"With a little help from my friends."
–Wayne Baglin (and the Beatles)
"You are so beautiful…"
–The Plant Man (and Joe Cocker))
As we approach election day, I start musing about what the end of the year may bring...and I panic. Visions of having to replant the deck with poinsettias and placing a wreath on the door dance in my head. As a jolly St. Nick, I will surely be balancing my personal national debt.
In years past, I wouldn't be experiencing these anxieties until the day after digesting turkey and dressing. But we have allowed retailers to con us into believing it's "tis the season," before Halloween. I am truly surprised that the dead tree lots haven't opened already. Humbug!
We all want our garden to be beautiful for the upcoming holidays, for the enjoyment of our family, friends, and neighbors. Not only will it reflect our good taste, but it demonstrates that we still have the confidence to keep the economy moving in the year 2000. Although Christmas may be an over-sanguine target for garden perfection, the fall and winter garden has its considerable charms...and you need to start planning now and planting soon.
Seasonal planting habits and a certain cautiousness lead many gardeners to use the same commonplace plants every holiday. They claim that there isn't time to learn new plants or risk experimenting in the garden. Pity. As a garden fanatic, I say we try planting something different, because we'll still be enjoying the plants long after the holidays have ended.
As a starter, I will be planting Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans, on my deck. Not only will they be provide the requisite showy red flowers, the leaves can be used to flavor the eggnog and garnish my mother's holiday fruit salad. This hardy perennial grows to 2-3 feet, and does well either in planting beds or containers.
Nearly everblooming in Laguna, Scaevola 'Alba,' provides showy white flowers as a groundcover or planted in a hanging basket. Other scaevolas can be found in nurseries, varying in color from blue to purple. They all require very little care and prefer full sunlight.
To provide berries for our wreath, I've planted California Holly, Heteromeles arbutifolia. A native to our environs, it is covered with red berries from November to January. Growing naturally as a dense shrub or pruned into a small tree, California Holly is useful as a screen or hillside planting.
Related to the snapdragon, Garden Penstemon, Penstemon gloxiniodes, brings a showy display of pink, rose, lilac, and white flowers throughout the year. They thrive in well-draining soil, and will grow either in full sun or partial shade. Sprawling in rock gardens, penstemon can also be trimmed as an attractive border plant.
You must plant Iceland Poppies, Papaver nudicaule, this month, for color by Christmas. I know some of you will say it is a bedding plant, not related to the preceding recommended plants. But technically, they are perennials and I just can't resist their spectacular and brilliant flowers. Nikki tells me they make an excellent cut flower.
Catharine and I are celebrating our anniversary... and will soon escape from the first wave of holiday responsibilities. It will be wonderful to be abroad, and miss the season for a moment. Happy anniversary, Honey! You are so beautiful to me. See you next time.
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