I look around at my green menagerie and suddenly I feel like a gardener in springtime--very busy.  There is so much to do and the holidays are coming on fast.  I am surrounded by plants that need attention and the hours seem to be going by at twice their normal speed.

The coleus cuttings that I clipped just before the first big frost have rooted.  I want to try making them into topiaries, but before they can grow into lollipops, they need to be in pots.  A friend gave me six 'Ziva' paperwhite bulbs, which are sprouting in their plastic bag as I watch them.  They also need potting or at least a comfy resting place in a tray of pebbles and water.

Two years ago a friend gave ma a mature gardenia in a twenty-four inch pot.  The gardenia has never quite gotten enough light, but last year it rewarded me anyway with a steady stream of deliciously-scented white blossoms.  Last summer I planted some variegated New Guinea inpatiens in the pot around the base of the gardenia, just to liven things up.  They were gorgeous, but they died at the first sign of frost, which was just before I finally got the gardenia inside.  Now I need to remove their remains from the pot and underplant the gardenia with some other shallow-rooted specimens.  The African violets that I bought a few weeks ago will be perfect, and bring the pot to life.

The trick is not so much finding the time to work with plants as allowing myself to use that time in such a joyful and fulfilling way.  I'll do it and consider it a holiday gift to myself.