You could call her Mother Christmas.

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

Not one tree leaf goes to waste in the yard of John Cordes. This gardener gathers bags of leaves from his neighbors in the Timberlake area and brings them home to his backyard.

Black Friday is one of those terms that you hear thrown around a lot these days. The constant attention to this most important shopping day of the year can leave people wondering what all the fuss is about or if it isn’t all just some scheme by the retailers to make you feel the fierce urgency of retail imploring you to purchase.

A common consequence of the procrastinating gardener is a period of frantically running about, trying to bring in all the tender house plants before that first frost-glazed morning. Unexpected guests often come in along with all those potted plants. Three of these creatures that regularly turn up share a lot in common—an ancient lineage, a propensity for hiding in moist spots and an inordinate number of legs. They are centipedes, millipedes and woodlice.

Worthy of a spread in Architectural Digest, John and Deana Buckley’s kitchen inspires deep flowing rivers of volcanic-hot envy.

If you can get lost in a flower, the dahlia is a good place to start. Dahlias reflect the voluptuous ripeness of autumn. Their colors can be saturated or subtle, jewel tones or pastels, but it is the intricate symmetry of their petals that hypnotizes.

What is the absolute latest in regional homes from the Builders and Associates of Central Virginia

This home tour raises money for regional charities.

Columnist Don Davis has your October lawn and garden to-do list.

Longtime friends and empty-nesters Susan Grady and Sharon McAbee would talk on the phone week after week and lament their loneliness.

I confess to a love of the Lilliputian, a delight in the diminutive, an inclination toward the infinitesimal. I love those little mats and mounds of flowers that are built to spill over the sidewalk, to soften the hardened path and fringe the edge of the garden bed.

Don Davis is an extension agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached at (434) 455-3740.

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

Don Davis, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent, can be reached at (434) 455-3740.

All the signs indicate that we are in for another hot, dry summer. The first few weeks of June were reminiscent of an August dry spell, the grass beginning to turn tan and dry, and the motionless air choked with pollen.

You might call May iris time. That is when the classic bearded irises are waving their flags in irresistible, velvety, jewel colors. Bearded irises along with peonies form the backbone of a remarkably beautiful season in the perennial border, short-lived though it may be.

Run-down properties off Semmes Avenue in South Richmond would be frightening to some people.

A relatively moist spring has brought the woods and weeds to life.

May is the month that the Chinese ground orchid blooms. Like those of many orchids, its blooms are brilliantly colorful and fascinating. But unlike many orchids it is easy and prolific. It is a simple plant to grow in semi-shade in the garden where it will gradually form into great masses, and each pair of pleated leaves will surround a slender stalk topped by a group of rose purple flowers.

WINSTON-SALEM - Guests at the home of Reg and Nancy Banner can walk down the stairs and into the past.

The landscape in early and mid-spring is painted with flowers. There are few scenes that aren’t drenched in flowers. Some seem to scream at us from the tree branches and shrub borders - blinding azaleas and pink dogwoods; subtlety is not their strong suit. Wisterias are literally dripping color from the trees. Every green thing wants to flower at this time of year, and many go unnoticed as the siren call of redbuds follows the fading drum roll of tulip and daffodil.

It could be the Swiss Army knife of the plant world, but you can’t eat Swiss Army knives.

With bread selling for close to $3 a loaf and gas well over $3 a gallon, folks looking for ways to cut expenses have to look no further than their backyard.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at

Don Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.

I wasn’t sure that my amateurish attempts at composting were going so well.