December 2018

     ….. for a Christmas Cyclamen     One of the easiest plants to grow, the florist’s cyclamen offers a bright spot of color, a sweet fragrance and attractive foliage throughout the Christmas season and well into the New Year. Originally a tuberous perennial from Europe, the Mediterranean region and North Africa, the tiny …

I have been feeling incredibly stressed lately.  Unfortunately, when I am stressed, I just shut down which, of course, increases my stress level and renders me virtually useless. My “To Do” list gets longer and my “Done” list stays blank.The only way I can interrupt this cycle is to take a nature break.     …

    …..for Flowers of the Holy Night       According to legend, many years ago, a poor young Mexican girl was desolate because she did not have a gift worthy enough to leave for the baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve service. To comfort her, her cousin told her that the baby Jesus …

I’ve been in my December cleaning and decluttering mood lately. At the top of my list is getting rid of the huge stack of magazines I’ve accumulated over the last few years. Today I tackled a pile of three years worth of Smithsonian magazines someone had given me a while ago. (Great browsing by the …

    One of a very few shrubs that not only tolerates but enjoys heavy shade and marsh-like conditions, leatherwood is an attractive garden addition spring through fall. It typically reaches 4- 6 feet in both height and spread so it works well as an understory plant. Bell-shaped yellow flowers appear in March and April …

Although my husband and I both love Christmas lights, we stopped putting them up years ago. Somehow, there was always a good reason to avoid the task.  Usually, it was because the weather had turned cold and snowy or it was just too late in the season to bother. Besides, being empty-nesters with all our …