Dayton "Dirt" - December 20, 2014

Tomorrow is the winter solstice and the beginning of the long winter. We can all look forward to the increasing daylight afterwards and the fact that the average temperatures will begin to rise after the 15th of February. It remains to be seen if Lake Erie will freeze over that might give the northeast lake shore counties some relief from the Lake Erie snow machine. During last Saturday’s snow I received a call from one of our long time customers that the Canaan Fir we had set up in the stand was leaning and might be unstable. The 9 foot tall and 6 foot wide broadly pyramidal tree had moved slightly due to its great weight. After I had retrieved more help from the nursery, I slightly pulled on the massive tree while Adam from the nursery loosened and tightened the securing bolts. Finally, the tree was straight and secure. My panic to rectify this problem was that the tree was decorated with at least 2,000 white lights and what seemed to be ornaments in the hundreds. Each major branch was wrapped carefully with the white lights with the colorful ornaments hung from the trees branches toward the trunk. After we had finished with the tree the customer turned on the tree lights that seemed to make the tree glow with a soft radiant light. I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful tree anywhere or scarcely could have imagined such a spectacle! With the season winding down it would be time to clean up and settle down as the nursery will close on December 31st until the 1st day of March although we will be opening on Saturdays beginning February 1st for the winter seminars in order to educate and prep gardeners for spring. There still are a few trees at discounted prices and we are still making and delivering grave blankets until Christmas Eve to local cemeteries. Merry Christmas to all! Tom