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Jan 15, 2025 | 
baxleynewsbanner.com | Mary Ellis
When he bounced into our yard that fateful afternoon, neither Larry nor I was surprised. People knew where we lived and that we were soft touches for dogs and cats. However, this beautiful black Lab sported a blue collar. “Look, Larry,” I pointed out. “He has on a collar, so he also has a home. He just came by to visit for a while. He’ll go home when he gets hungry.”At the time, I was still teaching, but Larry had retired and was getting the place ready to bring in a new mobile home.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
gardeningknowhow.com | Mary Ellis
During the holiday season, Christmas flowering plants bring cheer and natural color to the home. For anyone looking to cultivate natural beauty indoors, this can be a season where Christmas flowering house plants bring unique tone and sparkle to interiors. Some plants also bloom and thrive outdoors at this time of year, depending on where you live and garden. You might be looking for the perfect flowering plant for your holiday porch pot or something dynamic for a patio or balcony.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
baxleynewsbanner.com | Mary Ellis
For the most part, Larry and I prefer our entertainment local and in an easy chair. We rarely even go out to eat or to a movie, but that Saturday morning about fifteen years ago found us Atlanta bound. A concert we couldn’t resist would take place on Sunday afternoon. The Praise Singers, the Kingdom Singers, and the Cherub Choir would be performing at the Peachtree Presbyterian Church, and we intended to be there. Our grandchildren—Trey, Jakey, and Will—would be singing in those choirs.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
baxleynewsbanner.com | Mary Ellis
One Friday morning several years ago, my cousin Max Newham called and invited me to go with him to put flowers in the cemeteries where our parents and our grandparents are buried. I hesitated for only a minute before agreeing. I mentally cleared my calendar for part of the day and agreed to meet him in Hazlehurst. Soon we had purchased and loaded several lush poinsettias into his car. Our first stop was the Hazlehurst City Cemetery.
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
gardeningknowhow.com | Mary Ellis
Urban gardening can be challenging due to a lack of space, poor soil quality and other factors. However, even if you live in a small apartment or only have a balcony or tiny patch of yard, you can still get creative with a few clever urban garden ideas.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
gardeningknowhow.com | Mary Ellis |Melanie Griffiths
Winterizing is the process of protecting certain garden plants from harsh winter weather. While it isn’t necessary to protect all your plants from freezing temperatures, more vulnerable varieties will benefit from this extra step. Protecting plants in the fall, before the frost sets in, will ensure they stay healthy and grow well come spring. Winterizing perennial plants may sound like a lot of effort, but in a hard frost can mean the difference between life and death.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
baxleynewsbanner.com | Mary Ellis
Sunday, September 22, was the first day of Fall, even though the weather didn’t reflect the new season—my favorite one. Ninety-degree temperatures shouted the presence of summer. So, I went to my trusty computer and looked backward a bit. Larry no longer does the huge gardens, and I don’t even preserve our abundant fig crops or jell the muscadines. We’ve gotten too old. Nonetheless, the ways of the country still live in our heads. Following is a scene from our lives as they were almost a decade ago.
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Sep 10, 2024 | 
baxleynewsbanner.com | Mary Ellis
Throughout history, ignorant and oppressive powers have gained control of various countries and through their ignorance and fanaticism, have destroyed many of the world’s greatest works of art. Most of the time they are so blinded by their own fanaticism that they can’t see any value in the art they are intent on destroying. The historical and artistic legacy of France fascinates most of us in the rest of the world, but much of that legacy disappeared during the revolution.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
gardeningknowhow.com | Mary Ellis |Janey Goulding
Dahlias come in a stunning range of shapes, sizes and colors. Cactus dahlia varieties are a particularly striking group of plants. Each cactus dahlia is a double flower and is characterized by petals that curve in along their lengths. The semi-cactus dahlia is similar. Each petal curves in about halfway down its length, while the petals of the cactus varieties are curved for the entire length. Both these dahlia plant types add impact and drama, while holding their own in bad weather.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
newsbreak.com | Mary Ellis
Dahlias come in a stunning range of shapes, sizes and colors. Cactus dahlia varieties are a particularly striking group of plants. Each cactus dahlia is a double flower and is characterized by petals that curve in along their lengths. The semi-cactus dahlia is similar. Each petal curves in about halfway down its length, while the petals of the cactus varieties are curved for the entire length. Both these dahlia plant types add impact and drama, while holding their own in bad weather.
