This is a place to focus on what's currently happening in the gardens. I want to share fun seasonal garden stories & events with you. Josh is going to archive the posting as seasons evolve. We hope you will embrace it with a fun-filled spirit.

January always seems to arrive so quickly after Christmas. I always think I have allot of time to get prepared for the beginning of a brand new year but before I know it; it's here.

There has been no snow on the gardens yet this winter. Rains have fallen that would have amounted to tons of snow if our weather was true to past pattern. It is becoming obvious that we just don't have the Iowa winters we used to enjoy / endure.

It's concerning when forsythia bushes are blooming at Thanksgiving time in Iowa. Tender green leaves of Naked Lady lilies were a surprise to see in November also. And the grass still needed to be mowed. My daughter came into the house at Christmas saying, "Mom, your tulips are up".

Maybe it's global warming & all that.

It's sort of scary to think about what kind of world my grandchildren & their children might live in. Man is resilient. I believe each generation has feared for the future of its world. Witnessing Urban Sprawl is alarming. Helplessly watching farmland & woodland disappear with cities ever-expanding; threatening our ecosystem and the wildlife frightens me.

Be all that as it may be; I choose not to dwell in the past nor live in overwhelming fear of the future of our world; but instead, delight in today.

Yesterday is gone. The past is unchangeable & well, past!
Forgive yesterday.

Tomorrow is promised to none.

Live for today! Each morning awaken with joy in your heart. Choose to make the best of what you got.
"Hang On! Hang On! Hang On! To What You Got"

(OK! Baby Boomers! What song are those lyrics from?)

Interestingly, my best friend Linda Ogan is a January birthday & she loves carnations. She has grown them all her life. Her Grandma Moyer grew them. Linda got much of her love of gardening from her grandmother just as I did from my grandma.

I never could figure out why she liked Carnations. To me they represented the cheapest thing you could buy at the florist shop. I just never liked them & they smell like funerals. And I thought they must be terrible difficult to grow since they came from professional sources. No one I knew before Linda O ever grew carnations.

I indulged her opinion though, as she is my true 'soul sister'. We suspected that when we first met but as the years unfold it becomes more apparent all the time we are "cut from the same cloth". We like all the same things, horses, plants, dogs, cats, & chickens just to name a few. We feel the same about 'life & people'. Our values a perfectly matched. You know how they say, everyone has a twin somewhere; well Linda & I look nothing alike but underneath it all, in our hearts, we love each other & are 'soul sisters'. Our personalities are not the same though. Linda is sweet & quiet & keeps her opinions to herself. I am much more extroverted & no one ever accuses me of being sweet. So like salt & pepper shakers we are a perfectly matched set.

Linda & I were neighbors in earlier years & worked together for several years in a restaurant in Grinnell. She is such a good person. I have never known her to tell a lie or to say anything to hurt anyone. Our children were close in age & our husbands had similar interest. We have had so many good times together as the years flowed by. We haven't been neighbors for decades but our hearts stay forever-together.

Linda & I are only able to get together a few times a year these days. We make it priority to get together each spring to go plant shopping. I finally gave in & planted her favorite 'carnation' in my gardens & she convinced me to try some pinks too. Okay, they grow & they are fun & each time I see them my heart is filled with love, not for the plant itself but for what it represents to me, my dearest friend, Linda.

Carnation - Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnations

Snowdrop

Garden Snowdrop - Galanthus nivalis

"The Snowdrop" by Hans Christian Anderson

All American Selections (AAS) - is the oldest, most established international testing organization in North America, founded in 1932, with the first AAS Winners announced a year later.

The idea of AAS is a way for home gardeners to learn which new varieties are truly improved.

AAS Award Winners are not advertised by the association itself . Magazines, newspapers, garden club bulletins, & cooperative extension services introduce AAS Winners to home gardeners.

Each new year I'm anxious to discover the AAS Winners. It's Fun! I'm hoping to try all of the newest Winners in my 2007 gardens.

Celosia ‘Fresh Look Gold’ has 4 inch plumes on 12 inch tall plants / excellent heat tolerance.

Vinca ‘Pacifica Burgundy Halo’ - bicolor vinca that combines a burgundy halo surrounding a large white center / flowers early and promises good heat and drought tolerance - 12 inches tall and wide when mature.

Petunia ‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’ has iridescent pink blossoms with a slight eye of creamy white and yellow throat. It flowers freely all summer on 4-6 inch plants that spread 3 feet.

Pepper ‘Holy Mole’ is a hybrid pungent peppers used to make Mole sauce. It is earlier, more vigorous, virus-resistant and higher yielding that traditional pasilla type peppers. The 7-9 inch long, 1.5 inch skinny peppers can be harvested immature green or dark, chocolate-brown mature with a tangy nutty flavor. Plants grow 2-3 feet tall.

AAS winners are selected from many new cultivars and have proven themselves worthy over a broad range of growing conditions.

For more information about these and previous year’s winners, www.all-americaselections.org/Default.asp

Month	Birthstone	Flower	Colour	Meaning
January	Garnet	Carnation or Snowdrop	Various - Red, - Pink, - White	Affection, Deep Love, Distinction, Happiness, Fascination, and Lasting Fidelity

• Place Christmas tree branches over late planted perennials
• Mix sand with de-icing salts
• Look for All American Selections (AAS) winners in seed catalogs
• Gently brush or shake snow off evergreens
• Keep poinsettias near a bright window away from drafts (RG 316)
• Sprout an avocado seed
• Wait until spring to fertilize houseplants (PM 713)
• Check the condition of stored bulbs, discard those that are rotting
• Buy a garden journal—vow to keep records in it this year

ISU Extension 2007 Calendar

January/February Newsletter - 'At the Garden Gate' (pdf file)
Mahaska County ISU Extension Service
Oskaloosa, IA