Tomato, Squash and Red Pepper Gratin

It's Labor Day, but I can still find summer goodies at the farmers market.  Hopefully you can also.  If so, this is a perfect casserole that combines tomatoes and yellow squash--two ingredients ubiquitous in many a summer garden. As well as some fresh basil that is thriving despite the unbearable heat. And, of course, everything's better with a little Gruyere and some breadcrumbs.

Tomato, Squash and Red Pepper Gratin
From Cooking Light magazine.
Makes 6-8 servings.

5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped red onion
1 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 pound yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (Note:  I dind't have quinoa handy so I used some cooked wild rice.)
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 ounces aged Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 1/2 ounces French bread baguette, torn
1 (12-ounce) beefsteak tomato, seeded and cut into 8 slices

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 teaspoons oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 3 minutes. Add bell pepper; cook 2 minutes. Add squash and garlic; cook 4 minutes. Place vegetable mixture in a large bowl. Stir in quinoa, 1/4 cup basil, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.

Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, milk, cheese, and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to vegetable mixture, stirring until just combined. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Place bread in a food processor; pulse until coarse crumbs form. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add breadcrumbs; cook 3 minutes or until toasted. Arrange tomatoes evenly over vegetable mixture. Top evenly with breadcrumbs. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until topping is browned. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil.

Happy New Year!

For as many years as I can remember, New Years Day has been about the Tournament of Roses Parade. (And, yes, black-eyed peas.) It's usually a bit chilly here in Dallas, so I can see (usually) warmer Pasadena and marvel at the floral masterpieces.

Eighteen million. That's now many flowers they use. Just think...a couple more months and you can be out in your own garden creating your own float...

Leaves!

For most of us, it's time to get out there and see the leaves.  They are turning...it's not yet clear what kind of color show we'll get here in Texas, but I am hoping there are a few still on the branches when I head to North Carolina in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I'm taking every opportunity to wander around the neighborhood and local parks to take a look.  Did you know there are more than 750 tree species native to North America?  If you can't figure out what you're looking at, snap a photo of a leaf with your iPhone and use the Leafsnap app to identify it.  You'll know your Shumards from your water oaks in no time at all.

Are They Insane?

Real Simple  magazine says that 53% of 16- to 22-year-olds would rather give up their sense of smell than their favorite personal technology device.  Hopefully, they can Tweet their way through the garden pictured.  Me?  I'll be stopping to smell the roses.

Cocktail of the Week: Basil Lime Daiquiri

It's happy hour!   And often as not, that means I head to the herb garden as well as the liquor cabinet.  I still have some basil hanging on after our long hot summer. So this refreshing cocktail is in order...

Basil Lime Daiquiri
Makes one cocktail.

Simmer 1/2 cup water with 1 1/2 cups basil leaves until reduced to 2 1/2 tablespoons.  Strain, then stir in 2 teaspoons light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice.  In an ice-filled shaker, combine the basil-lime syrup with 2 ounces light rum and 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice.  Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with basil and lime.

Tasty, huh?  So good that I made extra syrup for a second (and third) round.

Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra

Yes, you can fry okra.  And, yes, you can pickle it.  But what a lot of fellow Southerners don't realize is that it's also an important part of Indian cooking.  This recipe utilizes some classic spices from that cuisine.



Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra
From Food & Wine magazine.
Makes four servings.

3/4 teaspoon hot paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of ground fenugreek (optional)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound small okra, halved lengthwise
Salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a small bowl, blend the paprika with the cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, cinnamon and fenugreek.


 
In each of 2 large nonstick skillets, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the okra, cut side down, and cook over high heat for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until browned on the bottom, 4 minutes longer. Turn the okra and cook over low heat until tender, 2 minutes. Season with salt and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Drizzle the lemon juice over the okra and serve.

Flowers with Staying Power

I love fresh flowers around the house. But (1) who can afford it and (2) what can handle the wilting heat of Texas summer?

Here are some longlasters that our friend Martha recommends with my own comments. And they're interesting enough that you just need a stem or two.

• Oncidium orchids: These are the multi-branch variety with the little speckled blooms all over. I love their exoticism.


• Carnations: A lot of people despise them. I love them...smell and all. And they last for two weeks and more if you change their water every few days.


• Freesias: Simple and aromatic, they also remind me of Southern ladies. And that's a good thing.


• Oriental lilies: These are show horses. When entertaining, I buy five or six stems of these and scatter them throughout the house. They are quite dramatic.


• Dendrobium orchids: Though perhaps a bit less exotic looking than their oncidium cousins, these are beautiful additions to your tablescape, your bathroom counter or your bedside table.

Any suggestions to add to the list? Hit me up in the comments below.

Got Herbs? Make Compound Butter.

We are overwhelmed with herbs. It's hot, but we've taken good care of our plants this summer, so we have plenty of oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, mint and more.

So I'm going to whip up several batches of this yumminess in an assortment of flavors. It'll be perfect on garlic bread, potatoes, baked fish...maybe even popcorn.

To make compound butter....

Combine 1 cup unsalted room temperature butter, 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (Get creative and combine several different ones.) and 1 teaspoon kosher salt with a spatula.

Place in ramekins or roll up into logs in plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to one week or freeze up to two months.

How will you use yours?

SPRING HAS INDEED......SPRUNG!

How do I know?

This beautiful iris in our front yard..the first of the season.

Stay tuned for many more....

Wintertime in Our Backyard

This is a "dingy" time in our backyard. We've had a couple of freezes, the big red oak tree has lost most of its leaves, and there's not a flower one to be seen. It's definitely a different vista from our kitchen window than it is during the spring and summer when the view is nothing but lush greenery and the riotous color of flowers. As I discovered last weekend though, it's still beautiful.


We've avoided yard work for a month or so now. Finally the leaves overwhelmed us, and my other half and I grabbed rakes to do a little winter clean-up. I had the pruner in hand to clip away the branches of basil and penta and lantana that had frozen to the ground. Pulled up tomato and pepper plants, some with stubborn holdovers hanging on to the branches bruised and blackened from cold weather.


Yet, if I was observant and looked closely enough, there was already promise of the spring to come. The pentas had new growth at their bases and many of the branches I trimmed were brittle, but still green, ready to burst forth again when the weather gets warmer. There were even a couple of Gulf frittilary caterpillars tenaciously munching on their passionflower vine host.


So I clipped things and scattered wildflower seeds from their dried pods before dumping everything into the compost pile. Of course we left some of the leaves in beds; they are a great mulch blanketing daylilies and iris for the cold weather still ahead.


It was a great reminder of how life (and Nature especially) can always be beautiful, even if not in the "traditional" sense. I'm going to make it a priority to bundle up and spend more time outdoors in the weeks ahead. Whether in our own garden or the neighborhood park, there is still much that is beautiful to be seen.

A Beautiful Centerpiece Idea

Here's a centerpiece idea I'm going to try for this Christmas.

Use candle wax or floral clay to attach a small floral frog to the center of a shallow bowl. (Your holiday china would be perfect.) Place a taper candle in the center of the frog. Pour water into the bowl. Clip amaryllis blooms (maybe ones you've already forced or ones you've bought by the stem at the florist) and arrange them in the bowl around the candle.

Simple and elegant...

Forcing Things Isn't Always Bad...

It's that time of year again. Time to force wonderful winter bulbs like amaryllis and narcissus. I've told you about the whole process before, but just learned a new tip I'm going to try this year.

Too often paperwhites bolt and flow over in their containers. Try adding 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10 parts water and use as the rooting solution. They'll stop growing at about two-thirds their usual height.

Daylilies

I pretty much took the day off today. Sure...there was plenty to do, but I just didn't feel like doing it. So I dusted off my best procrastination skills and just hung out. After my hot tea, had a bagel and smoked salmon for breakfast.

Then lots of wandering around the backyard and patio (Thank goodness for the cold front that knocked temperatures back into the 80's.) checking out the newly fledged birds that come with their parents to the feeders. Looking at the ever-increasing number of butterflies that are visiting the buffet we've provided them. (And searching for caterpillars everywhere I can.)

But the stars of the garden show today were my daylilies. They're in their prime. Creamy pinks. Lemon yellows. Brilliant reds. Golden yellows. Bright oranges. Even a regal purple or two. And some of them are HUGE. Blooms that are easily as big as my hand spread out to its fullest. Many of them with ruffled and crinkly edges.

The idea that their magnificent beauty only lasts one day (hence their name) makes you want to savor every moment. And the good news is that with anywhere from two to seven blooms on a single stalk, they can put on a show for a week or more. Almost like a REALLY slow fireworks display.

The best news...they're very easy to grow. With a sunny spot and some decently fertile soil, you're on your way to your own show to enjoy. Their tuberous root system means they even get through periods of drought. And while they commonly freeze to the ground, they are dependable in reappearing every spring. Pests? With the exception of an aphid or two, I've never seen a bug remotely interested in them.

This is the perfect time to buy your plants. They're in full bloom in nurseries and garden centers; so you'll see what you're purchasing. Google your city's name and "daylily growers" or society and you're likely to find a club in your area that has periodic sales of some of their castoffs. You can also go to a reputable online mail-order nursery like Oakes in Tennessee. I have purchased many plants from them over the years and am always amazed at the size and quality of the plants they send. (And at their generosity in sending "bonus" plants to you as well.)

Tempted? Then get out there and get planting! You'll be glad you did.

A Butterfly Bonanza: Attracting Butterflies to YOUR Garden

We've had a bevy of beautiful butterflies in our backyard over the last week or so. (Say that five times fast.) And I've bored at least two captive audiences with my butterfly/caterpillar tales over the last couple of days Time to get it out of my system and blog about it. I'm turning into a real lepidopterist...aka butterfly nerd.

I don't know what it is that attracts me to these winged bugs. Something about seeing them float through our backyard is peaceful. And exciting at the same time. And it's stunning to think that really ugly caterpillars can turn into such graceful beauties.

So I've been excited to see lots of these fluttering around. And this. And even this caterpillar munching on a plant in our alleyway. Want to join me in my lepidopteric nerdiness? Here are some tips.

Make sure and feed the caterpillars.

Yes, the butterflies are beautiful enough fluttering around your flower beds, but to attract even more, give mama butterfly a place to lay her eggs. Butterflies are finicky about what they eat as caterpillars. So you have to give them what they're looking for. Plants from the cabbage and mustard family for cabbage whites. (I buy several of the ornamental cabbages available in nurseries at the end of the winter and plant them in pots just for these pale green worms to devour. And they eat me out of house and home.) Passionvine for fritillaries. Parsley and dill for swallowtails. (I've finally been rewarded after years of dill planting with a crop of caterpillars this year.) Even obscure plants like pipevine for the obsessively particular pipevine swallowtail. I sometimes wonder if butterflies are like salmon--tending to hang around where they were born and returning to their birthplace during their brief two week lifespans to leave the next generation to grow and reproduce. Certainly hope so.

Flowers are important.

Obviously, nectar from a variety of flowers form the basis of the adult butterflies diet. And there are many perennials that are easy to plant and grow that will have butterflies lining up for the buffet for years to come. Purple coneflower. Lantana. Gregg's mist. I've discovered they have a particular affinity for the autumn-flowering frostweed. If you have a sunny patch in your yard that you can let go "wild" with Mexican hat and false sunflower, all the better. Get out there and Google for others suitable for your area.

But they like fruit too.

Some butterflies actually don't visit flowers, but get their nutrition from rotting things. Carrion and dung. (Yuck.) And softening fruit. We've attracted a whole new batch of butterflies by putting pieces of banana, grapefruit and apple in saucers. Try it and see what happens.

Learn your stuff.

If you're as obsessive as I am, you'll get a lot of pleasure by identifying what you have coming to visit you. Buy a book like this and keep a running tally of what you see. You'll be amazed at the variety you've managed to attract. And the resources will give you even more ideas of what to plant.

Take the opportunity to get the kids involved.

Kids love bugs. And they'll love the opportunity to observe the transformation that these particular bugs go through as they go from egg to caterpillar to pupa to butterfly. You can even get butterfly habitats that you can put a plant in once the caterpillars are munching. Keeps them "captive" so you can watch each stage of their life cycle. (Confession: I have a small one with a 4-inch dill plant (complete with fat swallowtail caterpillar) on our kitchen counter as we speak. Can't wait to see the butterfly emerge after it pupates so that I can release it into our great wild backyard...)

If you live in North Texas, this is the perfect time to get started. Not only is the weather ideal, but, this weekend you can stock up on a variety of nectar and host plants at Fair Park's Discovery Garden's Butterfly Plant Sale. Lots of butterfly experts will be on hand to give you great advice on how to bring the fluttering masses to your home habitat.

In Grandma's Garden: Old-Fashioned Iris

Recently, after a great evening of a movie and dinner in a hip area of Dallas, I mentioned to my partner that "we ought to do this more often." He looked at me incredulously and then smiled and said, "What are you talking about? We're just grandma gardeners?" I had to laugh.

He's right in a way. We have created such a great home here in the suburbs. Food and wine. A cocktail or three. Dogs and cats. (And doves, but that's another story.) Not to mention the birds and butterflies that are attracted to our great landscape. And that landscape IS one that is influenced by our grandmothers and our mothers and all the other "old-fashioned" folks in our lives. We tend to plant things that have been around a while. An alley full of wildflowers. Roses. Daylilies. Ferns. And his favorite. Bearded iris.

Iris are one of the easiest perennials to grow. They are unobtrusive most of the year with strap-like green foliage that freezes back in the winter, but in March and April, they send up stalks with beautiful flowers that range from yellow to orange and lavender to the deepest purple. With a snowy white one thrown in for good measure.

They grow from rhizomes, ugly bulbous things that you plant just barely into the soil. Those mini sweet potatoes send their roots down and their foliage and flowers up. They don't need much fertilizer, just a sprinkling of bone meal in early spring and late fall. (As a matter of fact, using a nitrogen-based fertilizer can cause the rhizomes to rot--one of the few calamities that can kill these antique plants.) And you don't want to over water either, making them an environmentally-friendly addition to your garden.

It's past prime bloom time already here in north Texas, but you can Google your local iris society and find out when they're having their iris show. Should be in the next couple of weeks. Usually, they're accompanied by a sale where the local growers share their leftovers at very reasonable prices. You certainly don't have to go whole-hog and plant a huge bed with scores of varieties like we have. But I encourage you to pick up a couple and plant them in a sunny spot. You can practically forget about them, and they'll still reward you with their dependable spring show.

Planting Time!

To make your mint julep, you need mint.

You need thyme for this and this.

But you don't want to have to spend 2 bucks a pop to buy them at the grocery store. (Growing you own is more environmentally friendly too. Imagine the energy expended to get that little sprig from the industrial farm to your table. And the plastic container it's packaged in? Please.) So plant your own.

I've blogged before about planting a basic herb garden. Hopefully, you've done that and are ahead of the game. You can't go wrong with rosemary (you can't kill it), oregano (ditto), basil, and sage. And don't forget mint and thyme.

This year, I'm expanding my repertoire. Have added a few pots of different herbs based, quite frankly, on the number of times I've bought them at Central Market in the last several months.

Cilantro
I cook Southwestern-type food quite often. Like this chicken with tomatillo salsa. And I'm tired of buying cilantro for the aforementioned $2.00 and throwing most of it into the compost pile. So I've planted some this year. Will let you know how it goes.

Parsley
Same with this one. It seems to be an accent in a lot of recipes, whether they be Italian- or Asian-inspired. It's a butterfly host plant too. Hopefully, the caterpillars won't get to it before I do.

Dill
This has not always been one of my favorite herbs. (WHY do people muck up potato salad by adding dill, for goodness' sake?!?) I've learned that it can be a nice lightly-applied accent though. Even enjoyed a salad mix last week that had a sprig or two of dill thrown in. So I'm trying it this year. have to beat the butterflies for this one too though....

Vegetables
We've planted a few vegetables this year too. Peppers (jalapeno, cayenne, and sweet banana) and tomatoes. (Have always done best with little cherry tomatoes like Sweet 100.) I'm even trying tomatilloes after I found a plant at the neighborhood Lowe's. I never invest a lot in them. Just thrown them in a pot, use organic gardening methods and see what happens. With heirloom toatoes at $5.99 a pound at Central Market, it's worth it even if we just harvest one or two!

So take the plunge. How glad will you be when you make pico de gallo in July that you've made from your very own home-grown tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and cilantro?

A Little Spring Indoors

Spring really HAS come to North Texas. As I drove around yesterday, I realized that the plum trees and peach trees and even the redbuds were in bloom. The pear trees all over town turn into big fluffy snowballs that are more wintry looking than the weather we actually GET in what passes for the cold season here. It made me want to go out for a walk in the woods (or at least a big park) to look for other signs of spring.

There are some old-fashioned flowering shrubs that I really like. The yellow sprays of forsythia. The little stunted bush that is flowering quince. Those bursts of color in the middle of a wooded patch are vibrant harbingers of all the green soon to come. But they're really not good in a home landscape. After their color fades, they tend to look nondescript, messy and overgrown. They're the kind of plants that look great by an old farmhouse, in the woods by a lakeshore, or in a historic cemetery, but they are just out of place in the primped and trimmed yards we create for ourselves these days. Someday I hope to have a plot of land big enough that I can scatter some about...they always make me smile.

In the meantime though, I'm still getting my fix. I bought several branches of budding forsythia tonight at the local Central Market. (Check florists or big gourmet stores in your neighborhood.) They're in a big barrel-shaped vase here by my desk. They'll make me think of the outdoors and remind me of all the exciting and beautiful things going on in the great outdoors.

But, of course, there's no substitute for the real thing. So that walk on the park is on the to-do list.

Spring has Sprung....

When I was in high school here in Texas, there was a certain ritual that always signalled warmer temperatures and the headlong rush to summer. Our principal would at some point right before spring break come on the PA system and in an accent that can only be described as East Texas twang saturated in South Carolina drawl would intone: "Students, spring has sprung." That trademark prologue led into a homily on the inappropriateness of the public displays of affection in the hallways that always seem to be on the increase as the sap rose...so to speak. This sermon occurred without fail all four years I was there...and, I can only imagine, continued until he retired sometime a decade or so later.

I couldn't help but smile at the recollection as I walked around our yard today and realized that, yes indeed, spring had sprung. The saucer magnolia (that I always learned to call a "tulip tree") was blooming. (Hopefully, it won't get zapped by a late-season frost as it seems to have every year since we moved here six years ago.) Daffodils are in bloom. Traditional big-bloomed ones as well as some tiny little ones that I planted and that continue to naturalize year after year.

The wildflowers in the alley are beginning to green. Not only the established ones that did so well last year, but also the tiny seedlings that have emerged from the seed broadcast back in November. Already they are fighting with less-desirable "wild" flowers like dandelions and henbit. They won't bloom until summer, so only time will tell who will emerge victorious.

I pruned the rose bushes which live in pots on the back driveway a couple of weeks ago, and they are already sending out new red-green growth that will, in March and April, result in a colorful display, ready to enjoy on walks outside or to be cut, brought in and put around the house. And the iris, the first perennials to bloom in our landscape are eagerly emerging from soil and mulch. If their bloom is as prolific as their foliage, it looks like we're in for a stunning show.

It's not all "sprung" yet though. The wisteria is not quite ready to bloom, and the knobby buds on its lengths are not yet betraying whether they will be flowers (as we hope) or just leaves (as seems to be the case most often dadgum it). And while the iris are ready to go, their successors in the bloom parade, the daylilies, can't even bother to stick their green and lazy leaves out of the ground. his time of year always leads to a panicked moment or two when I wonder if they're all deadfrom drought and freeze. They always manage to come back though.

It's a great time to be outdoors. Warm, but with a hint of chill in the wind. Here in Texas, it's a time to revel in...all too soon, we'll barricade ourselves behind glass in air-conditioned sterility and sweat our way from house to car to office and back. In the meantime, there is sunshine, blooms, pollen (dang allergies) and green.

This is the first spring of this blog, and I'll be sharing with you the things that we grow here that give us so much pleasure. Many of them are perennials, simple to grow with the promise of return year after year. Herbs. Wildflowers. And a tropical plant or two tat have spent their winters dormant in our garage, but soon will burst into color and smell.

For now, my advice is simple. Get outside. Take it in--smell, see and feel all that's out there. For after all, spring HAS sprung.

Bring Nature Indoors

It's finally winter here in Dallas. The grass is drab. The trees are bare...or crispy brown. And no flower in its right mind would even try to bloom right now. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to look at. That's because, like many times of the year, I've brought nature into our home.

Now, it's not nature in its full-blown colorful glory. But it's nature nonetheless. Here are a few examples of things I do throughout the fall and winter seasons to make our home a more beautiful space.

Nuts
Here in Texas parks are full of people with plastic grocery bags grubbing along the ground for pecans. I cheat a bit and hit the grocery store. I'll buy a couple pounds of mixed nuts--pecans, walnuts, almonds in the shell--and put them in pottery and wooden bowls throughout our house. Of course, sometimes I'm practical and put a nutcracker next to them so we can help ourselves to a quick snack. Sometimes I just leave them for us to look at. (And if there are leftovers and we're tired of looking at nuts, I'll throw them out into the front yard for very grateful squirrels.)

Pine Cones
I recently took a trip to Houston to visit friends and their new baby. They have a huge pine tree in their front yard, so I scavenged a great big bag of pine cones to bring back home. They're now in several bowls and baskets throughout our house. Just in time for the holidays. If you don't have a pine tree nearby to harvest, hit the craft store. There are plenty out there to be had.

Fruit
Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean you can't bring a touch of summer inside. How about a bowl of limes? A tall clear glass vase overflowing with lemons. Or even just a beautiful specimen of a pineapple. Of course, more seasonal choices are pomegranates or the many types of apples hitting your grocery produce sections. Even those little clementines that you can buy right now. Once you start to treat things from nature like the works of art they are, the possibilities are endless.

Rocks
Yeah, I said rocks. One of the things that my partner and I have made a tradition is bringing back rocks as souvenirs from trips. Whether it's a piece of quartz from an Oklahoma lakeshore or a piece of coral fro a Florida beach, they're not only beautiful but great reminders of wonderful times together. Of course, you can buy rocks too. Beautiful colorful examples of geodes and minerals. While you certainly can have a rock garden outside, consider bringing a few choice specimens inside.

Now, to stick with the Life Should Be Beautiful vibe, it's important that you take the time to appreciate the things you're bringing into your home. Look at them. Feel them. Even smell them. You'll quickly conclude, as I have, that Mother Nature is one of the best design consultants you can have on your team.

Christmas Cactus

For the last several days, I've been watching anxiously for my Christmas cacti to bloom. In the next week or so, buds will appear at the end of the leaves, looking a lot like old-fashioned Christmas light bulbs. Then, they will unfurl to long multi-layered blooms that will present a colorful show for several weeks. They're great signs of the holiday season. And an easy houseplant to add to your own home's interior landscape.

Christmas cacti come in a rainbow of colors. Red, white, pink and even orange. Since they're a tropical cactus, they require a little more water than other cacti or succulents. They should be watered when the top couple of inches of soil gets dry to the touch. To water mine, I put the pots in the bathroom sink and turn the water on. I plug up the sink and let the plants sit in a couple of inches of water for thirty minutes or so. Then I unplug the sink and let the water drain completely before I replace the cactus in its spot on a table, shelf or windowsill.

They do best in bright light, so I put mine in the sunniest spots in the house. They can even go outdoors during warm weather. Be careful though; direct sun will burn their leaves, so make sure you put yours in bright, but filtered sunlight.

Supposedly, there is a complicated method for getting your Christmas cactus to rebloom. Much like poinsettias, they supposedly take cool temperatures and periods of uninterrupted darkness. I've discovered it's just not that difficult. As long as they are happy in their sunny spots and get the watering I've described above, mine bloom faithfully every holiday season.

You can find Christmas cactus in full bloom in garden centers and even grocery stores right now. They're great gifts for the green (and not so green) thumbs in your circle of family and friends and are a simple way to make your own life more beautiful. From their year-round cascades of dark green leaves to their holiday finery, I think you'll love having them around.