Poinsettia Perfection

One of the perks of my job is getting free plants.  Much to the frustration of my boyfriend Kevin, I always seem to be coming home with a carload of plants given to me by local nursery growers and plants from finished research projects that I’ve saved from becoming part of the fateful compost pile.  Unfortunately, my townhouse condo is not very conducive to plant hoarding – with a front yard full of plants already, I am left with container gardening on the back deck or tending indoor plants.  Thankfully, this last plant I brought home – a lovely poinsettia (NOT a point-setta, ahem) – was an indoor one.  As I drove home from work the other day with my new poinsettia, not only was I thinking my typical thought of, “Where the heck am I going to put this one?”, but I was also thinking about the poinsettia itself… 

Photo: Poinsettias often come in brilliant red or snowy white, but can also be marbled, speckled, or even pink.

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a tropical flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America.  Apparently it has been used in Mexican Christmas celebrations since the 17^th century.  Poinsettias make the perfect Christmas plants with their star-shaped leaf arrangement said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and their red color said to symbolize the blood of Christ. 

The poinsettia I just brought home from work also originally came from overseas.  As a small, easily transportable cutting, it was shipped from the tropics all the way here to Long Island.  Care had to be taken to make sure that the little plants did not dry out, overheat, or freeze during transport.  When the shipment arrived in August at our research lab in Riverhead, Christmas seemed far, far away.  Over the next 4 ½ months, our Floriculture Specialist, Nora Catlin, tended over the plants with the care and fastidiousness of a new mother.  Each baby poinsettia received a prescribed watering regimen, nutrient program, and integrated pest control.  As the little poinsettias grew larger in the temperature-controlled greenhouse, the end buds were “pinched” off to increase branching and develop a fuller plant. 

The months passed quickly and as Christmas drew nearer, perfect care of the poinsettias became critical.  If the air temperature of the greenhouse was too low or there was not enough fertilizer applied, the poinsettias could end up too small.  But if the temperature was too high or too much fertilizer was applied, the poinsettias could come out leggy and too big for their pots.  Getting the leaves or bracts to change color from green to red or white in time for Christmas was also critical.  By increasing the length of darkness at night by using a greenhouse shade cloth, and by increasing the intensity of light during the day, the poinsettias turned a brilliant red or snowy white color.  There were also some really neat poinsettia cultivars that revealed a unique marbled or speckled pattern on their bracts or even changed to pink instead. 

Photo: Poinsettias inside a commercial greenhouse on the North Fork, Peconic

Perfect in size and color, Nora’s poinsettias shined festively in neat little rows inside the greenhouse, just in time for Christmas.  These poinsettias joined the nearly 1.5 million poinsettias grown every year here on Long Island.  So the next time you buy a poinsettia, remember all the hard work that went into growing it and making it ready for the holidays.  Now that the hard work is done, it’s time for us to relax and enjoy all that the season has to offer.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!    

Baby It’s Cold Outside! But Not for Long…

Since the United Nations just met last week for their international convention on climate change (COP 16), I figured I’d give this controversial topic some due attention.  I’m not exactly sure what was accomplished (if anything) at the 16^th international meeting on climate change.  After the big push and disappointment last year at COP 15, it seems a legitimate international treaty on climate change is simply a pipe dream.  At least one thing was an improvement this year – the location.  Instead of being held in Denmark in December, this year’s convention was held in Cancun.  I would think global warming sure seems a lot more bearable while lounging on a Mexican beach chair with a margarita in hand!   

In all seriousness, global climate change is a huge deal.  As I sit in my living room wrapped in a blanket with some hot tea while the thermometer teeters near 30°F, and imagine how nice it is in Cancun right now, it’s easy to ignore global warming.  The dire warnings of ice caps breaking off and melting in the Arctic, causing sea levels to rise and Manhattan and Long Island being covered by tidal waves, as polar bears and New Yorkers alike search in vain for a new home… It all seems rather far-fetched.   Where is the proof, the scientific evidence?! 

Well, my friends, the scientific evidence is already here.  It’s certainly not as exciting as fantastic stories of sea level rise, or as charismatic as loveable polar bears, but it’s real and it’s right here in our own backyards.  A recent study from the Northern Research Station of the federal US Forest Service found that the natural range of eastern trees that thrive at more northern latitudes is shifting due to climate change.  The research station found that over 70% of northern tree species are exhibiting a northward migration.  This occurs when more seeds germinate and seedlings thrive at the northern edge of the trees’ range than the southern edge.  Trees such as balsam fir, paper birch, sugar maple, and northern red oak are shifting their ranges northward. 

Photo: The natural range of trees such as Paper Birch is shifting northward as regional temperatures increases.

As species continue to head northward, researchers worry they may be extripated from the US, since many species’ ranges are not only shifting northward, but are also actually decreasing in the US.  Imagine, New England with no sugar maples!

Not only do eastern forests show evidence of climate change, but western forests do as well.  Long-term data from western old-growth forests show that background tree mortality rates have increased rapidly in recent decades.  These increased tree death rates were found across elevations, tree sizes, dominant species, and past fire histories.  After ruling out increased competition and attributing for tree aging, the researchers concluded that climate warming and resultant water shortages were likely the main causes of increased tree death rates.  Drought stress can negatively affect trees directly and indirectly by increasing susceptibility to insects and disease.  Huge outbreaks of bark beetles have ravaged whole mountainsides of western conifers, turning them into kindling wood for massive forest fires. 

Photo: Dead trees in Rocky Mountain National Park as a result of the Mountain Pine Beetle, an insect that takes advantage of drought-stressed trees.

Scientific evidence has shown that our forests are changing as a result of global warming.  Those concerned about climate change should be citing relatable, straight-forward facts, rather than touting calamitous predictions that only believers in the 2012 apocalypse will rally behind.  If you like your maple syrup from New England, or if you don’t want to hike through a tinderbox of our National Parks, then do your small part to reduce your carbon footprint.  The times they are a-changin.’

Firewood Hitchhikers

 Although I consider myself a pretty coordinated person, I’ve never be a great skier.  Each winter, my boyfriend Kevin and I drive up to his family’s ski place in Vermont.  After getting on all our gear and hitting the mountain, I’ll soon find myself feet up and sprawled across the ski trail as other more skilled skiers wiz by me and my poles which are sliding down the mountainside.  After a couple hours, I’m exhausted from the physical and mental strain of trying to not ski into anyone or anything.  We’ll head back to the condo, and after I peel away the cold wet layers of outerwear and check to make sure all my limbs are fully intact, we start a fire.  After a tough day of skiing, there’s nothing better than sitting in front of a warm and toasty crackling fire with the snow lightly falling outside a darkening window.  The warm flames change from yellow to orange to red before my eyes and the dried logs hiss and sputter. 

Photo:  When going on a ski trip or camping, make sure to purchase firewood when you get to your destination rather than beforehand, so you help minimize the spread of invasive tree-killing pests.

As I make another cup of spiced apple cider, Kevin puts another log on the fire.  We always make sure to buy the firewood from the little ski village itself.  That’s because it is actually illegal to transport firewood in New York State more than fifty miles from its source.  It’s also illegal to bring firewood into New York State.  Only if the firewood is heat treated (meaning that it is kiln-dried by bringing the core temperature up to 160°F and held at that temperature for 75 minutes) can you transport firewood greater than fifty miles or into NY State.  You’re also required to carry proof of the firewood’s source, such as a purchase receipt.  If you are cutting your own firewood, you must carry a self-issued certificate of firewood source. 

These are not capricious regulations that have been enacted simply to benefit local firewood suppliers.  There’s actually a very important reason why you shouldn’t move untreated firewood – invasive exotic, tree-killing pests.  Live insects and even diseases can be lurking underneath the bark and inside the wood of untreated firewood.  While there are many insects and fungi that naturally occur in our trees and firewood, dangerous tree-killing pests can also be found.  Invasive pests are insects or diseases that do not naturally occur here.  Instead, they have been brought over from other parts of the world, often accidentally, through increasing world trade and travel.  Our forests have not evolved with pests from across the globe and therefore haven’t developed any natural defenses against such pests.  Full-grown trees can be killed only a few seasons after attack.  Some of the most notorious invasive tree-killing pests include Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle, Oak Wilt, and Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. 

Photo: Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle from Asia that kills native Ash trees like the two growing along this riverbank in the Catskills.  After hitchhiking in firewood from the west, the deadly beetle was found in the Catskill region this summer for the first time ever.  Soon it will be on Long Island, if it isn't already. 

Our modern world is becoming an increasingly smaller one as world trade and travel continue at an unprecedented rate.  We’ve become a melting pot not only of people, but of other species as well.  Each of us can do our small part to slow the spread of invasive pests by not moving firewood long distances.  Also, if you notice that any of the trees in your yard die suddenly, alert Cornell Cooperative Extension to make sure it is not an invasive pest.  The next time you go on a ski trip or camping, make sure to purchase your firewood when you get to your destination rather than beforehand.  We want to keep our trees safe from these firewood hitchhikers!  

The Christmas Tree Conundrum

December is always an eventful month, full of festivities, parties, and traditions.  My family has always gotten a head start on the holiday season by setting up the family Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  My sisters and I would look forward to helping my dad haul up the artificial tree from the basement where it was stored for 11 months of the year, along with the boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments.  We seriously had enough ornaments for three or four trees.  Each year we seemed to accumulate more and more – my mom could never part with the delightful, home-made ornaments my sisters and I made in grade school out of paper plates or glittery yarn, and my dad could never part with his beloved Peanuts or Star Trek ornaments.  Secretly I couldn’t really blame him for the Start Trek ones – I mean who wouldn’t want a miniature electronic Starship Enterprise ornament that could announce the arrival of Dr. Spock at the push of a button? 

One year though, after noticing that the tree had begun leaning under the weight of all the ornaments, we decided to not put so many up, be more tasteful, and go with a themed Christmas tree.  Unfortunately, my dad decided to go with a frog theme and “tastefully” display his entire collection of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy ornaments.  This really brought about a good dose of teenage embarrassment when any of my high school friends came over to visit during the entire month of December and were able to witness the “Frog Tree” in person.  But without an artificial tree, we would have never been able to set up the Christmas tree so early.

And so, this leads to the age-old Christmas tree conundrum – do you get a long-lasting artificial tree, or a short-lived real tree?  What if I said you could have both?  If you get a potted Christmas tree, the tree is still alive and has its roots and you can plant it outside once the holidays are over.  But if you’ve run out of room in your backyard, or you don’t want to be digging through snow and frozen ground, I’d suggest visiting a local Christmas tree farm.  At a Christmas tree farm the trees are still alive and in the ground.  You can meander with your family through a winter wonderland of row after row of perfectly shaped spruce, fir, or pine.  You can drink in the amazing fragrance and enjoy the quiet of a wintery landscape.  At some places you can make the whole day a jolly Christmas celebration with hayrides, hot chocolate, and the occasional Santa Claus.  Once you pick out your “perfect” Christmas tree, they can cut it right there for you on the spot.  In some cases, they’ll even let you cut it yourself the old-fashioned way.  When you get your tree from a Christmas tree farm, you’re getting the freshest cut tree possible.  Although it won’t last as long as an artificial tree, it’ll probably last a whole lot longer than the stockpile of Christmas trees on the side of the road.     

When you go to pick out your Christmas tree, you should know what you’re looking for.  There are actually a number of tree species that make beautiful Christmas trees.  The most popular Christmas trees grown on Long Island are Fir (Douglas, Fraser, Canaan, or Concolor), Spruce (Blue or Norway), and Pine (White).  Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziseii) and Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) are probably the most popular and most commonly grown Christmas trees on Long Island.  They both have soft green needles and very good needle retention.  Douglas Fir is a little more fragrant, but both smell wonderfully.  Canaan Fir (Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis) is actually a type of Balsam Fir, the quintessential Christmas tree.  Concolor or White Fir (Abies concolor) has more of a citrus aroma and bluish-green, slightly curved needles.

Spruces also make great Christmas trees.  Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) has striking light-blue colored foliage.  Be careful though, because the ends of the needles are very sharp. 

Photo: Colorado Blue Spruce, like this one growing at Bayard Cutting Arboretum, make great Christmas trees.

Photo (below): Norway Spruce is the species of tree that Rockefeller Center uses for its annual tree lighting ceremony. 

Norway Spruce (Picea abies) can get very large, but you might want to wait until closer to Christmas to pick this one out, since needles don’t stay on the tree as well as other species after being cut.  Although it has minimal fragrance, White Pine (Pinus strobus) provides more of an old-fashioned feel with its very long, soft needles.

Below are some local Long Island Christmas tree farms.  Be sure to call ahead and they can help you pick out your perfect Christmas tree, whatever species it may be.  (No Kermit the Frog ornaments included!)

Baiting Hollow Nursery – Calverton. 631-929-6439 or 929-4327

Brightwaters Farms and Nursery – Bay Shore. 631-665-5411

Dart’s Christmas Tree Farm – Southold. 631-765-4148

Elwood Farm – Huntington. 631-368-8626

Muller’s Christmas Tree Farm – Manorville. 631-878-1060

Shamrock Christmas Tree Farm – Mattituck. 631-298-4619

Tilden Lane Farm – Greenlawn. 631-261-6392