Grass

Grass. I use tall grass to anchor the garden and provide winter interest. I only have two - one is a zebra grass, the other is something else :-) . Both were gifts from a neighbor.

Two is enough for me. I love the look of them, especially in winter. But, the spring job of cutting them back before the fronds blow into the neighbors' yards and dividing them with a shovel and an axe make two the limit to the spring workload. Thank goodness I have a big strong partner who is good at digging and axing.

Christmas Cactus

Leaves of fall. We had absolutely beautiful weather on Saturday - 60+ degrees and sunshine. We spent the entire day outside - raking leaves and cleaning up the gardens. With this glorious weather outside it's hard to get in the groove of taking care of house plants (and cuttings). I seem to be doing OK - haven't killed anything yet.

The white Christmas cactus is blooming. It's in dire need of a trim. I have to remember to do that when it's finished blooming. It also needs to be repotted - I haven't done that for a number of years. I think I'll do a root pruning and put it in the same size pot with fresh potting soil. I really don't have space for a larger pot.

I never bought a Christnas cactus. I have two red ones that bloom later. They all came from cuttings from my aunt Betty's plants. She gave me the first one when I was 16. One red blooming cactus is getting woody so I'll try to remember to take a cutting after it blooms and start a new one.

Garden Volunteers

Each year I am amazed by plants that pop up in unexpected places thanks to the birds, squirrels or wind. A holly, some evergreens and a dogwood all appeared through nature's magic. This year I was surprised by some pretty pink snapdragons & a yellow mum. I don't have any pink snapdragons or yellow mums in my garden so these two were very welcome additions.