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Posted by Kate Frank, web editor

I'm excited to announce that we just launched some new features on finegardening.com. We now have user photo galleries, and we've given you the ability to create public profiles.

You can check it out here: http://finegardening.taunton.com/gallery

Please come post photos! Right now, we're asking for you to share photos of your garden. But soon we'll have contests and photo challenges. Come make a profile!

Posted by Daryl Beyers

Who doesn't appreciate the look, feel, and scent of a fresh cut Christmas tree? The yearly trip to a local cut-your-own tree farm with my sons has become a family tradition. We select, cut, then load our tree on to the top of the car and take it home. It's an event we all enjoy.

But this year I began to think about the sustainability of Christmas trees. Our family Christmas tree is one of millions that are cut down each year, and I wondered, considering the growing movement to act and think green, if having a Christmas tree is the right thing to do for the environment.

A Christmas tree, be it a fir, spruce, or pine, is raised for harvest just like any other crop, and like any other crop the way in which it was grown plays a big part in the greenness, or sustainability, of the product. Hundreds of thousands of Christmas trees grown in states like Oregon, North Carolina, and Michigan are shipped across the country and sold in big box stores and shopping center parking lots across the country. If you buy your tree from them there is no way to know what ecological practices the tree farm implemented while raising your tree. It may, quite possibly, be covered with a residue of pesticides and chemicals you certainly don't want in your house. So what should you do?

Similar to the rise in popularity of farmers markets and locally grown food, locally grown Christmas trees are an equally good idea. In fact there are several websites you can use to find organically grown, local trees: www.localharvest.org, www.greenpromise.com and www.beyondpesticides.com to name just a few. You can also get a list of local growers from the Department of Agriculture.

There's no need to let your desire to be green turn you into a scrooge. Just like any other plant purchase, finding the right plant from the right source is the first step towards horticultural happiness. Traditions make the holiday season special, so if you don't already buy your tree at a local cut-your-own farm, try it this year. Contrary to everything that passionate gardeners stand for, you may discover that cutting down a tree can be a celebration in its own right.

Posted by Jessica Bondell

Hello to all our blog readers. I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and ask for your help. I’m the marketing manager for Fine Gardening. Part of my job entails finding out what you (our readers) want and then working with the editorial teams (print and web) to make sure that you get it. By doing this we keep providing you with great content and you (hopefully) keep reading our magazine and web site.

We know that vegetable/edible gardening is extremely popular and finally getting the attention it deserves. We have a bunch of great things planned for this topic but could always use a bit more information.

I've put together a survey so we can learn more about our readers' habits and interests in the edible gardening world. Your answers to this survey will help us understand the type of information you want to see. Completing the survey should only take a few minutes of your time and we would really appreciate it.

To entice you, we'll also be randomly choosing two names and giving away prize packs consisting of Fine Gardening issues, a Fine Gardening tote, a Front Yard Idea Book and a GardenScribe plant organizer.

Thanks for your help and your continued support,
Jessica

Click here to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6t8A161uH9Tri8DAGCfX1g_3d_3d

Posted by Michelle Gervais, Associate Editor

It's not even 2009, and I'm already thinking about what plants I want to buy next year. A big number of them are plants that I grew this year that it seems I can never go without again, like the 'Texas Parking Lot' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Texas Parking Lot', A.K.A. 'Alabama Sunset') I recommend to every single person who will listen. It's a monster of a coleus, and reliable as all get out. And unlike some colei (coleuses? coleus? Have I been thinking in Latin for too long?), its colors mesh with those of a ton of other plants. Not so of some colei that clash with simply everything when I bring them home to my garden. Then there's my Naranjilla (Solanum quitoense), a monstrosity of an annual, related to the tomato and just as easy to grow from seed, that sports large, fuzzy, green leaves lined along the veins with alarming, bright purple thorns. I love combining it with deep purple petunias or planting it at the base of a trellis planted with climbing Malabar spinach (Basella rubra) with its aubergine stems. There's a spineless version on the market, but I find it just that. I can't forget my 'Aureola' Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'). Common as dirt these days, but I'd never actually owned one until this year, and there's no going back. I planted in a pot to start, and after a season of spectacularness, it went into the garden this fall for a new show next spring. I can't wait for it to multiply. I must buy more. Tell us what your most successful plants were this year. I don't know about you, but I could use some great recommendations for my shopping list. Wait. Shouldn't I be Christmas shopping? Nope, this is more fun.

Posted by Kate Frank

The holidays are right around the corner. And if you're reading this, you're probably a gardener, shopping for one, or both.

We're here to help! The staff at Fine Gardening has compiled a wish list, with items ranging from compost tumblers to tree jewelry. We're also hoping you'll add your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

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Danielle, associate editor:

• Gardeners Hand Therapy Cream by Crabtree & Evelyn
Yes, $21.00 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on moisturizer—but this stuff is AMAZING. It doesn't leave that greasy, "I-just-ate-a-box-of-McDonald's-French-fries" feeling on your hands because it gets absorbed miraculously fast. By the time July rolls around my hands look like I've been shucking oysters my entire life and they feel like hell—this is the only stuff that seems to repair the damage.

• A gift certificate to my favorite local nursery. Honestly, what every gardener really wants for the holidays is for it to be spring so they can buy plants. Since that request is impossible unless you live in a warm climate, this gift is the next best thing.

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Jessica, marketing manager:

• My ridiculously expansive estate has a large tree that is just begging for an accessory. For the good of myself, the tree, and any lucky passersby, I think tree jewelry would be the perfect gift.

• I can't take credit for this idea as I read about it somewhere, but it is too good not to mention: A husband needed a gift for his wife. Knowing his wife's love of fresh flowers and arranging, he gave his wife 52 small envelopes, each with a short written note and some cash so she could buy fresh flowers every week for a year. What's even nicer is that she's documenting each of the arrangements she creates. Check them out on her Flickr page.

• Not necessarily blessed with a knack for arranging flowers, I prefer preassembled arrangements. I think the "12 Months of Flowers" program from ProFlowers would certainly brighten my days.

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Brandi, assistant editor:

• Hate those oh-so-cute garden gnomes you see everywhere? Jazz up your yard, instead, with Gnome-Be-Gone GnomeBearers from Perpetual Kid.

• Pretty and practical, these garden bowls from Kaviik's Accents are great for home and garden use.

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Daryl, assistant editor:

• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
A review on Barnes & Noble warns, "After reading this book, you may never shop, cook, or eat the same way again."

• A pair of Felco #9 hand pruners for lefties.

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Michelle, associate editor:

• I'm a lazy composter. I don't want to turn over my pile. I'd rather be weeding or, better yet, shopping for more plants. I've tried to use bin-type composters, but I've come to the conclusion that a tumbling composter would suit my personality to a T. I'll just give it a crank every time I empty my kitchen compost bucket. I really want this Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler so I can have two batches going at once.

• Tops on my list is a crew of 3 to 4 strong folks who will do all of the spring cleanup, then show up periodically to plant heavy trees and such, and finally come back and rake up the leaves and cut back the garden in fall. All for free, of course...

• A $300 gift certificate to Cottage Garden in Piasa, Illinois. This nursery has the best container plants!

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Stephanie, art director

• I have always wanted a spirit house. Whenever I see one, it's too chintzy or way too expensive.

• The other thing I would love to have even more is a few garden gnomes that actually spring to life when the garden needs attending. They'll whip it into shape, plant and water everything, then go back to sleep—with no attention required on my part.

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Kate, web editor:

• I would like to have at my disposal a very strong person who is good at taking orders, who can help me remake my beds this spring. Yeah, I thought that was what a spouse was for, too, but my husband doesn't seem to agree.

• Beekeeping has always fascinated me, and this Mason Bee House from Gardener's Supply Company looks like a good way to get started. I'm a little suspicious of bees, though—maybe my husband helper can take care of that, too.

• I don't think I would actually wear this cologne that smells like dirt by Perpetual Kid, but I'm intrigued. The company puts out some other wacky scents, including Vanilla Cake Batter, Crayon, Tootsie Roll, and Sushi.

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Suzanne, copy editor

• Outdoor tiered plant stands:

Posted by Daryl Beyers

Photo by J. Paul Moore

Gardeners are a wacky bunch, and there are many proofs positive for that statement. What reasonable person would drive 50 miles--one-way on dirt roads--to a specialty nursery in search of a plant they haven’t even heard of yet? Who else would wake up at the crack of dawn and prowl around their front yard looking for slugs to drown in cup of water? Who, after all, would even want to touch a slug? Our passions often get the best of us. These unrelenting outside influences make us do silly, unexpected things, things that only those who suffer from the same source of violent enthusiasm can understand.

Graciously accepting the uncontrollable urge to buy plants when you don’t have any more room for more plants in the garden, or the need to read every book about gardening that you can find, is the mark of an unabashed gardener, and unabashed gardeners are adventurous gardeners, and those are the gardeners I love to meet. They’ll try anything because that’s what makes gardening fun. Sometimes they succeed, some times they miss the mark, but through it all they have a good time and learn something along the way.

I’ve seen some pretty far out stuff in some gardens, but no matter how wild or ridiculous a garden may be, I have never met a truly passionate gardener I didn’t like.

Posted by Danielle Sherry

Trust me when I tell you that I am no Martha Stewart. I cannot make a peach flambé. I cannot hem pants (which is really a bummer considering I’m only 5’3’). I cannot perfectly frost a cupcake.

With that said, I do like to decorate for the holidays--not with neon plastic eggs or anything, but some nice fall leaves and pumpkins in autumn. So last year, right around the beginning of November, I noticed a lovely patch of bittersweet vines growing on the edge of my property. Bittersweet is a beautiful plant that gets covered with lovely orange and red berries in autumn. Hmmmm…the perfect accent to my holiday festive décor, I thought. So I proceeded to wrap it around my porch railings and shove pieces of it into my container pots.

Thanksgiving came and went and with it, so did my now tattered and weathered bittersweet vines, replaced with evergreens and glittery bows.

I had all but forgotten about the bittersweet decorations until the following spring when I started to notice these peculiar little green plants sprouting up all over the place. I pulled them out, assuming that they were just some early spring weeds. But they kept coming. And coming. And getting bigger. And bigger. I finally realized that these were bittersweet babies, set on taking over everything in their path, popping the siding off my house, and breaking in through the windows in order to taunt me in my sleep.

It took me that entire year to win the battle against the bittersweet offspring and unfortunately, we lost some innocent plants in the process.

So in the spirit of the holidays let me offer these tidings: Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and stay away from the bittersweet.

Posted by Kate Frank

Here's an interesting video from Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl. She and Mark Highland, from Organic Mechanic Soil, test the soil in Patti's raised bed garden.



Don't forget to check out Patti's web site.