If you are looking for a way to add some color to your garden in the winter, consider planting sasanqua camellias. They produce an attractive show of flowers from early autumn into late winter, blooming long before their better known (japonica) cousins.

Add to that, bright glossy green leaves and interesting growth habits and you have a "must" for your winter garden.

Sasanqua camellias can be planted in containers and in shrub and tree beds with equal success. This allows you to place them on patios and decks, or near walkways for greater enjoyment. They can also be used for bonsai specimens, espaliers, informal hedges, screens or graceful focal points in the garden.

Their natural growth is either upright or a graceful willow-like form. Some have single, semi-double, or fully double flowers that can be small, medium or rather large, and they come in shades of pink, rose, red, white, and combinations.

One of the outstanding characteristics of sasanqua camellias is that they will tolerate more sun exposure than spring-flowering types of camellias. Most varieties don't grow nearly as large as their cousins, enabling them to make perfect understory plants. Like all camellias, they need to be planted in locations with good drainage in a hole amended with an acid planting mix such as Gardner & Bloome Acid Planting Mix.

We invite you to visit us and see our sasanqua camellias in all of their full blooming glory.

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While the poinsettia remains the most popular of the holiday plants, a healthy Christmas cactus in full bloom is a great gift idea for that special gardener. It is easy to care for and can be grown indoors throughout the year. The flowers range in color from yellow, orange, red, salmon, pink, fuchsia and white or combinations of those colors. Its pendulous stems make it a great choice for hanging baskets

The common Christmas cactus grown commercially is composed of several closely related species of forest cacti that grow as epiphytes between 3,000 and 5,000 above sea level in the Organ Mountains north of Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil.

We typically think of cacti as being heat tolerant, but Christmas cactus will keep its blossoms longer in cooler temperatures. It is important to keep plants in a well-lit location away from drafts of heater vents, fireplaces or other sources of hot air. Drafts and temperature extremes can cause the flower buds to drop from the plant before they have a chance to open.

The Christmas cactus is a tropical type plant, not quite as drought tolerant as its desert relatives and, in fact, may drop flower buds if the soil gets too dry. Water thoroughly when the top inch or so of soil feels dry to the touch. The soil should be kept evenly moist for best growth.

Christmas cactus will do best in bright indirect light. It doesn't need to be fertilized while in bloom, but most gardeners enjoy the challenge of keeping the plant after the holidays for re-bloom the following year. While plants are actively growing, use a blooming houseplant-type fertilizer such as Eleanor's VF-11 and apply monthly until blooms set the following season. If taken care of properly, a single plant can last for years, providing many seasons of enjoyment.

While most other climbing vines bloom for just a short six-to-eight week window, you can count on climbing roses to provide you with blooms all season long. They also come in an array of incredible colors that few vines can match. While climbing roses aren't a true vine (they don't twine), they do produce long arching canes that can be easily tied to a trellis or tacked onto a fence with vine staples.

This year there are some wonderful new introductions that have been grown in test gardens for two years to make sure they have the hardiness, disease resistance and bloom production needed to be introduced into the market.

Candyland--Sizable hybrid tea-shaped blossoms of impetuous pink spun with creamy ivory yellow are carried in huge clusters on this very showy climber with gorgeous glossy foliage. It gives "eye candy" a whole new meaning! 25 petals

Full Moon Rising--A soft cream version of the popular 'Polka' climbing rose, it has the same ruffled petals and makes an excellent cut flower that lasts a long time in a vase. 90 petals

Lunar Mist--the old-fashioned soft creamy ivory-colored flowers on this climber will add a touch of elegance to any garden. This is a smaller climber that can also be grown as a large fountain-shaped bush. Very hardy plant. 50 petals

Morning Magic--This small hardy climber is fairly compact and blooms continuously throughout the season, producing loads of delicate, shell pink flowers that fade to almost white. Very winter hardy for colder regions. 15 petals

Winner's Circle--One of the most floriferous climbers ever produced, with spectacular fire engine red blooms that can take on the heat without fading. The hardy green foliage turns deep burgundy in the fall. 15 petals

Rabbits are one of the most loved and adored animals around. They are kept as pets, appear in children's books and even have a celebrated icon in the Easter Bunny. So it's hard for some people to believe that they can also be one of the country's greatest pests. But a few happy rabbits can wipe out a nice garden in no time.

Rabbits will devour a wide variety of plant material, especially in the spring when young, succulent new growth is present. Small flowers and vegetables can be ripped right out of the ground, and other damage can be identified by chew marks on older woody growth, clean-cut clipping of young stems, and rabbits' distinctive round droppings.

What makes controlling rabbits so difficult is that they reproduce quickly and often. Although their life expectancy is 12 to 15 months, they can produce up to four litters per year, with as many as six young per litter. The young are born in shallow nests in the ground but are able to leave the nest in two to four weeks.

Although baby bunnies can look cute when they are young, they will quickly establish their feeding patterns and favorite places to visit. Making matters worse is that most rabbits are random eaters, taking a nibble here and there every night until most of your landscape has been damaged.

While some people have success trapping rabbits using traps filled with carrots, fruits and other vegetables, the easiest way to control them is to make your garden undesirable with the use of repellants. We recommend a two-pronged approach that odorizes not only the soil but the plant foliage as well.

Dry soil repellants, such as Rabbit Scram can be shaken out right onto the soil surface; we recommend applying around the garden perimeter. Liquid repellants, such as Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent can be sprayed directly onto the foliage of their favorite (damaged) plants. It is important to re-apply the repellents according to package directions until you have broken the feeding patterns of the rabbits. Signs to look for are new growth appearing on plants and a decrease in droppings.

Rabbits have many of the same plant tastes as deer, so another solution is to plant deer-resistant plants in your landscape.

1. Plant groundcovers.
2. Plant a basket of narcissus for holiday bloom.
3. Finish filling flower beds with cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom.
4. Plant nasturtiums and continue to plant wildflowers from seeds.
5. Plant flowering kale.
6. Continue to plant winter vegetables, including garlic.
7. Prune pine trees and other conifers now through February.
8. Divide and plant agapanthus.
9. Divide matilija poppy.
10. Open up spaces in dense trees to allow wind to pass through.
11. Prune acacias.
12. Prune cane berries other than low-chill raspberries.
13. Cut back chrysanthemums after bloom; clean up the ground.
14. Fertilize cool-season bedding flowers.
15. Continue to fertilize cineraria for growth.
16. Once rains arrive, stop watering succulents growing in the ground.
17. Water bulbs, especially potted ones.
18. Water roses until mid-month--but only if rains aren't adequate.
19. Don't let citrus go dry in cold or frosty weather.
20. Bait flower beds for cutworms, slugs and snails.
21. Stake young trees loosely so they can develop strong trunks.
22. Pre-chill tulips, hyacinths, and crocuses.
23. Wrap the trunks of young citrus and avocado trees with an insulating material to protect them from cold.
24. Mulch, mulch, and mulch some more.

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