A Valuable Subtle Floral Display

A plant like our native witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is great for the "lifestyle" garden. Admittedly it is easy to be skeptical of the glories of its floral display. On November 13th, as I was walking through the public garden where I work (Kingwood Center) I noticed a slight yellow tinge to a large shrub at the edge of the woods. Closer inspection revealed the witch-hazel in full bloom. The value is in its nuance. Visceral connections to your garden in November may be a challenge, but having flowers, even modest ones, provide a wonderful discovery opportunity, and another reason to be out there in your garden.

Paw Paw

This last weekend I noticed my paw paw fruit were finally ripe (after a few light and one heavy frost. Determined to make good use of all my garden's bounty I did a search for recipes and settled on paw paw preserves. My fiance and daughter got a good laugh at my efforts, especially when the preserves proved to be watery (bad recipe) and not very tasty (a problem with paw paws?) I would describe the reaction to tasting my paw paw preserves as,"...not too bad, but a taste is enough." Unfortunately I can't try something else with my paw paws until next year.