Fun in 2016

Have there always been this many lists?  Since the internet we can find out so many things with a search, organized nicely into the top 5 and top 10. 5 things to look out for from the Weather Network 1. The South Will Be Cooler Than Average, The North Warmer 2. The South Will Be Wetter Than Average 3. El Nino Isn't the Only Player 4. California Could See Some Minor Drought Relief 5. We Don't Know When or Where It Could Get Ugly What kinds of Fun can we expect in 2016? We can expect the Mazda CX-3 to be stylish, efficient and fun, or the 2016 Mazda MX-5 to be plain, simple fun.  The most striking thing is that cars dominant the "fun" results. If you are looking for FUN:  Did you know that the acronym FUN stands for Florida United Numismatists?  We can go to the FUN show the first week of January. Here are two images for 2015 as it passes and 2016 as it arrives - A Time for Peace and Bird of Hope.

Poinsettia Fever - keeping away Cabin Fever

My theory goes that cabin fever starts in November as the horizon lowers and the day shortens drastically.  Poinsettias seem to be the perfect 'pick-me-up'.  They are vivid eye candy to the eyes.  They are so varied now with all sorts of variations on red white and pink (aside from the horticultural spray painting of blue). They signal a good time ahead. So you can guess what makes me visit Sunshine Nurseries. A visit to Sunshine Nurseries last week was a feast of poinsettias.  As far as you can see are stripes of red, white, pink - all the colours and varieties of poinsettias imaginable. There are three locations for poinsettia trials in North America - Florida, South Carolina and Niagara.  This year it is taking place at Linwell Gardens, one of the growers.  Last year it took place at Vineland Research Station and there was a great public showing and voting. There are over 160 varieties on trial this year, and I hope to see them on Monday afternoon when I interview Wayne Brown, the chair of the activity.

Trillium Virus

My earliest Trilliums are blooming in the garden - the white and dark red ones.  When I visited Marion Jarvie's garden last week, she said she has a success of Trilliums blooming between the end of April and the middle of June.  The last to bloom are the Luteums - spotted leaves and upright yellow flowers. These Trilliums are very pretty, but the stripes of green mean that they are virused.  If these plants aren't removed, the entire forest of Trilliums will eventually die of the virus.  So make sure you don't buy one of these thinking that it is an interesting variety.  It will kill the other trilliums in your garden.