• Let's begin with service. We are once again supporting the Family Center. Let's assist them with their annual "Santa's Workshop" program. Participants should bring a new unwrapped toy for children ages birth - 18. Cay McShurley will take our donations to the Family Center to spread cheer and bring joy to families.
• What to wear? A gaudy Christmas sweater is always in fashion. Show us what you've got!
• Bring your appetite! Ham and turkey will be provided. You should bring that special side dish your relatives rave about so we can all be merry.
• Bring a wrapped gift (value of $20) for an adult. We will pass gifts as our own sunshine, Cay McShurley, reads us a Christmas story while we pass the gifts to share the joy.
• What is Christmas without a wish? We will join together and write our wishes then watch them float to the heavens. As Shannon says, "a fire extinguisher nearby", will be in order.
• And we know more fun is in store! Expect a mystery icebreaker, Reindeer Ring toss, Truths and a Lie, Christmas music, and more games to keep you entertained! To Shannon and those helping her plan, thank you for preparing a wonderful party! We can't wait to see some of these photographs! Bring your Christmas spirit.

Supplies Needed:

• Containers
• Scissors
• Drill and drill bit, knife, punch, or other sharp object

• March 14, Tuesday - afternoon – pick up trees at the Bedford County Extension Office in Shelbyville – one person, verify the order and load the trees into his truck
• March 15, Wednesday through March 16, Thursday – times depend on the number of trees to distribute - prepare trees for customer pickup
  • Bundle and tag trees for each customer, wrap each bundle in newspaper, place customer order in bag and write customer name on the bag
• March 17, Friday – 10am to 4pm – give trees to customers, answer their questions about planting and caring for trees – one or 2 people, for each 2-hour shift
• March 18, Saturday – 9am to 12pm – give trees to customers, answer their questions about planting and caring for trees – one or two people
• Start now, sharing the FaceBook Larry's MCMG post with others on your personal FaceBook feed

• December is the time to start thinking about landscape improvements for next season. Look through books, investigate extension resources, make an appointment with a landscape designer or architect. Review pictures you have taken of your gardens during the past growing season to see what you might need to add to your gardens and yard.
• Gardening catalogs should start arriving this month. Start a list of items that you want to purchase for next spring.
• December is a good month for reviewing the year's successes and failures. Since most plants are relatively dormant at this time and since other garden work is less pressing, December is an ideal time to remove plant failures.

• As long as the ground is not frozen, you can plant trees and shrubs. Be sure to mulch transplants and keep them well watered. If needed, prune trees and shrubs that are dormant. Rejuvenate overgrown shrubs by severely cutting them back. Keep in mind that if you prune spring flowering shrubs, like azaleas and forsythia, you are pruning off their spring flowers. 
• Prune evergreen branches to use in holiday decorating.
• Bring Witch Hazel blossoms indoors. The blossoms are very fragrant. Enjoy cut branches of beautyberry and winterberry holly with their colorful berries but save some for the birds.
• Make sure evergreen plants go into freezing weather well watered.

• Remove heavy layers of stray leaves that may have accumulated around perennials. They can mat down and smother perennials, and they promote rotting.
• Empty the soil from your container gardens or use the soil to support cut evergreen branches in pots. Add the soil to your garden beds or to the compost pile. Clean, sterilize, and store the pots to be ready for spring.
• Plant paperwhites, narcissus bulbs in a shallow container of soil or gravel. They will bloom indoors during the winter months. Keep the container in bright sunlight. You might have to stake or tie flowering stems upright if they grow to floppy.

• When you have finished your last mowing of the year, make sure that your mower is properly stored. Run it until it is out of fuel. Old gas can turn to varnish and severely damage the engine.
• Sharpen the blade.
• Apply agricultural lime, not quick lime, as needed and appropriate.

• Weather permitting, spray fruit trees with lime-sulfur and dormant oil to rid trees of overwintering insect eggs and fungus. Thorough coverage is important. Do not spray when temps are below freezing.

• Check houseplants frequently to see if they need water. Dry heated air can cause them to lose moisture more rapidly than they do in spring and summer when indoor air is more humid.
• Reduce or eliminate houseplant fertilizing during short winter days unless your plants continue to grow actively. Most plants grow more slowly now because there are so few hours of bright light each day.
• Wash your plants with lukewarm water with  few drops of mild dishwashing liquid added to prevent inviting insect pests.
• Inspect houseplant leaves for fine webbing and pinprick yellow discoloration. These are signs of spider mite infestation. They are difficult to see without magnification.

• Continue to keep bird feeders full.
• Drain your hoses and put them away so they don't freeze and burst.
• Clean and oil your garden tools for winter storage. Place sand an oil in a large bucket then slide your tools in and out of the sand. This is a good month to replace garden tools.

• Camellias
• Osmanthus

• Poinsettias are the favored flowering holiday plant. Regardless of the size or variety, poinsettias like bright light and even moisture. With plenty of light, they can keep their colored bracts for many months. Leaf dropping can be avoided with a little extra light.
• Christmas cactus, kalanchoes, and cyclamen should have foil wraps on the containers removed to prevent rot. Make sure these plants are well wrapped when traveling between the store and home.
• Plant amaryllis bulbs now for Christmas blooms.
• Keep fresh cut Christmas trees in a cool, not freezing location. After bringing a tree home, cut 1-2" from the base and plunge it into a bucket of tepid water with preservative added to prevent the cut end from sealing over. Don't let the container dry out. When bringing a tree indoors for decorating, allow it to rest in the stand with water for several hours to allow the tree to relax its branches before decorating.
• Potted or balled living Christmas trees should be placed in a cool, not freezing, area until brought indoors for decorating. If kept indoors too long, they will break dormancy. After Christmas, take the tree out to a chosen site and plant it. Water well and mulch.
• Don't forget the gardener on your gift list. A gift certificate to a nursery, garden center, garden magazine or mail order source would be appreciated.

Verbesina Virginica (Frostweed)

MCMG Calendar