'Tis the season for short and sometimes dark days, long and always darker nights, short tempers at long traffic jams, unbelievable Santa's Ringing Bells with glazed faces hiding behind sagging, dirty beards and more unbelievable and horrid Christmas carols like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and while I'm on the subject. Why on Gods great earth do famous stars keep trying to improve on the unimproveable?????? All these things, and more getting you down? You may be suffering from light deprivation. Take solace in the solstice. The days are getting longer, Someday maybe our traffic lights will be synchronized, The bad Santa's and the worse music will be gone for another year. A green fix may help. Check out our slide shows, they're cool. Grab some catalogs and think about what you may like to plant this spring. Let us know if you would like us to keep an eye peeled for plants that may be on your wish list. In the meantime keep the spirit of the season in mind when confronted by these annoying things and think good thoughts. I find that a couple of cocktails help immensely. On that note I'll be wishing you and yours a highly irreverent yet sincere merry holiday of goodwill toward men and a good new year....... Now, where's that damn drink I ordered? The service here is awful.

Xeriscaping involves a different kind of maintenance. During the summer, while some of you poor suckers are pushing a loud, smoggy lawnmower back and forth every week. Pouring fertilizers, pesticides and water onto your outdoor, hopefully not wall to wall carpet, I'm doing next to nothing but the occasional cutting back of a spent plant and pulling a weed here and there. My rule of thumb is not to cut anything back unless I don't like looking at it. I'm rewarded in the winter with a lot of interest. The Coneflowers in the picture are one of the best for winter interest. My work starts when the snow melts. I will start cutting back select things that no longer hold appeal. If you want to get a lot done in one day use a hedge trimmer. They make quick work out of ornamental grasses, russian sage and lavender to name a few. There are many advantages to this method. I get to work in forty degree weather rather than ninety and I get my yoga workout reaching and twisting as I prune to name a couple. If you have been reading this blog you have a pretty good idea what I'm going to do after this laborious process. Thats right, I'm finding a sunny spot to soak up some rays and catch a well deserved nap.

Ok, call me crazy, most people do. I'm used to it. discovered this scene as I was wandering around the yard after my nap in the warm winter sun. (See previous blog) The petioles of the Shademaster Honey Locust had fallen after the snow and burned their way in, much as I did during my nap. The random pattern and contrasting shadows are intriguing.

In designing your landscape don't forget to think about a winter sunbathing spot. You will probably need more than one so you can move from your morning recliner to your afternoon recliner as the sun moves. Your spot needs to be against a south wall or fence for good heat radiation. Get your down jacket and your baseball cap or visor to keep the sun out of your eyes. Settle in to your recliner, wooden bench or even a dry patch of decomposed granite and enjoy a good nap. Importantly, make these places private. This is a peaceful refuge, a holy place for religious experiences, a place for soothing hangovers and hiding from family responsibilities. Also if your neighbor sees you stretched out on the ground they may think you are dead or injured and you don't want to wake up to some dude administering CPR on you.

Dwarf and midsized conifers make an excellent living Christmas tree. This Christmas we have Picea abies (Norway Spruce) 'Clanbrassilliana'. We can call it Tollymore Spruce. It matures slowly into a beautifully compact, broadly pyramidal plant, the perfect dwarf Christmas tree. Another Norway is 'Sherwood Compact'. Site this narrow, pyramidal tree where its strongly ascending branches can develop into a mid-size, distinctly upright cone in the landscape. In addition to size and shape, the cultivar produces many soft-brown shoots and clean-green needles. Use it as a specimen in a small space that deserves a big impact or use it as part of a privacy wall to hide your neighbors travel trailer with the blue tarp. Lastly, for todays selections is Picea Pungens 'Sester Dwarf'. Stunning blue needles, slow growth rate, and classic conical form make this dwarf spruce an ideal plant for the modern landscape. Only about one-fourth the growth of its large parent, it is the perfect small form of Colorado Blue Spruce, and it requires little maintenance or pruning to keep its tidy shape. If you think you don't have any more space in your yard to continue celebrating with live Christmas trees come check out our selection of dwarf conifers.