December Gardening Calendar

Holiday Poinsettia

In 1975, a research study by the Ohio State University dispelled the myth; Poinsettia ARE not poisonous. The white sap may be irritating to the eyes. So go ahead and brighten up your home with Poinsettias. There are several wonderful hybrids to choose from today from dark red to white.

The Holiday Plants that you kept last year need to be placed in a dark room during the evening hours for the plants to bloom this holiday season. Christmas Cactus and Poinsettias are night dependent plants for them to bloom; these plants need so many hours of darkness to bloom. The cooler weather also helps in the blooming process. Remember this gardening ritual when it is time to turn back the clocks; it is time to give holiday plants total darkness until buds or bracts start forming. If you purchased new holiday plants, try to place them in the coolest areas of your home and not under room vents.

Have you planted cool weather annuals? If not, there is still time to plant. Are your pansies already planted? Now is the time to fertilize your pansies, violas, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale.

For Southern gardeners that are in zones 9 or 10 there is still time to plant your spring flowering bulbs.

Rake your leaves from your lawn by doing so; you will not have dead spots in the grass next spring. The leaves make excellent compost for the landscape beds in the spring. Need A Composter? Gardener’s Supply Company has a fine selection of composter.

Tis the season to harvest holiday decorations from your garden, Holly, Nandina, Pyracantha berries and foliage make an excellent red holiday accent for table centerpieces and hearth mantels.

Attract birds to your garden with different types of bird feeders. Bird experts recommend a selection of bird feeders that hold wild birdseed, thistle seed, and some that have suet cake holders. Bird experts recommend attracting wild birds to use black oil sunflower seed; this will attract a larger variety of wild birds.

Need Horticulture Advice? Ask Cheryl@hibiscusandmore.com

Have you ever tried forcing Paperwhites for the holidays and the stems and blooms became leggy? Here is a link to an article about what to do to prevent the legginess from occurring. Click Here To Read More: http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/cultivation/growing-paperwhites?et_mid=525016&rid=2111517

House Plants that were brought indoors need a ¼ turn to prevent leaning towards the light. To prevent this, turn your house plants once a week. House plants do not need as much water during the winter months, water when the top one inch of the soil is dry. Another way to decide to water is if you had several days of cloudy weather check your plants on the normal day you usually check, if the soil feels wet wait a week. Houseplants do not need as much water during cloudy, winter months. General Rule less light = less water. Plants use more water with more daylight hours.

The Blogger, Cheryl Ann Meola, has several Links to share with you featuring her fine art plant photography and merchandise. Click on the links below.

For Gardening Books: Butterfly Gardening Click Here. is on Sale. House Plants Click Here.

Landscape Gardening Click Here.

Fine Art America Portfolio for Prints and Household Merchandise.

For Cheryl Ann Meola’s Shutterstock Stock Photography.

For Cheryl Ann Meola’s Adobe Stock Photography.

Hibiscus And More.

Cheryl Ann Meola © 2023.

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From Hibiscus and More.

Texas Certified Nursery Professional #1282

November Gardening Calendar and Gardening Gifts

November Gardening Calendar

Blow or rake fallen leaves from lawn areas. The leaves left on the lawn block the sunlight to your grass and will create bare spots. Don’t forget to compost the leaves. Spray each layer with water. Need a composter? There are several composters on the market today, but deciding which one to buy may be confusing to some. Composters are designed for gardeners and homeowners with several designs to choose from. Some are designed to be mobile and when the compost is ready the gardener can take the composter to the area where it is going to be used. Other composters are deigned to be stationary. When deciding on a composter think about what you want the composter to do for you. For my information on composting Click Here.

Plant spring-flowering bulbs now and add bone meal to the planting hole. Depending on how south you garden in some spring bulbs can be planted in December. The key to planting spring flowering bulbs is the ground needs to be cool enough, so the bulbs remain dormant until spring arrives. For more information on fall bulbs Click Here.

You can save your Elephant Ears, Dahlias, and Caladiums by digging them up now. Let the tubers dry out before storing for the winter. Store tubers in boxes layered with peat moss or vermiculite, then layer tubers on top of your choice of medium. Store boxes in a cool, dry place.

Spring and summer perennials can be pruned back and mulch. After the flowers have faded on Chrysanthemums and Asters prune to 4 inches and mulch. Clean up Hellebores. Trim dead and yellowing leaves. Hellebores grow from the center and by removing the dead and yellowing leaves increases more pups.

To encourage winter songbirds in your garden, get a birdfeeder. It is recommended to use the black oil sunflower seed for most birds. Black oil sunflower seeds make a nutrient-dense snack for birds. The seeds have a higher oil content which translates to more nutrition. The shell is thinner, which makes it easier to break open for the birds. Fill bird feeders with black oil sunflower seeds.

Plant New Shrubs and Trees: Have you been thinking about replacing a few shrubs that just did not quite get established in the landscape, or planting a new shade or flowering tree that you just cannot live without in your landscape? Now, is the time to start thinking about making that purchase? The fall season is an excellent time to add new shrubs and trees to your landscape. This time of year will let your newly planted shrubs and trees get a head start by developing and establishing new root growth in the soil.

You still have time to plant your winter color such as: Chrysanthemums, Pansy, Viola, Snapdragons, Stock, Cyclamen, Dianthus, Sweet Alyssum, Flowering Cabbage and Kale provide winter color through the spring and should be still available at garden centers. For spring blooms plant Bluebonnet and Poppy seeds this fall. For more information on fall and winter annuals click here.

Holiday Plants that you kept last year need to be placed in a dark room during the evening hours for the plants to bloom this holiday season. I remember this gardening ritual when it is time to turn back our clocks; it is time to give my holiday plants total darkness until I see buds or bracts forming. Christmas Cactus and Poinsettias are night dependent plants for them to bloom; these plants need so many hours of darkness to bloom. The cooler weather also helps in the blooming process. If you purchased new holiday plants, try to place them in the coolest area of your home.

Have you ever tried forcing Paperwhites for the holidays and the stems and blooms became leggy? Here is a link to an article about what to do to prevent the legginess from occurring. Click Here To Read More: http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/cultivation/growing-paperwhites?et_mid=525016&rid=2111517

House Plants that were brought indoors need a ¼ turn to prevent leaning towards the light. To prevent this, turn your house plants once a week. House plants do not need as much water during the winter months, water when the top one inch of the soil is dry. Another way to decide to water is if you had several days of cloudy weather check your plants on the normal day you usually check, if the soil feels wet wait a week. Houseplants do not need as much water during cloudy, winter months.

The Blogger, Cheryl Ann Meola, has several Links to share with you featuring her fine art plant photography and merchandise. Click on the links below.

For Gardening Books: Butterfly Gardening Click Here. 

House Plants Click Here.

Landscape Gardening Click Here.

Fine Art America Portfolio for Prints and Household Merchandise.

Society6Portfolio. Society6 has more Household merchandise.

For Cheryl Ann Meola’s Shutterstock Stock Photography.

For Cheryl Ann Meola’s Adobe Stock Photography.

For Live Herbs and Live Plants.

Cheryl Ann Meola © 2023.

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

Certified Texas Nursery Professional #1282

How To Compost

How to Compost

As the leaves fall off your deciduous trees and shrubs with every slight breeze of the wind and gently fall to the ground that is our sign as gardeners that the fall season is here. Your deciduous leaves are an excellent choice to start composting the leaves. All the nutrients that you gave your plants during the year are harnessed in the leaves. By composting the leaves and other organic material you can make an excellent and inexpensive soil amendment, and avoid wasting natural resources. Composting is a natural form of recycling that continually occurs in nature. Studies have shown that by home composting you can divert an average of 700 pounds per household per year from the waste stream.

Beginners may ask: Where do I start? How do I begin to compost? The answer is very simple. The apple, carrot, potatoes you just peeled for lunch or dinner that is organic material that you can compost. The coffee grounds used to make your coffee in the morning make an excellent choice to compost or take the grounds and sprinkle on top of the soil of all your acid loving plants, such as Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons and many others. Not a coffee connoisseur, but enjoy tea instead? The tea bag or tea leaves can be composted, too.  When composting: do not include any oily fats, bones, meat or fish products as these items will attract unwanted wildlife to your compost area. 

There are three components to composting: aeration of the compost, moisture, and carbon to nitrogen ratio. Aeration of the compost can be achieved by turning your compost. There are mainly two different types of composters. The compost tumblers, which you can turn by hand after adding new organic material or stationary composters when new compost is added one can use a pitch fork or compost turning fork to aerate the compost. The moisture of the compost should be between 40 to 60 percent. Natural occurring microbes and water begin the composting process. Microbes are microscopic live forms, bacteria and fungi, that break down or ingest organic material and the waste that is formed is called compost. Too much moisture slows down the composting by not allowing enough aeration or air to the microbes and compost. To little moisture the microbes and composting process slows down or becomes dormant. The microbes and compost need water to set in motion the composting process. The carbon to nitrogen ratio are the ingredients you will need to make your recipe for composting. When composting think of the process as following a recipe to make a dinner or dessert. The carbon to nitrogen ratio is 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. The ratio simplified is 3 to 4 pounds nitrogen to 100 pounds carbon. You can think of the carbon to nitrogen ratio as this: carbon is the food and nitrogen is the digestive enzymes. Carbon to nitrogen ratio can be viewed as organic green material and brown material. Below is a list of organic material that can be used in the compost bin. Each organic material is divided into carbon or nitrogen category.

Organic material that contains CARBON:

Leaves, shrub prunings (thick woody stems will take longer to break down), straw and hay (no seeds in the hay), pine needles (very acid use moderately unless the natural soil is very alkaline), wood ash, dryer lint, corn cobs and stalks (cut before composting), dried grass, egg shells (neutral).

Organic material that contains NITROGEN:

Table scraps (no meats or bones), fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, lawn and garden weeds (no weed seeds), flowers and cuttings, fresh manures: horse, chicken, rabbit, cow, coffee grounds (paper filters can be included), tea leaves (loose and bags), left over fruits and vegetables from the garden, egg shells (neutral).

This is the recipe for composting success thou the recipe does not have to be exact. Just throw everything into to the composter and stir.

Hibiscus And More has an excellent choice for a stationary composter that is hand crafted with northern white cedar. Click To Order.

©Cheryl Ann Meola

Texas Certified Nursery Professional 1282

December Gardening Calendar

December Gardening Calendar

The Holiday Plants that you kept last year need to be placed in a dark room during the evening hours for the plants to bloom this holiday season. I remember this gardening ritual when it is time to turn back our clocks; it is time to give my holiday plants total darkness until I see buds or bracts forming. Christmas Cactus and Poinsettias are night dependant plants for them to bloom; these plants need so many hours of darkness to bloom. The cooler weather also helps in the blooming process. If you purchased new holiday plants, try to place them in the coolest area of your home.

Have you planted cool weather annuals? If not, there is still time to plant. Are your pansies already planted? Now is the time to fertilize your pansies, violas, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale.

For Southern gardeners that are in zones 9 or 10 there is still time to plant your spring flowering bulbs.

Rake your leaves from your lawn by doing so; you will not have dead spots in the grass next spring. The leaves make excellent compost for the landscape beds in the spring. Need A Composter? Hibiscus and More has Hand Crafted Cedar Composter. Click To View.

Tis the season to harvest holiday decorations from your garden, Holly, Nandina, Pyracantha berries and foliage make an excellent red holiday accent for table centerpieces and hearth mantels.

Attract birds to your garden with different types of bird feeders. Bird experts recommend a selection of bird feeders that hold wild birdseed, thistle seed, and some that have suet cake holders. Bird experts recommend attracting wild birds to use black oil sunflower seed; this will attract a larger variety of wild birds. Hibiscus and More offers Thistle Bird Feeders, Bird Feeders with Suet Cake Holders, and Bird Feeders For Black Oil Sunflower Seed. View Thistle Bird Feeders. View Bird Feeders with Suet Cake(s) Holders. View Bird Feeders For Black Oil Sunflower Seed.

Need Horticulture Advice? Ask A Horticulturist. It’s Free.

Hibiscus and More now has a blog spot and we just started a new feature called the plant of the week. Click To View This Weeks Plant. It is one of our favorite plants because that it is very durable and easy to care for.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From Hibiscus and More.