How to keep soil healthy, happy and productive

A festive wreath welcomes guests into your home and sets the tone for the rest of the decorations. 

With their vibrant red leaves, these plants are more than just a festive holiday decoration – they can be a gardening project where you can experiment with their leaves (bracts)!

Winter in the South can be hard on plants. Fluctuating temperatures, sporadic freezes, and winter winds all take their toll on the garden. Some plants need a little extra protection to make it through cold snaps. Don’t wait until the weatherman predicts a freeze. Learn how to keep plants warm in winter and take steps now to prepare your garden.

Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is an attractive house plant with dark green leaves and leafy red ‘bracts’ that surround the green-yellow flowers in December and January. They’re commonly used to decorate the home at Christmas. Native to Mexico, poinsettias can be tricky to keep alive after Christmas and most are thrown away after the red bracts have faded and the festivities have ended. However, with a little care and attention it’s possible to keep your poinsettia alive throughout the year and even encourage red bracts and flowers to form in time for the following Christmas.

Basil is a versatile annual herb used in pasta sauces, pizzas, salads and Thai curries. It is a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family. Sweet basil plants tend to dominate the supermarket shelves, but there are many other exciting types to try when you grow your own.

Castor bean plants are easy to care for, low maintenance, and they grow very quickly.

They say a picture tells a thousand words. But in the case of botanical art it’s fair to say that it’s probably far more than that, as proven by a magnificent new book Drawn from Nature: The Flowering of Irish Botanical Art by the Wicklow-based art historian and author Patricia Butler (Acc Art Books UK, £35).

Aspen (Populus tremula) is a deciduous, broadleaf tree known for its habit of ‘quaking’ or ‘trembling’ in the slightest breeze. Indeed, its botanical name ‘tremula’ was given due to its trembling habit, and it’s also known as ‘quaking aspen’. Aspen tree leaves have flattened, flexible leaf stalks, which is how they are able to flutter so easily.

We’re off to New Zealand today to visit Lynne Leslie’s garden. We’ve visited before (Lynne’s Garden in New Zealand), and it is always fun to see what she is growing.

So, you bought a real Christmas tree: your entire house is about to smell like pine, your Christmas spirit couldn’t be higher, and your divine connection to nature couldn’t be stronger. But there’s one issue—real Christmas trees are notoriously messy.

I read recently that ancient Greece–inspired and Mediterranean décor was the next big thing in interior design. Perhaps many of you will feel inspired to add a marble bust to your fireplace mantle. But what about Mediterranean plants? In the Southeast, plants that prefer a Mediterranean climate are not always at home. Humidity and wet winters—not just the cold—are normally the downfall of these plants. But there are some Mediterranean staples that we can grow very well in our region. They are not always extremely long-lived but can be enjoyed in the garden while they last.

Watering Christmas cactus correctly is essential for maintaining your plant’s health and preserving its beautiful appearance.