for gardeners. Aside from the Christmas cactus that have blooming since October and will continue through January; the house is also cold enough and dark enough in areas to allow jasmine to set buds. Not quite ready to bloom yet, but almost. The buds, which stated as miniscule green points, having lengthened. They are now long white spirals, picture a unicorn’s horn, reaching towards the light. There is no fragrance yet, but there will be, subtle and rich.

We still haven’t quite figured out how to prune them for shape; but considering the difficulty of getting them to set flower…

The trick is to put them outdoors during the summer, and then keep them outside until the first frost. They then need forties to fifties and natural daylight for flower set.  No turning the lights on at night! Not easy to do in most houses. But an old, rambling house? That works.