Dear Clients and Friends,

I don’t know why, but this year I have been itching to get started on my holiday decorating. While it was warm yesterday, I put up the outside lights; I’ll turn them on after Thanksgiving. I put my lights on timers, which does make life easier. Last year, I was in the middle of having some work done on my kitchen, so the living room was full of boxes of kitchen items—thus, no tree last year. So maybe this sense of impatience and anticipation stems from the lack of holiday spirit in my house last year. How about you?

Right now, the leaf color in my garden is at its peak. I don’t know why the trees in my yard wait so long to color up—the fact that I irrigate? Micro-climate? At any rate, I returned from a trip to Georgia over the weekend to Bloodgood Japanese maples in full, glorious fall color (and for this I am thankful, as last week’s very hard freeze nipped and crunched the top leaves), and the oaks, beeches, bald cypress, and stewartia are looking pretty spectacular, too. I always feel like I’m living in limbo when the leaves are at peak, until they drop all at once and the “big turn” into winter begins.

Speaking of big turn, I have a big clean-up ahead, too. I’ve put away all the summer stuff already—tender plants to over-winter in North Carolina; summer items to the shed; and the pansies are planted. Just need to wrap my windmill palms and have the leaves cleaned up—I’m lucky enough to have an experienced and thorough crew to help me out each fall. It’s our “pizza day”—I always order whatever they like, and we have a nice, long lunch by the waterfall.

2018 is looking busy already. In January, I’m planning to attend the Mid-Atlantic Nurseryman’s Trade Show, in Baltimore. At the end of the month, I’m hosting a garden club for a winter tour of my garden (provided there is not snow on the ground and the temperatures are not too bitterly cold). And in mid-March, I’ve agreed to speak at the spring horticultural symposium at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, SC. I have started to get back into magazine work this year, so that will continue, and I have started on some wonderful, new landscape projects which will continue into 2018 and beyond. The best part of my winter, however, will be my travels in February, which we are planning now. Speaking of trips, 2017 has been a whirlwind of travel, which I dearly love to do, as you know.

Next story > Winter Trips—Mexico City