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...because all the best garden advice is local
December 10, 2015
  wreath in shape of a peace sign on a red door
     
Muchas Gracias, El Niņo!
   You know you live in Iowa when you are grateful for a high of 45 degrees. But I am loving every moment of this warmer-than-usual weather, caused by El Nino, the cyclical warming of Pacific waters.
   If I wanted, I could still rake leaves in my front yard. But I'm done. D-O-N-E. Time to enjoy the indoors and the holidays.
   Now is the time to insert cut evergreens artfully into my window boxes and hang a garland crafted from yew trimmings from the back yard around the front door. I've put up my usual live tree (so worth it for the scent alone) and arranging live greens on my porch and dining room tables.
   It may be winter, but I'm still enjoying greenery all around!
 
Yours in decking the halls, 
Veronica Lorson Fowler

P.S. Like our peace sign wreath? It's super simple to make. Click here for instructions.
 
Wonderful Winter Window Boxes
 
Here's how I deck out my window boxes for winter. Just insert cut branches of evergreen directly into the soil. Use cuttings from your garden, or buy some for just a few dollars at the local greenhouse or supermarket. Red berries, real or fake, make a great embellishment, but you can also do pine cones, ornaments, lights, and more.
The Bestest Christmas Gift Ever!
 
Asian Plow tool or EZ Digger Forget a garden trowel. Forget a hoe. The "Asian trowel" hands down, is my favorite cool garden tool.
   It goes by a variety of names, including "Asian plow" and "precision hand hoe." I use it all the time to hack through hard soil to plant annuals and perennials. It slices a neat line for planting seeds. Tilt it to one side and it will eliminate wide swaths of small weeds. Use its sharp point to weed around bricks and other plants with surgeon-like precision.
   It makes a perfect gift (under $20) for the gardener who seems to have just about everything else. I love it so much that when I was pregnant and had trouble kneeling, I found a long-handled version!           
   Click here to order.
 
The Garden Gift That
Keeps on Giving

garden journal binder on potting bench Looking for a simple, inexpensive gift for a grandparent, parent, teacher, or other friend or relative? Try our easy-peasy The Iowa Gardener garden journal, with to-do lists for each month. Just print the dozen-plus printer-friendly pages and put them in to a binder. We even have a cover for you!
   Or, better yet, have your favorite kid draw an original cover for the garden journal. Grandma will love it!
Garden Quote  
 
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better"  
 
- Albert Einstein
Issue: 122
Monthly To-Do
 
What a great inexpensive gift for a gardening friend! Click here for printable pages and instruction to make your own The Iowa Gardener garden journal!
 
 Relax! The lovely thing about gardening is that everything has its season. Like your plants, now is the time to rest and focus on other things.
 
 Keep poinsettias evenly but not overly watered. If they dry out and wilt, they will not recover! And their leaves will yellow if kept soggy. Position them in a bright spot away from cold drafts and blasts of heat from a vent or fireplace.
 
 Cut evergreens from your yard. They make beautiful holiday decorations. Just remember that each cut is a pruning cut, so do so with care.
 
 If you clean a wood burning stove or fireplace, dump the ashes on your compost heap. Ash is a great source of phosphorous.
 
 Don't fertilize houseplants this month. With our shorter days and cooler houses, they're not growing much.
 
 Check on forced bulbs. If necessary, water to keep soil evenly moist. Once you see shoots one-half to one inch high, take out the pots and put them in the sunniest, brightest spot you have.
 
 Evaluate your landscape in winter. Think of good places to plant evergreens and trees or shrubs with interesting bark come spring. You'll be able to enjoy them next winter.
  
Editor's Choice 
Garden Events  
 
Wed., December 10
Des Moines Botanical Gardens 
10:30 a.m. This fun family-friendly class teaches about how birds and other creatures survive the winter, and features making them a nutritious treat to feed them in your own backyard.