Washington State Convention Center

Tickets for the show are available for purchase at our

Garden Store.  Tickets are $16 for early bird tickets and

$20 during the dates of the show. 

''Flower Buses' will be leaving Christianson's Nursery on February 8, 9 and 10 (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Buses will leave the Nursery at 8:30 am and return at approximately 6:00 pm.  The cost of a combination show ticket and bus ride is $51 per person. Space is limited so call the Nursery soon to make your Flower Bus reservation (360-466-3821).

www.mountvernonchamber.com         

Northwest Flower and Garden Show  

www.johnholtmanphotography.com 

Voted 'Best Greenhouse and Nursery' in Skagit Publishing's People's Choice Awards for 2011 

NW Flower & Garden Show

"People's Choice Award 2011"

Maybe it sounds just a little heretical, but as a gardener I revel in mid-winter. The land is quiet and expansive. My eyes, normally focused obsessively on the earth, turn upward to the sky, soaking in its vastness as wave after wave of snow geese pass overhead.  Human enterprise is put in perspective. The subdued light quiets the spirit. I learn all over again how to move slowly. 

And yet of course, already the days will be lengthening. Garden catalogs arrive. We are propelled towards the new season's potentials. There is a wild urge towards ruthless and daring upheavals in the garden.  

Even in this quietest of months, there is plenty to take in.

• This is the bloom season of the Hellebores.  To maximize their beauty and create a healthier plant, you might follow this strategy.  As the flower stalks, which will be coming from the base of the clump, begin to elongate, remove all or most of the old leaves from last summer. This allows the flower stems to grow out unimpeded and will better show off the bloom. Later, in March or so, as the flowers fade and the new leaf stalks begin to emerge from the base, do just the reverse:  remove the spent flowers all the way to the base of the stalk, allowing the new leaves to expand freely.  Without this process, the plant becomes very congested and prone to the disease and insect problems associated with stress and trapped humidity. By the way, Christianson's will be hosting it's annual 'Hellebore Festival' on February 25th featuring guest speaker Marty Wingate. This will be a great opportunity to learn all about the selection and care of Hellebores, and choose from a wonderful selection of plants.  
•  If you have big Miscanthus grasses, you will now want to be attentive to their beginning to break down.  One of the less-fun jobs in my book is having to gather up hundreds of those stiff bright straw-colored stalks from all over the yard after a big windstorm.  Before being faced with this, tie a noose and cinch the whole top tight, and go through the clump about 8" from the base, a little at a bite, with a sharp pair of long-bladed gardening shears. The whole mass will fall away already bundled up.  These stalks are too tough for a fast-acting compost pile, but can make a wonderful aerating layer at the bottom of a slow compost pile or the base for a new brush fence. The Japanese traditionally use this species for thatching roofs.  Decorative thatch-bundle fence panels are also historically seen.   
• For those of you who want to get a jump-start on the vegetable season, peas, sweet peas, and onion varieties can be started on a windowsill in 4" pots. These species do not mind being crowded so ten or more seeds can be started in a single small pot. In mid-February, the peas and sweet peas can be planted as a clump - just as they come out of the pot - each clump planted one foot apart in a row. This is a wonderful way to get them past their most vulnerable stage when the ground is cold and wet. When they do go into the garden, a light covering of Remay will protect these new plants from hungry rabbits. On the other hand, when the onion starts are about 8 -10" tall, they will need to be teased apart, which does them no harm. You will not want to plant the onions in clumps. They're not disturbed at having their roots pulled apart.  Plant them about 3" - 5" apart depending on the type of onion.   
• Note areas of the yard with drainage problems that might compromise plant root health, and plan how excess water might be channeled away from vulnerable root systems. If you have what has over the years become a very large tree and its site is subject to prolonged saturation in the winter, it could cause the tree to fall in a windstorm. This can be an extreme hazard.

And it is pruning season. But there is no hurry. Join us for some lively discussions on the subject in the coming months, and then with the days longer and potent with spring, you can tackle the pruning.  As for January, kick back. The grass has stopped growing - now there is something to toast to!

 "There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.

In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other;

only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches

when you can savor belonging to yourself."  

-  Ruth Stout

Photo by John Holtman