The highly anticipated arrival of spring gardening catalogs is underway. This is the stuff of which dreams are made. Browsing through their pages, every mad scheme is possible…

We’re about to plunge into a brand new year. Are you ready? Consider a few ancient methods for paving the road ahead with good luck.

Christmas brings out our inner child, innocent of cynicism and giddy with anticipation. Try for a moment to recapture that open-hearted embrace of things magical and mysterious. It will do you some good, I promise. (Photo, Maggie/Flickr)

These short days and long, dark nights draw us into ourselves. But next week we arrive at the winter solstice, fulcrum of the season, and the balance tips once again toward the light. Rejoice!

I’m declaring today Throw Away Your Old Poinsettia Day. Yes — you. Ditch that pathetic plant you’ve neglected all year. A new and glorious holiday plant awaits adoption.

Wreaths have a long history as a symbol of hospitality and celebration. They are also easy to customize to suit your house color, room decor or flights of fancy. This is folk art, folks, so enjoy.

Gratitude for our blessings is the finest impulse of today — or any day. May Thanksgiving reflect the best of family, friendship and feasting. And by the way, thanks to you, dear readers, for joining me here through the year.

There’s frost on the hills and the forecast is calling for the season’s first snowfall. Yes, the cold months are upon us but it’s not all bad news. Everybody needs a little downtime.

Ever think about replacing that lawn with a wildflower meadow? “Look before you leap” is always good advice. The gritty reality is a bit different than the lyrical ideal.

The growing season is winding down but it’s not over ‘til it’s over. If you take care of garden chores now you’ll be securely tucked away when the snow flies — and ready for new adventures next spring.

Since Halloween is coming, it’s timely to consider some of the evil-doers of the plant kingdom. Many are defending themselves against predators. Others are just plain toxic for no known evolutionary reason.

Apples are woven into the early history of the young American nation. Johnny Appleseed ring a bell? Orchards are open now for the fall harvest. Bet you can’t eat just one.

Halloween will be here before you know it. The essential decoration is, of course, the jack-o-lantern. Turn an ordinary cucurbit into a spooky masterwork. It’s easy with stencils, the greatest cheat going for the artistically inept.

Sometimes you arrive at great garden effects by design. Sometimes you fumble your way there in a series of steps and missteps. Whatever the means, enjoy every bright moment and claim it as your own.

If it’s fall, there must be mums — and resistance is futile. A few pots of cheery chrysanthemums can brighten any doorstep. Celebrations of this seasonal favorite are coming right up.

You can get a real jump on next season by planting while warm soil temperatures linger. Autumn also is the correct season to get peonies, Oriental poppies and spring-flowering bulbs in the ground. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

Monarch butterflies are headed south in an impressive feat of insect migration. Especially along our beaches, you can often catch hundreds in the act on a sunny fall afternoon. Here’s how to help them on their way.

Many plants that self-sow make a nuisance of themselves but every once in a while, you strike gold — or in this case, jewels. The rogue seedlings I noticed in my patio turned out to be Jewels of Opar, the name itself conjuring up adventure and derring-do.

It took me by surprise that we’ve fetched up on Labor Day weekend. Don’t give up on the garden just because summer is nearly over. With the right plants, there’s a whole season of bloom ahead

Pokeweed can mount a stealth takeover of your shrub borders or lawn margins. Birds love the poisonous berries and eat them without harm, but you may not want an 8-foot weed crowding your hedge. I didn’t.