In this issue:

• "Get Growing" with Sabina - Christmas Flower Tips
  
• Naturium® News - The Papalotzin Arrives in Mexico
  

Last month, we provided you with tips on growing Christmas Cactus, our main holiday plant. We're pleased to let you know what we had a successful season, selling out. In fact we've just finishing shipping this year's crop, and are already planting next year's cuttings!

Now we'd like to share some information with you on two other popular Christmas flowers and plants.

Poinsettia

• When purchasing a poinsettia, choose a plant with thoroughly coloured and expanded bracts. (Bracts are the coloured portions of the plant, while the actual flowers are the yellow centers). Avoid plants with too much green around the bract edges, as this is a sign of a plant shipped before it was sufficiently mature. Look for plants with dense, plentiful foliage all the way to the soil line. An abundance of rich green foliage is a vital sign of good plant health.
  
• When transporting the plant, protect it from chilling winds and cold temperatures. A large, roomy shopping bag will usually provide adequate protection for transporting the plant home when it is cold and windy.
  
• Place in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day. Keep plant out of cold drafts or excessive heat.
  
• Water your plant when the soil feels dry to the touch. Don't over water it, or allow it to sit in standing water. Always remove a plant from any decorative container before watering, and allow the water to drain completely.
  
• Fertilize your plant only after it's done blooming with a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer
  
  
  

Cyclamen

• Keep in a relatively cool location, about 15 to 18°C during the day, and ideally 12 to 15°C at night. The flowers and leaves will fade quickly in an overheated room.
  
• The best exposure is bright filtered light, or partial shade.
  
• Cyclamen require regular moisture, but overly soggy soil will suffocate the roots and cause the leaves to yellow. Water when dry to the touch, approximately once a week.
  
• Water from the bottom, by sitting your cyclamen in a saucer or bowl of water for 10 - 15 minutes, and then removing it and letting the surplus water drain.
  
• Water from the bottom by soaking the plant for about 10 minutes. If the plant is allowed to dry out, it will wilt quickly with leaves and flowers bending over the sides of the pot. You can remedy this by wrapping newspaper around the pot and carefully prop the stems into an upright position. Tape the newspaper to secure it in place. Put pot in a bowl of luke-warm water and let soak for 15 minutes until saturated. After 24 hours, the stems should have recovered and the newspaper can be removed.
  

Millions of Monarchs fly alongside the Papalotzin

After 72 days, over 90 hours flying time, a distance of over 4375 miles over three countries, the Papalotzin, successfully ended its journey on November 3, at Llano de las Papas in Angangeo, Michoacan, one of the Monarch hibernation sanctuaries in Central Mexico.
The Papalotzin, is the ultralight plane, painted to resemble a Monarch butterfly, which visited the Naturium for three days in August on their route from Canada to Mexico. While in Breslau, they met with John Powers and Marco Kennema, the 18-year-old son of Greenway's owners who has a successful modern butterfly breeding operation.

As the first wave of Monarchs began to arrive in the dense fir forests in the mountains of Michoacan, the pilot, Vico Gutiérrez landed to a hero's welcome from two governors, representatives of the U.S. and Canadian governments, several government officials, dozens of school children dressed as butterflies, Native American dancers and an Mazahua Indian chief. During a ceremony to celebrate his safe arrival, the chief, Margarito Sánchez Valdéz, bathed the aviator in incense, wreathed his neck with marigolds and blessed him in the name of Shefi, a butterfly spirit, and Mysyohimi, the Mazahua's supreme deity.

"Sometimes I felt like a butterfly, not a man," said Vico. "I can now feel what they face in some of the different parts of Canada, the United States and Mexico."

Greenway's own Butterfly Man, John Powers, was on hand to participate in the final ceremony. John, renamed Juan Póderes by the Papalotzin team, had played a significant role in the organization of their journey throughout Canada and the US.

Upon his return to Canada, John reflected upon his journey as a guest of the Papalotzin team. "It was an unbelievable sight to see millions of Monarchs arrive at their winter resting spot, located at an elevation of 12,500 feet, on the top of the Chincua Mountain Range in Mexico.

I was honoured to help coordinate the Papalotzin journey alongside my long-time friend Don Davis of Toronto. Having appreciated the magnificence of the Monarch butterfly for over 47 years, it was certainly a highlight of my life. It was also an unbelievable experience to accompany Vico in the Ultralight, as he flew over Niagara Falls. I thank him for giving me this historic opportunity.

As a child, I was part of Dr. Urquhart's research team, as he attempted to discover where the Monarchs went for the winter. Having also created Butterfly Days® and Monarch Day(s) T, this is certainly the perfect way for me to celebrate my life's passion for butterflies. I got to sit in Room 14, at the Quinta Mitzin Hotel in Tuxpan with the same owners who were alongside Dr. and Mrs. Urquhart when they made their historic call 30 years ago to announce "We found them."

The kind hospitality of the Papalotzin team, their friends, and the many new scientists I met and will continue to work with, made my Mexican tour an event I will cherish forever."

Juan Póderes (John Powers) presents Governor Lázaro Cárdenas with a bottle of Pelee Island Wine, on behalf of Pelee Island President and WineMaster Walker Schmoranz.

Next up for John is an opportunity to work with Carlos Galinda Leal, the Coordinator of Programs for the Mexican chapter of the World Wildlife Fund. John will be developing the look and feel of their new Natural History Museum, being built at the base of the Chincua Mountain Range, one of the sites where the Monarchs over-winter. The museum will be dedicated to all aspects of the Monarch butterfly. John has already contacted many people he wants represented in the project for their contributions over the years to this magnificent butterfly.

Flight stats

• 6 - number of years since the idea was first imagined by Vico
  
• 60-70 - average flight speed (miles per hour)
  
• 40 - number of locations visited across the three countries
  
• 30 - number of press conferences conducted
  
• 50- hours of material filmed including interviews, gardens, zoos, schools, forests, fields, lakes, cities, in addition to thousands of still photos taken
  
• 60 - length of documentary to be produced from video footage (minutes)
  
• 12,000 - number of visitors to the Papalotzin website (http://www.papalotzin.com/)
  
• 12,000 - the highest altitude (miles) reached by the monarchs on their migration
  
• 20 million - estimated number of monarchs arriving in Mexico
  
  For more photos and information, visit the papalotzin website at http://www.papalotzin.com/.
  
  

Phone: (519) 648-2328    Fax: (519) 648-3074    
Email: flowers@greenwaybloom.com

http://www.greenwaybloom.com/           http://www.naturium.ca/