It's cold just about everywhere across the north and it's not even winter yet. I know a lot of you have had a real dumping of snow already, so I'm not complaining about a blustery breeze or two. In fact, I'm kind of enjoying the bracing weather. It puts things in perspective and makes me excessively grateful for things like central heating.

Another thing I love about this time of year is having the smell of evergreens in my house. It's ironic that cut trees and boughs can make things smell so fresh. While you're decorating your house with garlands and poinsettias, don't forget to snap some shots to enter in our photo challenge: holiday plants. The little turkey here was a gift to me this Thanksgiving. I don't usually have cut flowers in my house because my cats think they're toys, but I got a real kick out of the vivid colors gobbler here put on. Maybe he thinks he's a peacock.

Photo: ©Marie Iannotti

The Christmas Rose is actually a buttercup. Hellebore niger, known as the Christmas Rose, also has the frustrating tendency of not blooming until Easter - making it all the more confusing to tell it apart from the Lenten Rose, Hellebore orientalis. Another thing these Hellebores share in common is their ease of growing and their deceptively delicate beauty. Try growing a few different hellebores in your garden and see which does best.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti

Herbs and fruit are best enjoyed in season, unless you turn them into something wonderful like herbal jelly. Herbed jelly, or jam on your toast can do wonders for the start of a winter's day, to say nothing of what it could do to your Christmas ham.  Even if you don't have time to start from scratch, you can still infuse your favorite jarred jellies with the essence of your herb garden. 'Homemade' herb jellies are also a great gift idea and a nice seasoning to have on hand in your kitchen.

Although many species of cyclamen are hardy, the cyclamen plants sold in greenhouses and stores during the holidays are considered houseplants and require different care than garden cyclamens. But considering they bloom for months and even their foliage is attractive, often having silver marbling on the top sides of the leaves, it's worth the little bit of effort to grow cyclamen.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti