Wednesday December 23, 2009
My paperwhite narcissus are blooming up a storm, my poinsettias are coping with my intermittent care. I still have some sage that is limping along without enough sun that I will use for cooking my holiday turkey. I'm going to whip up some lemon verbena margaritas for friends and family.
I'm wishing everyone a holiday season of peace, joy and plants galore.
Wednesday December 23, 2009
Wordless Wednesday Container Garden Pictures

Holidays at the U.S. Botanic Garden
Photo © Kerry Michaels
Monday December 21, 2009

Poinsettia in a Coffee Mug
Photo © Kerry Michaels
I was never a huge fan of poinsettias until I saw them growing in East Africa - as big as trees. Now I love them - small, big, white, pink, red or variegated. This year I'm giving small poinsettias in coffee mugs as gifts.
Apparently poinsettias have the reputation of being poisonous. According to this article on the Fine Gardening website, poinsettias, while potentially causing irritation if ingested by pets, are not poisonous to humans. According to the article, a study determined that if a 50 lb. child ate 500 poinsettia leaves, they would experience nothing more than some indigestion.
I would be amazed if a child of that size could eat 500 leaves of anything - including spinach - without getting a stomach ache.
Thursday December 17, 2009

Botanical Interests Seeds
Photo © Kerry Michaels
If you are like me, you wait until the last minute to buy gifts. Until about, well now, I'm like the proverbial deer stuck in the headlights of Christmas - completely paralyzed and panic stricken. Fortunately there are solutions for people like me.
This year, one of the gifts I'm going to give is a home-made, self-watering seed starter, filled with packets seeds. I'm going to use Botanical Interests seeds because I love the company and their seed packages are drop-dead gorgeous and make great gifts.
Botanical Interests also does beautiful seed collection packages including one for container gardens.