When we think of winter, we might think of cold, frosty temperatures with lots and in some cases, lots of snow. Some of us will be following the Winter Olympic Games or just trying to deal with various life-style changes while longing for the coming spring in our Northern Hemisphere and still others may be facing the dreaded heat of the coming summer months, especially if you live in Australia.

Gardeners of our Northern Climate are very familiar with winter in knowing that cold temperatures and snow are not the only enemies that befall our gardens this time of year; it is the winter winds combined with those oh so few, sunny days that can kill many of our plants laying in dormancy.

Roses and other exposed shrubs fall easy prey to the cold winter winds along with the warm winter sun especially if they were not planted right to begin with nor given any protection in the fall. Do you wonder why branches of exposed roses and shrubs dry out; Trees split; what causes root damage to perennials? Look no further than to the winter wind and winter sun for answer to these questions.

Across North America gardeners continue to make water conservation a major focus using rain barrels at the base of downspouts along with growing drought-tolerant native plants and incorporating the use of deep mulch which helps store water within the soil resulting in less watering especially where climate change has interrupted normal rainfall.

This time of year gardening is of course waiting for spring to arrive but we have been looking at many options leading up to this activity like taking a look at invasive plants often regarded as weeds through a suggestion from Gardener Kythera Ann and what can be done about controlling them or getting rid of them altogether.

We discussed Chocolate Mint; Hogweed; Goutweed; Kudzu; Loosestrife; and the lovely named Salvation Jane. Each one of these names is linked to information about the particular plant listed and reading what we have put together to share will soon reveal that while some of these plants are downright dangerous to touch or deadly to ingest, others although bothersome, are quite useful.

Other topics we covered have to do with an alternative to using salt to control those slippery doorsteps and walkways; prolonging the beauty of cut Roses and just how to prune those beautiful Climbing Roses you are so proud of. Check out our Tips this month for more information about these subjects.

Now we will leave you with a bit of a mystery. Ask yourself what you would do if there were no grocery stores in your area, none!

Until next time, Happy Gardening,
The Gardening Committee

         

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