Zone 6b - Mid-Atlantic Gardening

Conifers are chiefly evergreen, with needles or scale leaves. They are cone-bearing trees that have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to form glorious forests that shelter an endless variety of wildlife and plants. Conifers include pines, hemlocks, cypress, yews, junipers, fir, cedar, and spruce.

The jade plant (Crassula argentea) originated in South Africa, but has been cultivated as a house plant in Europe and America for over a hundred years. Their dark-green, fleshy leaves can have blue or red tinges, depending on the cultivar, and they produce clusters of white or pink star-shaped flowers in winter.

The birds in our area certainly haven’t suffered so far this winter, what with record high temperatures and ample rainfall. Naturally, in this area, this could change radically in the next 20 miutes. Here are ways to encourage avian diversity in your backyard even in winter.

If you have houseplants, you may occasionally notice teeny, tiny black bugs drifting around nearby. What are they? Fungus gnats. OK, so this topic is not the most exciting way to kick off the New Year, but it’s good to start SMALL!