Jim Long's Garden

Barbara Young enjoying the sunshine on the Sun porch with tropical plants.

The sun porch is a great place on sunny afternoons in winter. Barbara reads on her Kindle or sits and plays solitaire amidst the keiffir lime, curry tree, cinnamon, bay rum, allspice and other plants we over-winter here. Just behind her, here's the view, below.

The garden today. Most of the light snow is gone, still lots of green things growing.

Hope for spring, these jonquils are already this tall.

The exciting event this week was a friend of Josh's niece who lives in upstate NY, came to photograph us. She, Lois Bieliefeld, is working on what she calls, The Bedroom Project. She's traveling around the country, photographing people in their bedrooms. (Yes, she calls and asks first and makes an appointment). She's a professional photographer - you can see some of her work on her website, and the bedroom project is for both a gallery show and for an upcoming book. It's something she's been thinking about for many years, the idea of photographing people where they are most comfortable, and where they spend half their lives. No, it's not risque or erotic, just simple photos of people in their most comfortable room. She asked us, it sounded fun so she came. From here she headed into Arkansas, then Mississippi, over to Texas, through Oklahoma and north through Kansas City, photographing people in their bedrooms all the way. Here she is, standing in our bedroom.

Lois Bieliefeld in our bedroom.

Molly, who's always included in everything that goes on simply because she's so curious, laid in her bed, observing the photo process. Eventually she got in the photos, too.

Molly isn't quite sure about all those lights and cameras.

Lois photographed Barbara first, in her bedroom. You may notice the very large, fan-shaped lights. They run off of enormous (car battery size) photo batteries she carries with her.

Lois visiting with Barbara while she photographs.

More photos in Barbara's room.

Mexican oregano on the left, Sicilian oregano on the right.

In spite of 18 degrees and a dusting of snow, the Mexican oregano and the Sicilian oregano all came through fine. The flavor is different in winter, more dense and "darker" but still quite tasty. Most years they remain green throughout the year, just like thyme and rosemary.

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) gets mistaken for forsythia, which blooms later.

The winter jasmine is in bloom this week, and will continue sporadically for the next couple of months. The second part of the Latin name, nudiflorum, refers to its lack of leaves when it blooms. It's always a cheery sight in January.

Romantic Kit for 10 makes 10 nice Dream Pillows.

So that's the news from the garden this week. If you're looking for a unique plant-related gift for Valentine's Day, we've got a special Romantic Kit for 10 on our website. Great for all ages and you create 10 little Dream Pillows to give. Check it out here. And if you want more information about Dream Pillows, visit my Dream Pillows blog. I've been writing about and creating formulas for Dream Pillows for over 20 years and have written 2 books on the subject.