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20 economist sunsuntribune diversions saturday jan 102004 poinsettia enters dormant period meet exhibitors showcasing dozens of summer camps and educational possibilities for your child explore camps specializing in arts crafts riding swimming tennis golf gymnastics and more sunday january 1 8 2004 1000am 400pm metro toronto convention centre 255 front st w apmttskmr our 8iest show yet you wont want to miss it toronto slvvll pinternational s o oner education 2004 from page 19 if you want to keep your poin settia alive and healthy as an out door shrub or as a houseplant it is a straightforward procedure but it will become a plant that looks very different from the compact colourful potted plant you originally bought in the wild poinsettia enters a dormant period after bloom time triggered by the warm dry season its bloom time is tied to the shortening daylight time of autumn and winter your task now is to mimic these drought conditions and trick your plant into taking the dormant rest period it needs to come back strong and to shake off the effects of all of the artifi cial treatments it went through in its youth at the blooming end of the life cycle 14 hours of absolute darkness per day for eight weeks is necessary in the autumn for it to produce its colourful bracts this is the part that seems more trouble than its worth to start the process of rescu ing your plant slow down on watering letting it almost dry out until it has dropped all its leaves at this point stop watering altogether and cut the stems back to just three to four inches above soil level store the plant as is in a dark corner at average room temperature keeping the soil just one notch up from bonedry a trick i use to keep just that bit of moisture in a plants envi ronment while dormant is to put it in a paper bag with an unbruised apple around late march youll see it try to put out new growth sig nalling the end of the dormant period its now time to help it wake up repot in fresh soil with good drainage bring it gradually into the brightest spot you have but not direct sunlight start water ing only a bit at first and more as it grows faster once growth is rapid fertilize with a general plant food at half the recommended strength and keep the soil evenly moist but not too wet at this point its ready to put out in the garden but you have to wait until all danger of frost is past keep the light as strong as you can to ensure branches dont get stretched out and leggy if you have the time to fuss put it outside on warm spring days and bring it in at night once the danger of frost has passed you can plant it in your garden in a partial shade to full sun position expect a three-to- foiurfoot shrub with deep green leaves tinged with a bit of red at the veins by midsummer it wont bloom but it makes an attractive foliage backdrop for some favourite flowers now heres the magic wand bit if you want to try your hand at getting it to bloom again heres the general instructions but youre unlikely to get blooms anywhere near the size to which youre familiar follow the above procedure but plant your poinsettia in a pot instead of in the garden fertilize regularly at half the recommended strength to ensure a vigorous and strong stemmed plant in june give it a hard pruning back to produce a more compact plant in late september start the 14hoursofdarknessperday treatment for eight weeks i have never tried this but im told this really needs to be com plete and uninterrupted dark ness which is where the black plastic bag comes in it needs to be in a consistent ly warm place during this time once it is blooming keep it in a coolish place out of direct sun light and dont overwater there you go the cycle is complete evelyn wolf is a local gardening expert and owner of garden possabilities bookstore at 234 main st s call for infor mation on her popular gardening classes which resume for the winterspring sea son starting in midjanuary 905-830- 9693 or 8007232666 or wwwgarden- possibilitiescom btreixt for wore information or to exhibit call 9058150017 markhamstouffville hospital receives 41000 from the canadian tire foundation for families markham on dec 18 2003 markham stouffville hospital received a welcome donation today when it was presented with 41 000 from the canadian tire foundation for families and five local associate canadian tire dealers canadian tire associate dealer cameron beach presented the cheque to gina rosen president and marion zimmer manager of corporate and major gifts markham stouffville hospital foundation the money was raised through store collections during the grand opening of the new markham store on markham rd associate dealers john fox david clifford ian mckenzie chris coenen also helped raise the total funds the drive to raise money for the new mri magnetic resonance imaging for the hospital was matched dollar for dollar by the canadian tire foundation for families thanks to the generosity of our customers my fellow local associate dealers and our foundation for families we are in a position to be able to make this donation to help the hospital continue to provide essential tests for patients in the markham community said cameron i would like to thank cameron and his staff at the markham rd canadian tire store as well as the canadian tire foundation for families for this very significant donation to the mri what a difference this donation will make to the community said gina rosen i am hot- sure we can honor camerons request to change the name of the mri to mastercraft resonance imaging but well work on it the canadian tire foundation for families is a charitable organization with a clear objective helping families when they need it most its mission is to provide a helping hand to families in need ensuring that lifes basic needs are metfood shelter clothing essential goods in addition to community fundraising events and initiatives the canadian tire foundation for families also provides a crisis response network ready to go to work in times of natural disaster or crisis from the events of september 11th in the us the ice storm in quebec to the tainted crises in north battleford vanguard cnarlottetown glace bay walkertoncanadian tire is there in times of need scrapbooks offer comfort from page 19 pictured left to right david cliffordassociate dealerrylander jason clubineasslstant general manager- stouffville marion zimmermanager corporate major girtsmarkham stouffville hospital foundation cameron beachassociate dealermarkham road gina rosenpresident markham stouffville hospital foundation john fox- associate dealermarkham lawrence zeib jeevamarkham stouffville hospital foundation board associate dealers lag mckenzlqa chris poefeq vyere not present for ipjiotp and ligninfree paper or adhesive can accelerate the deterioration of a photo graph ive seen people do beautiful work and use construction paper and photos fade so badly construction paper can have a high acid content and expose photos to acid if used as a background said the con sultant for creative memories making scrapbooks can be beneficial for many people ms farguson said for couples going through scrap- books or albums can remind them why they were attracted to each other at the beginning of their relationship for a client of ms farguson who lives in sharon a scrapbook provides her mentally challenged aunt with photo graphs of relatives while she stays in a group home scrapbooks can be good for alzheimers patients ms farguson added they can really relate to albums from several years ago its a comfort to them something familiar at journalling seminars ms farguson sometimes hands out a black and white photograph she bought from an antique store in baldwin of a beauti ful young woman she believes was pho tographed in the mid to late 1860s she uses the picture to remind students how important it is to keep information about photographs such as why the picture was taken when it was taken and where the stories that go with pictures are what make them so important to us if we are gone and the stories arent there with those pictures they wont be nearly as important to other people she finds plenty of photographs in antique shops and believes passionately this is wrong you should never be able to buy somebody elses family they photos should be in an album so it can be passed on from generation to generation for more information try the creative memories website at httpymwcreativememoriescom walmart correction notice due to circumstances beyond our control the ladies bum equipment active jacket or pants featured on page 16 of our current flyer ending jan 18th will not be available we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused walmart correction notice due to circumstances beyond our control the ladies yoga top or pants featured on page 15 of our current flyer ending jan 18th will not be avail able we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused i i i i