The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their regular meeting tonight, October 20, at 7:00 p.m. at the Yorkdale Student Centre. It's going to be a special evening that will put us in the holiday spirit! Why? Because our special guest will be Maira Waechli from Florissima, and Maira will be doing some Christmas flower arranging for us! One of the prettiest ways to decorate our homes for the holidays is with a festive flower arrangement, and I'm sure that Maira will give us a great demonstration of how she makes some of her stunning displays. Feel free to join us - you don't have to be a member to attend! That's 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 20.
Many of the leaves have fallen, and there are many more clinging to the trees, just waiting until we rake and mow the lawn and put everything away before they tumble to the earth! Isn't it always that way: we mow the lawns, make everything look green and clear and tidy, and then a really good wind comes up and suddenly the lawn is covered again!
Do you know why the leaves turn color and fall? Many people think it is because of frost that the leaves fall, but actually they fall because of chlorophyll depletion.
This is one of those lessons we all learned in school, and we know the basics, but I thought that I needed a bit of a refresher course, so I did some homework and let's review it together!
Trees are wonderful machines: they use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. The glucose is food for the tree, and the oxygen is a life-giving gift to us! The whole process is called photosynthesis; as the tree works, a chemical called chlorophyll is produced, and this is what makes the tree's leaves green.
The days get shorter as fall and winter approach, and soon there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis to take place. So the tree begins to relax and say to itself, "Winter must be coming." The tree uses up the food that it has stored in its leaves, and the base of each leaf begins to swell and stop the flow of water to the leaf. As it does so, the green color disappears and the leaves begin to change color.
The beautiful colors come from different pigments in the leaves, for us to enjoy briefly, and then they fall off and that cycle is ended.
All this would happen in the tree's own good time, but a blustery storm or very strong winds can speed up the process!
When we rake up those leaves, it's really something to think how the leaf is a very efficient, marvelous little miracle that can produce food for the tree, provide us with shade and oxygen, put on a colorful show in the autumn, and then fall and become valuable compost for our gardens! It's amazing!
And if you are really planning ahead, rake your leaves up and put them into plastic garbage bags, and set them aside to let them break down into compost. It will take a while, but it's organic, free, and natural. With so many people being concerned about what goes into our soil, this is really something to consider.
Till next time, take a walk and crunch through the leaves; it's a glorious feeling on a crisp fall day! Have a good week!
