With My Apologies!

I just realized it has been awhile since I posted anything about gardening! I have been in the process of moving 25 years worth of accumulations from my Poughkeepsie office to my new digs in Kingston. In the process half of my old office is in my car co-mingled with my new office.

 

That has brought up some interesting scenarios when I checked my desk calendar to see where I am supposed to be to do a garden seminar. Imagine my shock when the calendar was blank. I had checked my new calendar instead of the old one I was still using!

 

So not so fast with out with the old and in with with the new. Though I have yet to make a mistake writing out checks in 2010 I am still working somewhat in 2009.

 

Good gardening

 

Greg

Adams Seminars Kick Into High Gear This Weekend!

Looking for a reason to get out of the cold? Adams several for you this Saturday and Sunday.

Adams Country School kicks into high gear with cooking and gardening classes. The Culinary Institute of America will be doing a cooking demonstration at 1PM at Adams Poughkeepsie location Saturday January 9th. As part of celebrating The CIA demos Adams and the CIA have teamed up to offer special discounts on the CIA's famous "Boot Camp" cooking events.

 

The CIA will also be a doing a special cooking demo at Adams Newburgh on Saturday Jan 9th as well at 1PM

 

I will be doing the ever popular Attracting and Feeding Wild Birds at Adams Kingston store on Saturday Jan 9th at 1PM. Learn through slides how to identify dozens of popular species of birds you can attract to your back yard. Learn what seed attracts what kinds of birds as well as what feeder styles work best for small and large birds alike. 

 

While squirrels need to eat too they can damage if not destroy your feeder investment. You can "baffle" squirrels and keep them out of your feeding stations!

 

Finally, if you are looking for something to do this evening, Wed Jan 6th, I will be conducting a seminar on composting. With the trend to fewer landfills, much of what we throw out can be recycled into wonderfully rich soil. Learn how to build your own compost bins, and how to make compost tonight.

 

Good gardening

 

Semianrs Begin this Weekend!

 

As 2009 comes to a close I wish everyone a Happy New Year. Our winter seminar series starts this Saturday Jan 2 with Attracting and Feeding Wild Birds at 1 PM in Poughkeepsie.

 

In addition I am pleased to announce that all five photos I submitted were accepted to the Catskill Mountain Foundation members show opening Jan 16th in Hunter, NY

 

the night before xmas

T' was the night Before Christmas

And all through the House

Not a Palozzi was stirring

Charlie Rangall was home with his spouse

 

So off to the Senate

For the vote on a bill

While called health care reform

Has many Americans ill

 

For such legislation the most monumentous in the land

I did not see claiming victory a Schumer or a Gillibrand

 

What did I see about a 1/4 past four?

Sarah Palin finishing up her book signing tour.

 

That's not all she's done since leaving Alaska

She seeks a new home

With free Medicaid perhaps in Nebraska

 

Or maybe Louisiana with it's gumbo bright vermilion

Can I have another bowl lease for my three hundred million?

 

Now what about Connecticut with the most millionaires?

Though I find it quite odd

Your vote sold for 100 million

What's up with that Senator Dodd?

 

Northward to Canada, to Europe and another

Examples of health care provided by Mother

 

If a government plan works

Let it be run not by ours

Let's hire another

 

On Mc Cain, On Snow

On Leieberman, Reid and all

Come next November

Dash Away, Dash Away Dash Away all!

 

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New Year Bringing New Opportunities

It is with great anticipation and some trepidation I write this year end (almost year end) post.

I guess it is best to start from the beginning 25 years ago when I walked into Adams and filled out a job application for a position unloading trucks in the nursery.  The plan was to bide my time until gardening season started and then start my own landscaping business.

 

I did get the job unloading trucks in the nursery but never started my own landscape business. Within weeks of starting in the nursery the long time dept. manager of the garden center announced he was leaving. I was offered the position willingly accepted and the rest is history.

 

I have enjoyed being your gardening, bird feeding, BBQ-ing, hydroponic guru for the past 25 years. I have seen many generations of gardeners excel in growing beautiful gardens during this time and feel honored for this privilege. It has been a very good thing indeed.

 

But we all know the saying that "all good things must ( I prefer to say will) come to an end". As 2010 dawns and unfolds before us I will no longer be your garden guru. Opportunities come and go fewer and farther between in the gardening field these days. The days of youth come and go even quicker when you hit the late 40's too! I have had many opportunities cross my path in the last 25 years that while tempting, were not tempting enough. This one however is one not to be missed.  

 

I will not be leaving Adams however. I will be nurturing a newly created position of Lawn and Garden Buyer for all Adams locations.

 

With today's market place so keen and moving forward difficult at best it became apparent to us that at the store level our garden managers were wearing too many hats. That ispart  of our unique corpoarte culture which allows managers in each dept. to take an ownership role when it comes to product selection, display, pricing etc. This accompanied with hiring, training, selling scheduling etc beacame overwhelming limiting how well we wore each hat. With fewer hats hats to wear each of us will now be able to concentrate on wearing one hat well instead of several hats and end up with mussed up hair.

 

The transistion will take several months and I will still be doing my slate of 15 seminars this winter. So while all good things must come to an end no one ever said that better things will not arise.

 

I will still be writing my blogs and colums for the newspapers. I will now have more time for my garden(s) providing Sam does not stake his land claim before I do. I will now also be able to spend more time doing photography and participating in exhibits and art shows. I plan on attendning the many framers markets I have missed on the weekends perhaps selling some herbs at a few as well.

 

I scincerely thank all of you for making me part of your gardening experience for almost three decades. I have learned much from of all you and in return, if you learned a small fraction as much from me, I will consider my job well done.

 

Make sure you stay in contact on my blogs and in the papers.

 

Good Gardening and Happy New Year

 

Greg Draiss

Greg's Gardening Seminars for 2010

Here is my seminar schedule for Jan/Feb 2010:

 

Sat Jan. 2 1 PM: Adams Pok: How to Attract and Feed Wild Birds

Sat Jan 9 1 PM: Adams Kingston: How to Attract and Feed Wild Birds

 

Sat Jan 16th 1PM Adams Pok: Herb Gardening

Sat Jan 23rd 1 PM Adams Newburgh: How to Attract and Feed Wild Birds

 

Sat Jan 30th 1PM Adams Pok: Home Hydroponics

Sat Feb 6th 1PM Adams Pok: Seed Starting

 

Wed Feb 10th 6PM Adams Pok: Slugs Bugs and other Thugs

Wed Feb 17th 6PM Adams Kingston: Home Hydroponics

 

Sat Feb 20th 1PM Adams Pok: Composting

Sat Feb 27th 1 PM Adams Newburgh Home Hydroponics

 

Don't forget these are just the seminars I am doing! There will be more than 40 other seminars going on throughout Jan/Feb 2010. Chances are I will be doing several more if there is space open on the calendar. As well our annual Spring Garden Show offers up some fabulous gardening classes as well.

 

 

Debunking The Poisonous Poinsettia

 

Millions of poinsettias are purchased each year as a celebration of the Christmas holiday. Nothing says "holiday" like a bright red poinsettia. They make excellent gifts for the host of the holiday dinner. As well they grace many entrances to commercial establishments as well. The poinsettias history is steeped in mystery and a little trickery. Poinsettias colorful show are not flowers but colored leaves called bracts. In fact the flower itself is not very showy at all. Poinsettias also are not supposed to "bloom" this time of year. They are coaxed into turning colors by controlling the amount of light they receive. To further add to the intrigue it turns out that poinsettias are not poisonous at all. So where did this colorful harbinger of the holidays come from and how did it gets its' shady reputation?

 

Poinsettias are native to an area in Mexico known as Taxco del Alarcon.  Aztecs put this plant to practical use using it for dyes and medicinal purposes. Its milky white sap was used in a formulation to treat fevers. Joel Roberts Poinsett an early ambassador to Mexico discovered this plant growing in Mexico and brought it back to his hot house in South Carolina. Poinsett then began making cuttings and giving them to his friends. He later founded the Smithsonian Institution. Without Poinsetts' interest in the plant Poinsettias would be but a biological oddity to us in the temperate regions of the world.

 

Until recently poinsettias were considered poisonous. As late as 1995 some 66% of people surveyed still believed the plant to be toxic. This urban legend began some 80 years earlier when a doctor believed the death of an Army officers' 2 year old child to be caused by ingestion of poinsettias leaves. According to POISINDEX, a child would have to eat 500-600 leaves to even get an upset stomach. Further complicating the chance of this happening is that the sticky milky sap gives off a terrible taste making even eating a few leaves unlikely.

 

Caring for a poinsettia is much easier than dispelling its shady past. Poinsettias like bright warm rooms with no drafts. Watering needs be done only when dry to the touch on the surface of the soil. To prolong the beautiful colors keep temps between 60*F and 72*F. It is possible, with a little care, to get your poinsettia blooming again for next Christmas.  After colors fade in February cut stems back to 8 inches. Hold off on fertilizing until July. At this time it may be necessary to repot it into a pot a little larger. Poinsettias do well outside in light shade providing night time temps stay above 50*F. When the dog days of August strike cut stems back leaving only three leaves per shoot. From September 20^th thru December first Poinsettias must be in the dark from 5PM to 8AM the next day. It is very important to follow this schedule in order to get the colors back on the bracts.

 

Poinsettias official name is Euphorbia pulcherrima. Today there are myriads of styles and colors.

The new rage is "painted" poinsettias where the leaves are hand painted bright colors. Red though still popular often gives way to white; burgundy and even yellow bract varieties. A multicolored bract variety is named after the painter Monet because of the color patterns.