December 2001 on Alfie's Fuchsialand

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December 2001

All Aboard - Destination Unknown By Virginia Bickel

This story takes four children: Amanda, Peter, Laura and Jason from New York City to a small town in west Texas and describes good times and bad times as they grow from childhood to adulthood

STOP PRESS

Virginia Bickel's newest book Come September has just been released. Order it now!

In Virginia Bickel?s second book, she turns from historical fiction to mystery. Come September is the story of Daniel Lindsey?s quest to identify the young woman found unconscious in front of his store, and to find out what she was doing on Mesa Street, in El Paso, Texas. She brings to this genre her skill with character development and dialogue. You won't be disappointed.

Dr. Sarah Barlow

January 2001	February 2001	March 2001
April 2001	May 2001	June 2001
July 2001	August 2001	September 2001
October 2001	November 2001	December 2001

Please click on the thumbnails to view the pictures full size.

Some cuttings of Sneezy and Jenny Sorenson that were taken last summer. They're looking pretty good.
Some of the older Geraniums and Pelargoniums that were cut back in the Autumn.

A shot of the standards in the larger greenhouse. These are looking very well for December.
Another shot of the larger greenhouse showing geraniums on the staging and me standing in the doorway looking in.

This is a photograph of more geraniums and pelargoniums that were cut back in the Autumn. They look good too
The last shot is of some fuchsia bushes that were cut back hard in September. They have some nice green leaves showing and need to be kept ticking over till spring.

There isn't a lot happening in the greenhouse in December, this is a month for taking it easy. I go in most days and check the plants over for pests or dead leaves. It's always best to find these things immediately and remove both the bugs and the dead leaves. Bugs can take a lot out of a plant by sucking the sap, and dead leaves can begin rotting. If they aren't removed they can cause mildew and botrytis which could spoil the shape of the plant.

Though the plants don't require regular watering at this time of year, they do need a little. So while I'm in there I pick up each plant and feel the weight of it, it it's light I water it. If I'm unsure I leave it till next time and check it again. You find some plants need more water than others to get them through the winter.

This is the time of year when we can sit before the fire and scan through the catalogues and choose any new varieties or cultivars we want to grow next year. I like to get my orders in before the new year so that I'm sure to get the ones I want early in the spring. I can then get them into pots and have a good start with them. I think it's so important for the young plants to get their roots into some good compost.

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