full swing, and the holiday season is near. Luckily this summer and fall I planned ahead for holiday gifts by drying herbs, freezing grated zucchini, making tomato sauce and salsa, pickling cucumbers, and green beans, preserving fruit into jams and jellies, and more. If you’re also interested in making homemade gifts from the garden, consider some of my favorites below.

Salsa: Too many tomatoes and enough spaghetti sauce? Switch to making salsa.  Freezing the salsa in small batches is much quicker than canning. 

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  “Salsa Snack” in gift basket with chips and a salsa bowl. Photo by Lois Margolin.

Herbs d’ Provence: Friends return the decorative jars and containers I use for this herb blend in hopes that I’ll refill and return them as “bread and butter” gifts during the holidays.

Zucchini bread: I bake loaves in large tin cans (about 30oz.). Remove the paper labels and clean the cans thoroughly. Grease the inside well and pour in the batter until a little more than half full. Remove the breads as soon as they are cool enough to handle. The loaves cut beautifully into round serving pieces. Wrap loaves in colorful cellophane available in craft stores and tie with a pretty bow.  To make the gift more special, include a topping. Soften a package of cream cheese. Add orange or lemon rind and a small amount of sugar. Mix well. Package the cream cheese mixture in small disposable containers. The spread tastes great on zucchini bread.

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  “Canned goods basket.” Photo by Lois Margolin.

Canned food in jars: Assorted garden goodies such as my homemade dill pickles, dilled green beans, pickled green cherry tomatoes, peaches, apple sauce and jams are a welcomed gift. Dress up the jars with fabric lids by cutting square or round eight-inch pieces of cotton fabric with pinking shears. Remove the ring that holds the lid in place. Put the piece of fabric over the lid and reattach the ring. Purchase rectangle, oval or round labels at an office supply store. Design your label on the computer or attach a nice holiday card to the jars.

Pies, crisps, crumbles and cobblers: I froze a lot of apple slices this fall after harvesting a bumper crop. Thaw apples and drain off some of the liquid. Use your favorite recipe and disposable pie tins for delicious gifts. I also froze sliced rhubarb and strawberries. This combination makes for a great pie. If you grew pumpkins, now is the time to cook them for Thanksgiving pies. I’m convinced fresh pumpkin makes the best pie! Dress up the gift by baking it in a pretty, reusable pie plate or 9 x 9 baking pan.

Teas: I love to create my own herbal teas. I find cute containers at craft stores, make labels and give these as gifts. My favorite blend is lemon balm and lavender used either as an herbal tea or combined with black tea for a stronger flavor. All varieties of mint are good, and rosemary also makes a nice winter drink when steeped in boiling water.

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  “Teatime” gift with a teapot and several containers of blended herbal teas. Photo by Lois Margolin.

Dried flower arrangements: Homegrown gourds, cattails, pussy willows, lavender blossoms, long stems of herbs, hydrangeas and dried grasses make pretty fall arrangements. Mason jars, baskets, carved out pumpkins and old teapots make nice, inexpensive containers.

If you want to use your homemade goodies but make the gift more expensive, get creative. Create a gift basket or double spaghetti pot (bottom pot for water, insert strainer on top) around a theme such as an Italian dinner. Place your homemade spaghetti sauce up front. Add several packages of spaghetti, spaghetti serving spoon, garlic bread spread, and a loaf of Italian bread. Wrap it all in cellophane and tie with a huge bow. 

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  “Pasta Dinner”. Photo by Lois Margolin.

A breakfast bread tray for two can hold homemade jam, scones, a cute spreader, mint and black tea with a brewing strainer, and two large mugs.

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  “Breakfast for Two”. Photo by Lois Margolin

For detailed directions on making some of the above-mentioned edible gifts, please refer to my Aug. 8, 2021, blog post: “The Fun Begins: Harvesting and Preserving Garden Fresh Vegetables.”

Mistletoe

European Mistletoe (Viscum album) courtesy of Pixabay.com

A surprise, mischievous smooch under the mistletoe is a December tradition steeped in folklore. Many historians believe that pre-Christian Europeans believed the plant possessed powers as an aphrodisiac, fertility stimulant, and poison eradicator, to name just a few. Our contemporary adaptation of this yuletide custom is far more innocent but still retains the spirit of romance.

Ironically, while mistletoe is synonymous with affection, it is far less hospitable to many tree species.

Dwarf mistletoe. Colorado State Forest Service

Mistletoe is the common name for several families of parasitic plant species that grow on the branches of trees by root-like structures which bore under the plant’s bark. These “roots” extract nutrients and moisture from the host plant; over time, the host plant will develop deformed or discolored growth, called witches’ brooms.

Infected trees decline from the top down and may die prematurely. Damage can, in some cases, be reversed with proper pruning maintenance. Details can be found in this Colorado State University fact sheet. 

In Colorado, five western North American species of dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium species) infect conifers. Common host trees include lodgepole, limber, pinyon, and ponderosa pines.  

Unlike the decorative European mistletoe (Viscum album), that has woody stems, white berries, and smooth leaves, dwarf mistletoes are small, leafless, yellow-ish plants with inconspicuous berries. 

References

Mistletoes in Colorado Conifers. Colorado State University Extension, Fact Sheet 2.925

Dwarf Mistletoe: Parasitic Plants.  Colorado State Forestry Service

Author

Linda McDonnell, Denver County Master Gardener

 

Giving Thanks for Our Gardens

Photo by Anne Burke

Thanksgiving 2020 is a good time to reflect on a year filled with a cornucopia of challenges. Many gardeners consoled themselves by planting flowers, tending vegetable beds, pruning neglected shrubs and pulling up weeds.

Our gardens never looked better.

This year let’s serve up a heaping helping of gratitude to every garden for the comfort provided during such difficult times. (Compiled by Jodi Torpey, CMG since 2005)

My garden gave me sanity and some sense of normalcy. My garden had no idea a pandemic was going on, my plants felt extra love from me for sure!
Merrill Kingsbury Master Gardener Program Assistant
(Photo by Parry Burnap)

More than ever, my garden this year gave me purpose, peace and perspective.
In the spring when we were in lockdown, the garden was there to give me purpose. Rather than being stuck at home I felt safe at home and happy to have the time to work in the garden. In mid-summer, my husband was severely burned. During the four surgeries, skin grafts and lengthy recovery, I had our lovely garden to find solace and peace. As summer turned to fall, the harvest of blooms and vegetables brought joy and at times laughter. Like the perennials in my garden, I was grounded in the garden and I was growing where I was planted. It was here I found perspective. To all that and so much more, I am grateful this Thanksgiving!
Anne Burke, CMG since 2009

 

Covid’s confinement directed me to my garden. There I could see the lives of plants, insects, animals, fungi, carry on as usual. Usual! The garden’s delightful creatures allowed my world to expand to their universes and notice so much with focused time. How thankful I am for my bit of land that gives so much by its own being.
Susan Tamulonis, CMG since 2018

 

This Covid year, the routine of lockdown days spilled into our gardens. We all had more time to focus our energies on tweaking, replanting, dividing and sharing. I was concerned for the birds who came to my feeders; they learned to ignore the barking puppy. Now I have the most overfed doves in Denver County.
Anna P. Jones, CMG since 2019
(Photo by Susan Tamulonis)

This year my garden gave me a bit of solace from the trauma and immense grief of losing one of my daughters. I am grateful for the beauty, bounty and peace it has given me as I struggle.
Donna Baker-Breningstall, CMG since 2012

Our garden gave us zucchini bread and heirloom tomatoes for Caprese salads this year…it was the highlight of the summer and fall to pick and eat the tomatoes or bake the bread.
Dee Becker, CMG since 2010
(Photo by Anne Burke)

Tips For Caring For Your Cut Christmas Tree

If a real Christmas tree is a beloved tradition in your home, you’ll find these tips for its care helpful. Following these research-based findings will help your tree stay fresh and aromatic through the season. Some may surprise you.

First and foremost, check the water level daily. The ideal stand will hold at least a quart of water per inch of the stem’s diameter. A gallon capacity stand is generally sufficient. Be sure the cut end of the trunk is always submerged in water.  

Clean, plain water is best; water temperature will not effect absorption. Additives such as aspirin, floral preservatives, water-holding gels, sugar, bleach and soda are not beneficial and some can even retard freshness.

Anti-transpirants or wilt-reducing products have also not been found to significantly reduce moisture loss. 

Take care when placing your tree in the stand. The outer layer of the trunk is important to water absorption, so avoid “shaving”  or scarring the bark to make it fit into the stand.  (I’ve been guilty of this!) 

Cooler temperatures will help the tree stay fresh. Lowering the thermostat and placing the tree out of direct sunlight is recommended.

A well-cared for cut tree should remain fresh for three to four weeks. Always monitor your tree for excessively dry needles, a sure sign that the tree should be discarded.

At the end of the season many communities offer free tree recycling programs. Denver residents can find information on the 2019 Treecycle program here.

Reference:  “Caring for Your Cut Christmas Tree” Rick Bates, Department of Horticulture, Pennsylvania State University.

 Image: Garreth Broesche, Unsplash.com

Written by: Linda McDonnell, Denver County Master Gardener