I was saddened to hear that my friend Joe Jiyobu passed away recently.
Joe was affectionately known for his expertise in the art of bonsai and often referred to as “Joe from the Bonsai Club.”
He was passionate about teaching the art of bonsai to others and he will be missed terribly.
When I was operating our family’s garden centre on Ethel Street, Joe was a regular visitor, just dropping in to spend time with our collection of bonsai and of course while he was there would do a little pruning and touchups.
My sincere condolences go out to Joe’s family and as well to his fellow members of the Bonsai Club. He will be missed.
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The weather has been unbelievably mild for this time of year, even though winter does not officially begin until Dec. 22.
We usually have some winter-like conditions by now, but at this point the forecast has this lovely warm weather likely to continue for a bit with daytime highs above the freezing mark.
This makes for easy transportation of Christmas trees and plants and flowers, something I always think about even though I have not been directly involved in the garden centre and floral business for some time now.
For over 45 years, I needed to be cognisant of the weather during the Christmas season so decisions could be made as to whether we needed to wrap or double wrap our arrangements and plants for delivery.
It was always nice when the weather was mild like this year so that extra time and expense of wrapping could be avoided.
But you just never know when a cold front from the north may reach down with its icy fingers to spoil it.
From another perspective it would be nice to have a bit of winter and in particular some snow just to make it feel like Christmas.
I know my granddaughter Ellie is eagerly waiting for some of the white stuff to arrive.
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I am so excited about the trip to Seattle in February to the North West Flower and Garden Show and it seems so are many others as the bus is already half-full.
The show this year has a Hollywood theme and it will be the fourth year with new ownership.
The new owners have taken it up a notch or two each year and although it has always been a fantastic experience in the past it just keeps getting better and better each year.
My wife Donna and I would be delighted to have you aboard with us.
We leave on Feb. 20 and spend two days at the show arriving home on Feb. 24. For more information call Sunwest Tours at 250-765-9016.
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Just a reminder we will be having a very special Christmas Garden Show on my weekly radio broadcast Saturday, Dec. 22, with a few surprise guests and some of my dad’s music.
