July 24, 2014 - Sara Hopkins

The Poinsettias Have Arrived!

The annual beds and planters are growing splendidly including the flag pole bedwhere the Cana Lilies are starting to bloom. I truly enjoy the mix of Canas with Castor Beans in the garden bed outside the greenhouse. Some on campus have had a misfortunate encounter with a squirrel who has shredded their leaves. Japanese Beetles also find them to be quite tasty.

 

800 Poinsettia plugs arrived this week safely packed in boxes. Amongst the traditional ‘Prestige Red’ and ‘Maroon’ we have some interesting and unique cultivars including ‘Christmas Nostalgia’, ‘Polar Bear’ and ‘Jingle Bells’. They have all been potted up, watered and fertilized uniformly.

The weaker cultivars have been placed on top of heating pads on the benches. Keeping media warm promotes root growth and keeps the plants out of stress. It is important to keep up on the watering as the media dries out quicker.

As I am going into second year come Autumn I am quite blessed to see the crop my class will growing and selling from day 1 of arrival. I feel this summer has already been full of great learning adventures.