THE HOLIDAY SEASON DOESN’T NEED TO BE A BURDEN ON OUR PLANET Here we are at a time when so many of us are on the verge of decorating our home for the holidays. I think this blog idea stems from the fact that all of us are affected by our economy and inflation. We … Read more
The Amaryllis family—the Amaryllidaceae—is a wide and varied group, including the wild Amaryllis (Amaryllis Belladonna), our Christmas amaryllis (reclassified as Hippeastrum), as well as Narcissus (yes, daffodils!), tiny little snowdrops, agapanthus (Lily-of-the-Nile), alliums (onions, garlic, and ornamental onions), clivia, crinum (Cape Lilies) among others. Most of these are bulbs needing a dormant period at some … Read more
HOLD ON NOW – NOT SO FAST – THIS BLOG IS ABOUT THE LENTEN ROSE Gertrude Stein used “a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” in 1913 in one of her poems. It means “something is beautiful for what it is” and “beauty has many different ways to display itself in … Read more
Now that your houseplants have been inside for a few weeks, here are a few things to look for: Yellow Leaves Yellow leaves can be a sign of two very different problems. They are often a sign that light-craving plants are not getting enough light—weeping figs and citrus are famous for this. Moving to a … Read more
THE MUCH-NEEDED GARDENING TASKS TO BE DONE THIS MONTH Let’s first do a little re-cap of October. We have gotten some timely rainfall in the second half of October which is much needed. Also, we had one of the coolest October in many years. Around the 19th and 20th of October we had freezing weather … Read more
I sat on my deck yesterday and surveyed my backyard—it was a great excuse to escape the vacuuming I should have been doing. I made a mental checklist of everything I wanted to get done before frost. We’ve been lucky thus far—usually, we’ve had several touches of frost by now. Move houseplants indoors—done. Well, except … Read more
WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING TO PREPARE OUR GARDENS FOR WINTER Here we are in November. Our plants have been working very hard these past months to impress us with their beauty and to make us happy that they are in our landscape. But, now these plants are ready for a break and a nap. … Read more
This past Saturday, October 29th, was National Cat Day. National Cat Day was established in 2005 and is sponsored by The Animal Miracle Foundation. I’m lucky enough to have several cats. I’m also someone who has had many cats since I adopted my first when I was 15. I also adopted my first plant when … Read more
QUICK ANSWER – NOT!! Here we are in the middle of October. The air has cooled down. Leaves are changing color and falling. It’s a beautiful sight! I love fall. When it comes to pruning, we need to control our eagerness with our pruners and loppers. There is something about fall that gets people to … Read more
Ask most people what tulips, daffodils, crocus, and begonias have in common, and they’ll tell you that they are all bulbs. And they would be half right. Tulips and daffodils are indeed true bulbs; however, a crocus is a corm, and a begonia is a tuber. BULBS True bulbs are actually plants in miniature. They … Read more
