Dede Sophie

  It is easy, or at least relatively so, to create a cold-hardy, tropical effect garden, but is it still possible to produce a tropical effect garden if you experience extremely cold winters? By that I mean parts of the world where winter temperatures can drop to around – 15 degrees celsius or 5 degrees Fahrenheit in old money! Well the answer is of course yes, however there will be some more cultural work involved with some of the plants in my following selection to give them a helping hand over the finish line of survival. To promote the effect add canna and dahlias which can be lifted and brought in under protection each year. Also consider growing salvias and tobacco plants as cheap annuals for their vibrant colours and architectural effect.  Palms Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Chinese Windmill Palm’ -15 Celsius Bismarck Palm ‘Bismarckia nobilis’ -9 Celsius (my absolute favourite) Mediterranean Fan Palm ‘Chamaerops humilis’ -12 celsius Bamboo  Phyllostachys aurea -15 to possibly -20 Celsi

Readers, please join me welcoming Vincent Zandri, author of Moonlight Falls who’s guest blogging here today! Moonlight Falls is the Albany, New York-based paranoid tale (in the Hitchcock tradition) of former APD Detective turned Private Investigator/Massage Therapist, Richard “Dick” Moonlight, who believes he might be responsible for the brutal slaying by knife of his illicit lover, the beautiful Scarlet Montana. The situation is made all the worse since Scarlet is the wife of Moonlight’s boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. Biting the Nail: The Discipline of Writing By Vincent Zandri “Where do you get your discipline?” That’s the question I’m asked most frequently about my solitary writing life. Most people who work according the programmed schedule of job and career find it inconceivable that a person can actually roll out of bed, face a blank page, and begin to make words. Yet, as writers, that’s what we do. We create and in order to create we have to have discipline. Disciplin