That was interesting,I will be using the computer to look up things in my free time too. I have tons of books but they've been reread too much as it is. It sucks that these bugs and pathogens can wipe out a country full of a particular tree. If oak wilt gets big like that I'll have a nearly empty yard.Maybe the white oaks will be okay. One thing though, I can see fertilizing to help vigor but wouldn't that make the foliage more attractive to leaf eaters?You hear alot of conflicting things about fertilizing. I bought a big sack of powdered seaweed, it's supposed to have trace minerals and good for all plants. I read the " nutrients" and it has 9% sodium.Sorry for dragging on, I'm gonna see what the soil, mulch forum think of the seaweed, there is some interesting stuff on there, too. poaky1

I live in California, in a house not a department store. I also have more of a winter house with dark wood, brown leather furniture and fall colors. I do change things seasonally. For starters I kept my wall color and rug color and window treatments a neutral, that would go with all seasons colors. Great suggestions here so far. I second the Mantel for decorating seasonally. I change the mantel for holidays and seasons. Now I have two rabbits on it and a white wreath and scattered eggs for Spring and Easter. Put away the throws on the couch. Or change the color of the throw and throw pillows, and accessories in the room. Wow Gracie01, I have to say picking art out is tough enough, I don't think I could do it for every season. That is amazing. Plus I don't have the storage if I did. I too, change the bedding for the seasons and use lighter colors in the spring/summer months. I change the front porch to reflect the season or the holiday. I second the spring cleaning and window washing idea. The removing of the drapes idea and leaving the sheers was a great idea. Better Homes and Gardens.com is a good sourse for seasonal decorating, you might go look there for some ideas. Have fun with it!

Thank you Ingrid :-) The quilt is the L.L. Bean whole cloth quilt. It comes in green and blue also. I made several posts before ordering and the opinions were very mixed. I finally did it even though it's hard to choose something from a catalog. I really do like it though and I'm glad I did. I hate to take it off but switching things up keeps me from getting tired of either of them. The bed I stumbled on. I love sleigh beds but was not really wanting another wood in there with my antique mix of woods. When I saw the metal sleigh bed style I thought it was a perfect solution. It's the "Bittersweet" sleigh bed from Ashley Furniture. Very inexpensive! I'd love to see other seasonal bedding changes, I know some of you guys do it!

Emerald cedar is Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd', a cultivar of a native white cedar aka arborvitae. Since they are native, the shrubs themselves shouldn’t need protection from cold. I have several Thuja/arborvitae, though they are different cultivars, and I have never covered them. In 9 winters I have had 1 broken branch that the shrub soon replaced, andthere has been no sun or cold damage. If there is a lot of salt spray from traffic on the road in winter, you might want to set up a burlap screen between the road and the shrubs to protect them from salt damage, but not touching the shrub. If you get a lot of heavy wet snow or ice and they seem to splay when that happens, you might want to give them a loose lattice wrapping with twine or netting. But a heavy cover with a closed top is likely to restrict light and also allow heat to build up in the sun, causing rapid refreezing at night in cold weather. Extreme fluctuations in temperature and constant freeze-thaw cycles aren’t good for plants. I think that the cover most likely caused the damage unless it had an open top and didn’t touch the foliage. Another thing to consider is the watering. This season, actually stick your finger into the soil around the plants to see if it is moist down several inches. Your goal is soil that is moist but not soggy. If it is either really dry or really wet, adjust the watering since how much is needed depends on your soil, the temperature, and how much natural rainfall your area is getting at a given time.