Decorating the house with fresh greenery is one of the oldest winter holiday traditions. People have been decorating with greenery since the 1800s, with some homes elaborately decorated with garlands of holly, ivy, mountain laurel and mistletoe hung from the roof. Other homes went a simpler route, with greenery and boughs in the window frames and holly sprigs stuck to the glass with wax.

Today, decorating for the holidays with fresh greenery is more prevalent than ever. Greens such as cedar, ivy, pine, and holly add a fresh look and natural scent to our homes, and are good to use since they dry out slowly and hold their needles well. Hemlock, spruce, and most broadleaf evergreens can also be used, but will last longer if used outdoors.

In addition to using greenery in traditional methods such as wreaths, garlands and table centerpieces, you can also create beautiful arrangements in window boxes, pottery or vases. The key is to either immerse the cut ends in water before arranging or place them in an oasis inside the container, which you can keep moist.

Besides the more commonly used evergreens, consider using other plant parts such as acorns, berries, dried flowers, cones, seed pods and branches of dormant plants such as pussy willow or forsythia to give added color and texture interest. You can even incorporate fruits such as lemons, limes, apples, pears, kumquats and pineapple.

It’s important to decorate safely during the holidays. Dried evergreens can become flammable when in contact with a heat source such as a candle flame, space heaters, heater vents or sunny windows. If you use lights near your green arrangements, just make sure that they stay cool and, if outside, that they are rated for exterior use.

Nothing can beat the look of real leafy greens scattered around the house and in arrangements. It’s hard to beat the aroma of real needle evergreens decorating your house in the winter months. You can find all kinds of fresh greenery here at Newells Nurseries, so come on in and join us in celebrating the holidays.

If you are looking for a way to add some color to your garden in the winter, consider planting sasanqua camellias. They produce an attractive show of flowers from early autumn into late winter, blooming long before their better known (japonica) cousins.

Add to that, bright glossy green leaves and interesting growth habits and you have a "must" for your winter garden.

Sasanqua camellias can be planted in containers and in shrub and tree beds with equal success. This allows you to place them on patios and decks, or near walkways for greater enjoyment. They can also be used for bonsai specimens, espaliers, informal hedges, screens or graceful focal points in the garden.

Their natural growth is either upright or a graceful willow-like form. Some have single, semi-double, or fully double flowers that can be small, medium or rather large, and they come in shades of pink, rose, red, white, and combinations.

One of the outstanding characteristics of sasanqua camellias is that they will tolerate more sun exposure than spring-flowering types of camellias. Most varieties don't grow nearly as large as their cousins, enabling them to make perfect understory plants. Like all camellias, they need to be planted in locations with good drainage in a hole amended with an acid planting mix such as Nurserymans Azelea Camelia Mix.

Fungus gnats can become a nuisance indoors when adults emerge in large numbers from potted plants containing consistently damp or wet soil. While the adults are harmless to humans and animals, the eggs they lay become larvae or maggots, and can damage plants.

African violets, carnations, cyclamens, geraniums, poinsettias and indoor foliage plants can be susceptible and show symptoms of sudden wilting, loss of vigor, poor growth, or leaf yellowing and foliage loss. The larvae feed not only on fungi and decaying organic matter, but on living plant tissue, particularly root hairs and small feeder roots.

Overwatering is the usual cause of fungus gnats, so it's important to focus attention there. It's best to allow the soil to dry as much as possible, without injury to the plants, as an effective natural way of controlling them. Another natural solution is to cover the soil with a one-inch layer of decorative rock, gravel, or sand.

An initial infestation can easily be controlled with an application of a pyrethrin spray such as Safer Houseplant Sticky Stakes. It helps to do at least one follow-up application 7-10 days later to break the breeding cycle.

Some Fun Thanksgiving Facts for You:

• The Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving feast, in 1621, lasted three days.
• On October 3, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued a "Thanksgiving Proclamation" that made the last Thursday in November a national holiday.
• In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November, in order to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the economy. Two years later, he changed it to the fourth Thursday.
• In 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, on the fourth Thursday in November.
• There were no mashed potatoes at the first Thanksgiving dinner--potatoes were brought here later, by Irish immigrants.
• Turkeys were one of the first animals in the Americas to be domesticated.
• Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey a noble bird and wanted it to be the national bird of America, rather than the eagle!
• Native Americans used the red juice of the cranberry to dye rugs and blankets.
• Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
• The pilgrims didn't use forks; they used spoons, knives and their fingers, so if anyone objects to your picking up that drumstick--tell them you are simply practicing traditional American table manners!

What Is Humic Acid?
Answer:
Humic acid is a complex organic acid that is present in soil, peat, and coal, formed from the decomposition of vegetation matter. It is responsible for much of the color of surface water. Because of its vegetative origin, this material is very rich and beneficial to plants and gardens.

Almost anything that grows will benefit from humic acid. It increases nutrient uptake, drought tolerance and seed germination. It increases the microbial activity in the soil, making it an excellent root stimulator. Humic acid increases the availability of nutrients that are already in your soil and will naturally aerate the soil. It also will help to lower the pH of your soil and helps flush high levels of salts out of the root zone.

If you use humic acid, your plants and grass turf will have a healthier green color, and smaller amounts of fertilizer will be needed throughout the year to keep them green. It helps support root development in plants and can also help increase the yield of fruit trees and vegetables. Humic acid is actually somewhat of a "professional secret"--it has been used by landscapers and golf course managers for years.