One of the pleasures of the transition from summer to fall to winter is that our greenhouses once again are chock full of blooming plants to make your home more . Although a lot of attention is lavished on the holiday poinsettia plant, there are others that perform equally well yet garner less attention. My favorite is the cyclamen.

Easy to grow, colorful, fragrant and long blooming-what more could you ask for? Okay; graceful. You've got it. There are 20 species of cyclamen. They are found in the wild around (but not in) the Mediterranean Sea. Some species are winter hardy, and Behnke Nurseries carries dormant nursery-grown plants in the fall in our bulb section and occasionally as small potted plants in our perennial area.
 

I think that most would agree, as Marylanders we have had a fantastic Summer and Fall. The Summer never got too terribly hot and gradually and gracefully blended into Fall. And here it is now, mid-November and we are still not only enjoying beautiful weather, but also all the lingering fall color.  

My husband and I just recently reconnected with a couple of old high school friends, who have since married, by coincidence at the park a few months ago. Since then, we have been regularly getting our young families together. A couple of weeks ago on a Mommy-play-date disguised as a day for the kids, we wandered around their wooded property collecting colorful leaves for pressing. The kids enjoyed the mild weather, open running space and the clean fresh air. We spent some time milling around the yard before going inside to press the leaves in a heavy book.  

This week we checked on the leaves and they were crisp and dry; ready for the next play date adventure. As a child, I remember making wax paper place mats with my mother from pressed flowers and leaves. So with wax paper in hand, the kids designed their own place mats from the leaves and markers and afterwards my girlfriend Melanie and I gently ironed them, sandwiching the leaves between two same-sized pieces of wax paper, with an iron on a low se

read more about Jessica's love of old pallets

tting and a tea towel buffering the wax paper from direct contact with the iron. This turned into a great activity with the kids whose ages range from two to almost seven. We spread the leaves out in the center of the dining room table and let them sort through and create; a stress-free and easy clean-up project-- my favorite kind.