Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

        From all of us here at Old House Gardens, may your holidays be full of light and love and the year ahead full of hope, strength, and unexpectedly good days.

It's Not Too Late to Give Our Unique, Green Holiday Gifts!

        To simplify your shopping, we've posted a whole new page of our special gifts, sure to fit and inspire every gardener on your list. Why settle for something boring when you can give our:
        new Holiday Gift Samplers,
        dream-inspiring Gift Certificates,
        OHG Tote-Bags in fern green or Santa red,
        Bulb Samplers for Spring Planting,
        gorgeous Hortus Bulborum Notecards,
        comfy OHG T-shirts,
        and hard-to-find Books.

Holiday Delivery Deadline: Noon, Dec. 22

        If you need your order delivered this year, please make sure it reaches us before noon on Monday, Dec. 22. We'll be closed from then till Jan. 5 for a long winter's nap.

Dahlias: All in the Family

        Dahlias you grow yourself can be better than any you buy, as 0ur good customer Theodora Alves of Nevada City, California, discovered this fall:
        "Did I mention that your dahlias were used in my daughter's wedding this year? Her florist had brought some in, but they were . . . well, how can I be kind . . . they were 'poopie.' She ended up not using them, and the ones from my garden just stole the show. Thanks again for your very personal attention to your customers. I love doing business with you. It's like we're all in the family!"

Don't Pack Up Those Xmas Lights: Extreme Gardening in Minnesota

        Last winter when we wrote that hardy bulbs are rarely bothered by mid-winter thaws, our good customer Bonnie Dean of Minnesota offered a different perspective:
        "I live in Minneapolis. Occasionally we get a week of spring-like weather in February, once as high as 76 degrees. The bulbs are fooled -- up they come! By the time the shoots are about 3 inches high, the usual teens to twenties temperatures come back and stay for weeks. In those situations, the plants do die. Or they end up blighted and stunted, taking years to recover, if at all.
        "But I found a way to circumvent this. Each year when I pack away the Christmas decorations, I make sure a few strings of the small lights are kept accessible. Then, when a prolonged mid-winter thaw is followed by even more hard, hard cold, I get out the lights. I plug them into the outside outlet and string them along the ground, around and between but not touching the emerging daffodils and tulips. (I am careful to remove dead leaves on the ground so there is nothing flammable near the lights.)
        "Then, using old pizza boxes or whatever cardboard I have on hand, I make long low 'tents' over the plants and lights. Over that, to keep out the wind and keep in the warmth, I put old blankets, worn out bathroom rugs, frayed towels, whatever -- even old painting tarps. I keep the lights plugged in until the temperature approaches 32 degrees more consistently, as long as it takes.
        "The little bit of warmth from the bulbs keeps the soil just warm enough to keep the tender shoots alive. So, instead of shriveling in the hard winter, the shoots hold their own and even grow a bit. As a result, I have the most showy, prolific and early daffodils in the neighborhood. Some years, I have had the ONLY daffodils in the neighborhood!
        "Please share this idea with your readers. Here in Minnesota, even hardy bulbs can lose their zip when the weather fluctuates as much as it does these days."

Are These Cannas on Steroids?

        Nope, but our good customer Ruth Riegel of Casey, Illinois, was impressed with them anyway:
        "I got three Canna indica from you this past spring, and one of the clumps I dug up yesterday is over two feet across. Amazing for not-so-well-drained clay soil (though I do add lots of horse manure). Oh, and the 'Cleopatra' canna went berserk with three different foliages -- green, bronze, and variegated -- and flower colors. What fun!"

Tuberoses at Versailles and Around the Globe

        Our good friend Wesley Greene is a garden historian and the lead interpreter at Williamsburg's Colonial Garden. He writes:
        "The single tuberoses that I got from you have been magnificent. One of the joys of working at Colonial Williamsburg is that I get to meet gardeners from all over the world. I've met people from Mexico who tell me, "Oh yes, tuberoses grow all around our village," and the other day I met a couple girls from Iran who tell me it is a very popular plant where they live, commonly used at weddings and funerals.
        "Then I ran across this bit of information from 17th century France: Saint Simon, a critic of much that went on in the court of Louis XIV, observed that when the tuberoses were in bloom at the Grand Trianon at Versailles, the fragrance was so overpowering the entire court was obliged to retreat indoors. That must have been quite some show!"

Happy 250th Birthday, Pittsburgh!

        One of my favorite cities is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, as I was recently reminded by an insightful article from the Associated Press. Pittsburgh is a Rust Belt city that's been doggedly transforming itself into a vibrant, livable 21st-century city without losing sight of its past. It has a spectacular natural setting; diverse, lively neighborhoods; the historic, revitalized Phipps Conservatory -- and I could go on and on. Add it to your list of places to explore, and if you're one of our many friends who live there, congratulations and Happy Birthday!

Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!

        November's articles included javelina-proof iris, GardenRanting about OHG, Ken Druse's Planthropology, dahlias in Florida, and more. You can read all of our back-issues -- by date or by topic -- at oldhousegardens.com/NewsletterArchives.asp .

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