first published November 19, 2009

Remember Christmas 10 years ago and that bold, rich poinsettia that adorned your coffee table—the one you fell in love with? Want to reignite a decade-old passion with that same variety? Well, forget it. It’s just not that into you. Or, perhaps, what you don’t realize is that you’re just not into it. Anymore, that is.

True, you may have loved that favourite way back then, but your life has changed and so have your expectations. You want a poinsettia that looks and performs better than ever. Unfortunately, those old varieties simply don’t measure up anymore.

It’s not that the old varieties were bad. It’s just that we all expect constant improvement in poinsettias. Of the 30 or so poinsettia varieties we grow today in our greenhouses, not a single one was available a decade ago. So, why exactly have we cast aside some of our old favourites? Well, it’s all about taking the best of the past for building the best of the future. And while you may lament the loss of your previous relationship, here are some reasons to salute the new.

Today’s poinsettias are much less gangly and have much stronger branches than older varieties. This means far fewer poinsettia branches will break en route to the coffee table. That’s not to say plant breeding has produced steel-like branches, but branch attachment to the main stem is much more solid than in the past. Strong is in; fragile is out.

Many of today’s best varieties also have darker green leaves relative to older varieties. Modern varieties have more light-harvesting chlorophyll and are, therefore, better able to capture what little light is available in our homes. This makes for plants that look great for much longer than many of the traditional paler-leafed varieties. At one time, a poinsettia that lasted three weeks in our homes was considered durable. Now, we expect a poinsettia to last three months. Longevity is in; ephemeral is out.

From a grower’s perspective, the one attribute of new varieties that’s improved tremendously is one that is hidden—the roots. A plant that roots poorly is a plant that performs poorly in the home. Vigorous roots take up water easily and are resistant to root diseases. Just as solid foundations are an integral part of quality buildings so too are roots the foundation of quality plants. Roots are, as always, in.

Over the past 10 years, poinsettia breeders have also become a bit like haute couture fashion designers. At one time, poinsettias were only available with solid red or solid white bracts. But now, they’re just as likely to be orange or white splashed with red. The bract shape has also undergone an amazing transformation. New poinsettia varieties have everything from deeply serrated bracts to twisted bracts. Some even have oddly crinkled leaves, which look as though the breeder somehow channelled some Picasso into the foliage. Perhaps, mutant poinsettias are in and traditional are…nah, traditional is always in at Christmas, no matter what haute couture breeders create.

So, regardless of which new poinsettia variety becomes your favourite, don’t feel bad about severing your relationship with the old varieties. They’ve become the breeding stock for modern varieties. And they’re enjoying life in warm, comfortable greenhouses around the world, where at least plant breeders are still into them.

Note:

Check out some pictures of this year’s varieties at holesonline.com.

Hits & Misses: Charmed Christmas cactus & the short straw
Question of the Week: My shrubs didn’t perform that well this year, what can I do for them next spring?
Science & Technology: Immunization shots for elms

Last Thursday, our annual Christmas open house kicked off the holiday season in fine style thanks to the great work of our wonderful staff. Of course, the hot apple cider, chocolate treats and wine sampling elevated everyone’s spirits. And the demos, which included tablescaping and wreath making, pleased the do-it-yourself crowd. But what I found most interesting was the opinions about our new biodegradable pots. The poinsettia tour group favoured the rice-hull and wheat-chaff pots, but the straw pots were…well, check out this week’s Miss.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Charmed Christmas Cactus
Our Christmas cacti look better than ever this year, which is a bit illogical. I say that because we went against the norm and added much more fertilizer to the soil than is recommended. The Christmas cacti have responded by producing lots of lush green leaves and tons of extra flowers. Now I can’t attribute the abundance of foliage and flowers entirely to the fertilizer—there’s a lot of TLC provided by our growers—but there’s little doubt the cacti loved being bathed in luxurious amounts of nutrients. I suspect the Christmas cacti benefited from higher fertilizer levels because they have relatively small root masses and fewer roots to absorb nutrients. In any case, logical or not, next year’s cacti will be spoon-fed the same way as the 2009 crop.

Miss: The Short Straw
Ah, yes, the straw pots. We’re continuing to trial various biodegradable pots, this time with our poinsettia crop, and most have made the grade. But the straw pots are coming up short. They’re actually too darn good at biodegrading. Even though the sides of the straw pots retain their integrity, the pot bottoms break down fairly rapidly and get mouldy. And while I mentioned to some ladies on the poinsettia tour that a bit of mould is normal for things that biodegrade, they countered with “mould is fine for biodegrading, but not fine if one has a mould allergy.” Good point. Score one for the mould-sensitive customers and zero for the straw pots.

Science & Technology
Immunization Shots for Elms
Dutch elm disease (DED) has killed vast numbers of American elms across the continent. So far, Alberta is one of the few places in the world that is Dutch-elm-disease free. Up until recently the only control for DED was to keep the beetle that transmits the disease out of the province. But now a new product called Dutch Trig can be used to vaccinate elms. Dutch Trig contains a fungus that, once injected into American (or European) elm trunks, triggers an immune response comparable to how our bodies respond to vaccinations. Now, before you rush out to buy Dutch Trig, remember you need specialized equipment to inject it into tree trunks, it has be applied each year and…oh yeah, you have to be a licensed pesticide applicator to buy and use it. For the average citizen worried about DED, my advice is to stick to the basics: recognize the symptoms of DED and report suspicious trees to your local municipality, don’t transport or store elm firewood, don’t prune elms from April 1 to October 1 and take care of your elms by giving them plenty of TLC. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of Dutch Trig.

Question of the Week
My shrubs didn’t perform that well this year, what can I do for them next spring?
First, inspect your shrubs for winter damage and prune branches as necessary. Also clean up twigs, leaves and any other debris around the base of your shrubs—this will help reduce insect problems and make weeding easier. Cultivate or loosen the soil, being careful not to damage roots (be extra cautious around shallow-rooted shrubs, such as azaleas, rhododendrons and daphnes). Finish by top-dressing with compost and then fertilize with a slow-release granular product. These steps will get your shrubs off to a strong, healthy start.

Did You Know?
Some fairy rings are estimated to be 500 years old.

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
–Aristotle

We’re excited that one literal path to the Enjoy Centre opened to regular traffic this week.
I’m speaking about LeClair Way in St. Albert, the connector road that allows people to exit Ray Gibbon Drive (which is connected to Edmonton’s Anthony Henday Drive) and to link to Riel Drive. Of course, Riel Drive has been extended south of Levasseur Road and now runs parallel to the east side of the Enjoy Centre site.
Certainly, the old adage “Location, location, location” is very true. And it was definitely a major consideration when we first started looking for a new site. If customers couldn’t easily reach us we knew it would be an impediment. But now that LeClair is open, we’ll be able to easily direct people to the Enjoy Centre.
Eventually, LeClair Way will join up with Edmonton’s newly aligned 137 Avenue further to the east. That section’s slated to open in 2012 and will further improve access to the Enjoy Centre. But right now, I’m going to go drive down the first section of LeClair Way and see what it feels like to be “regular traffic.”

Source: the City of St. Albert.

Our open house last Thursday was a great success. Guests who came to our Holiday Event took part in greenhouse tours, watched demonstrations and had a chance to sample some foods.

Last night’s open house offered a rare opportunity to see the greenhouses and all the poinsettias at night. Normally we don’t even have lights in the growing range.

More images of the Xmas Event to come…

Hits & Misses: Sunny days & a tale of two bulbs
Question of the Week: Last winter something ate the bark off several trees in my yard. What can I do to prevent it from happening again?
Science & Technology: A new automotove plant

Looking for something to get you into the Christmas spirit? Well, join us tonight for our annual Hole’s Holiday Event. One of the highlights will be greenhouse tours, where you’ll be able to immerse yourself in a sea of over 40,000 poinsettias. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how we grow our popular Christmas crop and see some of the wonderful new varieties for 2009. There will also be food tastings and tablescaping sessions with our design staff. Tablescaping, as I just recently learned, is the art of designing your table for the holidays so that it’s both beautiful and functional. As well, we will show you the “recipe for making an urn” so that you can create a sensational outdoor arrangement. Come reconnect with the holiday spirit.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Sunny Days
I’ll concede the hit of the week to the central star in our solar system—and so will our poinsettias. Sunny, warm November temperatures really help to put the finishing touches on the crop and colour it up nicely for Christmas. With the days being short and the sun angle being low, our plants are just like us—happy to get as many blue-sky days as possible in November.

Miss: A Tale of Two Bulbs
I declare 2009 the year of the dichotomous amaryllis bulbs. That’s because this year the bulbs definitely fall into two distinct categories. Some bulbs are the best quality I’ve ever seen; others are the worst I’ve ever seen. A good amaryllis bulb should be dormant, have solid roots and no blemishes or signs of rot. My favorite variety, ‘Red Lion,’ arrived in fantastic shape and will have knockout flowers by December. But another shipment of amaryllis bulbs arrived in horrible shape. The excellent quality bulbs went straight into pots and will root beautifully in a few weeks. But the horrible ones will never see the light of the greenhouse. One thing you learn in the greenhouse business is that there’s no successful rehab program for bad plants—compost bins are the only solution.

Amaryllis are a holiday favourite, second only to poinsettias.

Science & Technology
A New Automotive Plant
Toyota Motor Corporation has given a whole new meaning to automotive plant by developing a new variety of shrub designed to absorb harmful gases. ‘Kirsch Pink’ is a type of cherry sage (Salvia microphylla) that Toyota has bred to absorb nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and a few other air pollutants. It’s supposed to be more efficient than many other plants at absorbing harmful vapours. And while I applaud their efforts, it sounds like Kirsch Pink is a hybrid that’s designed to market hybrid cars. Excuse the skeptic in me.

Question of the Week
Last winter something ate the bark off several trees in my yard. What can I do to prevent it from happening again?
Prevention—as you’ve already determined—is the right approach because it’s basically impossible to repair a trunk damaged by animals. However, if the damage is limited to a small area, the tree will eventually heal itself. To prevent further damage, you need a physical barrier, such as a protective tree collar around the base of the trunk.

Did You Know?
It’s hard not to touch the tactile, fuzzy leaves of an African violet but you should resist. Studies have shown touching the leaves reduces plant size and quality, especially if your hands have had lotion on them.

“Without the human community one single human being cannot survive.”
–the Dalai Lama

Why relocate? Better yet, why start a new venture at a career point where others might look to early retirement? Both questions have been asked of me more than once.

And my standard businessman response has been that building the Enjoy Centre is about remaining viable. Aside from the desire to grow, there’s a need to change just in order to maintain what we have. Certainly, those are some of the reasons for this new venture. But the last time someone asked me why, I had to acknowledge there’s more to it than the obvious business reasons. When you go beyond what you and others think you can do, there’s a new-found sense of accomplishment. I think it’s similar to an athlete pushing his or her physical limits.

The Enjoy Centre project is challenging, exciting, exhausting and invigorating—not to mention completely time consuming. Apparently, one of the other reasons why is that I needed something to fill my days. It is also, too often these days, filling my nights!

first published November 5, 2009

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a relatively new growing system developed at the Crop Diversification Centre South in Brooks, Alberta. It’s called aquaponics and involves growing food crops, such as tomatoes, in a tank filled with fish. The plants absorb nutrient waste in the tank and, simultaneously, purify the water for the fish. It’s a great system—the fish are happy, the plants are happy and both live together harmoniously.

However, one reader was deeply worried about the safety of eating tomatoes grown from fish waste and voiced her concern in a letter to the editor. Because of a severe allergy to seafood, she believed her life would be at risk if she unknowingly ate a tomato that had been grow in a fish tank.

Now, I must admit that the scientist in me was caught a little off guard by the letter. But when I removed my white coat, I realized it’s an honest misunderstanding that warrants discussion. Now before I launch into my explanation, I should start by saying that anyone who has the potential for an anaphylactic reaction has the right to question everything they eat. However, in this case, the concern is unnecessary. A tomato plant has about as much chance of extracting a fraction of a fish protein from a tank of fish, as I do of extracting a fraction of enjoyment from a Paris Hilton movie. It’s just not going to happen. That’s because tomatoes, or any other plants for that matter, aren’t capable of absorbing proteins into their cells. And here’s why.

Plants may look like simple organisms, but they’re enormously complicated and extremely selective about what they can absorb from the soil (or in this case, from a solution). In fact, getting a protein—fish or otherwise—into a plant cell would be like trying to squeeze an elephant through the eye of a needle.

Only very small molecules of dissolved minerals (called ions) are able to make their way into plant cells. And proteins are often hundreds of times bigger than dissolved minerals. So, even if they wanted to, plants are physically incapable of absorbing proteins.

In fact, the ability of plants to absorb only miniscule ions prevents all of us from being exposed to toxins. A case in point is the often-asked question from gardeners regarding the safety of adding rhubarb leaves to compost bins. The concern relates to the toxin called calcium oxalate, which is found in the rhubarb leaves, and the possibility that it might be absorbed by plant roots and end up in garden vegetables or fruits. Rest assured it won’t happen. The same principle that prevents fish proteins from ending up in tomatoes also protects us from calcium oxalate and hundreds of other toxins.

If you need another example, just look to nature. Which one of us wouldn’t eat and enjoy the wonderful blueberries or raspberries that grow wild? Those tasty berries have likely been feeding, indirectly, on a myriad of decomposing insects, animals, poisonous mushrooms and other organic materials. The berry plants simply take the minerals left over from the decomposition, and use them as building blocks to create the delicious fruits that we scatter on our cereal. Besides which, if plants could absorb big molecules, we wouldn’t be able to add manure to our gardens because our fruits and veggies would taste a lot like, well, manure.

So I hope that clears up any confusion about aquaponics. Thankfully, none of us need worry about anything fishy in our produce—even if it happens to be grown with a school of fish.

Physically, the Enjoy Centre is taking form. In fact, you can see progress from day to day. And, as if that weren’t overwhelming enough, we’re simultaneously in the design-and-construct phase of another equally important structure—the brand.

For over a year we’ve worked hard on visualizing the Enjoy Centre brand. We knew it had to be built as a cohesive, yet separate, identity from Hole’s. We know consumers want more than products and services. They want an experience. And that’s what the Enjoy Centre will offer with a spa, restaurant, bakery, garden centre and convention space. And we want our brand to represent that experience. So, there have been many meetings and impromptu discussions. But it wasn’t until after a session with a marketing consultant that we reached a point where we could clearly verbalize what our brand will be.
There’s an image we want to build in peoples’ minds as they begin to learn about the Enjoy Centre—one that’s about our essence and identity. So, the core value system of the Hole’s brand will move forward and form the basis for the character and personality of the Enjoy Centre.

Late last week, my brother Jim presented the branding blueprint to our staff. And, in the coming days and months, he and other members of the marketing committee will continue to roll out our plan to staff and the public.

We can’t wait to have you join us at the Enjoy Centre, a destination where you can reflect… relax… and reconnect.

Scaffolding and pillars at the Enjoy Centre look dramatic,
especially when caught at sunset.

Hits & Misses: Glorious colouration & fading glory
Question of the Week: I haven’t had a chance to prune my hardy roses. Should I have?
Science & Technology: French fry perfection

So what does one do with leftover Halloween pumpkins? Feed them to an elephant, of course. Well, at least that’s what we decided to do. Lucy, the resident elephant at Edmonton’s Valley Zoo, loves to munch on pumpkins, so we sent her a box full of them. Of course, Lucy was in the media recently thanks to Bob Barker, animal rights activist and former game-show host, who advocated relocating her to a sanctuary in California. Now, I’m not sure how Lucy feels about emigrating, but I am sure she loves the taste of pumpkins—she ate six in one meal. If I could’ve tapped into Lucy’s mind while she was chomping on the jack-o’-lanterns, I’d bet she was thinking these taste great…and the price is right!

Hits & Misses
Hit: Glorious Colouration
In my opinion, ‘Ice Punch’ is the most intriguing poinsettia variety we’ve got this year. I love its art deco look. If you’re not familiar with this newer variety, let me explain that what sets it apart is the mottled splash of white in the middle of each deeply serrated, red bract. It looks like a rich-red poinsettia touched by a thin layer of hoar frost.

‘Ice Punch’ is one of the most interesting looking of approximately
30 poinsettia varieties being grown in the greenhouse this year.

Miss: Fading Glory
I think the novelty of white pumpkins is—pardon the pun—fading. Sales were brisk the last few years, but this Halloween the ghostly pumpkins didn’t sell as well. My wife said it best, “I think white pumpkins are modern, edgy and elegant. If I were having a fall wedding, I would use them for centrepieces. But for Halloween, orange rules with the kids.” Oh, and just for the record, my wife is not planning on remarrying.

Science & Technology
French Fry Perfection
Is the inner flesh of your french fry too dark coloured for your taste? Then blame it on gas accumulation, specifically carbon dioxide and ethylene. In the right combination, at even low concentrations, they can cause dark flesh colour. At least, that’s what researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre in Nova Scotia found. These naturally occurring gases team up to increase sugar levels, which in turn darken tuber flesh. Affected potatoes (and french fries) are fine to eat, but they’re visually unappealing. The potatoes themselves give off carbon dioxide in storage, whereas ethylene can come from ripening fruit (apples, for example), vehicle exhaust or even disease organisms. Remove the gases and you prevent off-coloured fries. That’s certainly easier said than done for most of us, but for commercial growers, ventilation will certainly be worth the effort.

Question of the Week
I haven’t had a chance to prune my hardy roses. Should I have?
Actually, hardy roses don’t need much pruning (unlike tender roses, which should be pruned back in late fall and then mulched). For hardy roses, prune back any dead growth in the spring, just before their leaves begin to open. To rejuvenate mature, hardy roses, remove one-third of the oldest canes every year or two. This will encourage new growth.

Did You Know?
Less than five percent of all insect species in Canada and the US are deemed to be pests.

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
—Winston Churchill