How to Use Snow to Locate Microclimates

Let’s talk about snow. You’d think the American city famous for distributing the poinsettia wouldn’t have to wait 47 years for a white Christmas! But we did, and since I grew up here it was my very first one. My Vermont-native boyfriend finds it laughable that southerners get so excited about white stuff on the 25th (especially since it was…

How to Enjoy Your (Nontoxic) Poinsettia Beyond its Beauty

I live in Greenville, SC — as did Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 – 1851) for parts of his life. His Greenville plantations near White Horse Road were equipped with hothouses for botanical study. Sometime between 1825 – 1830, these hothouses were the recipient of Euphorbia pulcherrima specimens he collected in the Taxco de Alarcón region while serving as American Minister…