Season's Greetings from all of us at Rittenhouse

As the holiday season quickly approaches, it's important to take time out for yourself ...... stop and smell the capuccino brewing!!!

So, now while you're enjoying a favourite holiday brew, sit back, relax and delve into an interesting assortment of articles ....

Bruce Zimmerman starts us off this publication with useful tips on how to keep your holiday plants alive and flourishing in his article Care of Christmas Plants. He covers Christmas cactus, poinsettias, gardenias, etc.

Wes Porter provides two installments of City Gardening this issue. The first is entitled: Precautions for Cold to Come  , Care of Perennials, Roses, Evergreens, Houseplants; Storing Tools. There is plenty of helpful information for all gardeners. On the lighter side, Wes has included a special feature in the November issue : Lustful Limericks for the Gardeners ---- we warn you, some of the language is suggestive and colourful....but is strictly designed for entertainment value.

Wes' second installment of City Gardening -- Winter Protection Good Investment; Seasonal celebrations take second place to final outdoor activities. Inside, turn attention to holly and mistletoe, poinsettias and azaleas. Lots of news, weather reports and happenings in the gardening world!!!

The Hort-Pro is pleased to welcome a new writer to our on-line magazine ----Thomas L. Ogren. Thomas holds a Master of Science in Agriculture, with an emphasis on plant flowering systems and the connections between landscape plant materials and allergy. He has been the co-owner of a family nursery in the Midwest, and hosted a popular radio call-in gardening show, and now writes for a wide variety of magazines. His first contribution is entitled: The Politics of Pollen , and gives you an interesting approach to allergy-free choices in urban landscaping.

And to round out our holiday edition we finish with an article from the Duffer ..... school time for monkey boy . An amusing look at sending his son to kindergarten, an experience very different from his own.

Once again, we wish you the best of the Holiday Season!

Enjoy!