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.

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Turkey Day Tablescape

You have your menu set. (Including this delicious stuffing no doubt.) You've picked your wines, whether red or white. And you have a cocktail planned so that hopefully Uncles Jim and Steve are relaxed enough to avoid the annual political debate.

But what's going on your table? A holiday like this is absolutely the time to bring out the good china and silver if you dare. But you always need something to set the mood. Something festive and appropriately autumnal. This centerpiece should fit the bill nicely.

Simply take a square or rectangular clear glass vase. Fill it up about halfway or so with unpopped popcorn. Then place several ears of dried harvest corn in it. Check the photo out....

When Life Gives You Lemons...Do This With Them.

Sure lemons are great for iced tea and a good Tom Collins cocktail, but there are so many additional household uses for the yellow orb. Try some of these cleaning tips:

• Clean your countertops by dipping the cut side of a lemon half in baking soda and scrubbing away. Wipe countertop with a wet sponge and let dry. (Don't use on delicate stone like marble or stainless steel.)
• To increase the grease-cutting power of your dishwashing detergent, add a teaspoon of lemon juice.
• If you have scale on your faucets, rub lemon juice on the taps and let sit overnight. Wipe clean the next morning with a damp cloth.
• If you get fish or garlic smell on your hands while cooking, rub them with lemon juice to neutralize the odor.
• If you have an unpleasant odor coming from your garbage disposal, cut a lemon in half and then run both pieces through the disposal.
• If you get those pinkish stains from tomato sauce etc. in your plastic storage containers, rub lemon juice on the stains, let dry in a sunny spot and then wash as usual.

What's That Wonderful Smell?

I know I talk a lot about food (and cocktails) on here. But that's just because those are the easiest things to talk about and replicate. There is much more to the full Life Should Be Beautiful philosophy. We have to surround ourselves with things that stimulate all the senses. Not just taste, but touch, sight, sound and smell.

I was reminded of this the other night when I stepped out onto our back deck. It was a pretty muggy evening, but a little bit of a breeze helped. It ruffled the leaves in the trees just enough to help drown out the nearby freeway. I sat down to pet the dogs and a wonderful odor wafted past. I looked up to realize that our night jasmine bush had bloomed. It's a non-descript enough plant...nothing much to look at. But several times a summer, it blooms in hundreds of little spikes that open only at night. The resultant odor is heady and tropical. The perfect things for a relaxing evening under the stars.

It just reminded me of other ways I make sure smell is a part of our home life. Sure, the kitchen is often sending our great aromas, but what else? Here are a few:

• Fill a mister bottle with distilled water and add a few drops of essential oils...lavender and vanilla maybe. Spray your sheets and pillowcases right before bed.
• Candles are always a great choice. Find good-quality ones. I prefer spicy smells...clove, cinnamon, even a "synthetic" smell like leather.
• Throw a couple orange or lime peels in a small saucepan filled with water and simmer gently.

Those are just a few. How do you fill your home with pleasant smells?

Controlling Clutter

All too often, I am overwhelmed...inundated by the "stacks." Recipes to go through. Bills to pay. Magazines to read. Not too mention the clothes--clean or dirty--that seem to end up scattered on the floor rather than stashed in their proper hampers or drawers. So I have put back into active practice some de-cluttering techniques I have learned over the years. No, it's not time for "spring" cleaning. But these tips might be just the thing for a New Year's resolution/winter home makeover.

• Every item should have its home. I know...easier said than done. But the first step to controlling the clutter is setting up an organized system. (Need help? The Container Store has made a multi-million dollar business of helping the less organized among us.) Set up laundry hampers or baskets according to water temperature so that you're sorting as you go, rather than digging through a huge pile of mishmash on laundry day. (I do the same for dry cleaning--sorting laundry items according to the level of starch they need.) Place dishes and other cooking tools in cabinets and drawers in logical fashion according to proximity to stove, chopping block or the dining room. And, if bills are scattered about, do like I did and buy one of these. It's been a lifesaver.


• Don't let things get out of hand. We have a tradition called "fifteen minute fire-out." The TV and computer are turned off and the kitchen timer is set. For fifteen minutes, I (hopefully we) straighten and neaten and put things where they belong. And, yes, sometimes that means taking various stacks of paperwork and combining them into one big one that can be neatly set aside and dealt with later. It's even helpful to do twice a day...one before bed and once before work. I've found that things are a lot let stressful getting up in the morning or coming home at the end of the day if you don't have all of the detritus of your life staring you in the face. And you'll be surprised how much you can accomplish in a concentrated fifteen minutes. I have discovered I can put a dishwasher full of dishes away in the two minutes it takes me to heat my water for my daily cup of morning tea.
  
• But of course every now and then an overhaul is necessary. Periodically, it is necessary to completely empty a cabinet of its contents and evaluate each item. Drawers. Closets. Even the refrigerator. Do you use it regularly? Or does it hold such sentimental value that it simply must be kept? (If you're using that criterion for things in your refrigerator, beware...you have a problem.) You'll be surprised that, especially if in the right "simplify my life" mood, you can pare things down rather easily. In just the last week, I have discarded extraneous colanders, excess coffee mugs and ties that have outlived any fashion sense they might have once had. And by "discarded" I mean put into the garage for one of our semi-annual garage sales. But just as easily they can go to Goodwill or Salvation Army or any of the other worthy charities that will put them to good use.

So get started!

Feel free to share any of your simplify/beautify ideas in Comments. We all could use new ideas!

Another Simple Centerpiece

Some of us, myself included, simply don't have the flower arranging gene. Me, I either get a huge bunch for the vase....or pick a single beautiful stem for a bud vase or Japanese ikebana bowl. Never fear...help is here.

Hit the bed and bath store and buy the most beautiful toothbrush holder you can find. Fill with water and tuck a stem or two into each hole. Instant symmetry. People will think you've taken a class.

It's Easy Being Green!

Earth Day was Sunday. It sure has changed from its first celebration in the 80's. Back then, it was almost "hippie fringe" and no self-respecting upper middle class suburbanite could be bothered to pay attention. Happily (or unhappily since it's a looming environmental crisis that is making people wake up and smell the ozone), it's mainstream these days. Heck, Martha Stewart and Oprah BOTH made it a focal point of last week's shows.

We do pretty well around our house. Some of our efforts are more involved--organic gardening, recycling, composting--all things that you might consider too. I'll blog about them in the weeks to come.

There are some simple things I've vowed to pay more attention to though.

• Making sure lights are turned off when we're not in the room. I've always thought we're pretty good about this. When I pay attention though, we're really not. We've resolved to do a much better job. I'm even going to look into these to help save energy costs from our electronics and appliances.


• Cut down on paper towel use. I already use the ubiquitous "tea towel" as my napkin during most dinners. I'm now going to go out and buy some rags that we can use to clean counters and windows rather than going through roll after roll of paper towels. However, I'm not joining the Sheryl Crow "one sheet of toilet paper" bandwagon.


• Look for eco-friendly cleaners. We already use the dis soap put out by Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. Added bonus is that it smells great. Now I'm going to look for other options for the laundry and to replace the Clorox Clean-Up we use on our countertops. Maybe Shaklee has something. (Speaking of laundry, I'm also thinking about drying our sheets on clotheslines outdoors. Since we feed the birds, we'll have to come up with a strategic place for the line...)


• Switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. I've heard there's controversy over how environmentally friednly these bulbs actually are (apparently they include mercury which can be a problem when you discard them), but they are supposed to provide great light and save significant amounts of energy. I'm doing a test case on several of our lamps in the next couple of days.


• Use a canvas bag at the grocery store. If asked, I'll choose a paper bag over a plastic one, but I might as well take a canvas bag that I can reuse over and over again.


• Cut down on junk mail. While I already shred and recycle our junk mail, I'm going to check out Greendimes. They say they can cut down on your junk mail by 75-90%. Worth a try...

If all of you reading this blog would agree to just ONE of these things, we'd already be taking steps to make the world a better place...and guarantee that it will be here for future generations. Will you join me?

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.

Turn Your Bathroom Into a Spa

OK...enough with food already. The detox plan has me so thinking about food and health that I'm stressed out. I know, counterintuitive, isn't it?

So I'm retreating to my bathroom "spa" this evening. I'd love to be able to whisk myself away to some exotic locale where I could be pampered with spa food and various mud treatments. Until I win the lottery though, that's not an option. So, I'm taking the simpler route and going to transform my bathroom into a stress-free heaven where I can let my worries steam themselves away. (Don't worry, no renovations needed.)

Here are some tips for you to do the same:

• Get yourself some alone time. Let your family know that you are going into your private retreat and don't want to be disturbed. At all. Give yourself at least half an hour, but buy yourself as much time as you can.
• Create silence. I know a lot of people like to listen to music to relax, but I like listening to the "silence." No music, just the sounds around you. The trickle and splash of water in the tub. And other sounds that you'll hear if you just listen. It's a great way to get into an almost-meditative zone. (And refer back to first tip above. Make sure the rest of your household knows you don't want to be listening to their stereos or TV's blaring either.)
• Make yourself a warm cup of tea. Maybe something herbal with chamomile. Or pour yourself a glass of wine.
• Set the atmosphere. I like to turn the lights out and light a few candles. Maybe aromatherapy candles. Changing the lighting from its traditional glare can help trick yourself into thinking you're somewhere more exotic. And the flicker and shadows of candlelight gives you something else to observe as you're relaxing.
• Get your fluffiest, biggest towel and throw it in the dryer for a few minutes. It will still be warm when it's time to dry off.
• Draw yourself a toasty warm bath. Not TOO warm...you don't want to boil yourself. And leave a trickle of warm water going. It's a relaxing sound and will keep your tub at just the right temperature.
• Make it bubbly. I'm a sucker for bubble baths. (Stop giggling.) I love the smell and the "texture" it gives the water. There are lots of products out there--most of them reasonably priced. I love Bath and Body Works products.
• Make your own aromatherapy bath. If you grow your own herbs, pick stems of your favorites like rosemary and lavender. Or spearmint or peppermint. Wrap them in cheesecloth and tie them to the tub faucet so the water splashes through them as the water fills the tub.
• Add other special ingredients if you'd like. Oatmeal soothes the skin and can reduce itching. Epsom salts can help relieve muscle pain. Even a splash of vanilla extract--it's wonderfully relaxing.
• As your bath fills, begin the relaxation process. Lay on your bathroom floor and stretch lightly. Then, starting at the tips of your toes, relax each part of your body all the way to the top of your head. Concentrate on your breathing and feel the tension slip away.
• Your bath should be ready now, so climb in. Luxuriate in the smells, sounds and sensations around you. Sip your wine and let your mind wander. If a stressful thought creeps in, banish it immediately. It's a great time to practice the "Power of Now" philosophy and concentrate on what your senses are taking in.
• Take your time. Don't rush. Hang out until you've washed the stresses of the day and week away.

Feel better? And it didn't cost you hardly anything. Bet you'll make another "appointment" next week.

Holiday Centerpieces

So, it's only a couple of days before Christmas. If you're like me, your house is filled with the debris of Christmas Future. Stacks of things to go in stockings. Gifts to be wrapped. The wrapping paper, bows and tags to wrap said gifts. And probably a recipe card or cookbook or two as you finalize the holiday menu.

Don't panic. You'll be ready. Sit back and pour yourself a holiday cocktail and let's talk about how to make your table festive for your Christmas buffet or dinner party. I've got several ideas. Check the post below for pictures of all three.

The first is a little "non-traditional." Certainly red and green are the colors of Christmas, but, for me, blue and white and silver conjure up images of winter in general. This is a look that can carry over to your New Year's Eve party as well as be a beautiful tablescape for Christmas. Silver candlesticks or candleholders. (I have several silver reindeer that I love.) Blue runners and napkins and tablecloths. Crystal candleholders and serving trays. That silver tray you never use. A clear glass or white bowl filled with silver and white Christmas balls. All complemented by candlelight. To top it off, I like to use white spider mums as the floral accent. They remind me of snowflakes.

But there's nothing wrong with tradition either. The second photo shows a wonderful green pottery container that I have filled with evergreens and holly. You can get assorted evergreen branches in the floral section of large groceries. Or you can sometimes get trimmings for free from home centers or Christmas tree lots. The holly can be clipped from your or a neighbor's (get permission) yard. Set on a red platter, this is wonderfully old-fashioned and provides a great natural touch.

Of course, Christmas is a time for the kid in all of us, and the third idea fits that philosophy perfectly. Glass vases or jars filled with peppermints and gumdrops. And if you're lucky enough to find one, a gum drop tree just like the one my grandmother always had. Your guests can both look at and taste your centerpieces. Put a couple of toys or children's ornaments alongside and you have a table just begging to be played with.

Another idea I've seen in magazine this year is using cut amaryllis. A couple stems of amaryllis in a glass vase filled with cranberries or glass beads is easy and quite beautiful. (I did three white amaryllis in a rectangular glass vase filled with clear glass beads for our pot-luck wine dinner at the beginning of December.) You can buy amaryllis stems at flower shops. Make sure and fill the stem with water and put your thumb over it as you sink it in the vase.

Enjoy. Post a comment below and let me know what you do to bring the Christmas spirit to your table.

Photos of Holiday Centerpieces

More on Martha's Homekeeping Handbook

As promised, here's a further take on Martha Stewart's latest tome. Her almost five pound Homekeeping Handbook. As I said before, I was initially underwhelmed. Seemed like a combination of the painfully obvious and the not-so-necessary. After a closer look though, I've decided it's worth putting on your holiday wish list.

Stewart points out that her book is really a continuation of a tradition of books first compiled by the eponymous woman who published Mrs. Beetin's Book of Household Management in 1861. Martha says she received her first copy a hundred years later when she married. Since then, she has kept notes on her own homekeeping and says this is the result of the over forty year effort.

First off, I'm gratified to see an emphasis on taking care of the environment. Many of her cleaning ideas and product selections emphasize choosing the least-toxic options first. Like baking soda instead of oven cleaner. White vinegar and water solution instead of Windex. It's something we all should keep in mind.

It's also interesting to see the tasks she feels should be done daily, monthly, etc. While some seem obvious ("Wipe up spills while they're fresh."), the reminders are nice to have.

A group who will REALLY benefit from the book is a soon-to-be-married couple or someone thinking of moving into a new home. I found the most interesting and useful sections of the book to be the lists of essential equipment and tools. Like pots and pans and kitchen utensils. Small appliances and what belongs in a pantry (and how long you can keep it).

Other things that seemed valuable include: Organizational ideas. An illustrated section on every piece of flatware you could ever imagine. (You can finally figure out whether grandmother's silver including fish forks or not.) A stain-removal guide (again with an environmental emphasis). The best way to care for cut flowers. (I figured out why my amaryllis I purchased recently didn't do so well. You have to fill the hollow stems with water. Who knew!) Even pest control tips.

The last sections reach a bit afield, however. Not sure why there's a photo outlining the "anatomy of an incandescent bulb." Or why there's a chapter on heating and cooling systems. But when Martha sticks to the "homekeeping," there's lots to be learned.

There were a few surprises too. I was thrilled to learn that I actually CAN run my good silverplate through the dishwasher. (Just make sure you don't have stainless steel in the same load. They somehow react to damage both finishes.) If Martha says it's ok, I'll believe her.

If there's a new bride (or groom) on your Christmas list...or if you're looking to restock your home, this is a book to buy. While I think it tries ultimately to be too much for too many, there's still enough good info in it to make it worth a purchase. (Do yourself a favor though. Don't pay the full retail price of $45. Head to amazon.com.)

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.

Collections

I think most people have a collection of something. We start as kids collecting marbles or coins or leaves or Star Wars action figures. As we get older, we might graduate to antiques or art or other things. Regardless, it's great fun to collect.

One of my great collections is Nativity scenes. I joke that this time of year we should open our home as a Christmas museum and charge three or four dollars a head. Boxes and boxes yield the over two hundred sets that I have collected over most of my 38 year life. Ornaments my parents gave me as a kid. Sets that friends and colleagues have given me over the years. Ones that I have bought on my adventures across the country and world. And some of my favorites are unique or kitschy ones from EBay and garage sales. (I could make a gingerbread Nativity scene with my set of molds and I have an example of just about every plastic one made in the 1950's.)

My collecting bent isn't confined to the holidays. I am always on the look out for pyrographic (wood burning) art pieces and furniture. My "other half" has hundreds of crosses. So, wherever we are, it's a treasure hunt. At garage sales and flea markets. Online and in stores. And the thrill of the chase is as exciting as the collection itself. I've became a pseudo-museum curator. I only want the finest and most unusual examples to add to the collection. It's about quality as much as it is about quantity. As a matter of fact, as your collection grows and gets better, you might even consider "deaccessioning" some of your pieces of lesser interest or quality.

So what do you collect? Whatever it is, it is sure to add interest and personality to your home. And don't forget that a collection can be just a few items. And any kind of objects are fair game. So, get out there and start the hunt!

Textiles

As I drag out all of our holiday decorations, there are surprises in every box. Things I'd forgotten about. Gifts that people gave me over the course of the last year. (They know my collecting bent!) It's like Christmas a month early!

One group of decorations I especially love getting out are the holiday runners and tablecloths that I've found over the years. Rich red and green poinsettias on a silky background. A more rustic woven one with green and blue stars. And the elegant one with metallic thread snowflakes on a rich blue background.

As I unfurled them all, I was reminded of what textiles and fabrics can do to make your surroundings more beautiful and how much I rely on them to add interest and contrasting textures to our home. For example, a dining room table can sometimes look bare and almost cold with its wooden or glass surface. But it becomes an integrated part of the room when you put a runner on it that ties in with the other colors of the room--whether they be from art on the walls or the plates in your china cabinet.

And I actually prefer runners to tablecloths. They provide a nice accent of color and texture without completely obscuring the wood surface of our dinig room table. And they're the right size for a buffet or side table too. Sometimes I'll even put one on the kitchen counter to dress things up for a party.

In his travels abroad, my brother always keeps an eye out for hand-woven cloths and runners he thinks I would like. They're always uniquely beautiful, and the fact that a story comes with them makes them mean even more to me.

So, as you're working on your own beautiful space, don't forget to add the texture and beauty of textiles. Be on the look out for handmade work. Pieces with interesting weave patterns or surfaces. Things that can add an accent of color to a corner that needs it. Whether it's a runner for a sideboard, a cloth for your holiday table, or a throw draped on the corner of a couch, you'll love the added interest it brings to your home.

Forcing Bulbs

Strangely enough, at this time of year, as things turn more and more drab outside, we seem to have more blooms inside our house than any other season. (I'll talk in a week or so about one of my favorite (and easiest) houseplants, Christmas cactus.) One of the ways we accomplish it is by "forcing" bulbs. Both amaryllis and narcissus. They add great color (and a wonderful aroma) to our kitchen window.

Amaryllis are absolutely stunning flowers. Huge, trumpet-shaped blooms unfurl atop green columns of stems almost a foot high. They bloom on all sides so are pretty all the way around. For years, I forced amaryllis in small pots with the idea that I could follow the instructions and get them to bloom again the next year. Now, I have a thumb as green as anyone, but have given up on the complicated process. It's much easier to spend $3-5 on a bulb, enjoy its beauty for several weeks and then discard. (I do usually move mine into large pots on the back deck after they've bloomed--just for their great strap-leafed foilage.)

So, I take a glass container (have had great luck with simple globe or square glass vases you can buy cheaply at craft stores) and put some river rock in the bottom. (If your container is clear, it's nice to see the rocks or pebbles you use.) Nestle the bulb in the rocks and add an inch or so of water. That's all it takes. The roots will take in the water and the bulb will send up a flower stalk. In six weeks or so, it will be in full glorious bloom and will stay that way for several weeks.

If you start now, you should have amaryllis blooming just in time for Christmas. I like to stagger things and start a bulb every three weeks or so; will keep blooms going continuously for a month or two.

Another good bulb to force is narcissus, commonly known as paperwhites. Also easy to find, they can be put in small bud vases or several in a shallow bowl lined with gravel or rocks. Again, add a little water and sit back and enjoy. With narcissus, you'll be treated to a wonderfully sweet fragrance as well. It's a bit of early spring indoors. And you can plant these outside when they've finished blooming...they'll come back year after year.