Title – Immunity to Change

Who- You

What- The one thing that prevented you from exploring your digital lifestyle before this class was offered.

No computer

When – Once this class ends when will you commit to continue your digital lifestyle journey.
I will Use my computer more

Where- Where would you prefer to continue your digital lifestyle (i.e. Home, Library , Center).
Home, Center, on the road

Why- Would you agree that one of the major reasons for continuing your digital lifestyle is to broaden communication. Yes

How- Will your How to broaden communication include reading, writing, blogging, and computing Yes(Library in Center) reading, writing, blogging, computing, need more

Black Hellebore

By blooming in the winter, black hellebore has cheered many hearts. Because of its season, it was named Christmas rose. And because of its astonnnnnising ability to defy the cruel elements of winter,it signified to men and

women that this herb must have great power. In the Middle Ages, people strewed the flowers on the floors oftheir homes to drive out evil influences. They blessed the animals with it and used it to ward off the power of witches. These same people belived, however, that wiches employed the herb in their spells and that sorcerers tossed the powered herb into the air around them to make themselves invisible.

Showy bracts and berries

Name: Bunchberry (Cornus candensis)
Zones: 2 to 7
Size:6 to8 inches tall, speading indefinitely
Conditions: Partial shade;moist, acidic soil;prefers cool summerBunchberry, a low-growing member of the dogwood family,is a magnificent, vigorusly spreading grorond cover with strik whorled leaves. Large white bracts appear in early summer, followed by clusters of brightred berries. Bunchberry thrives in cool summer climates. It does not like the hot South, and because it enjoys friable, acidic woodland soil, it will not grow in clay or alkaline soils.

Virginia Snakeroot

The Virginia snakeroot has some of the funniest-looking, or most interesting, flowers in the herb garden. It's easy to see how our ancestors its relatationship to other members of the birthwort family. It immediately acquired virtue by association.

Tropical Periwinkle

Tropical periwinkle gifted plant, but as herbs go, it is highly powerful and should not be used

as a home cure. Enjoy it as a ground cover, edging plant, or cut flower. It is particularly popular

where summers are intensely hot and humid.

Salad Burnet

In trendy restaurants these days, a salad is likely to contain anything, even if it's a novel leaf with the bite of battery acid. Yet salad burnet, which tastes considerably better acid. salad burnet, which tastes considerably better than battery acid, is known to only a few discriminating gardeners. Its flavor is often compared to cucumbers, and 400 years ago, it was as common in salad as cucumbers are today.It was a common addition to a glass of wine, much as a celery stick is used today to a tall drink. In the garden it is valued for its handsome purple flowers and its adaptability to variou soils. If you are designing an herb garden, consider burnet as an edging plant.

Marjoram

Substitute: Oregano, in a lesser amount.

Aromatic: Wild marjoram was once much used as a strewing heeb to freshen the air of homes.
The French still put springs of it into hope chests and linen closets. Soaking in warm tub of marjoram tea scents the body while relieving aches and pain or chest congestion. Marjoram leaves are aiso added to potpourris and sachets. Ornamental: There are variegated varieties of sweet, wild, and pot marjoram, O. Onites, is most often used for hanging bashets indoors in winter, although its particularly balsamic odor strikes some people as less appealing. When potted and brought inside, it has a lighter green color and cascades over the edges of a hanging container. The large, purple flower heads of the marjorams make good additions to winter bouquets. The furry, dainty leaves distinguish them in the herb or ornamental garden.

Cosmetic: According to herbalist Jeanne Rose, marjoram has mildly antiseptic propenties that benefit the skin. She recommends adding it to herb bath mixtures. (See the entry Bathing with Herbs for more information.)

Adds fragrance to the shade

Name: Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum)

USDA HARDINESS ZONES: 5 to 8
Size: 15 inches to, spreading indefinitely
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-drained soil

While it may look delicate, sweet woodruff is a vigorous spreader. It makes a dense ground cover with fragrant, star-shaped white flowers in early summer. The deciduous, emeraid green leaves are also star shaped and stay neat well into autumn.

Grows wellin difficuit spots

Name: Black jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens')

Zones: 5 to 8

Size: Up to 6 feet tall and 9 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; fertile, moist, well- drained soil

Peak Time: Spring to early summer

Black jetbead will grow almost anywhere, thriving in shade or sun and in a wide variety of soils. I like its graceful. arching , twiggy stems. Flowers appear in spring and are followed by pea-size black fruit. It's a moderately rapid grower, but it's easy to maintain with pruning. If the plant gets too leggy or crowded, cut back the older branches to the ground after it flowers.

A chaste tree for cool gardens

Name: Chaste tree (Vitex agnus -castus* var. latifolia)

Zones: 6 to 9
Size: 10 to 20 feet tall and wide
Conditions: Full sun: well- drained soil

Chaste tree is a southern favorite beginning to gain attention across the country. Whether left to grow as a large multistemmed shrub(pictured) or cut back annually for a more compact look, this selection is a winner. Fine, lacy leaves are glossy and green. Bright blue flower panicies begin to form in early summer and continue through the heat of the season and into fall. This is a reasonably cold-hardy, deer-resistant woody plant, and while V.agnus-castus is typially considered a Zone 7 plant, the variety latifolia can be grown in Zone 6 and even in southern areas of Zone 5.

Anything but boring

Name: Summer Wine nineback (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Seward')

USDA HARINESS ZONES: 3 to 7

Conditions: Full sun; moist, well-drained soil

Many gardeners know nineback as a nondescript, green-leaved shrub with "oh-by-the-way" white flowers. There is, fortunately, a long list of burgundy-or gold -foliaged selections that make great focal points. The best overall performer is 'Seward', sold under the trademark Summer Wine. This selection has outstanding burgundy leaves and soft pink blossoms in early summer. Summer Wine also offers acompact growth habit, which is an improvement on the purple octopus growth of other cultivars, like Diabolo.

Growing Herbs

The best time to gather herbs is in the morning of a dry, sunny day after the dew has dried from the plants. If you are harvesting leaves, the peak time for flavor and fragrance is just before the plants flower in the spring. Harvests can continue as need and plant growth permit, until early fall. Trim off any flower heads from basil and mint for continued top-quality leaf production. Annuals can be harvested until a fall frost kills them, but perennials should be allowed to grow unimpeded for 40 to 60 days before the first frost so they can harden off before winter. If, as in the case of lavender, you are harvesting flowers, cut flower stalk before the blooms are fully open since they will continue to open as they dry. Similarly, for seed harvests of coriander, anise, fennel, dill, and the like, cut the stalks before the seeds begin to shatter from the heads. For a harvest of leaves ,always cut stems; don't just strip off individual leaves and desert the naked stems in the garden. You can cut as much as three-quarters of the current season's growth in a given harvest. Naturally, harvest only disease-free growth. If you harvest is small, you can rack-dry it in a well-ventilated room out of direct sunlight. Use a screen, bamboo tray, or cheesecloth-covered cookie sheet (paper towels do fine as a covering, too).Lay the stems down in a single layer so the leaves don't overlap.Turn or stir the herbs once or a day until dry and crumbly.

A mukdenia with red leaves

Name:'Crimson Fans' mukdenia (Mukdenii rossii 'Crimson Fans', syn. Aceriphyllm  Crimson Fans')

Zones: 4 to 9
Size:14 inches tall and 16 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well- drained soil

Staying Power: Lasts all season; goes dormant in fall

Mukdenia's starry flowers steal the show in early spring. The foliage of 'Crimson Fans' reddens as temeratures rise, and it holds this hue all season.

White that's exciting

Name: 'Canyon Snow' Pacific Coast

hybrid iris (Iris 'Canyon Snow')
USDA HARDINESS ZONES: 7 to 9
Size: 12 to 18 inches tall and wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well- drained soil
Staying Power: Evergreen


Prized for its pure white flowers elegantly marked with gold, 'Canyon Snow' iris will bloom as soon as

the days lengthen in late spring.

The roses of winter

Name: Sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua cvs)

Zones: 7 to 9
Size: 4 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, fertile, wel-drained, loose soil

Sasanqua camellia is tresured for its handsome foliage, sturdyconsititution, and sumptuous flowers. It brings many weeks of color from midfall to midwinter, depending on the cutivar. Its delicate flowers often fragrant - come in shades of white to lilac-rose to deep red. Most cultiivars,like 'Hana jiman' (pictured), grow as shubs, while a few are treelike.Unlike other species, sasanqua camellia needs only moderate water to thrive.

Sparkling blooms in January

Name: Alerian iris (Iris unguicularis)

Zones: 7 to 9
Size: 12 to 18 inches tall and wide
Conditions: Full sun to light shade; well-drained soil

The evergreen floiage of Algerian iris gives this species more landscape potential than other irises. Its winter blooms, which open from December to February, make it more valuable still. Although Algerian iris stays green, it goes dormant in summer. Do not give it supplemental summer water: Water stimulates soft growth, which will make the plant vulnerable to frost later on.

7 or more becomes a mass

With seven plants, you achieve enough mass to start making a strong visual statement. Once you get as high as seven, you have some leeway either to plant in masses or to plant the same plant in groups of 3+3+1.Avoid 3 +4 because it feel number higher than seven can be separated into two sets of odd numbers - for example, 12 divided into sets of 5 and 7. Odd numbers higher than seven can be separated into groups of add numbers. For example, 3+3+3=9 works, but avoid breaking up an odd number of plants into an odd-numbered group and an even-numbered group, such as 5+ 4. At a certain threshold -roughly around a dozen, depending on the typw of plant-the eye can't tell whether you have a mass of 12 or 13 plants. At that point, you don't need to worry anymore about counting.

6 is two sets of three

Six work best when it is broken into two groups of three. You can either duplicatethe arrangement of three (in a staggered row or in a triangle) or position them to fill a corner. Dividing plants onto groups of two and four doesn't work because it is unbalanced, nor does a line of six because the plants will compete for attention.

5 is pleasing to the eye

Five is a number that is used often in design. A classic example of five is to set up two parallel rows with thre in one row and two in the other. This works best in rectangular beds but can work in irregularly shaped beds, too. That is not the only way to use five plants. Ihave found that that positioning two plants on one side of a path and three on  the other does not work (especially with mounding plants), but having four balanced by a fifth feels right.

4 work best when divided

Four can be divided in varous ways. Avoid planting two and two,even on the sides of an entry, because it rarely works.It feels off-kilter, always calling for more to make it three and three. A good way to use four plants is by putting one in each quadrant of a circle or square. Another device that work well is dividing 4 into 3 + 1, positioning three on one side of a path and one on the other. This is especially effective with evergreen brcause of their strong weight.