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Go Green...Get Real
Real Christmas Trees-The Better Environmental Choice:
Go Green...Get Real
- Real Christmas trees are recyclable.
- Real Christmas trees are naturally sustainable.
- Real Christmas trees beautify the landscape.
- Real Christmas trees prevent soil erosion.
- Real Christmas trees provide animal habitat.
- Real Christmas trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen in a process called photosynthesis.
Fraser Fir is a beautiful Christmas tree. The soft to the touch needles are flat and short, 3/8"-1 1/4" long with rounded tips and a silvery underside. The dark green color and pleasant fresh-cut aroma make this a frequently requested tree.
Balsam Fir is truly a superb Christmas tree. Its distinctive 1/2"-1 1/2" long dark green needles are soft to the touch. The aroma is uniquely fragrant. Its branches are layered and can support a variety of ornaments and decorations.
White Fir or Concolor Fir has soft needles that are the longest of the fir trees with the best needle retention. The uniquely citrus scent is wonderfully fragrant. The color is similar to a blue spruce.
Scotch Pine has the longest needles and carries the most affordable price tag. The shape is full and these trees on the shorter side fill patio containers well and work well as table top trees in homes tight on space to embrace a natural tree as part of their Christmas tradition.
Poinsettias
During the holiday season, we see poinsettias everywhere. Many of us buy a plant for decorative touch or as a gift for someone we are visiting. The poinsettia industry has grown around this holiday tradition. Today, poinsettias are one of the most important floricultural crops produced in the United States. Grown primarily as a potted plant for the Christmas season, total U.S. poinsettia production was valued at $66 million back in 1980!
History of Poinsettias
This striking foliage plant, the Poinsettia, was first cultivated by the Aztecs of Mexico and highly prized by Aztec Kings Netzahaulcyotl and Montezuma. After the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico, Franciscan priests in began using the plants in religious processions because of its brilliant color. Joel Robert Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, introduced poinsettias to the United States in 1825. Poinsett was a botanist and had specimens sent back to his greenhouses in South Carolina. Ponsett also distributed plants to botanical gardens and nurseries. From here, the cultivation of poinsettias grew into the holiday tradition (and major nursery crop) we enjoy today.
Flowers or Foliage?
The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherima does not have showy flowers. Rather, the bracts (modified leaves) create the splash of color during the holiday season while the true flowers are small and insignificant (unless you are another poinsettia). The colorful foliage of poinsettias is a response to photoperiod (hours of daily sunlight). There are so many shapes, sizes, and colors of poinsettias available that a complete column could be written on that subject alone.
Are Poinsettias Poisonous?
Contrary to popular belief, poinsettias are not poisonous. Ohio State University conducted research on the poinsettia plant effectively disproving the charge that the poinsettia is harmful to human and animal health. Of course, the poinsettia, like all ornamental plants, is not intended for human and animal consumption. As pretty as they might be on a plate or mixed with leafy vegetables in a salad, they'd only soil the dish!
Caring For Your Poinsettias
Here are some tips to keep your poinsettias looking perky and colorful well beyond the holiday season:
- Poinsettias thrive on bright, sunny natural daylight; at least six hours daily is recommended. Placement near a sunny window is ideal.
- To prolong the bright color of the bracts, temperatures ideally should not exceed 70 degrees F during the day, or fall below 65 degrees F at night. Be sure to avoid placing the plants near drafts, fluctuating air currents, excess heat and dry air from appliances, fireplaces or ventilating ducts. Chilling injury will occur if poinsettias are exposed to temperatures below 50 degrees F. Frost ensures certain death of the plant!
- Poinsettias do best with a moist soil condition, not too wet and not too dry. Water the poinsettia thoroughly when the soil surface feels dry to a light touch. The best indication of a thorough watering is when the water begins to seep through the drain holes at the bottom of the inner pot. Be sure to discard any excess water, as poinsettias left sitting in water may suffer from permanent root-rot damage.
- It is not necessary to fertilize your poinsettias when they are in bloom during the holiday season. However, after 6-8 weeks, a balanced, all-purpose household plant fertilizer mixed one-half strength will help maintain the rich, green foliage color and promote new growth. Repeat once more in another 6-8 weeks.
Can I Keep My Poinsettia Growing Until Next Holiday Season?
Yes, you can, however you will need to follow these tips to be successful:
- At the end of April or early May, (if you haven't over-watered your poinsettia to death) when the bracts age and begin to turn a muddy green, cut the plant back to about 8 inches in height. The amount you cut from the top will depend on the shape of the plant. After you cut the plant back, it will probably look rather stark, with bare branches and bluntly cut woody stems. This is not the plant's most attractive state, but by the end of May you will see vigorous new growth as the plant develops more lush green foliage. Keep the plants near a sunny window. You may place your plants outdoors where they can bask in the warmth of summer when the outside night temperatures are warmer.
- Continue to water the plants regularly during the growing period. Fertilize every 3 to 4 weeks throughout the spring, summer and fall months with a well-balanced fertilizer mixed at half-strength.
- Around June 15th you may wish to transplant your poinsettias into larger pots, about 2 to 4 inches larger than the original inner pot. Use a light, professional potting mix that incorporates a considerable amount of organic matter such as peat moss. Immediately after transplanting, be sure to water thoroughly.
- Starting October 1, the plants must be kept in complete darkness for 14 continuous hours each night. Moving the plants to a dark room or placing a large box over them can accomplish this. During this period, the plants require 6 to 8 hours of bright sunlight and night temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees F. If the temperature is too high or too low, the setting of the flower buds may be delayed or halted. The blooming process may also be delayed or disrupted by any stray light that may shine near the plants during the critical darkness period. Keep this up for 8 to 10 weeks for full color development. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. It certainly gives us a healthy respect for those who commercially grow poinsettias!
If you did everything right, the plants will naturally come into full bloom during November or December depending upon the flowering response time of the particular variety. This can be tricky to do outside of a controlled greenhouse environment, because any stray artificial light such as that from a street light, pool light or household lamp could delay or halt the re-flowering of the plants.
Trees, Shrubs & Perennial Clearance
TREES, SHRUBS & PERENNIAL CLEARANCE NOW 50% OFF! while supplies last!
Customer Appreciation Night
Customer Appreciation Night! 6:30-8:00 PM Thursday, August 11, 2011
Taste Cal's farm fresh local produce!
Grilled Local Sweet Corn
Juicy Watermelon
Crisp Cucumbers & Spicy Dips
Receive FREE information about:
- How-to can fresh tomatoes,
- How-to freeze super sweet sweetcorn,
- How-to grow MN hardy grapes to make your own wine.
- Learn our favorite simple veggie and fruit dip recipes.
Share your favorite tomato variety & together we'll name Cal's favorite tomato for 2011 the "Year of the Tomato".
Wine Tasting by Dakota Liquors to benefit CAP Local Food Shelf.
$10 tasting or $5/ glass.
Celebrating 50 Years...First 50 Tomato-Palooza registrants receive a geranium from Cal's.
All Perennials on Sale Now 25% OFF
New Butterfly Garden at Harriet Bishop is a Learning Tool
Planting Butterfly Garden at Harriet Bishop Elementary is a Learning Tool
Carina Peterson of Cal's Market and Garden Center worked with students in the school's Environmental Learning Club to plant a butterfly garden this spring.
A new garden at Harriet Bishop Elementary School in Savage is doing exactly what it was created to do: attract butterflies.
The school's Environmental Learning Club developed the garden in May with help from Cal's Market and Garden Center.
Every year the after-school club for students in grades 2-6 has a theme. This year it was butterflies which is a "high interest" topic for students, said Cheri Warmka, the school's science specialist.
The group took a field trip to Cal's and then owner Carina Peterson visited the school to give advice and help create the pie-shaped garden on the south side of the building.
"She helped us every step of the way, donating her time and some equipment in order for us to accomplish this project," said Warmka. The PTO provided funds for plants and mulch.
"It was a delight working with Cheri and all of the kids from the Environmental Learning Club," said Peterson. "I hope the garden remains a highlight in their memories of the 2010-11 school year and that it is a blessing for generations to come!"
Peterson recommended native Minnesota plants with nector for the garden to attract butterflies. Plants include Milkweed, Sedum, Russian Sage, Bee Balm, Coreopsis, Liatris, Purple Coneflower, Rudbeckia and more.
"We love sharing our passion for plants with kids!" said Peterson.
Creation of the garden was a learning experience. "Students realized how much work it takes to grow things, that there's so much to take into account," said Warmka.
She visits the butterfly garden periodically this summer to water and monitor its condition. She recently found eight fat monarch caterpillars munching away on the milkweed.
She hopes that teachers use the garden as a classroom learning tool when teaching several state academic standards such as habitats, adaptation, ecosystems and more. "It's an ongoing lesson on growing," she said.
New Nursery
New Nursery Lot to shop Trees & Shrubs & Evergreens with Ease
Remodel of Cal's Market & Garden Center includes a new nursery lot for vegetables, herbs, perennials, vines, evergreens, roses, shrubs and trees on the south side of Cal's original store building that flows out from the store and the new state-of-the-art greenhouse. The paved pathways are complete in the vegetables, trees, shrubs, and evergreens.
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