Not too early for Christmas Decorating Ideas

Every year just a few weeks prior to Christmas a few of our friends and we ride through our subdivision and enjoy the beautiful lights of the season. By the end of the ride, everyone is in a jovial mood just observing the decorations that everyone has put up. It’s just a tradition with us. It’s a great idea to get an early start planning holiday lighting. If you look hard enough you might find some offseason sales on just what you need. With so much being said this year about energy conservation, getting an early start will help you to locate just the perfect lights for your house, and be aware of choosing energy conservative ones. One particular light this year that is extremely energy saving are the LED strings

First, decide what your theme will be this year

“Hey, Mom, let’s go to look at the Christmas Lights”

Most every Christmas season, there are Holiday Light Tours that drive around the city and the urban communities to take in the various styles of holiday lighting people have chosen. Buses of retirees from local retirement homes especially enjoy this every year. With the addresses of homes in the area that are labeled as “tackily lit”, there is a “tacky light tour”. It is a tradition for some people every year, usually the same ones, to have their yard just packed with figures of all types and sizes, inflated, wooden, kites, balloons, and lights blinking and winking all over the place. Of course, it’s just a joke and those who do it are very amused when the busloads ride by and slow down to see their particular “circus”. They’re doing a great job for the lighting industry, but most people have reservations about their conservation of energy. I say if a little fun and enjoyment can be brought to the senior citizens, it’s a good plan.

Encyclia cochleata flower is certainly not typical of an orchid flower although it is typical of its group within the genus and therefore not unusual. Encyclia contains many examples of these `upside down’ flowers, where the lip is seen at the top of the flower and the sepals and petals are held below. These are called nonrespinate flowers, as they do not turn to bring their lip on the lower plane as do most orchids. There is presumably some advantage in this for the pollination of these flowers.

While the species dwindle and become ever more scarce, the hybrids multiply in their hundreds each year, and the hybridising becomes ever more complex. The beauty of these intergeneric hybrids is undeniable. The colours have been increased to encompass all shades from pure white to vibrant purples. Again we see an unmistakeable vigour bred into the plant from so many generations of line breeding. The modern Laeliocattleya or Brassolaeliocattleya hybrid is a living testament to the hybridiser’s art.

They require immediate greenhouse conditions where possible, but will also succeed in a warm, sunny room or sun lounge. They require plenty of light, without strong sunlight, and most have a resting period for part of the winter.

The monopodials are a large group of pscudobulbless orchids which grow continuously from a stem. These plants usually consist of a single upright rhizome with the leaves being produced from the centre. As each new leaf is formed and the plant progresses upwards, the effect is of a single stern bearing leaves from alternative sides.

This presents a flat appearance and does not form a rosette. There are many hundreds of different species within dozens of different genera, which are widely distributed from Africa through India, Asia, right across to the Philippines and Australasia.

With no enforced rest and no tilting stress to the plant, they become the most beautiful specimens under care, exhibiting their luxuriant clean foliage which is a joy in itself. The flowering of such plants comes as an extra bonus! The green-leaved species which originate from the far east can be grown in a cool, shady situation. The larger, more fleshy varieties from the Philippine Islands and Malaysian Peninsula require warmer conditions, also with good shade. Very few pests will attack these orchids, which are among the cleanest to grow.

Growing feather palms to a reasonable size is a long, slow process, so plants of specimen size are invariably expensive. The plants require a warm, light position in which to grow, preferably in a moist atmosphere. Water freely during the spring and summer months, and in moderation at other times. In the garden room, and indoors where it is practical, plants will benefit from having their leaves syringed with water during the summer months.

Iron deficiency is a problem that will result in leaves taking on a hard, yellow appearance; sequestrene of iron used according to the manufacturer’s directions will help to combat this. With larger plants an old remedy was to place a piece of sulphate of iron on top of the soil, a little of which was, watered into the compost to keep the plant in good condition.

One of the most graceful of the feather palms is Phoenix roebell,which has delicate leaves that appear almost, silver when the light catches them at the righte angle. P. canariensis is a little coarser in appearance, and develops into a very much larger plant in time. The date palm of commerce is P. daciylifera.

Cymbidiums are the most widely grown orchids in cultivation. They are also the largest among the widely cultivated types. Their pseudobulbs are large, up to the size of an orange, short and stout. They are sheathed by the bases of the evergreen leaves, which remain intact after the leaves have been shed.

Their somewhat flattened ovoid pseudobulbs are bright green and carry a pair of evergreen leaves from the apex. Several smaller leaves are formed lower down near the base of the pseudobillb.

There are very few pests which bother odontoglossums; greenfly may occur on the young buds and slugs and snails have a liking for flower spikes and buds, in addition to attacking the succulent pseudobulbs.

Among the species are a few which need a rest during the winter months. These include Odontoglossum grande, and citrosmum. Most species and all hybrids do not rest significantly. The only time they are not actively growing is when flowering, when watering is continued. Odontoglossum hybrids take approximately ten weeks from the time the flower spike is seen to blooming and the flowers will last for six to eight weeks.

The continued existence of the plant is completely reliant upon the foliage, terete leaves which have become completely rounded, thinner than a pencil, their surface reduced to the minimum to prevent overheating and dehydration. No part of the plant is soft, the roots are thin and wiry, the leaves hard, almost rough to the touch. Thus the plant is able to stand a severe climate, at the same time capable of extracting what little moisture there is available through its foliage.

They grow from a fleshy horizontal rhizome which lies on the ground. Their plants form a rosette of leaves and bloom from the centre upon maturity of the growth. The glistening beauty of the leaves can be a deep velvety green, copper or mauve, laced with gold or silver threads.

Lacking the rigidity to grow upright the plant forms a pendent green shower, ideally fitted to a cooler climate which. experiences high winds. In cultivation it is ideally suited to culture on bark.

The genus Vanda belongs to the large group of monopodials which are widely distributed throughout Africa and the Indian subcontinent, the Far East and Northern Australia. The plants grow by producing a single upright rhizome with leaves on alternate sides. New leaves always come from the top.

The keen plantsman is likely to encounter a number of Polyscias, which belong to the Araliaceae family. All these are better suited to greenhouse cultivation rather than indoors, so ilk garden room is a possibility. Polyscias Imlfiniriana, and in particular the improved form P. b. Pinocchio, is one of the best, the improved form having creamy-yellow leaves. In time it will attain a height of 10 ft. or more when confined td a pot, but this will take a number of years.

Plants will do quite well in the 10 Celsius minimum suggested, but will thrive that much better if the temperature can be kept at a higher level. It is important to remember, though, that hot and dry conditions can do more harm than good, so increased temperatures should also call for increased humidity.

The silvery grey Pilea cadierei was at one time the most popular but has now been superseded by the much more compact and attractive P. c. nana, which has smaller leaves of brighter appearance. The artillery plant, P. microphylla, gets its common name from the way seed pods ‘explode’ and scatter seed in all directions; other than this interesting facility it would seem to have little to recommend it for house decoration.

Of the two common names. money plant seems to be by far the most suitable as far as the plant supplier is concerned. On a visit to our nursery some years ago, a charming Indian girl, with a surprising knoWiledge of plants, informed us that in her country the saying went that you would never be without money if you had a scindapsus plant in the house – a good reason for us all to have one.

The variegated form Sasifraga sarinentosa tricolor is much less vigorous, requiring more careful handling, and will certainly need the higher temperatures indicated above. It will also do better if confined to small pots, as growth is not sufficiently active to justify planting them in hanging baskets as suggested above for the green form.

A moist moss support for plants to climb and get their roots into will greatly improve their performance. Potting compost should be peaty- in its composition and the inclusion of a little good leafmould will be an advantage if it can be obtained.

With its supremely exotic flowers and a name that leaves nothing to be desired one would expect the strelitzia to be one of the most popular of plants, but there is a snag. The snag is that they take three to five years to produce these flowers and there seems to be no way of hastening nature’s slow process.

The variety Sireptocarpus Constant Nymph is an excellent plant producing a succession of violet-blue flowers on slender stems over a long period, and is not in the least difficult to increase in numbers, by inserting complete leaves or leaf sections in peaty compost at a temperature of about 18C. (65F.).

There is also a white form of this plant which is equally easy to care for. In recent years a number of hybrids have also been developed and there is now a wide colour range to choose from. A lightly shaded position which is also cool and airy should be provided. Feed regularly during the spring and summer and pot on vigorous plants annually using a standard house plant compost which is not too heavy; that is, with a reasonable amount of peat in its make up to prevent it becoming compacted.