My Christmas flowers

My husband's grandmother had a huge Christmas cactus that bloomed profusely and right on time every Christmas.  I tried to grow one and sometimes got a few scraggly blooms, but never at Christmas time.   Then I tried poinsettias.  I would carefully choose a plant that looked healthy with lots of brightly colored bracts.   Within days of bringing it home, the bracts and leaves would begin falling off so that by Christmas time, I basically had stems with a random leaf attached here and there.

Then a friend brought me a small bromelid one summer.  She told me to keep water in the center of the leaves and let it grow.  Without fail at Christmastime, this bromelid produces this amazing flower show. 

During the summer, I keep my pot outdoors in the shade, only watering it during dry spells.  When the nighttime temps drop below 40 degrees, I set it on a table near a window and wait for Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all of you.  May this time be precious and filled with joy for you and yours. 

Aahhh . . . the fragrance of frazier fir

While my gardens are resting (or drowning) this winter, I enjoy bringing the fragrance of living things indoors at Christmas time by purchasing a cut Christmas tree.   My favorite is always a frazier fir.  Not only does it have that perfect Christmas tree look, the fragrance of fir fills my entire house.    I put baskets of the trimmings from the tree all through the house, mixed with pine cones, and holly.  I wondered what an entire forest of frazier fir must smell like.

Fire ants for Christmas

This past summer I came up with a clever idea for some Christmas gifts using succulents in creative containers.   They were looking pretty good by late fall.  I made the decision to put them in the cold frame until it was time to give them away because the cold frame mimics desert conditions (very hot during the day/cool at night).  This week,  I decided to get them out to do whatever pruning needed to be done to get them ready for gifting.  They looked wonderful until I picked them up.  Suddenly, my hands were covered in fire ants!  The ants had decided my cold frame would be a perfect wintering place too.  Even though I fed those pesky critters an excellent pesticide, I can't risk giving any of my friends or family fire ants for Christmas.  Time to go shopping for some traditional gifts.

Meet my new assistant

Emily had the audacity to move herself and her two horses to Tennessee so she could attend graduate school.  This was a terrible tragedy for me, because without her horses, how could I possibly properly fertilize my gardens, not to mention, that I was seriously attached to Magic and Cheyenne.

With Bob's approval, I realized it was time for me to fulfill my own dream of owning a horse of my own.  Emily helped me find the perfect horse for me (and my gardens).

Meet Lily!  She is a McCurdy Plantation Horse, a breed that is unique to the state of Alabama.  McCurdy's were bred to be smooth-gaited (no bouncing), intelligent and calm, and sturdy enough to ride all day long.  Lily is eight years old (young adult), technically her coloring is considered gray, but she is obviously white.  She loves treats and being petted.


I'm looking forward to many adventures with Lily in the years to come.  

In the meantime, Lily and I will spend the quiet gardening months of winter getting to know each other.