I've been thinking about the presents I'll be giving — and getting, I hope — during the holiday season.
I have inexpensive expectations, so folks needn't worry about spending a fortune on me. But if they did have fortunes to spend, I think I'd like to receive an immense rose garden, one as extravagant as Josephine's rose garden was at the Chateau Malmaison.
When Empress Josephine and Emperor Napoleon ruled France during the early 1800s, Josephine lived at the Malmaison, a three-story chateau situated upon 4,500 acres on the outskirts of Paris.
Josephine loved roses. To please her, Napoleon created a rose garden that included every rose known at the time. This was not an easy accomplishment, since worldwide expeditions were required to round up rare specimens.
Gifts for gardeners
Giving or getting a rose garden fit for an empress is way beyond my means. What follows, then, is a more practical wish list/shopping list for gardening-related gifts, ones that typically cost less than $25:
• A rain gauge that won't break if it freezes
• Rustproof plant markers that don't deteriorate
• Waterproof knee pads
• A waterproof stool to sit on while planting and harvesting
• A squirrel-proof bird feeder
• A solar-powered, birdbath defroster
• A min-max thermometer that records and saves minimum and maximum temperature readings
• Wind chimes
• Leather scabbards for carrying and securing pruners and knives
In the meantime, I've decided that our rose garden is just fine the way it is. Still, I might plant a few additional disease-resistant varieties in the spring.
This week in the garden
This is when I do routine maintenance on our gasoline-powered equipment, such as cleaning the undersides of mower decks and changing oil, oil filters, air filters and spark plugs.
To prevent carburetors from gumming up prior to spring, I drain the tanks of our gasoline-powered equipment by running them until they stall. I also add a fuel stabilizer to our stored gasoline to keep it fresh until the equipment is refueled in the spring.