“Don’t wait until the fourth Thursday in November to sit with family and friends to give thanks. Make every day a day of Thanksgiving!” Charmaine J. Forde. “The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of.” Henry David Thoreau. “Some of the days in November carry the whole memory of summer as a fire opal carries the color of moon rise.” Gladys Taber. “Peering from some high window, at the gold of November sunset and feeling that if day has to become night, this is a beautiful way.” E. E. Cummings. “The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” Henry Beston.

It’s November and Thanksgiving is on its way. Take the time during each day of this month and give thanks for each of the blessings that you have received. It’s a wonderful time of the year, so don’t miss out on opportunities to help others who are less fortunate.

During this season find some space, relax, and simply enjoy a peaceful moment with the Good Book and a cup of hot coffee or hot green tea. Focus on the real reason for the season. Refuel and re-energize, then proceed with your plans with all the passion that you can generate from your thoughts for November into December.

As you collect your thoughts and begin to plan your late November and December schedules, think about your outdoor surrounds. Think about what you would like to do in your lawn and landscape for personal enjoyment. The days following Thanksgiving begin focusing more precisely on Christmas. However, the days following Christmas are a different story – they can be very exciting and promising or they can be very stressful, intimidating, boring, and sad. You get to decide how you want those days (late December and early January) to be! As you continue to enjoy the season and search for things to do, reserve some time to think about spring gardens.

Now through early January is the time for planning your landscape activities for the late winter and spring. Beginning now, you have ample time to research your plant, flower and seed information online for those items that attract your attention and can thrive in this area. Think in terms of native plants and sustainability strategies. Give some thought to how you plan to make design changes in your landscape and place these thoughts on paper.

If you are planting new plants, space them according to their average height and spread. Avoid a hodgepodge of colors and make an effort to group plants of a single color for greater emphasis and more effective color depth. Arrange color groups in a design which offers complimentary qualities, greater accent to the site, effective emphasis and color contrast without developing smorgasbord results.

To reduce the incidence of camellia petal blight, keep faded flowers removed and rake fallen blossoms away from the plants and properly dispose. While plants are in bloom, water regularly. If scale insects are detected on the underside of the leaves, spray with a recommended insecticide. Always read label directions before any purchase or application.

It is not too early to think about an herb garden. Decide which plants you want to grow this spring, and start the seeds in pots or flats, or simply buy seedlings at a later time. Among the easiest to grow from seeds are basil, caraway, dill, lavender, parsley, summer savory and thyme. A sunny window is an excellent location for your flats. Plants started now will be ready for transplanting outdoors in March and April.

Established beds of pansies will benefit from application of complete fertilizer. Apply a 5-10-10 or similar fertilizer at a rate of ½ cup per square yard of planting bed. Make any placement and arrangement changes so that the plants are being established on 4-inch centers.

When choosing a location for new shrubs and trees, consider that a current sunny spot in the garden may be an area of deep shade later in the season. The sun’s path changes and deciduous trees leaf out which impact the amount of light received at a given spot or location. However, many ornamentals like shade including azaleas, camellias, dogwoods, sourwoods, cape jasmines (gardenias), spireas, mahonias, and leucothoes.

Since the plants will be under stress from cooler temperatures of winter, the lack of proper moisture creates additional stress. Irrigate when rainfall is scarce, and mulch plants with pine straw or similar material to conserve soil moisture and protect the plants from the cold.

A weed is a plant growing where it is not wanted, or out of place. Some trees are weed trees including cherry laurels, mimosas, boxelders, willow oaks, sweet gums, redbuds, among others. These frequently propagate in nature from seeds distributed at random throughout the landscape. Remove these young plants before they reach any measurable height to insure ease of removal and to prevent your spouse from developing a likening for said plants. Do not use any invasive plants in your landscape. Think native plants.

Celebrating Thanksgiving gives us focus on our harvest and blessings of the past year. In general, Americans believe that Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the Pilgrims (English colonists) of Plymouth, Massachusetts and the Wampanoag people. 

But, do you really know why we celebrate Christmas? Many have placed too much focus on retail and spending. However, beginning December 1, read the Book of Luke in the Bible. There are 24 chapters, so read a chapter a night. Then, on CHRISTmas Eve, you will have read an entire account of Jesus’ Life and wake up on CHRISTmas morning knowing Who and why we celebrate. Amen!

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and sharing blessings and Christmas is about Jesus and His love. Help the homeless every chance you get. As you receive His blessings, always pay them forward. Pay for a stranger’s meal as the opportunity arises. The feelings you receive through blessing others are truly uplifting and most rewarding. Enjoy these two ‘er’ months that wrap up the current year.

“The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.” Proverbs 10:28. “The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land.” Proverbs 10:30. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1. He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” Luke 11:2-4.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle @yahoo.com.