6 • February 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


Divide those Perennials! Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 2 by Kimberly Childers • kimberlychilders@att.net


let the leaves dry up so they will feed next year’s blooms, No need to fold them over and tie


them.


SANTA ROSA, CA. ~ ‘Ch- ch-ch-ch changes’ are starting to happen in our gardens and about town. Plump buds are swelling with potential fragrant bursts of bloom, delicious fruits and magnifi cent foliage. Bulbs are poking through spongy ground and YES, we have had ‘gully washers’! T e reoccur- ring rain has been totally fabu- lous and there is an exciting newness as February begins to unfold. On sunny days I have been out exploring the gardens and planting here and there in my ‘bipperty-bopperty hat’ of course! ‘Oh! You pretty things’; glis-


tening white snowdrops are be- ginning to fade aſt er their de- lightfully early show. Be sure to


Just allow them


to fade naturally, another one of those


lessons in


patience! Distract from the dormant gardens with pots of bold primroses, gorgeous pansies and tall spring fl owers placed throughout. Make sure you have trimmed and pruned dead, diseased and dy- ing leaves throughout the gar- den and you can either com- post, fi ll the green can or burn them depending on the situa- tion or conclusion. If you can’t identify a diseased leaf you can always bring it to your favorite


nursery to get their advice and treat if necessary; that way you won’t be ‘under pressure’. Feed all of your trees and


rose food, bulb food, and cac- tus mix. Everything is going to look ‘Hunky Dory’! February is a perfect month to divide pe- rennials like herbs and fl owers. Do it in the shade, dividing the root mass with a knife or teasing the roots apart. Prune your roses. Look up specifi cs on the web about roses or pur- chase a good new or used book that will make you a pro! Find an excellent organic dormant oil spray and apply it


shrubs avoiding direct contact with the trunks. Use an or- ganic all-purpose plant food, well-rotted chicken manure, compost, fi sh emulsion.


can get really specifi c and use organic acid loving fertilizer,


You


between rain storms later this month. More and more local nurseries are fi nally starting to carry organic alternatives that work, no ‘Spiders from Mars’ in this garden. . . ‘Oh no!’


... continued on page 12


The average lead pencil will write a line about 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.


The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that the sound it makes is actually a tiny sonic boom.


Native Americans used to name their children after the fi rst thing they saw as they left their tepees after their children were born, hence the names Sitting Bull and Running Water.


“Almost” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.


Almost An independent local Community Bank since 1890


Personal and Business Checking and Savings products and services: • Loans–Consumer and Business • Online Banking with Bill Pay and Paperless Statements–It’s the Greener way! • Youth Savings programs • ATM locations throughout Sonoma County for your convenience • A Customer Service team dedicated to answering your call before and after business hours


• We invite you to e-mail, call or visit us at any of our branches to answer your questions about how Exchange Bank can become your bank.


www.exchangebank.com 707.524.3000 or toll free 800.995.4066


6 • February 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ~ George Eliot


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