Ideas for Recycling Your Cut Christmas Tree

Weekly Newspaper Article for The News-Democrat, Carrollton, KY

"A Great Way to Spread Christmas Cheer..."  ...is to Recycle Your Tree for the Birds! (www.todayshomeowner.com)

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful holiday week!  As we wind down the holidays, and if you have a live cut Christmas tree this year, the question may arise, "What should I do with my Christmas tree?"

Instead of pitching that tree in the trash, consider recycling the tree.

Once way to recycle the tree is to use it as a wildlife habitat and spread some holiday cheer to the birds.  Not only will the birds appreciate the gesture, but a tree in the yard covered with bird food ornaments brightens the winter landscape.

"...Mistletoe Hung Where You Can See..."

Weekly Newspaper Article for The News-Democrat, Carrollton, KY

Mistletoe (Clemson Cooperative Extension)

..."Every couple try to stop!"

With all the holiday music in the air, there is lots of mention about mistletoe, but do you know the background of this popular kissing plant?

Once autumn leaves have fallen, mistletoe becomes highly visible on large trees throughout Kentucky.  Phoradendron, the scientific name for this plant, means "tree thief."

We commonly find these small leafy plants on twigs and branches of many hardwood species in the southern two-thirds of the United States.  Mistletoes extract water, mineral elements and food from their host tree by way of a parasite nutrient-uptake organ; hence the name, tree thief.

'Tis the Season for the Poinsettia

Weekly Newspaper Article for The News-Democrat, Carrollton, KY

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas..."  (University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture)

'Tis the season for beautiful holiday flowers with gorgeous reds, greens, pinks, winter whites, and golds.  Poinsettias, the most popular and spectacular of holiday plants, can be seen all around town in these beautiful colors.

The poinsettia was named for Joel Robert Poinsett, an amateur botanist and the first United States ambassador to Mexico.  He became fascinated with these native plants and sent poinsettias home to Greenville, South Carolina in 1825.  Although Poinsett later was war secretary under President Martin Van Buren, he is better known for the plant named after him.