Ah, another white Christmas! Snow falling outside, evergreen fragrance in the house. It’s about this time of year I can get my youngest to share her Halloween candy with me.
Two days ago I looked out my back porch and thought, “What next?” A herd of elk! I had noticed a few animals the week before. Now as many as 15 animals were cutting across the back field. Really big animals! When they ran past my bedroom window the other night, they woke me up out of a dead sleep. Sounded like a cavalry charge in an old western movie. Just as with the bears this fall, I guess the dry summer left them short on feed in the mountains. I’ll put the fence and irrigation repair on next spring’s to do list. Hopefully I can dissuade them from chewing on my newest plantings.
For now, the ordering has been taken care of. The greenhouse growing supplies are all in. The commercial seed is here and waiting for the start of the new year. The only thing left to do is inventory the plant tags and reorder according to the production plans. I’ll bleach a few seedling trays sometime next week and re-fire the furnaces for 2016! This brings to mind natural gas prices, which are at a 15-year low. I’d like to see the gas company pass some of the savings on. I digress.
Christmas is a time of year when folks bring part of the natural world into their homes. The smell of fresh cut pine or fir trees, and wreaths made of evergreen boughs intermingled with cones, berries and such. And further decorations of bright bells and bows. These are all ancient customs given a modern flavour.
I especially enjoy it when there is a good snow cover to slow the hustle and bustle down. Snow falling on the garden seems to highlight the shape or architecture of a garden too. The ornamental grasses and all of the evergreen trees and shrubs really stand out — the bright red berries of shrubs like Japanese barberry and holly, of course. This is when you appreciate the dried flowers you left on last summer’s hydrangea plant. It’s why you leave all the funny stems and sprigs in your perennial garden for cleanup in spring: so you can enjoy them in your winter garden, highlighted by frost or by snow. The birds will appreciate them too.
Thank you for all your support in 2015! Happy holidays and best wishes for 2016!
Evan Davies owns Beltane Nursery at 2915 Highway 3 in Erickson.