Placing the garden on a salt-free diet and similar seasonal situations

The ubiquitous salt, or sodium chloride to those with a passion for science, is for the gardener a substance from hell. It may work down to -9C and be highly effective on roads but, landing on the front yard or elsewhere in the garden, it alters the structure of the soil, changes the pH and hence is a highly effective herbicide. It will also destroy concrete driveways to say nothing of clothing and footwear. Eventually it washes down storm sewers to arrive with devastating effect in local watercourses. About the only thing to recommend the wretched stuff is its low price.

Urea is a component of many fertilizers. Pelletized it is effective down to -6C and is non-corrosive, although excessive use may still damage nearby plantings. The main drawback, however, is that it refreezes fast.

Magnesium chloride is sometimes used by the professionals when very fast melting is required, particularly of heavy ice build-ups. Unfortunately it is very destructive to clothing and plants alike, while very unpleasant to bare skin. It is not recommended around children and pets. Similar concerns are raised about calcium chloride.  Although it offers instant melting the stuff is toxic, hard to store safely and should never be used around children or pets.

So what to use? Look for any commercial product with CMA blended into it. Calcium Magnesium Acetate is very expensive and so seldom used by itself. Research has proven, however, that even a small amount blended in with other ice busters enhances their environmental safety. It is the most highly recommended with regard to vegetation, concrete, metal, humans, pets and in general, the environment. 

Enough of these chemical contemplations.

Time to turn to the garden chores since, yes some still remain. Now the ground is well on the way to freezing, it is time to apply a generous mulch of compost, straw or other organic matter to herb perennial beds, along with bulb plantings. Left until mid-March, this will prevent frost heaving from thrusting up the plants, exposing their crowns and other tender parts, thus killing them. Make sure both bird feeders and baths are cleaned weekly with a weak bleach solution. The biggest killers of our feathered chums are the diseased droppings they themselves spread. Make sure both are positioned clear of cover for marauding felines and also of evergreen and other groundcovers.  Those same droppings, plus seed husks, can smother and destroy nearby plantings. 

Evergreens in containers should be given a last, very vigorous watering to take them through the winter months. Then detach the hose, drain it and store it in a frost-free place along with any faucet-mounted timing device you may be using. 

Check trees and shrubs for dead, dying or diseased branches. No need to wait for early spring -- these can and should be removed now.  If it is too high for you to reach from the ground, then call in a professional.  Falling out of trees is unhealthy and deprives us of readers.  Besides, many companies offer special winter savings.

Plantings of rhododendrons and other broad-leaf evergreens made in the past season or two will benefit from the protection of a temporary burlap screen. Staple burlap to sturdy 2x2 posts pounded into the ground. Do not use plastic, which heats up and raises the humidity. 

Festive Lighting in the Garden

History of Christmas claims that at least some early Christmas lights originated in poorer parts of Britain. In the 19th-century, when the toilet was located at the end of the garden, the way was lit by farthing candles in glass jars (during the season at least).  (Gavin Weightman & Steve Humphries: Christmas past;1987).

The very dangerous habit of burning candles on the Christmas tree was also overcome by our Victorian ancestors, from the latter part of the same century, when they discovered the advantages of electricity, even if it  was not until after World War II that they became  common.

Today, lights come on a seemingly endless array of choices, ignoring if that is possible, numerous illuminated ornaments. Unfortunately, they can still be hazardous to man and bush alike. Cables must be designed for outdoor use only, properly grounded and sturdy enough to tolerate all that our weather can throw at them.

The lights themselves must also be for outdoor use. Beware of the heat they generate, however.   Left resting against or close to evergreen foliage or the bare bark of branches and twigs, larger bulbs in particular can cause burn damage. The smaller and deservedly popular "icicle lights", and variations on this theme, are a much better bet.

 Plastic 'twistees" make the best fasteners but each and every one must be removed from branches after the festivities have run their course. Left in place, they will girdle the branches and cause death.  Lights are lovely for all concerned but a little thought as to personal and plant safety will help.

Storing Tools & Equipment 

A trite, but true saying has it that a craftsman may be judged by his tools. This might also be applied with some effect to gardeners.  Many city gardeners now rely on hand or "reel" mowers. These are self-sharpening up to a point or, more accurately, blade. However, they now require the attentions of a professional to smooth out the nicks and bangs of a season's use. Some local Hardware stores offer a sharpening service for push mowers. If you cannot locate one close by, check 'Lawn Mowers -- Sales and Service" in the Yellow Pages.  It is located just before a much larger section devoted to "Lawyers".

Gas engine mowers should have the fuel tank and lines drained and air filter cleaned.  Sharpen the blade with a flat file, taking the opportunity to remove caked deposits from under the deck. 

Hand tools should receive special attention before storing away. Scrub off all accumulations of soil, weeds and general crud. An old toothbrush comes in very useful for this. The same flat file is used put an edge on the business end of hoes, turf edgers and spades. Use sand paper to remove any splinters on wooden handles, then wipe the same down with generous amounts of linseed oil.

Use light-grade motor oil though on all metal parts as vegetable-based oils become sticky and gummy when left for prolonged periods. Many an experienced gardener, proud of their tools, keeps a small bucket of sharp builder's sand soaked in mineral oil in the tool shed.  Never, of course, from fire safety concerns, in the house.  After each use, the metal parts of tools are plunged into this, then pulled out and then each implement is hung up in the tool rack.

This last item or even a series of them is the way to judge the real tool-proud gardener. Those that simply toss their tools in the corner of the garage, we will refrain from commenting upon. Somewhat better are householders who bang a few nails and hooks into the garage walls. But blessed are they that have parted with tax encumbered lucre to purchase sturdy tool racks from Canadian Tire or Walmart.  And if you know of a gardener who hasn't done so yet, why here is another nifty idea for a Christmas gift . . . and just in time to go and buy such an essential item. 

Seed Suppliers for 2001

Mail for these seed catalogues now and beat the January postage increase. Better still, where a fax number is listed, use that route -- it's usually cheaper. All are free except for the Gardens North catalogue, which is one of the very few anywhere worth paying for.  No foreign seeds-men are listed. First, far too many ask exorbitant prices for miserable quantities of seed. Secondly, attempts by the bungleaucrats of Revenue Canada  attempting to collect GST is ever reaching new heights of harassment.  Last, the loonie's lapse into third world status does not give it much bargaining power. Besides, with firms like these here, why go abroad?

Aimers Seeds:  126 Catherine St., Hamilton, ON  L8R 1J4 Fax: 905-528-1635; botanical seeds-man.

Cedar Creek Seed Co:  254 E First St. N., Vancouver, BC  V7L 1B3; wildflower seeds 

William Dam Seeds:  Box 8400, Dundas, ON  L9H 6M1 Fax: 905-627-1729; untreated garden, commercial seeds.

Howard Dill:  RR#1, Windsor, NS  B0N 2T0; the world's largest and regular pumpkins and squash.

Gardens North:  5984 Third Line Rd. RR#3, North Gower, ON  K0A 2T0; mainly hardy perennial, seeds, some others; catalogue worth the $4.

McFayden Seed Co: 30-9th St. Suite 200, Brandon MB  R7A 6N4; Vegetables, flowers, herbs, bulbs, roses, shrubs.

Natures' Garden:  Box 40121, 905 Gordon St., Victoria BC  V8W 3N3; native Canadian plant seeds 

New Age Seed:  57 River Dr., Halland Landing, ON  L9N 1A5 Fax: 905-895-7378; botanical  seeds-man.

Ontario Seed Co: Box 144, 16 King St S.,  Waterloo, ON  N2J 3Z9; garden seeds.

 Sally & Co:  Box 24121, Hazeldean RPO, Kanata, ON  K2M 2C3; exotic houseplant seeds.

Seeds of Distinction:  Box 86, Stn A, Etobiocoke, ON  M9C 4V2 Fax: 888-327-9193; garden seeds.

Stokes Seeds:  39 James St, Box 10, St. Catharines, ON  L2R 6R6; garden & commercial seeds; excellent cultural advice.

Tregunno Seeds:  126 Catherine St. N., Hamilton, ON  L8R 1J4 Fax: 905-528-1635; garden seeds.

Veseys Seeds: Box 9000, Charlottetown, PE  C1A 8K6; short season garden seeds 

New Plants for 2001

The last few weeks have seen professional horticulturists inundated with literature touting new plants for the 2001 season. There are large amounts of money to be made in growers' royalties.  In the case of roses, very large amounts of lucre.  So it behooves all interested to choose punchy, memorable names. Ones with some zing that you won't forget when thumbing through catalogues or, next spring, strolling through the garden centres. 

How could any horticulturist turn away from the rose "Long Tall Sally" for example?  A strong shrub rose, it has pink buds and white single scented blooms all season long. When we reach the displays of perennials though the nomenclature really takes off. There is a new shasta christened "Crazy Daisy" and a pink phlox with red centered blooms known as "Ping Pong".

Other candidates for the humourist's herbaceous border might include "Blushing Butterflies" beeblossom, "Golden Panda" Furnitory, "Jeepers Creepers" Foamflower and "Rainbow Pie" Variegated Sorrel. Joining them later might be a bevy of beauties such as "Dazzling Stacey", "Dreamy Linda", "Spicy Cheryl" and "Zesty Megan" not, alas, movie maidens but fall-flowering chrysanthemums.

Those in more somber moods will want the "Black Beauty" coneflowers that are three-foot-plus tall or perhaps the "Diana Remembered" hosta and its dark foliage with white edges.

Nearby, the patio and deck will display containers equally lush with "Pizzazz" impatiens, "Supertunia minis" and "Baby Bingo" pansies. All these are available in a myriad of modern fashionable hues. Setting them off will be "Wojo's Jem" new variegated Vinca.

The shrub section of the garden centre will no doubt display the new compact "Blue Muffin" viburnum, white flowers followed by cerise berries. Then there will, patriotically, be that nifty new introduction by the University of Manitoba, the shrub potentilla they called "Mango Tango" with unusual eye-catching bicolor blooms.

There may even be space for the navelwort known as "Parisian Skies", "Sundaze" strawflowers or the “Forever Blue” lisianthus.  You can only admire the minds that dreamt them all up.

Horticultural Happenings

Toronto Field Naturalist Outings

Free guided walks; children welcome, but please no pets; all are TTC accessible; dress according to weather, bring beverage, camera, notebook and binoculars. 

6 Dec. East Don Highlands - Nature Walk: meet 10 a.m. S.E. corner Sheppard & Leslie: morning only.

10 Dec. Scarborough Waterfront - Nature Walk: meet 1 p.m. at entrance to Col. Danforth Park, Kingston Rd at Col. Danforth Trail.

12 Dec. High Park - Nature Walk: meet 1 a.m. at park entrance south side Bloor opposite High Park Ave., bring snack.

17 Dec. Headwaters of Downsview - Urban Ecology: meet 2 p.m. S.W. corner Sheppard West and Yukon Lane.

20 Dec. Central Don Parks - Nature Walk: meet 10:30 a.m. south side Eglinton at Leslie; bring snack and binoculars.

27 Dec. Wards Bland - Nature Walk: meet ferry docks foot of Bay St. 10:30 a.m.; bring snacks, drink and binoculars, dress warmly.

31 Dec. Wards Island - Heritage Walk: Meet ferry docks foot of Bay St. 11 a.m.; bring lunch, dress warmly.

2 - 3 Dec. Artisan's Weekend: Ocala Orchards Farm Winery, Port Perry; more from 905-985-9924.

3 Dec. Toronto Field Naturalists, Monthly Meeting: 2 p.m. at Northrop Frye Hall, 73 Queen's Park Cres. East (just south of Bloor); 2:30 p.m.: Earth's Changing Climate: Clues from Rocks.

9 Dec. Toronto Ornithological Club Jim Baillie Memorial Bird Walk 8:30 a.m. (all day) meet parking lot of Humber Bay Park East; bring lunch; car pool if necessary beginners welcome.

30 Dec. Toronto Ornithological Club Christmas Bird Count: call Alfred Adamo 905-731-7551 for details 

30 Dec. Toronto Ornithological Club Winter Waterfowl Count: call Bill Ednlunds 905-731-7551 for details.

New Products

How do you please eager seed and cutting raisers who are also dog lovers? Try the Rain Cane from Rittenhouse (1-800-461-1041). Available in 9- or 18-inch lengths for big or small jobs, sturdily built with brass valve, this watering wand has hundreds of tiny holes to spray seedlings and wash down Fido. Should be great for discouraging spider mite as well as aphids, white flies and similar less than welcome visitors. The heavy foliage model will likely remove such pests completely. Features a comfortable no-slip grip, removable cap for flush-through action to removing debris.  Operating off any standard home faucet, delivering 6 gallons/minute at 70 PSI pressure. 9-inch model is $74.95, 18-inch and heavy foliage models are $79.95 each. Order from above toll free number, or fax: 905-684-1382 or visit www.rittenhouse.ca

Gifts for Gardeners

The Toronto Field Naturalists have several publications of interest to gardeners, including Vascular Plants of Metropolitan Toronto at $8 plus $2 postage and handling from 2 Carlton St, #1519, Toronto M5B 1J3. Also welcome and a constant reminder of your Thoughtfulness might be a $30 family membership in that organization. Then there is Canadian Gardening magazine, at $22.95 a year, 340 Ferrier St, Markham L3R 2Z5 905-475-8440, or Gardening Life for $16.95 annually 511 King St West, Toronto 416-593-0204. Both are excellent publications, lavishly illustrated with Canadian gardens and gardening subjects.

Still absolutely stuck? Never was there a gardener that did not appreciate a book on their subject. One of the best outlets is that of Indigo in Manulife Centre at Bay and Bloor in Toronto. Not only do they have books, they also feature still greater temptations from Cruickshanks famed catalogue. The staff is polite and helpful and, for any gardener, who can turn away from a store that decorates with orchids?

News from a Gardener' s View Point

City Gardening peers at the past months' news from Canada and elsewhere

Landscaping

• The Hawaiian hotel in Kauai where Elvis Presley filmed "Blue Hawaii" is to be torn down but the 2,000 palms surrounding it are to be saved, say the new owners.

Trees

• ”Trees that live in the Mediteranian appear to be the hardest hit," states the journal New Scientist, following a report from the European Commission that two out of three trees in Europe are sick. Should this be so, we imagine a major environmental disaster, if trees are indeed growing in Homer's wine-dark sea.

• Owing to danger from severe storms toppling trees on unwary citizens, Paris closed its parks.

• We are happy to report that environmentalist Dona Nieto, a.k.a. 'La Tigressa.' the California poet who "stripteases for trees" to alarm redwood lumberjacks, is achieving both national and international media attention. There is even a documentary on the way, tentatively entitled, we are assured, the Bare Witch Project.

• Berliners rejected a $13,000 civic Christmas tree as "the ugliest, most pitiful tree that the city has ever seen," and ordered it removed and burnt.

Lawns

• The rather ominously named German firm of Wolf-Garten has developed a laser lawn mower. It evaporates the trimmings to dust and an air blast then mixes them with fertilizer to be spread back on the lawn. 

Flowers 

• The only flower known to depend on lizards tearing off the protective covering to permit pollination has been discovered growing high on Mount Wellington, Tasmania.

• A lawsuit in London, England reveals that pop star Sir Elton John retains florists to fill his two  U.K. mansions with 240 flower arrangements each and every week, whether he is home or not. In 20 months, His bill for flowers was $644,000.

• Nurseries J.C. Banker & Sons, St. Catharines, Ontario, announce the release of very limited quantities of their new Celine Dion rose. A red-orange shade with "a smell a bit like raspberries."

Down in the Vegetables 

• Onions cause allergies, claims a man accused of attempted murder in Winnipeg clink, who objects to being fed them at least weekly. 

• The Pope's jubilee for pizza makers resulted in a pizza with pizzazz, which resembled the Vatican flag whose colour yellow was represented by vast numbers of succulent zucchini blossoms. 

• Worry no more that your corn may be pollutingly pollinated by some dastardly genetically modified  crop. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have figured out a way to block the pernicious pollen, using conventional breeding practices at  that. 

• Cornell University, NY scientists genetically engineered a potato to contain a vaccine against  hepatitis B, the notorious and frequently fatal liver disease

• But bad news for Spud Island, a.k.a. Prince Edward Island, after an outbreak of potato wart fungus causes the tubers to be turned away from export to the U.S. Fortunately a short time later it was established the fungus was limited to a single field.

• Guelph University researchers established that, the public given an informed choice, actually prefer genetically-modified produce. The results are posted at www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/bt-weet-corn/btindex.htm.

The Great Pumpkin

• The world's largest pumpkin was recorded in Ohio, where a gardener managed to grow a 1,140-pound specimen.

• Florida's Kay Largo National Marine sanctuary staged an "Underwater pumpkin Carving Contest".

• After over-eager garbage workers removed a 150-pound carved pumpkin from a Richmond Hill front lawn, municipal bureaucrats hustled to find two equally impressive specimens to replace it, making a two-year-old boy and his father happy again.

• Eight students in Louisiana were charged with the theft of over 300 carved pumpkins and assorted other Halloween decorations, including eight skeletons.

• A pair of Regina, Saskatchewan youths were convicted of dropping pumpkins from a bridge on to passing vehicles.

Fruit

• You have 50 years to enjoy your Mediterranean olives, oranges and vineyard products before their supporting soil erodes away, says scientist Diego de la Rosa at Seville's Institute of Natural Resources and Agro-biology.

Natural Gardening

• 105 plant species, 21 of them rare forms, can be yours if you purchase Middle Sister Island in Lake Erie. As of press time no one had come up with the $400,000 asked for the some 10 acres.

• The widely used natural pesticide rotenone causes Parkinson's disease, researchers at Emory University, Atlanta, announce after conducting extensive tests on rats. 

Herbs

• The Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal investigate whether a vast quantity of garlic from China and Vietnam is being "dumped" here.

• A new web TV site, www.Pot-TV.net, with a daily show devoted to raising marijuana, will open in British Columbia.

• An unsuccessful Toronto mayoralty candidate launches his own cayenne pepper cocktail as the answer to good health and a satisfying sex life, at $45 per jar.

• King Midas's funeral feast in 718 B.C. was a lamb stew flavoured with onions, carrots, celery and lentils along with herbs thyme and rosemary and the seeds of cumin, fennel and anise, a Molecular archaeologist reports.  

Indoor Gardening

• Arizona's Cactus Days have, alas, nothing to do with succulents but instead discount coupon booklets for Canadian visitors to the state, available at 888-520-3448

• British MPs have 12 Ficus benjamina trees leased for their new offices in London at the in equivalent of $330,000 for each tree. But this only gets the trees for five years. The national auditor announced that he is investigating.

Weeds

• Those friendly European-based seed folks, Aventis who brought you the unapproved taco corn now have managed to accidentally produce super herbicide-resistant beets. This has led to fears that "super-weeds" will be upon us before we can pronounce "glufosinate" and "glyphosphate", the two weed-killers involved.

Bugs and Gardeners

• Foxes control squirrels, according to Torontonian Mary Anne Miller in the Toronto Field Naturalist Newsletter. While enjoying lunch at her window, Mrs. Miller saw a fox take a squirrel at her bird feeder, and then consume it in nearby bushes.

• Comparing attempts to control organized crime with gardeners' attempts upon squirrels, Filip Palda, Professor of Economics, Ecole Nationale D'Admlnistration Publique, claims said squirrels are "creatures some call rats with good PR."

• How do insects get to our gardens? Researchers in England used vertical radar to determine they migrate at heights of up to 1,200-metres, possibly taking advantage of stronger winds High in the sky.

• Since insects can withstand very low pressures, they will make likely colonizers of the planet Mars when the time comes to "terraform" its surface, reported a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge University, England.

• The respected journal Nature reports that sex for certain weevils, painfully shortens the females' lives. A virgin bean weevil lives for a month, researchers reported, but mated once, thanks to the damage caused by the male's spectacular organ, she dies in only a third of that time.

• The infamous Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle (BSLB) of Point Pleasant Park, Halifax. NS is now believed to attack far more than red spruce. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has been involved in both ground and aerial surveys and offers further updated information at http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mr/forests/foresthealth/homepage.htm

• The Canadian Food and Inspection Agency issues a Prohibition of Movement on Prunus sp. following confirmation of Plum Pox Virus (PPV) in peach and nectarine orchards in the Niagara Peninsula. 

• The pesticide chloripyrifos, also known under the trade names of Dursban and Lursban, is voluntarily taken off the market by its prime Canadian manufacturer, Dow Agro-Sciences.

• Mild winters have allowed B.C.'s Mountain Pine Beetle to mount devastating attacks in the past few years, prompting the B.C. forestry industry to "declare war" on the beast, mobilizing a force of 3,400 forest workers and spending over $100-million in efforts to save an estimated $3.4-billion of lumber. 

Gardening in the City

• Toronto Councellor Jack Layton collects used pumpkins following Halloween to supply the reportedly voracious appetite of a new commercial composting operation in Newmarket, well north of his ward.

• Elsewhere in Toronto, queries as to whether they garden and use home composters reportedly rattled applicants for employment at a new youth detention centre. There are even suggestions of complaints to the Human Rights Commission.

• Yet more woes on home composting are reported from Norway where, out of some 300 or so insects finding shelter in such, almost three dozen were invading exotic species. Some of these have become established in Norway, a few of them very extensively so.

• Sex, computer games, even gardening can be addictive," says psychologist Mark Griffiths of Nottingham University, England where he studies behavioral addictions. 

Science and the Gardener

• Australian scientist and entrepreneur Richard Jefferson through his company CAMBIA has invented a technology that will allow farmers to turn certain dormant genes on in their corps by urinating upon them. Obviously he is a man who believes in going against the grain.

• Tobacco may find a better use. Scientists working on artificially producing spider silk for industrial use, have suggested the appropriate gene be inserted into tobacco plants, causing them to "grow" the silk.

• Britain’s Adversary Committee on Releases to the Environment released guidelines for biotech companies to use in creating safer genetically modified crops. 

• A fashionable new study, and no doubt soon a new buzz-word is apomixis, the process by which some plants asexually clone themselves naturally, with much excitement that the responsible genes may be transferred to major crops.

• In a special report on biotecinology, the Financial Post notes a Calgary company genetically engineered canola seed to include the leech gene that prevents blood from clotting, saving lives of post-operative patients.

Health and Gardeners

• Three or four cups of tea daily protects against colon cancer, say scientists in Britain and Italy, adding it to protection afforded against heart disease and cataracts.

• Greenpeace director and ex-politician Peter Tabuns is reduced to attempting to coerce children against genetically modified foods. He chose to introduce his new mascot "FrankenTony" in Nathan Philips Square, Toronto, claiming that in Europe foods are GMO-free. Meanwhile, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issues an alert for Hazardous chocolates contaminated with peanuts at life-threatening levels for those with a peanut allergy. The source of the chocolates?  Germany, Poland, Latvia and Hungary ...and Europeans quake from threat of mad cow disease. 

• Scientists at Harvard report that unfortunately while vegetables and fruit do protect against heart disease and diabetes, they do not offer the same benefits in reducing colon cancer.

• The world's oldest women died just short of her 115th birthday, still attributing her great age to boiled onions and whisky.

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's research finds ephedra, or "ma huang", widely sold in health food stores, can cause heart attacks, seizures, strokes and death in apparently healthy young people. 

Weather 

• The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “Leaks" a report to the media claiming global temperatures will rise over the next century by as much as 6 degrees Celsius. In fact, this figure was added after the report had been reviewed by scientists involved in writing it. Responsible climatologists are, in fact, predicting an increase of some 2C.

Unique Christmas Gifts

On 12 December, Christies will auction off, along with other Movie memorabilia, the fake caterpillar Leonardo DiCaprio appeared to eat in tile flick The Beach. The London auctioneers predict it will sell for at least $5,000. They also offer Garrison Ford's Indiana Jones bullwhip, expected to bring $9,000.  Just the thing for vigorous pruning.

And now for something completely different

Temptresses in Captivity

The holiday entertaining season is fast approaching and along with the dazzling array of special foods and sparkling glasses of champagne or the finest bottled waters, the next most pressing consideration, after tidying up, always seems to be -- decor.

This year, perhaps as an acknowledgment of the virgin nature of the new century, the colour of Holiday 2000 is white. If you're planning a special evening or two during the holidays, be they Christmas and New Years or just Tuesday and Saturday, festive flower arrangements will make your get-togethers that much more special. However, as all of us are pressed for time, or would rather laze away an afternoon reading a good gardening book by a roaring fire, the flower arrangement has to be easy, or it won't be done at all. 

There's no mystery. It's as easy as one, two, three.  While you're out and about, a quick visit to your local flower shop or corner flower market will quickly reveal the abundance of white flowers available at this time of year. Cut tulips, amaryllis and roses make a refreshing change from the usual flowers of the season. You'll also need a few greens, whether they be the traditional; pine boughs, decorative foliage, or corkscrew hazel or red dogwood or curly willow branches (also known as corkscrew willow).  Before you start arranging, decide on the mood or emotion you want your flowers to evoke, and in almost the same amount of time it takes to read this, your flowers can be done.

For example: 

Airy:  White amaryllis with asparagus ferns and variegated green and white foliage in a weathered earthenware water jug. 

Tone on Tone:  Creamy white narcissi and sparkling white tulips cascading out of a teapot.  Tip: with the use of special  cut-flower nutrients (available at your florist shop) the two will tolerate each other just fine. 

For the Dessert Table:  White roses, amaryllis and tulips in a tall, dark, narrow vase with a wide neck, with one curly willow branch for textural contrast. It will look like a great big serving of hot chocolate complete with a swizzle stick.

Daring:  Ivory roses and tulips offset with snowball hydrangea and one evergreen bow. 

Geometric:  Branches of white snowberries and one, off-centre, fire-engine red amaryllis in a rectangular vase. 

Sophisticated:  Creamy narcissi, tulips or amaryllis with their straight stems tied together with raffia so that the newly opened flowers create a globe above the neck of the straight-edged crystal vase.

Enchanting:  White grape hyacinths and a sprig of Fragrant pine in bud vases for each member of the family's bedside  table. 

Now, with the snow gently falling outside, and everything in order and looking fabulous inside, go back to the fireplace and await your guests. 

Many thanks to the Netherlands Flower-bulb information Centre for these timely suggestions.  

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