Of course there is a greenhouse in my livingroom this time of the year!

Wishing you all a very Merry Holiday Season!  Tis the time to enjoy all the people in your life and be grateful for all those who have been in your life!  I turned 80 this month so have been thinking of all those who have touched my life all these years!  Thanks for being there!

Enjoy the season, be safe and stay healthy!

Snowpeople keep warm in my kitchen!

Gee, look who moved into my kitchen table fairy gardens after Thanksgiving!

They are favorite people, I received them years ago from my granddaughter, Heather.  One is a a fishing snowman, representing Gramps and one likes flowers, which represents me!  Fond memories occur whenever they show up on the kitchen table each holiday season!

Frosty Ferns instead of Frosty the Snowman!

I always enjoy treating gardening friends to a bit of new plant life during the holidays!  There are four of us who usually spend a lunch time enjoying the holidays together and this year it is at  Karen's Dining Room.  While at Trader Joe's yesterday I spotted these frosty looking green plants and decided they needed new homes!  So into the cart they went to add a touch of  holiday frost on the table before they go home with my gardening friends!  

I think I have purchased these before in the spring for a Fairy Garden.....they are annuals or house plants for MN   The label says:  Selaginella Krausianna Variegatus

Requires bright indirect sunlight, water twice a week, fertilize monthly. Zone 6   Grows up to 6" Tall!

For more information CLICK HERE!

Tucked away for a long MN winter nap!

Finally these fairy gardens and potted hostas (ready for donation to a plant sale) are sleeping deep enough (froze) to be tucked in some extra winter protection in the garage!  And, it is cold enough in the garage to hopefully keep them from waking up until Spring!

Denny had to move all these pots by himself as I am still wearing those high fashion boots waiting for fractures to heal.  Dr. told me to keep them on my feet until we leave for AZ and then take them  off and leave them in MN!  So, I am counting the days and ready to pack up!

A neighbor takes over the fairy gardens care when we head south by adding a handful of snow on each pot a few times during the winter.  So nice to have a neighbor you can partner with on misc. chores during the year!

Gobble, gobble ....

The spooks disappeared, must have been chased away by these Pilgrims and their turkey!

Not sure where the spooks went, but these seasonal visitors are a welcome change of pace on our kitchen table!  They don't seem to eat much but provide smiles at meal times!

Denny's still head chef while I am recovering!  But, am rocking and rolling along in my high fashion boots now so am helping a bit!  I even got to the grocery store a few days and refreshed my cart driving skills not knocking into displays or other shoppers!

Unusual fall and early winter color!

A few years ago one of our garden club programs featured creating winter holiday bouquets.  The floral arranger introduced us to a beautiful change of pace with a branch of pink berries!  It is a Winter Berry shrub variety called "Coral Berry".

Needless to say, in the spring I was shopping for this delightful addition for one of my flower beds!  It has made a simply spectacular replacement for a rose bush where I wanted to discourge neighborhood kids and dogs from entering a flower bed.  The size and fact that it was a shrub that grows just the right size works perfectly.  Add to that the beauty of the abundant pink berries in the fall and early winter landscape it has been a winner for me!  Simple to care for and prune makes it perfect!

Absolutely charming!

It is also a beautiful green shrub spring and summer!

For more information about this shrub click here!

Are your garden beds ready for their winter's nap?

This hosta bed has about 50 hostas in it! Many of them are big ones!

Thank goodness 90% of our garden beds were all ready for winter before our car accident!

Denny had to finish the job and take care of the lawn/leaves himself this year.   The hosta bed looks pretty empty but we do it the easy way because I have about 100 hostas!  I like to get those leaves off so the slug eggs are exposed to winter temps so they don't survive so well.  Plus,  I don't like removing the dead hosta leaves in the spring and risk stepping on the early rising pips hiding under the dead leaves!   So, we wait until after a killing frost and most of them drying up so all we have to do is pick the leaves up easily and dispose of them in our city compost dump!  Sure is less work than cutting them off and cleaning/disinfecting the cutter blades between each plant to avoid spreading any diseases that may be hiding in the plants!

Looks  pretty dull out there but come spring it will be colorful with spring bulbs of all kinds that peak up to greet the season before the hostas pop up!