LILL’s LIST

I love walking out into my garden in summer and smelling the stock, nicotiana and grass pinks. While the snow outside my window is beautiful this December day, and there are scents outside in winter –such as balsam and the crisp smell of snow on the way — it’s just not the same. What I wouldn’t give for one whiff of Evening Primrose or our Rambler Roses. How nice it would be to see some bright blooms or perky little pansy faces. Instead, I’ve found a way to bring some summer into my house even in the middle of a Maine winter. Houseplants.

My #1 favorite houseplant for winter is Winter-Blooming Jasmine. Our house is bright, but cool, which is just what this delicate-flowered but prolific little bloomer likes. I have two plants in brass pots with hoops attached, so that they can twine to their hearts’ content. They’re blooming now and were particularly nice at Christmas when they perfumed the whole dining room. To keep them blooming, I keep the soil moist but not wet and prune them to produce new branches.

I grow Begonias as annuals in containers in the summer, but they’re just as nice inside. The winter-flowering begonias even thrive in the very short days of Central Maine. With their bright glossy green leaves and red, pink or white blossoms, they’re just the thing to accent a side table or perk up a dreary cloudy day.

I’ve tried African violets, but haven’t had much luck. I get lots of leaves, but no blooms. My streptocarpus, on the other hand, blooms for weeks with very little care. While they don’t like full sun, they do like plenty of indirect light, so I put them on a north-facing windowsill where it’s rather cool. Except for watering and an occasional dollop of plant food, they’re very undemanding. The perfect plant for those of us with “black thumbs.”

Another dependable plant, although not a flowering one, is my indestructible spider plant. The thing is covered with “baby spiders” and I’ve lost track of how many people have started new plants with the little babies that I clip off and root for them. It’s survived completely drying out one summer when I forgot to water it before leaving for a week. It’s bounced back from being knocked off its perch and landing on the floor which broke its first pot. It even managed to hold it together, literally, when I dumped it into a basin full of water while giving it a bath in the sink. With a couple scoops of dirt, it was back to normal the next day.

Plants are more than decorative. Spider plants, ivy and other foliage plants can actually clean toxins from the air, and all plants give off oxygen. They lift our spirits, give us a hobby when it’s too cold or stormy to go outside and help us realize that the green world outside is just resting, not dead. Come spring, my garden will wake up and I’ll be able to go out and enjoy the spring flowers. But until the lilacs bloom, winter houseplants are a pleasant way to surround myself with greenery and blooms.

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Homemade Gelatin Air Fresheners
My kids really enjoyed making these and giving them to friends and family. Everyone we gave them to was thrilled with their gift and asked for refills throughout the year. So be prepared for future requests or, better yet, include the recipe on the jar or glass.
We usually double the recipe to make a quart and then pour it into pretty 4 oz jars that we get at the dollar store or yard sales.Votive candle holders, little vases, juice glasses and even little bowls work well. Just make sure that they’re clear if you’re adding color to your gel. You can even get fancy and use the smallest fishbowl you can find, let the gelatin set somewhat and add tiny toy fish, plastic plants or pretty stones. Use your imagination, but just remember that the gel is going to dissolve eventually and won’t be propping up whatever you add to the jar.
Non-Toxic Gel Air Freshener
2 Cups of Water
4 pkgs of unflavored gelatin
or
large pkg of DIET flavored gelatin
20 drops of essential oil
1 Tbsp Salt or Vodka (keeps it from getting moldy)
Optional-Food coloring for unflavored gelatin
Heat the water to boiling. Stir in the gelatin and remove it from the stove. Add the other cup of water and stir thoroughly. This is important because you don’t want lumps in your gelatin. Add the essential oil. If you’re adding coloring, add it now. Pour into decorative containers and cool until firmly set. (If you put them into your fridge uncovered, your fridge will smell like the essential oil. This might not work if you’ve used something very strong.)
Non-Toxic Play Dough
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Flour
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 cup Salt
2 tsps Cream of Tartar
1 regular pkg DIET flavored gelatin
Combine and mix all ingredients, then knead with your hands. You may want to sprinkle flour on your hands first. When smooth and dry, put it into plastic bags and close tightly. This will keep for up to six months. You can use it to make ornaments. Roll out the dough and then cut it with cookie cutters. Put a hole in the top with a straw and let them dry. Thread a ribbon or ornament hanger through the hole and hang them on the tree. This dough can almost be painted.
Some ideas: Use powdered ice tea mix and add some ginger to make brown “gingerbread” people ornaments. Because of the salt, this shouldn’t be eaten, although it’s technically non-toxic. Too much salt can cause nausea, especially in kids.

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Even during the harsh cold weather in Maine, there’s abundunt wildlife right outside our window.While I miss the beautiful, colorful flowers, some of our birds are almost as vibrantly hued.
Evening Grosbeaks and Blue Jays feed on the ground, enjoying the thistle and sunflower seeds knocked down by the drabber colored chickadees and sparrows. On the bag of thistle seed, Red Polls, Purple Finches and House Finches jostle and twitter at each other as they pull the tiny seeds through the mesh.
This year, we tried a few different things to compensate for the loss of the birds’ favorite place to perch between feedings. It was a huge, dry-rotted oak that we had to remove before it fell down. We still have a smaller maple and a good-sized spruce where they can shelter from snow and wind, so we used them to provide a little extra.
To supplement the two suet feeders we already had, we mixed cornmeal with chunky peanut butter, spread it liberally on pine cones, leaving dry spots for their feet to perch on, then rolled them in sunflower and millet seeds and hung them from the branches of the spruce and maple. The chickadees, especially loved them.
We also pulled up our sunflower plants with the heads still attached, instead of leaving them like we usually do, and tied them into bunches with garden twine. Then we hung them from the hook under the feeder and from the tips of branches in the spruce.
My daughter’s innovative idea was to take our old grapevine wreath, which has certainly seen better days, attach some evergreen swatches, tie on a couple of seed bells and bunches of grapes. We hung it from a branch of the maple and the birds were soon perching and feasting. They looked so festive against the dark green of the wreath. We also stuck some peeled oranges on sharp twigs on the maple for the Cardinals and Blue Jays.
As we approach the Winter Solstice, we appreciate the light and warmth of our home and admire the fortitude and energy of the wild birds outside our window. With neither fire nor any shelter but the trees and bushes, they somehow manage to survive the Maine winter with pluck and perseverance. And so will we.

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