It was when I was living in Appalachia that I first learned that pansies were actually a winter flower, that could survive frost and even snow. I’d only seen them used in summer on the West Coast, though certainly I remember my Grandmother’s fondness for them. “They have such sweet faces,” she always said. And of course, they do. I’m certain you’ve found, as I have, that they are
reliable, sturdy, abundant and generous in their bounty and I’m ever so grateful for what they offer me regardless of the season.

One would think we are particularly challenged at this time of year to find our necessary Flower Fixes, but it really is not that difficult if one is creative, and I actually cherish this time when I can grow my cyclamen out on the front porch,
knowing they actually relish the colder weather. They suffer through summers only at my insistence. Even if you are in less temperate climates you are surely enjoying the cyclamen so readily available in all the stores where we all find our flowers, as they have, in fact, become a staple at Christmastime. I’ve had a charming magenta bunch out front all through the summer, and it’s still chugging merrily along, again, much relieved with the colder climate (and this does include freezing temps. each night!). And then I have a row of them–red and green pots with red cyclamen in each. Very festive. They greet folks at the door. I find them both elegant and charming. Love them, love them!

I went to my local nurseryman, John (everyone knows him in this town; if you say “plant” and “John” in the same sentence, everyone knows who you mean),
and read him my list of Sources of Flowers in Winter and asked him to come up with a few more. Here’s what we came up with together. Check this out:

pansies
cyclamen
viola (of course–goes with pansies)
primrose
calendula (he calls it winter marigold)
alyssum (John’s brother says only the white one–does anyone know if this is
true? My purple one doesn’t know this apparently and is still alive.)
Iceland poppy (sounds right)
English daisy (another one that prefers colder clime)
hardenbergia
stock
mums (though I never grow them)
and camelias, especially some early bloomers

Does anyone know any others we missed?

Fortunately this is a time of year when we are surrounded by flowers in our homes, particularly pointsettia, and I’m certainly enjoying the variegated variety this year, aren’t you? I always feel a bit guilty and a little sad that they are a tropical plant and at season’s end I will have to recycle, but, they do bring so much gaiety to our hearth and home, so they do serve that purpose. And what better time to bring red roses to our tables than Christmas? And are you like I am and have paperwhites on the kitchen table? They are beginning to blossom and I catch their sweet scent walking into the kitchen. Delicious! And don’t get me started on the beauty of the amaryllis! I have a basket of them in my home office, and I can’t wait until they begin to open their big buds! And this year I chose to bring two hydrangeas into my Christmas theme. I have a beautiful white lacy one in the main bathroom and a very dark purple/green heirloom variety in my own room. It’s spectacular. I don’t know what the angels were thinking when they came up with that! Beauty. They were thinking Beauty. What a gift.

It’s far too early to be longing for spring. The first day of winter is nearly upon us. And our choices are abundant regardless of where we find ourselves. Nevertheless, spring and summer are probably not far from your mind, and thus I here include a verse from a poet I have just discovered through a very nice friend. (Thank you, David.) Pull it out again in February when you get antsy. Meanwhile, enjoy.

Have patience; here are flowers and songs of birds,
Beauty and fragrance, wealth of sound and sight,
All summer’s glory thine from morn till night,
And life too full of joy for uttered words.

Celia Thaxter, “Land-locked” (1860)

Love and blessings,
Kathryn

Posted on December 15th, 2007 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 10 Comments »

Just before Thanksgiving I went to visit my dearest friend Cornelia who lives out on the coast. I smiled as I stepped up to her front door, charmed that three huge pointsettias stood against the porch, still wrapped in paper for transporting, gathering in the moist air from the sea, and awaiting their place indoors. Cornelia warmly greeted me at her large turquoise wooden door and ushered me into her kitchen where a round evergreen wreathe with small red berries woven amongst the branches lay flat upon her round wooden table. Very charming, indeed.

This is that blessed time of year when we are inspired (or challenged) to be our most creative in terms of making our homes as beautiful as possible. It is a time when we have license to string lights around our windows, across our rooftops, down our columns, across our gardens, and around a lovely tree which becomes the focal point of our season. Undoubtedly you have heard the story of Luther walking in the woods on Christmas eve being moved to bring a small tree into his house and light it with candles in honor of his experience, and while this is actually a folktale, nevertheless it serves as a wonderful metaphor for the spirit of Christmas. How shall we bring light and beauty and a sacred feeling into our homes during the season?

I believe it begins with intention.

“In the seed is the tree,” the Dutch say. Whatever intention we bring to the spirit of the holiday will become manifest, whether it is with elaborate decoration or with the simplest of offerings. That has always been the promise of Christmas and the theme is repeated throughout all the hymns, songs and stories we hear at this time of year.

How then shall you set the intention of your holiday, for yourself and your family? And how shall you celebrate? What makes it special to you? For it is only in listening to your own inner voice whereby you will make the season meaningful to you and your family. While you may look externally for inspiration and ideas, unless those points of inspiration resonate with your own deepest values, the season will pass and a magnificent opportunity to create a meaningful holiday that is in keeping with your own beliefs will be lost to you for another year.

Most likely your home is the place where you start. Is it clean? Is there order?
It seems it is inescapable that the basic canvas for a good holiday season begins with the most fundamental act of deep clearing and cleaning. There simply is no way around it. The sheer act of creating a clean canvas is the foundation of all creativity. Order and cleanliness have a vibe that lifts the environment to a state of grace and readiness. You know what I mean.

I personally always follow the deep cleaning with the simple act of bringing sage into my home and burning it. I walk from room to room, borrowing from the ancient Native American tradition, allowing the smoke from the sage wand to penetrate each and every corner of each and every room, declaring as I go, acknowledging, that each room is now a neutral and purified space, that all that has proceeded is now in the past and that the room is now made ready for what comes next. As esoteric as this sounds, after years of incorporating this tradition I have only experienced it to be true.

Next I follow my sage path with a sweet incense or sweet burning herb. At this time of year I’m most likely to use frankincense. This sets the intention that what will occur in this room will be beautiful. In each room I add a blessing for that particular room. In this bedroom one will find peace and rest. In this bathroom one will find rejuvenation and health. In this kitchen one will find nurturing and satisfaction. In this office one will find harmony and joy. The sheer act of setting the intention for the room will take you one step closer to creating it.

Now you are ready to add the layers of beauty that will assist you in manifesting what you have declared for your home.

Let us focus today in the kitchen and/or the dining room.

I personally love tablecloths. It is my belief that they are the sacred cloths on which we live a part of our lives, and it is in this spirit that I look for those which lend their beauty: quality lace, cotton, brocades, floral patterns in warm, rich colors. I have a good assortment and I find great pleasure in deciding exactly how my table will look at this time of year. At the moment I have two cloths on my long wooden table, as I love layers. I have a white lace tablecloth underneath, set as it should be, rectangularly. And I have placed at angle on top of that (points at the four sides) a beautiful red and gold cotton brocade tablecloth of the sort one only finds coming out of India. In the center of the table is an unusual rustic handpainted gold vase with small white flowers surrounded by little red berries painted on it in a folkart tradition, now bearing a rather large bough of heavenly bamboo, also called nandina, sporting bunches of red berries, which the garden seems to offer so generously at this time of year.

Other beautiful choices from our winter gardens are holly and pyracantha. Here is a splendid pyracantha growing nearby in my neighborhood.

The abundance of berries outside your door at this time of year lend an immediate festive air to your table or hearth. So bring them in, bring them in!
Enjoy the gifts that nature so generously offers in the depths of the dark and
cold of winter, making them all the more dear.

Love and blessings,
Kathryn xox

Posted on December 4th, 2007 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life | 7 Comments »