More Christmas magic

I finally got a good photo of our "Candy Cane Tree" we created in our front yard.

We've had these large plastic candy canes for several years and tried different ways of using them in our Christmas displays. We like to decorate the yard for Christmas, but we're not the over-the-top types.

This year I was inspired to create a different sort of tree. We have rope lights in white, red, and candy-cane stripes, so I wrapped them around the trunk of a tree. This is a birch tree that had just the perfect limb structure to adorn with red and white lights for the best effect. Then we hung the candy canes along the limbs and we have a real crowd-pleaser. Not that we have too many neighbors, but those who live nearby or drive by have given us lots of praise.

We just have fun with it.

(The lights in the background are draped on the rhododendrons along the house.)

Christmas with the Crists is shaping up nicely, don't you think?

Apple Blossoms in December

This year I chose an amaryllis of a different color. This is my gorgeous Apple Blossom Amaryllis, which ended up having SIX blossoms. It's brilliant white with pink streaks and a rosy glow on the edges of the petals. I think it has a lovely scent too. I would definitely grow this type again.

For those who don't know, growing an amaryllis is a tradition that I started only in the past 5 or 10 years. I think I was inspired by my Dad, if memory serves me correctly.

Does anyone have experience with saving an amaryllis from one year to the next and getting it to bloom again?

Meanwhile, enjoy.

:)