Dayton "Dirt" - December 14, 2012

With only 11 days until Christmas, the weather has been more like spring than December. The slow soft rain has rehydrated the ground from last summer’s drought which will do well for the water table especially important for all of us that depend upon wells. Already the Christmas season is slowing up somewhat at the nursery as our tree selection is starting to thin and the grave blanket production is winding down. In just the past 10 days though the colored brachts on the poinsettias seem to have enlarged so much so that only a limited amount of foliage is visible. Bulb planting is still continuing after we planted 2,000 tulip bulbs last week only to be followed by more hyacinths and another 1,000 bulbs to go elsewhere on the grounds for late April and early May bloom. This past week while the weather turned warmer and sunny, we did apply some fungicide to the plant storage houses as well as a 20% bleach solution to the German Iris to prevent bacterial infections caused by the humid conditions. More improvements are still going on the grounds and building so that they may be completed before the busy spring which for us starts the last week of February due to our growing operation. Remember that since our selection of plants is limited at this time of year, a gift idea would be a gift certificate from Dayton’s that never expires and never has a “service” fee that reduces its value. Stop by soon. Tom