Welcome to The Weeding Gnome

Brought to you by Plants Nouveau

In today's Issue:

Gnomes Celebrate Christmas While Corn Ruins Your Engine

Introducing Epimedium ‘Conalba’ Alabaster™, PPAF

--- The Garden Rant ---

I found this fantastic book called A Gnome’s Christmas, illustrated by one of

Holland's most popular artists Rien Poortvliet. You can buy it on Amazon if you
have any gnome lovers on your list and have not finished your shopping for the
holidays. In this book, you’ll find tidbits about how gnomes celebrate Christmas.

Did you know Christmas lasts the whole month for gnomes?

It seems they’ve combined the best attributes of Hanukkah and Christmas to make
their holiday a month long celebration of giving and thanks. A gnome’s Christmas
extends from the arrival of Sinterklaas on December 6th to the jocular exchanges
of Edda Night on January 6th. On December 6th, Sinterklaas and his assistant
Little Piet ride a huge white horse across the land where they visit each and
every gnome brother and sister. Good gnomes get treats from the sack.

Apparently, according to stories I’ve read, there really aren’t any bad gnomes, so
everyone gets a gift. A neighborly mole, chipmunk or shrew takes the role of
Little Piet each year.

Because gnomes are nocturnal, actual Christmas celebrations begin on the eve of
December 25th each year. It is their most beloved night because this is the night
of Christmas Rounds. Read more about Christmas Rounds in next week’s issue.

Ah, the simplicity of a gnome Christmas is so appealing to me right now. From now
through the January 8th issue of The Weeding Gnome, I’ll be shedding light and
insight into gnome holiday traditions.

I have also discovered a very cool place to buy some hand painted gnomes. My dad
and step mom, from Charleston, S.C. got me this really cool carved gnome for
Christmas. It came from a local carver named Jim Shore, from rural South
Carolina. Visit his website if you need some last minute gifts for the holidays.

Once our new gnome decides on a home, I’ll send a picture. He’s beautiful.

Just in case you were waiting with baited breath to see if I actually did paint
those Osage oranges read and cover them in sprinkles…I did. I have pictures to
prove it. I also found some northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) seedpods that
were a super cool addition to my front door wreath.

As you can see from the pictures, I went a little Whoville on the herb garden. I
had some extra Osage oranges that I speared onto hibiscus stems that were painted
red. It really looks like Cindy Loo Who lives here.

I love it!

Now onto the power of corn…

“In corn, I think I've found the key to the American food chain. If you look at a
fast-food meal, a McDonald's meal, virtually all the carbon in it - and what we
eat is mostly carbon - comes from corn.” ~ Michael Pollan

A few e-letters back I talked a lot about corn and how bad I feel it is for our
health and our bodies. Now, corn has ruined my week, so I’m really mad!

Once last week and two times the week before, our car stalled, while driving.
Scary, right?

I took the car in for service on Monday, which is always a good time. Getting a
loaner, remembering to take the car seats, sunglasses, phone plug and whatever
else from the car they are taking away because you have a feeling it might be “a
while”. Getting in a loaner in the middle of H1N1 flu season is always fun for me
too. I don’t want to touch anything for fear the last person who drove it surely
had the virus. For some reason, I don’t think about this stuff when I rent a car
on a business or family trip, but I do with loaners from the dealer. I find them
creepy.

They fixed the problem. It took 2 days. The culprit…CORN.

Apparently, BP gas, which is most convenient for us in Baltimore since there are
few other choices, contains the highest level of ethanol. You know the stuff the
US government is trying to make mandatory by such-and-such a date? The
revolutionary “green” alternative fuel they’ve invented to use up all of that
surplus corn they’ve (we’ve) paid for?

Well, my friends, that very “green” fuel gunked up the solenoids in my car and
caused the stalling.

Are they kidding me? I was told BP is good gas. Maybe I heard wrong. The repair
technician says Shell, Texaco and Citgo are best because they have lower
proportions of ethanol. So…these are the bad guys who are still making “regular”
gas, right?

Here I thought I was doing good by using more ethanol, even thought I know there
are better options for “green” fuels – it’s the best option we have in the US
right now. Now I go completely out of my way each time I need gas to buy
traditional fuel because they told me it will gunk up my car’s engine and they
will not cover it under warranty if it happens again. How the heck will we ever be
able to use biofuels if the first so-called benign, alternative fuel is wrecking
the engines?

Who’d a thunk? That being said, corn has risen to the TOP of my nemesis list.

Don’t get me wrong, I love, love, love corn on the cob in the summer time. My
family gets tired of eating it, but in Maryland, you can’t beat the sweet corn.
Even my supportive, willing to eat anything husband hits the corn wall in August
when he can’t eat anymore. Not me. There’s nothing like it in the Midwest (I can
attest to that after living there for 3 years). I would eat corn on the cob every
night and day while it is in season, if I could. It’s my favorite. I‘d rank
sweet corn from Maryland right up there with vine-ripened tomatoes. I refuse to
eat corn on the cob or tomatoes the rest of the year because they taste so yucky.

But…I’m really starting to HATE corn.

Now, onto my next nemesis… Newman. Ha-ha. I have to throw in a Seinfeld

reference once in a while for my fellow Gen X readers. What I really despise more
and more are really popular, yet invasive plants. Corn reminds me of an invasive
plant. It’s something we really need to stop growing, yet so many people are
depend on it for their livelihood.

Take Hedera helix, for example.

I was disheartened to see a house up the street that just sold had someone plant a
brand new crop of ivy plugs in the same spot that they paid (a lot, I’m sure) to
have a landscape company remove 50 years worth of ivy that was taking over their
house and every tree on the property. Ugh… and double ugh.

What were they thinking and which self-proclaimed expert landscape company
convinced them this was the solution?

I wish someone would suggest something else. Take barenworts (Epimedium sp.), for
example. They are so tough, they can take drought and poor soil, they spread, but
you can control them and they have the most beautiful spring flowers and winter
color. Who wouldn’t love them?

I suppose they are a bit more expensive than ivy, but we are working on that with
two new selections that were found in the garden of Dr. Richard Lighty, former
Director of the Mt. Cuba Center. Dr. Lighty observed these two fantastic
selections in his garden for many years before deciding they were worthy of
introduction. Epimedium ‘Purple Pixie’ and Epimedium ‘Conalba’ Alabaster™ are
being introduced through a parternship between Plants Nouveau and The Conard-Pyle
Co.

Plants Nouveau in cooperation with Holtex Enterprises is working on some new

propagation and growing protocols that will make growing these plants much cheaper
for the grower. Epimediums are traditionally a two to three year crop. Since they
take so long, they are expensive. The liners or divisions are expensive to start
with and then they still take too dang long to finish into a saleable plant.

We hope to have these protocols in place by 2011 to ensure grower success and
profits that will be passed along to consumers as an incentive to try something
other than ivy and other invasive woodland groundcovers.
Until next week…

Happy Weeding.

Angela

Angela Treadwell Palmer

President, Plants Nouveau