The Big Dipper Farm News-ette is an occasional gardening e-newsletter for discussing new plant introductions, gardening tips, quotes, poems, ‘things-to-do-in-the-garden-now’, seminar reminders and much more. Don’t forget the Web Specials at the bottom! It’s free, kept private, spam-less and fun! Garden On!
-Deidre Finley, Big Dipper Farm

If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses,
what might not the heart of man become in its
long journey toward the stars?
- G.K. Chesterton

Check the site in the next couple weeks for our Holiday Program!
We’ve put together some unique plants for holiday gift giving along with some beautiful wreaths, topiaries and garden art. There’s something for everyone on your list! Here’s a sampling:
Variegated Lemon Trees - Holly wreaths - Gift Certificates - Christmas Rose /Hellebore
Fatwood bundles - Tabletop Holly Plants - Mistletoe - Gift Baskets

Welcome Home Darling!
So… It’s time to drag the Lime tree in again. One year I picked 22 limes from this 30-inch tree! It took me all summer to reshape the poor thing after one whole side died from my failure to rotate it. This winter I promise to do better.

Please raise your best Boy Scout salute and repeat after me:

1. I will find a 12-step program for ‘zone denial’ to stop buying plants that can’t stay outside. (Hello, My name is Deidre… and I kill houseplants.)
2. I will check the pots, soil and foliage carefully before hauling them in. Ever step barefoot on a slug in your living room?
3. I will turn my plants to get even light. The boomerang swoosh look is not a good one for a Stag horn fern.
4. I will get some supplemental lighting over the cluster of winter detainees pathetically jammed into the only decent south-facing window I have.
5. I will mist them with water often to increase the humidity and:
6. I will also set the pots in trays of pebbles and water to increase the humidity.
7. I will not fertilize. From the reduced winter light, many houseplants go semi-dormant and do not have the feeding needs as actively growing plants.
8. I will not over-water. It’s better to keep a plant dryish than waterlogged especially when growth is slowed. More houseplants die from overwatering than any other cause.
9. When all of this is still not enough to keep most of the leaves from falling off, I will hang in there until April when they can go back out to begin ‘The Recovery’.

Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.
David Letterman (1947 - )

Save Big $$ - Special Newsletter Offer on Gift Certificates!
Gift Certificates mean never having to say you’re sorry.
Let your favorite gardener get exactly what they want.

Just in time for the upcoming gift-giving season, newsletter subscribers can purchase gift certificates at 20% less than the face value. For example, purchase a Gift Certificate for $100 and pay only $80. The certificate must be payable to someone other than yourself.

To receive this discount, you MUST put the promotion code ‘Great Gift’ in the comments box at the end of checkout. The shopping cart WILL NOT reflect the discount. The discount will be done manually before you are charged. This offer is good from now through December -06. Certificates may be in any denomination, they are sent with your personal message and shipping is included.

Buy a Gift Certificate Here!

I wanted to say thank you and I hope you will laugh also.
I received my plants yesterday. They all came in great shape. It was fun to receive plants by mail.
I had never ordered plants online before. I really looked forward to the Harlequin glory bower.
I potted it yesterday when we received it then my dog kept nipping at the leaves.
She left it alone last night. When I got home from work today she ate all the leaves.
I really hope they grow back. Oh my dog :) The poor baby plant.
I moved it where the dog can not eat it now but OH gosh. :) Just a cute story :)
It is such a sweet plant with no leaves now. I will love it and nurse it back.
I am going to get that dog. NO, just laughing at what happens sometimes.
Happy Labor Day weekend.
Tori B. - Vacaville, California

Nature does nothing uselessly. Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

New Plant Spotlight…
I’m thrilled to highlight these new, highly exceptional and unusual plants. Every one of them is spectacular. Take a moment to get to know these beauties. If you’re looking for something new and different, one of these may be a perfect addition.

Beaked Stewartia - Stewartia rostrata
A rare Stewartia, with rose-red buds that open to large white flowers pink-flushed at the base which are mildly fragrant. The seedpods are also deep rose red. Fall color is a deep wine-red. A true four-season plant with exceptional qualities. The earliest species to bloom and the easiest to grow. A fairly heat tolerant tree, prefers partial shade, but will take full sun. It slowly reaches a height of 20'. A much sought-after tree for Bonsai. Drought tolerant once established. We ship young, well-branched trees at least 14'' tall. See the Stewartias
Zones 6-8 - Eventual Height 18-20’

Dwarf Bird's Nest Fern - Asplenium goudeyi
This is a native of the Lord Howe Islands, off Australia. It's a little hardier, smaller, thicker and more upright than the species. A great little evergreen that’s somewhat new to the market and very hard to find. Charming for indoor use.
Zones 8-10 - Height 12” See the Aspleniums

Toatoa - Haloragis 'Wellington Bronze'
New from New Zealand! A wonderfully rich-colored, foliage plant in a blend of green, burgundy and brown that does well in consistently moist soil or even standing water but is also a beautiful accent for mixed container plantings! Elegant, serrated foliage rises only about a foot and has a lovely trailing habit. Pinkish mauve flowers appear in summer. A distinctive and deciduous groundcover for around the pond or for a patio pond pot.
Zones 6-11 - Height 12-16” See the Toatoa

Banana, Dwarf - Musa 'Truly Tiny'
New! A tiny sport of 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Grows to only a foot or so tall! This banana can actually be used as a ground cover. Bananas do well as houseplants.
Zones 9-11 - Height 12-16” See the Bananas

Did You Know?
Bananas grow on a tropical plant that is not a tree -it has no trunk. Bananas are gigantic herbs that spring from underground stems. What appears to be the trunk is a false stem formed by tightly wrapped leaf sheaths. With stalks 25 feet high, they're the largest plant on earth without a woody stem.

Oranges, lemons, watermelons, and tomatoes are berries.

Regarding the old debate over whether the tomato is a fruit or vegetable….
Here in the USA it’s considered a vegetable but many countries put it in the fruit column.

In accordance with a US Supreme Court ruling in 1893, the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is as follows: 'Any plant or part thereof eaten during the main dish is a vegetable. If it is eaten at any other part of the meal, it is a fruit.'

!! Garden Story Contest !!

It seems that most gardeners have a ‘Sentimental Plant’ story. Perhaps it was a gift or was planted by someone special or on an important day. Share your story, or the story of a loved one, with us and it might win you a $50 gift certificate! Keep it between 200 & 300 words please and if possible, send a photo.
Email your story by 11-15-06 to Garden@BigDipperFarm.com
Winning story will be in next month’s newsletter. If you have any questions call 360.886.8253.

The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration. -Claude Monet

You’ve Been Told to Contact Them, But Who Are They?

“Call your local Extension office.” You’ve probably heard or read that more than once in response to a gardening question. But what exactly is an Extension office and is there one in your neighborhood?

The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide educational network that is a collaboration of federal, state and local governments and a state land-grant university. The mission of the Cooperative Extension System is to disseminate research-based information on topics as varied as nutrition, child rearing, agriculture, horticulture, husbandry, small business and personal finance. Every U.S. state and territory has a central state Extension office. Each state Extension serves its residents through a network of local or regional offices staffed by professionals in their field.

Where Is My Local Extension Office?
To find your local Extension office, just click on your state on the Map of Cooperative Extension System Offices. Most local and regional offices now have their own web sites and can tell you what services they offer.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful;
they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.
- Luther Burbank

Drying Your Hydrangea Blooms
Here’s a great site to learn how to dry your hydrangeas:
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/dryingnat.html

Hello, I received my order yesterday and I was very happy. This was the first time I ordered from you and I will continue using you because the plants arrived alive not dead like what I’ve ordered from G______ and M_______ ____ and it was mainly the way they were shipped and the packing technique and again I want to say I was very satisfied ........
Thanks and have a good day. Daniel - King George, Virginia

Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for
biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season,
and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.
- Samuel Butler

Tip for the Day: Spot-spray weeds with common full-strength household vinegar, on a sunny day. It's an organic weed killer that's safe for you, the environment, it’s always available and it’s cheap!

There are many Gardening Blogs out there but this one’s a bit different. Something to check out:
http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/
Manifesto - We Are:
Convinced that gardening MATTERS.
Bored with perfect magazine gardens.
In love with real, rambling, chaotic, dirty, bug-ridden gardens.
Suspicious of the "horticultural industry."
Delighted by people with a passion for plants.
Appalled by chemical warfare in the garden.
Turned off by any activities that involve "landscaping" with "plant materials."
Flabbergasted at the idea of a "no maintenance garden."
Gardening our asses off.
Having a hell of a lot of fun.

I just spent 4 hours on your web site planning next year’s garden.
I never spend 4 hours on the internet but your site just hooked me.
Thank you for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.
Sandie J, - Midlothian, Va

Things to do in the Fall Garden:

• When the Fall mums fade just deadhead the flowers. Winter survival rates are higher when stems are left through the winter.

• Do not fertilize trees, shrubs & perennials at this time of year as fresh pushed new growth reduces the plant’s cold tolerance.

• Raking leaves off the lawn does prevent suffocation dead patches and the leaves are great for the compost pile.

• Trim back roses to knee height so winter winds won't cause damage.

• Get the last of the annuals and finished vegetable plants into the compost.

• Don’t forget to dig and store your more tender bulbs like Dahlias, Calla Lilies, Canna Lilies, Gladiolus and Tuberoses.

• Choose one of these gorgeous autumn days to get at that new crop of weeds now. They will be rooted much deeper by Spring.

You do not need to know anything about a plant to know that it is beautiful. -Montagu Don

Naturally Native – American of the Month
Redwood Ivy - Vancouveria planipetala
A truly elegant, native groundcover. One of my favorites.
Beautiful, delicate and very hard-to-find, this evergreen groundcover is deciduous in very cold and exposed locations within its range. Very similar to Epimedium, the low growing, spreading foliage is somewhat leathery and a very glossy, dark green. Does best in rich organic soil in cool, moist, protected sites under trees. The white, occasionally pink, flowers rise up on thin stems in sprays of 25 or more and are drawn back explaining one of its common names: Inside-out Flower. Native to SW Oregon to mid-California. Part sun to full shade.
Zones 6-9 Height 10-14” See the Redwood Ivy

Thank you so much for your catalog!!! I was enthralled by the Native American section and will be getting some plants from there for myself. It will be interesting to bring some of the NJ plants back to NJ. I especially liked the Crissy variety, having many of the Corgi variety at my home. It was delightful to wander through and I only wish I lived near by to visit you!
Thank you, Melody K - Three Bridges, NJ

When the sun rises, I go to work.
When the sun goes down I take my rest,
I dig the well from which I drink,
I farm the soil which yields my food,
I share creation, Kings can do no more.
- Chinese Proverb, 2500 B.C.

 

Big Dipper Farm 
360-886-8133
www.BigDipperFarm.com