Well, it's been a tough year for gardening. Actually, it's been a tough year all around. When I think of all the happenings around us in the world, I truly appreciate the small miracles and resiliency of the plant world. I focus on the blossoms of the safflower crocuses and hardy cyclamen. I marvel at the emerging beauty of the bare weeping branches of our 'Crimson Queen' Japanese maple and the oddness of the contorted filberts. And like all nutty gardeners, I begin to dream about all of the things that I'd like to do next year in the garden.

(You know how it is…if you could actually accomplish all of those things, you'd have a complete arboretum with fabulous plantings and unbelievable success and growth rates from every plant. And of course, it would only take an army of gardeners to achieve it all…but we continue to dream…)

For those of you who shared my awe at the Carolina Aster that continued to bloom and bloom and bloom, it still had flowers even after two nights in the twenties. They were holding their little petals forward, but they were still lavender in color…I was amazed. I was also surprised at how this viney aster climbed all over the fence corner at the front of the nursery. What a show it put on for our arriving visitors!

Well, with snows beginning before the actual calendar arrival of winter, it looks as though gardeners will have lots of time to plan and dream. As always…

Right before a sudden drop in temperatures last December, I received a call from avid gardener and good friend Mary Matthews. "Karen, I have a plant out here that is blooming and I don't think it's suppose to be. Will you come take some cuttings to try to root them just in case my plant dies?"

Of course I agreed, and hustled over to her home, although I wasn't at all sure that this would work, especially since we weren't sure what the plant was. It resembled a rounded compact form of a bottlebrush (Callistemon spp.) but Mary insisted that it wasn't.

The plant survived that winter, and we are holding our breath again this year since it appears that we will be having a harsher winter.

In the meantime, we argued about what the plant could possibly be. Finally, Mary drove to Winston-Salem with the few letters of the plant's botanical name that she could decipher that had been scrawled across the container. In a bookstore there, she identified this odd little plant that she had found thrown carelessly into a corner in a Japanese nursery in California.

"It's a Grevillea noeli from the mountains of Australia," she patiently explained. I immediately grabbed Mike Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, our first source for all info. Not listed.

Hortus Third notes that there are 250 or more species of this evergreen, but did not describe this particular one. I discovered that a general common name for the genus is "Spider Flower."

Next I checked the Internet. I still failed to find info about this particular species. I did determine that this genus of plants is very popular in Australia.

Back to Mary, who had copied down some general information. Interestingly enough, the zones listed for the plant were between 9 and 11. That would be a good bit warmer than where we are.

So, we'll continue to watch this little mounded shrub. It is now 4' tall and 4'-5' wide with narrow glossy green leaves about an inch long. Blooms occur on the ends of each branch in a beautiful red raceme about 3" long and slightly curved.

We wish Mary luck with her unusual plant and will keep you posted on its survival!

"What do you have that the deer won't eat?" This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions in our nursery.

Unfortunately, the truthful answer is "NOTHING."

There are, however, a few deer facts that can assist you in combating the situation to the best of your ability.

1. Are deer truly the problem? If your plant has been bitten off cleanly, it wasn't a deer. They rip the plant material, as they have no upper front teeth.

2. Your efforts to deter the deer must begin as soon as plantings are installed. They are highly adaptable and very stubborn. If they liked it the first time, they will continue to return to sample it again.

3. Look for ways to offend at least two of their senses. For instance, try to create a situation where a plant will both taste and smell bad. An example would be using Hot Pepper Wax and Coyote Urine together (a highly recommended combination).

4. Deer hate to walk on netting. If using deer netting to guard your plants, make sure that there is some draped on the ground around the base of the wrapped plant. If using wooden stakes around the plant instead of wrapping the netting directly on the plant, the stakes should be at least 6 ½ feet tall.

5. If you choose to fence an area, the fence also should reach 6½ feet with the upper edge sloped away from your garden.

There are a number of plants that are less likely to be eaten by deer, but keep in mind that after a summer of drought, when there was insufficient grass and leaves, the deer are going into winter very hungry. In winter, they eat woody plants. If they are starving, they may suddenly find your arborvitae attractive when they have never bothered it before.

Here is a list of some suggested plant materials in areas that are populated with deer.

☻ Put peppermint or eucalyptus oil in the black tea kettle of water over the wood stove. It makes the house smell wonderful and helps open stopped sinuses. At Christmas, I do this with a homemade blend of Christmas potpourri that contains lots of beautiful herbs and spices with allspice oil.

☻ Make a warm cup of chamomile and mint tea to sip while snuggled on the sofa in the evening.

☻ For a sore throat, gargle with "sage tea" (2 tsp. sage leaves steeped for 15 minutes in 1 cup hot water. Add 1/2-tsp. salt.)

Here are a couple of the latest things that we've piddled with and enjoyed in the kitchen. Their only common denominator is the garlic…but I think that belongs in everything that you cook!

Thaw greens and squeeze out water. Chop with lemon rind in food processor.

Sauté garlic, onion and celery in butter until tender. Add turnip green mixture and all other ingredients. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Serve with muffins.

Place oiled muffin pans (minis work best) in 400º oven while preparing batter. Sift dry ingredients together. Mix together eggs and buttermilk. Combine with dry ingredients. Pour warmed bacon grease into mixture. Fill muffin pans 2/3 full. Baking time will depend on muffin size. It may take anywhere from 12 minutes to 35 minutes (especially if your oven is as ornery as mine.

Super Mushroom Sauté
This one surprised us. We thought that it would be a nice little side dish…but it was so good that it stole the show…

Chop shitakes and buttons in half. Slice portabellas into thick strips.

Chop the 1/2-cup parsley and 2 garlic cloves together. (I used a press and mashed it all together.)

Stir together remaining garlic, 4 Tbsp. of the olive oil and the salt in a large bowl. Add mushrooms and toss to coat.

Heat remaining oil over high heat and sauté mushrooms until brown and just tender. Remove skillet from heat and add parsley-garlic mixture and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley. Wow!