What Do You Get When You Cross A Sheepdog And A Rose?… A Collie-Flower!

A wonderful week with cooler weathers and almost some rain. I went out to run in the possible down pour. (Not having stripped off my clothes as I have often threaten to do) Unfortunately I was only able to enjoy the 6 drops we got. I hear that Enderby and area got a nice downpour and although I am jealous good for them 

There is a lot of coverage on the news regarding the Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship. Although this is a rare event and a rare strain of the disease, it is something that should have some attention paid to it. Mice and Rats do not have bladders so they pass urine at any and all times. So think of the ramifications of them crawling over goods we purchase that come from warehouses. That is why we should trap and eliminate them to keep the populations down to prevent over populations and possible mutations of any disease they could carry. With Covid still in our minds it’s easy to keep possible disease outbreaks in our minds and any prevention measures should be kept in mind.

This last Sunday was Mothers Day! I hope all Mothers had a wonderful day! I know that many Mothers received flowers and chocolates as heartfelt gifts with love. To keep your flowers happy, beautiful and fresh there are some steps that you can take to ensure your success.

Once you get your beautiful bouquet there is a bit of work to be done to ensure that it lasts as long as possible which should be for most flowers up to a couple of weeks and some even longer. Your vase should be clean and thoroughly rinsed as soap residual and bacteria are not good for flowers. Prepare and fill your vase with water that either contains flower food or make a mixture that will feed and hydrate them as well. This is easily done by making a mixture of 2 parts water with 1 part clear pop like 7 up or Sprite with a drop of bleach or you can replace the can of pop with a teaspoon of sugar in about 2 or 3 cups of water and a drop of bleach. Cut the flowers while you’re arranging them about a half an inch from the bottom of the stem and place it immediately in the vase. 

Be sure to use sharp scissors so as not to crush the stem. Make sure that no leaves are below the water level as these will promote the growth of bacteria. The optimum for storing your flowers overnight is to put them in your fridge but most likely that will not be practical so keep your arrangement in the coolest place in the room and most importantly never place them in direct sunshine. Check the level of the water in the vase, at least 2 times a day as you will be amazed how much they will drink up. Every 3 or 4 days prepare another vase of water, lift the entire arrangement out and cut another half inch off the bottom and place in new fresh water. Remove the spent blossoms and continue to enjoy! Keep the flowers that can be dried like the Status, Bunny Tails, Sedum and many others for a nice winter bouquet of dried flowers.

Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com