December 22, 2020 message for the new year

 Hi gardeners

We have survived the year; the ones who read this. The natural year has ended and today is the first day of the new year. The calendar year lags of course, man always feels compelled to tame nature in some way, to order it to his thinking. But that is inconsequential in the web of life.

And what a year it has been for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Maybe some of you had more time for gardening this year, certainly some of you did not have time for gardening. And for those of you who gave up your precious gardening time to heal and care for us, I deeply thank you.

Gardeners experienced scarcity this year, seeds hoarded away, garden stores closed, contact with gardening friends curtailed. But they persevered, as gardeners do. Some had their first garden this year. I hope your experience left you wanting more and ready to tackle a new garden season.

Gardeners are people who hope. To plant a seed or tender plant and trust that it will grow and feed us or give us beauty to contemplate, takes hope. Hope and trust, faith in natures cycles. That the sun rises and sets, and rains come, and things are born and then die.

We lost gardeners this year too, as in every year. But this year the ravages of a disease we can’t control took so many. Many gardeners had their last garden, something they neither planned or expected, and won’t see the gardens bloom in spring. The gardens they tended may languish, the tidying hand stilled, the planter of seeds gone. We mourn. But we hope so we go about preparing for another spring.

It is a new year, a new start. Mourn for what was but prepare for what will come. Plan the garden, hone the tools, buy the seeds. Let the sun climbing in the sky pull your spirit up with it. Persist.

May you have a wonderful new year. My best wishes for the best garden you ever had in the coming year.

 

Sapigloss

 

New garden blogs will be posted beginning in January 2021. I’ll see you then.

 

 

“Now is the time of fresh starts
This is the season that makes everything new.
There is a longstanding rumor that Spring is the time
of renewal, but that's only if you ignore the depressing
clutter and din of the season. All that flowering
and budding and birthing--- the messy youthfulness
of Spring actually verges on squalor. Spring is too busy,
too full of itself, too much like a 20-year-old to be the best time for reflection, re-grouping, and starting fresh.
For that you need December. You need to have lived
through the mindless biological imperatives of your life (to bud, and flower, and show off) before you can see that a landscape of new fallen snow is THE REAL YOU.
December has the clarity, the simplicity, and the silence you need for the best FRESH START of your life.”

― Vivian Swift, When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler's Journal of Staying Put

 

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

 

 

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

 

Newsletter/blog information

 

If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.

If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com

 

 

December 15, 2020, solstice nearing

Hi Gardeners

Teasel

 Well, you may have noticed I skipped a week with the weekly blogs. It was a crazy week last week with our roof getting redone. I planned the job to be done after my plants had gone dormant outside so there would be less damage to them but there were still problems. Because of covid precautions and because it was cold, I wasn’t outside much to observe what the roofers were doing. Neither was my husband.

I am a person who leaves the leaves and plant debris on the garden until spring. But on the day the roofers were cleaning up I popped outside and saw one young guy enthusiastically finishing up the raking out all the leaves and other cover from the front garden.  “Look how nice I cleaned up your gardens” he said with a big smile. What could I say? It does look neat and tidy.

The leaves were already in the dumpster and he thought he was doing me a favor. I suppose there may have been some roof debris in there too, although they had tarps down all over. What I didn’t realize until later was that he had also taken it upon himself to toss out some of the old timbers that edged the garden. Yes, some were rotting on the underside and needed replacing but still…

But the worst thing was when they broke a window on the porch when a ladder slipped. It was an accident.  But I have a lot of plants on that porch which can survive cool dormancy. The porch rarely goes below forty degrees even if its not heated. But with cold air pouring in it was getting much colder. It was evening, they cleaned up the glass and helped me tape a piece of cardboard over the window. One guy took out the glass frame and said he’d get it replaced. That was a week ago- and I still have cardboard on the window.

I had to move the huge pot of elephant ears inside- it did get some cold damage, but I think it will survive.  Also, the purple taro and a few other things had to be moved inside. The geraniums and other things out there seem to be ok but (don’t tell my husband) I have been cracking the door going from the house to the porch at night.

My roses don’t seem to be damaged much in the front garden, even though the guys took the heavy-duty cages I put around them to protect them and put them in the lawn. They then put them back before they left, but on other plants. We’ll see in spring how things come up.

The roof had to be done and sometimes you must make trade-offs.  I’m sure the roofers weren’t totally happy working around all the obstacles here- like the handicap ramp and gardens all around the house. The worse thing is that there is still work to be done on the soffits and trim.

Today we are at least getting a little weak sun. What I hate about Michigan winters is days and days of dark, dreary weather. My windows full of plants and bright grow lights help, but it’s still depressing. I do have plants in bloom too, gerbera daisies this week and ivy geranium, plus hibiscus, fuchsia, begonias, Christmas cacti, and streptocarpus.

I have a braided hibiscus tree that I had to put in my bedroom this year because of space limitations. I was worried that the little natural light it would get there and the grow light supplement, wouldn’t be enough for it, but it is thriving and loaded with blooms. It looks better than it did outside this summer. You just never know.

The end of the natural year is almost here. On the 21^st we have winter solstice. That’s the shortest day of the year, technically. After that the sun begins to climb in the sky again and nights start to shorten.

Winter solstice is probably the first event that our ancestors celebrated. Our ancestors felt great relief when they could determine that that the suns cycle was reversing. The ancients knew that the sun was the key to life. At winter solstice it has been resurrected or reborn. When the sun “turned and began to come back” it was a signal that life would continue. This has always been a time for great celebration. 

This year we have great reason to celebrate solstice, because we have now received a signal that life may return to normal here for us too. We have a covid vaccine. At ancient solstice celebrations symbols of the past year’s worries and problems were burned in a fire of oak wood. Wishes were made for better times in the new year.

2020 is certainly a year most of us would like to burn away. Maybe everyone should have a symbolic bonfire – outside with social distancing.  Let us all hope for a better 2021 as the new natural year begins.

 Spring bulbs popping up early

People are writing me to ask about their spring blooming bulbs popping up early. Mine are showing above ground too. Our erratic cold, then warm weather is responsible. Actually, this isn’t uncommon for spring blooming bulbs.

The bulbs will be fine unless the weather gets so warm that they have visible buds showing. Since the length of daylight also affects bloom time to some extent, most bulbs won’t proceed to buds above ground until a little later. Warmth in early March is probably more harmful than it is now. 

Don’t worry about the bulb foliage peeking above ground now. You can cover them lightly with mulch if you like. Snow will probably cover them soon enough, but if that doesn’t happen, I’m fine with it.

 

Make sure to buy seeds early this year

If you remember last spring, people suddenly had a big interest in gardening because of the covid shut down and seeds quickly became scarce. Some seed companies had to close, and some had employee shortages. No one knows what will happen for sure this spring, but I expect there will still be an increased interest in buying seeds.

Seed catalogs are already arriving at my house and by January most companies will be ready to take orders for 2021. Gardeners should browse those seed offerings early and place their orders quickly if they want certain varieties of seeds. Don’t be disappointed.

You may also want to order plants early, but sometimes this doesn’t help much as orders of plants get sent to the areas where the weather is nice enough to plant them first, and if you are in a lower planting zone, things run out before they get to you. Since few companies charge you now before shipping, they don’t lose anything by filling those requests from warmer zones first even though you may have ordered before someone in a warmer zone. Still if you want something badly I’d order early.

Keep that Christmas tree fresh

If you bought a real tree this year- and in many places there has been a big increase in sales of real trees, you shouldn’t be bringing it inside until right about now, 7-10 days before Christmas. Store it outside in a cool place until you bring it in.

Before setting the tree up, make a new cut across the trunk bottom, about 2 inches thick. Then promptly place the trunk in lukewarm water. Making a new cut opens up the trunk cells again so they can take up water. They tend to seal closed after being cut and stored.

Make sure your real tree always has water. Don’t add things to the water like sugar or pennies. It isn’t needed and won’t help. Just make sure the cut surface of the trunk is always below water.

Keep fresh trees away from heat sources. Never use candles on them or have them around open flames. Discard the tree soon after Christmas for safety. You can cut it up and add it to your compost pile or use the branches to protect other plants in the garden. Some communities have a day after Christmas when they pick up fresh trees for recycling.

 

Sweetheart of a plant scam

A really common “scam” right now is the sweetheart hoya, (Hoya kerrii) a hoya that has leaves shaped like a heart. It’s also sold as Valentine hoya. (And it is a hot seller in big box stores around Valentine’s day.) There is a plain green and a variegated variety. You see these cute heart shaped leaves in little pots for sale. You are told or led to believe the leaf is a rooted cutting about to become a plant.

Hoya kerrii is a vining plant with leaves shaped like a heart. If they are getting enough light the leaves are light green or green with white or yellow variegation. The plants are pretty, easy to keep as a houseplant and after a couple years may give you beautiful star shaped white flowers that are pleasantly fragrant.

But here’s the scam. Growers pluck the heart shaped leaves off the plant. Each leaf is pushed into a little pot, usually a tiny, cute pot, full of potting medium and sold as a plant. The vast majority of those sold never become a plant. If they are taken care of correctly that single leaf can live a long time, yet never become a vine, always remaining one lonely little leaf.

To successfully propagate sweetheart hoya from a leaf, the leaf needs a bit of the stem, along with a node, sometimes called a heel. A node is the place on a stem where new growth can start, it’s where the leaf stem joins the main stem. Without a node the hoya leaf never becomes a plant. 

Sometimes a gardener gets lucky and their leaf does have a node, although even with a node it can take months for a vine to get started. Usually however, the new gardener gets tired of the single boring leaf and neglects the plant until it dies.

If you have one of these leaves in a pot, gently take it out of the pot and wash away any soil. Look for a flat piece of stem attached to the leaf stem, hopefully with what looks like a bud popping up. Even with a bud node, Sweetheart hoya takes weeks to even begin growing and conditions have to be just right. It takes years to get a plant with a stem and many leaves.

If you don’t see a node/bud your leaf may survive for a long time.  It’s up to you whether you want to keep it or not. Put it back in its tiny pot, give it good light but water it sparingly, too much water will rot the leaf.

If it does have a bud repot it in a pot only slightly bigger than it was in. It needs a succulent type soil, very well-draining. You can mix 2 parts regular potting soil with 1 part perlite or bark chips. Water carefully, soil should dry slightly between watering, but don’t let it get too dry. When you see new growth start, lightly fertilize it. Make sure it’s in a bright window, east, west or south facing, or under a grow light. Without strong light growth will be very slow.

If you like this plant buy an actual plant, one with stems and several leaves instead of a single leaf. It’s a fairly slow grower but easy to care for houseplant. They shouldn’t be hard to find in houseplant selling shops/catalogs and aren’t expensive. You may be able to get a small plant for the price of that single novelty leaf.

 

Are purple poinsettias real?

Another scam on the market this time of year are the purple and blue poinsettias. There are many natural colors of poinsettias on the market now other than red, but purple and blue, and sometimes other odd colors, are achieved by dye. A few days before the plants are to be shipped to stores, light colored poinsettias are sprayed with dye. The dye is absorbed into the leaf cells and becomes very difficult to distinguish from the natural leaf.

Sometimes leaves are sprayed with alcohol after the dye to create blotches of white or a lighter color. And then glitter may also be applied, although most people can recognize that glitter isn’t natural to poinsettias. 

Many people will swear up and down that their blue or purple poinsettia is natural and not dyed. But if you can keep the plant alive and growing it will soon become apparent. The new bracts at the top of the plant will have the natural color of the plant. Usually this is cream or white, sometimes its pink or even red. (The colored parts of the plant are actually leaf bracts, not flower petals.) Of course, the main leaves of the plant are green.

These blue poinsettias are dyed

Sometimes the contrast of the natural and dyed bracts is very pretty. Eventually however the purple or blue color of plants is replaced by natural green with top bracts of a natural poinsettia color. If you like purple or blue colored poinsettias go ahead and buy them for your holiday decorating, just realize the color is temporary.

But not all poinsettias that are not red are fakes. White, pink and various shades of red from burgundy to light red are all real plant colors. So are cream, yellow and chartreuse green flower bracts although these aren’t common. Poinsettias with blotches and spots or different colored leaf edges can also be natural variegations. 

There are over a hundred named cultivars of poinsettia.  Most of the time you won’t see a name tag on store plants but if you are looking for specific colors other than red, that are natural, here are some varieties you might look for.

‘Polar Bear’ is white with beautiful green veins. ‘White Glitter’ is red with white flecks.  ‘Ice Crystal’ is white with red edges.  ‘Picasso’ is red with cream streaking. ‘Maren’ is peach colored.  ‘Ice Punch’ is bright pink with cream centers.  ‘Christmas Lights’ is a bright true pink.  ‘Luv U Soft Pink’ has deep pink veins against a pale pink bract, ‘Christmas Feelings Red Cinnamon’ has deep pink bracts with red flecks, ‘Envy’ has chartreuse green bracts.

With the right care poinsettias can be kept alive for many years. They probably won’t be as colorful as the year you bought them, but you can get some color to develop again. For an article on how to keep your poinsettia alive after Christmas click here.

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/if-you-got-poinsettia-for-christmas-you.html

 

Succulent scams

Succulents are a big fad in the plant world right now and people are trying to cash in on the trend. Succulents are hyped as easy to care for and some are, but not every succulent is suitable for every home. Succulents are comprised of plants from a number of species and have many different characteristics and needs.

Succulents are often sold as cuttings. Some succulent cuttings do root easily, but others do not.  (See the sweetheart hoya information above.) And if the seller is advertising plants, you should not receive cuttings. Cuttings are not plants. They are parts of plants or prospective plants. Plants should have roots.

Often small plants from a reputable seller are as cheap as cuttings that some sellers offer. Cuttings are actually more difficult to ship than a small plant and because they are often being sold by inexperienced or uncaring sellers, they arrive smashed, frozen or severely wilted. And plants are more likely to get off to a good start than cuttings.

Buy rooted plants whenever possible. Remember you get what you pay for. Cuttings are rarely guaranteed to root and plants from a good company usually, at the least, guarantee that you will receive a healthy plant. And when you get those tiny pots of succulents, check to see that you actually received a plant and not a cutting stuffed in a pot by slipping it out of the pot and looking. Plants have roots.

I am seeing this a lot with succulents. The advertisement says a collection of six succulents.  But it doesn’t specify six different succulents. So, the buyer gets 5 aloe plants and 1 string of pearls. Worse, you get 5 tiny “pearls” and an unrooted aloe pup. Before you buy know whether you are getting cuttings or rooted plants.  And ads for collections and assortments should specify if you will get just whatever the seller wants to send you or if you will get a certain number of different species.

A reputable seller of succulents will have each plant labeled with both the common and scientific name. They won’t simply be labeled “succulent.” This allows you to look up the proper care of the plant. You may want to look up pictures of the species you ordered and see if that’s what you got too. There are many sellers of succulents simply cashing in on the fad and they know little about the plants they are selling and assume you won’t know anything either.

Before you order any succulent plant look up it’s needs and make sure you can provide the right environment. Some succulents require bright light, like a south or west windowsill or a grow light. Others will burn in those exposures. Some require almost no watering, and some require fairly frequent watering. Some succulents do not make good houseplants.

 

The gift of light we thankfully take

But not shall it be alone for our sake

The more we give light

The One to the other

It shines and it spreads and it glows still further

Until every spark by friends set aflame

Until every heart with joy to proclaim

In the depths of our souls a shining sun flames

-      Unknown-

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

 

 

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

 

Newsletter/blog information

 

If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.

If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com

 

December 1, 2020 standing in the cold

Hi Gardeners

Yuzu fruit

It’s a cold and snowy day here. We aren’t predicted to get a large amount of snow but it’s wet and messy and there’s about 3 inches on the deck and car.  It’s still melting on the ground, so it isn’t as deep there. The hitch here is that we are getting a new roof this week. Early this morning a truck was here delivering the supplies. A guy was on the roof shoveling it so they could put the shingle bundles up there. Quite an undertaking in the blowing snow this morning. We’ll see if they start the job tomorrow.

The blog isn’t as long as normal this week. I lost a good friend to covid last week and I have been distracted and sad. And then there’s the roof project. I wanted them to do it late in the year, but I didn’t plan on it being this late. I wanted it late because I was worried about my plants and thought after they were dormant would be the best time to have junk dropped off the roof and trampling feet in the beds. There’s lots going on here.

The last time I saw my friend was in early October. We normally met for lunch a couple times a month but this year of course, was different. Our last inside a restaurant lunch was in February. In October we met at a McDonalds. I transferred a large jasmine plant into her car. It needed a home that had a greenhouse and my friend could provide that. Then we went through the drive through, bought lunch and sat in our separate cars, talking for an hour through open windows.

My friend was an avid gardener, she was a member of the Master Gardener program and volunteered for everything. She was president of the horticulture club here for several years. She was kind and cheerful, a wonderful person to know. She was only 62 years old.

We had emailed each other several times since our last “lunch”. But I didn’t even know she was sick until she was gone. Covid took her quickly. I was thinking about emailing her when someone called to say she was gone. So, if you have a friend or family member please think of them today and give them a call. Covid is everywhere and it hits when you least expect it. Please don’t go out unless it’s necessary and please wear a mask when you do. I want all of you here for Christmas this year and next year.

 

Houseplants beginners may want to avoid

Houseplants are being sold everywhere now, from the grocery store to big box stores and lumberyards. They are usually inexpensive and new gardeners snap up those big 10-inch pots of beautiful tropical foliage plants sitting out in the stores. They look gorgeous at first but in a few weeks the new owners are on a social media page looking for answers as to why their plant is dying.

Most of these plants are grown in Florida.  It’s very easy and cheap to grow these plants in a greenhouse in Florida or even outside. There’s a good profit margin on them. But many of the plant species grown in those greenhouses have a difficult time staying healthy in a heated northern home with poor lighting.

Crotons, Boston ferns, dieffenbachia ( Dumb Cane) “tree”philodendrons, rubber plants, Norfolk pines and weeping figs are all common large house plants that look good when they come from the greenhouse but are difficult for most beginning gardeners to keep looking nice. These plants also don’t like being left on cold loading docks, in cold semi-trucks or being transported in frigid weather to customers cars.

Growers are going to be unhappy with this list because these plants have the look gardeners want. They sell well. But the honest truth is that few Crotons and Boston ferns, for example, survive 6 months in the home. But then many gardeners go out and purchase another one so….  

It often takes a week or two before plants start losing condition from poor transportation conditions or by neglect in the store but by that time many have been sold. And even if they were transported and cared for correctly before sale, problems often start soon after they get a new home.

After a few weeks in a new home the plants typically begin losing leaves. They may yellow, have brown margins or blackened areas first, or they may just shed green leaves like crazy. That’s because the plants are trying to adjust to lower light and cooler, drier air than the greenhouse they came from. With care and providing the right conditions some of these will recover, but unless they go back into a greenhouse, most will never look as good as when you got them.

In many cases though the plants simply keep declining until they die. Then the owner either gets discouraged from keeping houseplants or goes out and buys the same plant again and repeats the lesson.

So, what is the lesson here? Don’t buy plants on impulse if you are an inexperienced gardener. Know what conditions the plants require before you buy- and only buy plants that suit the conditions in your home or that you can modify the conditions to suit the plants.

For example, Boston ferns require good strong light and high humidity. If you have a steamy bathroom with a skylight or south window a Boston fern may continue to look nice. But if you are going to try and hang it in a living room 5 feet from an east window right over a heat duct – well- let’s just say it will soon be crispy brown. No, misting won’t work. They do survive somewhat better outside on shady patios in summer.

Norfolk pines like cooler rooms, they don’t do well if you keep your heat at 80 degrees day and night.  They also like bright light indoors. Crotons like really bright light, warm temperatures and high humidity, they are really finicky plants and beginners should avoid them even though they look so cheerful with their bright colors.

Weeping Figs lose their leaves just from being moved to different light conditions. They may put on new leaves quickly if they are in bright light conditions and properly watered while recovering. Plants without leaves require less water but as the leaves expand, they will need more.

The other plants mentioned all need pretty strong light inside, which is the thing they often don’t get. They must be out of cold drafts and away from heat ducts. They require careful watering, allowing them to dry slightly but not get too dry. It’s the watering that inexperienced gardeners give that usually kills these plants.

Somewhat easier large plants for beginning gardeners include palms, peace lilies, dracaenas of various types, sanseveria, yucca and aspidistra. Of course, you should always look up the preferred conditions for each type of plant and know the requirements of its care before purchasing the plant. If you don’t have the right conditions- the light level needed in particular- the plant will never be healthy.

There are some smaller plants that I would also warn beginning gardeners about. These include orchids, bromeliads, all types of ferns, miniature roses, strelitzia (bird of paradise), plumeria, zebra plants and anthuriums. 

Some succulents are easy to grow, some are difficult. Succulents is a broad term for a whole range of plant species. Succulents are very popular right now but there are a wide range of conditions that the various species require, and gardeners should not think all succulents are easy to grow. Research conditions that a succulent species needs before you buy and don’t buy succulents labeled just “succulents”. Using the name succulents is like using the name bird in the animal kingdom. A canary needs much different conditions than a chicken.

And there’s another phenomenon with houseplants- some people feel compelled to “rescue” them. If the plant from one of the more difficult species is already failing when you buy it, your chances of reviving it are much less. Unless you have a greenhouse you probably aren’t going to revive a crispy Boston fern. Unhealthy plants may also have insect pests to bring into your home.

So, while many houseplants look nice when they first arrive in stores, some of them are going to be difficult for gardeners to grow in the home. That doesn’t mean you can’t try them if you want. Just take the time to research what plants are suitable for the conditions in your home. (Sometimes you can modify conditions to suit the plant, such as adding a grow light). Learn what care the plant species requires. Preplanning and making good choices and learning what different species needs is the key to growing houseplants successfully.

 

Yuzu – do you know this plant?

I was watching the British baking show and contestants kept mentioning adding yuzu juice to various dishes. Yuzu? I guess I’m a little behind the times, I thought. So, I did some research. I was hooked when I found out the plant also has connections to the winter solstice, which is coming up soon.

The yuzu juice the contestants were adding to their bakes was from a small citrus fruit common in Japan and Korea and used in cooking and baking there. The yuzu is a cross between a Mandarin orange and a citrus plant called Citrus cavaleriei, or ichang papeda. It was fascinating to find out about all these different citrus family members I knew nothing about- but that’s a subject for another article. It’s believed the cross originated in Central China.

The yuzu tree is a small citrus tree with dark green oval leaves that have an enlarged area on the leaf petiole. The leaves are said to have a strong, pleasant smell when brushed or bruised. The plants also have long, wicked thorns along the branches.

Notice the enlarged area on the leaf stem

Yuzu has small white flowers with a pleasant scent. There is one, somewhat endangered, cultivar of Yuzu that is grown for the flowers only, called Hana Yuzu. It is loaded with larger white flowers with a strong but pleasing fragrance.

Yuzu fruit looks like a small, about 2-inch-wide, pitted, rough skinned, bumpy orange. It ripens from green to yellow to eventually an orange yellow. There is not much flesh inside, but up to 12 large white seeds. It’s usually not eaten fresh; the fruit is very sour. Instead the zest from the skin is scraped off or about a teaspoon of juice is squeezed from the fruit. The zest is said to be tart but sweeter than the flesh.

Yuzu juice has a unique taste- like a cross of mandarin orange and grapefruit with a “floral” note. It is used in recipes just like you would use lemon juice. It’s an expensive juice since each fruit yields so little. It’s used to flavor alcoholic drinks and make sauces, as well as in all kinds of desserts. In Korea it is called yuja and the juice and pulp are sometimes used to dress salads as well as it being used in cooking.

Yuzu has become popular with American chefs and it’s said there is a thriving black market for the fruits. While there are some yuzu trees growing in California- brought in with Japanese settlement of the area hundreds of years ago, the USDA does not allow the importation of fruit or Yuzu trees. So people smuggle them in from Japan, which isn’t a very good idea. You can occasionally buy yuzu fruit grown in California. The fruit costs $16-$20 a pound. Juice is available in many places, but it too, is expensive.

Not only is yuzu used in cooking it is a favorite scent in cosmetics, skin and bath products in Japan and Korea. It is said there is no other scent that is comparable to Yuzu. There are a few medicinal uses also, a typical cold remedy in Japan may call for yuzu, honey and alcohol.

Yuzu is fairly cold hardy. In Japan yuzu is also grafted onto even hardier citrus stock. A US gardener in zone 8 would certainly be able to grow it if he or she could find plants. I have heard it can be grown in parts of Zone 7 if protected. But remember- it’s illegal to import plants.

Yuzu could be kept as a potted patio plant and brought in for winter. It’s an evergreen, small tree that responds well to pruning. Care would be just like care for a Meyer lemon. The problem is finding a plant. I have seen plants for sale, but they are scarce and expensive. I understand that some plants being sold are not actually yuzu. I suggest those interested try to buy California fruit and start plants from the seeds.

And the connection to winter solstice? In Japan yuzu fruits are either pierced or sliced and placed in a hot bath on winter solstice. The yuzu bather is supposed to have health and good luck in the New Year. And boy do we need that this year.

 

December Almanac

Since we had a full moon yesterday, the beaver moon, we don’t have a full moon in December until the 29^th. This month’s full moon is called the Full Cold, Oak Moon or Long Nights moon. The moon will be high in the sky and cast a lot of shadows. If snow is on the ground and the skies clear it will be a very bright night. Moon perigee is the 12^th and moon apogee is the 24^th. 

There are two meteor displays that may be visible in December.  On the 14^th, at 2 am there is the peak of the best regular meteor event, the Geminids meteor shower. Some meteors may be visible from the Geminids from the 4^th through the 17^th. But on the peak day around 120 meteors or shooting stars may be seen per hour. The best viewing is after midnight, to about 2 am. Look toward the northwest.

On December 22^nd – 23^rd will be the peak of a lesser meteor shower, the Ursids meteor shower, which typically produces about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. The night of the 22^nd should provide excellent viewing from midnight to dawn. This will be especially nice if you are having a solstice bonfire.

Monday, December 21, 2020 is the winter solstice. It marks the longest night of the year, the end of the celestial year and the beginning of winter.  On winter solstice the sun is at its farthest point in the southern sky and lowest point on the horizon. (For an interesting site that will show you where the sun and moon are in the sky at the exact time you access the site go to this site and choose your closest city.)

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/usa/

This year on the winter solstice a “great conjunction “of Jupiter and Saturn will occur. The two planets will align so that they appear as one very bright star. This close of an alignment hasn’t occurred in hundreds of years and the next closest alignment won’t be until 2080.  So, on solstice go outside after sunset and look toward the west. You should see a very bright star.

You can watch Jupiter and Saturn get closer all through December. Jupiter is a very bright object in the night sky and Saturn is almost as bright, with a more golden look. It is just to the east of Jupiter. All month they will get closer and closer until the conjunction. Is this something auspicious? Maybe- the whole year of 2020 has been a disaster.  Maybe this will start better times ahead.

You’ll notice that the earliest sunset and the shortest day are not the same.  The earliest sunset occurs December 5^th when the sun sets at 5 pm (in the Flint, MI. area).  And the sun will set at that time until December 14th – when it gains a minute. It’s the time of sunrise that makes the difference in day length. On the solstice the sun rises at 8:03 am and sets at 5:03pm in the Flint, Mi. area. Your area may have slightly different sunrise and sunset times.

December’s traditional birthstone is turquoise. If cold December gave you birth, The month of snow and ice and mirth, Place on your hand a Turquoise blue, Success will bless whate'er you do. – old folk saying.  However, since it is the month of buying, modern jewelers want you to have lots of choices and they added zircon and tanzanite to the birthstone list. 

The December birth flower is oddly enough the narcissus.  This may be because it was associated with death, (its poisonous) by the ancient Romans and Greeks but now it is often used as a symbol of hope.  We are entering the time of the death of the old year but still, it seems odd as a flower choice.  In flower “language” narcissus is said to mean “you are the only one” or alternatively faithfulness, respect and modesty.

Recently holly has been favored to replace narcissus as the December birth flower and to me seems more appropriate.  Holly is a symbol of domestic happiness in flower language. Orchids are also listed as the December flower in some places.

Things to celebrate in December besides the solstice and Christmas include National Mutt day the 2^nd, Pearl Harbor Day- the 7^th and the 12^th is Poinsettia day, Gingerbread house day and National cocoa day, National Bake Cookies day is the 18^th ( or roast a suckling pig, your choice) , Look for Evergreens day is on the 19^th.  Besides being Christmas Eve the 24^th is National Chocolate day and National Egg Nog day. Christmas occurs on Friday this year and that will give everyone still working a nice long weekend. December 31^st is World Peace/ Meditation Day as well as New Year’s Eve.

December is National Bingo month, National AIDS awareness month, National Buckwheat month and Universal Human Rights month.

 

 

To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.
- Aristotle

 

 

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

 

 

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

 

Newsletter/blog information

 

If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.

If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com