text: Lights, Wreaths, Action! - HorticultureHorticulture
  November 29, 2011 | Meghan Shinn
  All around town, including my street, outdoor Christmas decorations and lights have appeared, many on the day after Thanksgiving. Personally I feel it's a bit early, but at the same time I'll admit feeling some pressure to do something festive to our own yard.
  I looked at the calendar and Christmas does seem to be coming up fast. Maybe because it falls on a Sunday it seems sort of early this year? Still, the decorations do look out of place—if only because it has been so warm in my area—the second warmest November on record!
  I think the soonest I'll have outdoor decorations up will be December 4. I'm thinking of putting some greenery in my biggest clay pot and putting that near the front steps. Maybe shove some sort of baubles or bows in there too. We can't really string lights because our shrubs are all new—that is to say, short—and I think they'd either look funny or just get buried by snow (assuming the weather ever cools). Call me Scrooge, but I am also too cheap to pay for the electricity for outdoor lights or one of those blow-up characters. The latter isn't really my style anyway, though I see the appeal for kids.
  I'm deliberating putting the electric candles in the windows. I do think those always look nice. Our first year here I put them up. Last year I didn't because my daughter had just turned one and was much more mobile so I figured they would be dangerous. This year she would be OK around them, but we recently ordered replacement windows. I guarantee you the day I get the candles all rigged the guys will call me to say they want to come install the new windows. So I guess I'm leaning toward no candles. I just don't want to look like the Grinch of the block.
  How about you? How do you decorate your yard and garden for the holidays? Let us all know in a comment, and/or post a photo on our Facebook page!
  2 thoughts on "Lights, Wreaths, Action!"
  Marian Jarvinen on November 30, 2011 at 5:41 pm said:
  I don't go over the top with lights but I do put a few out so as not to be the neighborhood Grinch either. I usually put them up about the week of Thanksgiving so as to not have to do it when there is snow on the ground or extremely cold. But I usually wait till December to start turning them on. No Christmas lights before the turkey is gone! I fill a large urn on the front porch with greens and a planter on the patio that I see from my kitchen window. Then I convince myself I have decorated sufficiently and go in the house where it is warm.
  Cshep51 on November 30, 2011 at 5:28 pm said:
  Meghan, I live in Natchitoches, LA. It's considered "The City of Lights!" Their Christmas Festival kicks off this Saturday and I still don't have my Christmas lights on. I have my Thanksgiving decorations up. I have been purchasing LED lights on sale after Christmas and have quite a collection. For the areas farthest away from the house, SOLAR!!! I'll have my lights up in one of my Live Oak trees by Saturday (Dec 4) and then the other by the following week. I am also considering decorating my basketball goal. We did last year and I really liked the quirky statement. Merry Christmas.