When entering a garden center or grocery store this time of year, you may see displays of amazing winter flower bouquets, poinsettias, potted rosemary and Norfolk Island pine plants. Close by are buckets of bright winterberry, fresh greenery, cheerful Christmas cactus, cyclamen, and blooming orchids.

There’s more green, white and red staring you in the face than at an Italian flag factory.

Garden centers and even some grocery stores carry bright winterberry, fresh greenery, cheerful Christmas cactus, cyclamen, and blooming orchids this time of year. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)

You’re torn over whether to splurge on one or more of these seasonal splendors or hold tight to your budget and continue walking straight to the dairy aisle. You can’t help but dream about guests walking into your aromatic, cinnamon-spiced holiday party oohing and aahing over the house filled with dazzling seasonal floral eye candy. Darn you, Santa!

Lacking self-restraint, you fill your basket with green finery and a quart of milk. Getting it all safely to your house is the next decision. If not well protected from cold on the ride home, your holiday poinsettia will turn into a holiday “poin-dead-ia’”(groan).

Getting live flowers home

Try to choose a shopping day when the outside temperature is well above 32 degrees. Independent garden centers and most stores will gladly wrap temperature-sensitive bouquets and plants using cellophane and paper (ask them to kindly double the paper).

For additional fool-proof plant protection from the cold, bring a large cooler (which also keeps food warm) into the store and let it warm up while shopping. A sturdy box with a plastic or folding cover works, too. Bring along some paper for extra padding around the edges if needed. After checking out, carefully place the plants in the container and secure the top so no cold air gets inside. Greenery bundles and winterberry branches aren’t cold-sensitive and should be fine without extra protection.

Hopefully your plants and greenery include an attached tag that provides care instructions. (Take a photo of the tag just in case it gets misplaced.)

When back home, carefully unpack plants that are wrapped in foil. Cut some holes or slits in the bottom of the foil and then place the plant on top of a tray so water will freely drain. Place fresh greenery and winterberry in a bucket or vase with room temperature water until used for decorating.

Check for flying fungus gnats near or on the soil and if present isolate the plant until they die off. Just let the soil dry out for a couple of days before watering again. Fungus gnat eggs and larvae use damp soil to finish their life cycle, so drying them out works well initially.

With a quick online search, you’ll find other easy home remedies using cinnamon or mild soap to kill off fungus gnats. Use care and avoid overdoing any home treatment.

Poinsettias, cyclamen, Norfolk Island pine, orchids and rosemary plants all need around six hours of bright, natural light from south-, east- or west-facing windows. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)

Another very helpful and safe biological product to have on hand for all your indoor plants will have the active ingredient Bti, used to kill mosquito larvae in outdoor features. This product works well for indoor plants that have fungus gnats. Look for the tan-colored, small round dunks or kibble bits sold at garden centers. Simply crumble a dunk or add the bits on top of the potted plant soil and water. As the Bti bits dissolve over time, they kill off fungus gnat eggs and larvae.

Keep seasonal greenery merry and bright through the holidays

Poinsettias, cyclamen, Norfolk Island pine, orchids and rosemary plants all need around six hours of bright, natural light from south-, east- or west-facing windows. North windows can work if using indoor plant sunlamps with a timer. One exception is Norfolk Island pine, which will do fine with less bright daily sunlight. Plants shouldn’t touch the windows and be kept away from cool drafts and heat vents. Remember to turn plants every week to prevent them from leaning toward windows and sunlight. This group of plants grows well in temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees. Rosemary can take it warmer.

Fertilizer needs for many indoor plants slow down during the winter months. Read the plant tag for specific recommendations.

Grouping house plants together and using small pebble rocks that are slightly submerged in water in a tray under the plants will help increase humidity levels as the water slowly evaporates. Many indoor plants benefit from this technique, especially Norfolk Island pines and orchids.

For poinsettias, water when the surface feels dry to the touch. If the soil is allowed to dry out for too long, leaves will drop and plants will wilt. Too much water leads to root rot, insects and death. Poinsettia plants are not poisonous to people or pets, but the milky sap may irritate the skin.

Christmas tree lots often have a box of trimmed fir branch cuttings that are free for the taking; just ask first. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)

Cyclamen, Norfolk Island pine, and rosemary plants should be watered when the surface of the soil is dry to the touch. Finessing and mastering the watering needs of individual indoor plants comes with experience and paying attention to the plant. In general, it is better to underwater than overwater.

Garden retailers and many grocery stores sell Christmas trees, wreaths and attractive bundles of assorted greenery for holiday decorating. Christmas tree lots often have a box of trimmed fir branch cuttings that are free for the taking; just ask first. Or consider getting a permit to cut a Christmas tree, then use trimmed branches for additional decorating. Go to fs.usda.gov for permitting and more information.

The key for longer-lasting, fresh-cut greenery is regular moisture from misting and using anti-desiccant sprays (sold at garden centers) to seal the leaves and pores on the bark to hold in moisture.

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Wear gloves for trimming and cutting fresh greens and do it over a tarp — they will be sticky and messy. When making garlands, swags or wreaths for decorating, keep the stems in room-temperature water before making the display. Use a hand pruner to make diagonal cuts through the stems, and then gently crush the exposed end — this will help with water uptake. Set the stems back in the water for a few hours before assembly and decorating.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and joyous December holiday season. And after family and friends leave, sit down with a 2024 seed catalog and dream of you know what!

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

Buckle up, movie fans: You’re in for one wild ride this week.

Just consider what awaits you: Emma Stone turns into a twitchy Frankenstein-like creature with a hardy sexual appetite; a flock of evil gargantuan parakeets terrorize in Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated fable; and a mysterious, life-altering event turns mild-mannered deer into menacing creatures that freak out Julia Roberts.

Here’s our roundup, but a word of advice. It’s best to keep a mind wide open while viewing.

“Poor Things”: Yorgos Lanthimos will never be accused of coasting on his laurels and playing it safe. The Greek filmmaker all but gobsmacked audiences with “The Lobster,” “The Favorite” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and he relishes coloring way outside of conventional narrative lines. And frankly contemporary modern cinema is better for it. His latest is true to form, and is as warped, brilliant and brazenly deluded as the legendary creator that it creatively tips its hat to — Baron von Frankenstein. Mary Shelley’s classic serves as a template for this enterprise, a bonkers, sexy, excessive but thoroughly entertaining odyssey festooned around an outrageously inspired performance from Emma Stone, going for broke right along with Lanthimos.

Stone plays child-like Bella Baxter — BB, for short — a clever double meaning. The Victorian-era Bella has the brain of a child but the bod of a woman. She was brought back to life, pieced together really, by the scarred Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), or God, who, ironically, likes to tinker with animal parts to create something new. Bella develops an unquenchable appetite for knowledge and sex, which leads to a fantastical journey — including a visually spectacular passage on a ship — with leering lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who wants to possess her for sex and doesn’t want her to become her own person. Broken down in fabulist chapters, the feminist “Poor Things” is certain to offend some viewers, but that’s part of its wacko charm. It’s a rollercoaster ride that curlicues around numerous inspirations (including the fantastical work of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Jean Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Elia Kazan’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and, of course, James Whale’s/Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to name but a few). But it also tears down the male desire to dominate and shape women around them, a deluded notion aimed to stifle and box in someone like Bella. In “Poor Things,” Bella learns she also harbors the power and smarts to create. And oh how satisfying it is to watch her — and Stone — wield that liberated power. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters Dec. 8.

“The Boy and the Heron”: Hayao Miyazaki’s 12th animated feature is a mesmerizing beauty, even if it doesn’t soar to the same heights as his classics such as “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Ponyo,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and others. Still, the justly revered filmmaker’s first feature in 10 years is an entrancing delight, and must be seen on a massive screen to appreciate its visual splendor. Miyazaki mines aspects of his own childhood and centers “Heron” on the grieving-for-his-mom Mahito Maki, a 12-year-old who warily moves to an estate with his father who just wed his dead mom’s sister, Natsuko. Once there, a feisty blue heron with magical properties pesters Mahito with the two eventually entering an alternative realm where evil gargantuan parakeets keep watch over a now kidnapped and pregnant Natsuko. Filled with elegantly rendered imagery that few other animated features could approach, it’s another lovely, lively fable that weaves a magical spell and is filled with ache and layered meaning. The last scene, however, is abrupt and perfunctory unfortunately. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters now.

“Leave the World Behind”: What’s the danger of wanting to exist only in our own individualized bubbles, comfortable spaces we’ve created where “strangers” on the outside aren’t welcome? Well-to-do New Yorkers Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their teen-aged son Archie (Charlie Evans) and daughter Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) find out the problem with that ideology when a cataclysmic event disconnects them from the outside world while they’re kicking it at a remote Airbnb. After a harrowing day at the beach where a cargo ship plows into it, a Black man (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter (Myha’la) knock at the rental property and say they live there and want to stay. That’s the tinder-box setup for director/screenwriter Sam (“Mr. Robot”) Esmail’s eerie, uncomfortable-making adaptation of author Rumaan Alam’s apocalyptic novel, which shook us out of our own insular, walled-in shells while reading it in the midst of COVID-19. Executive produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions company (the novel landed on Barack Obama’s 2021 best list), “Leave the World Behind” burrows under the skin and exposes festering racism hidden inside as our so-called “connected” world gets shattered and conspiracy theories and fears abound while nature watches, waits and stares. It’s an unsettling, well-acted experience with layers and cautionary warnings to spare. And it’ll have you looking at your bicuspids afterwards. Details: 3½ stars; drops Dec. 8 on Netflix.

Find of the week

“The Three Musketeers — Part I: D’Artagnan”: You’re first reaction might be: not another one. Alexandre Dumas’ oft-adapted 1844 swashbuckler gets another turn in director/co-screenwriter Martin Bourboulon’s new film. But watch 10 minutes of this action-packed crowd pleaser stuffed with royal intrigue, swordplay and guy camaraderie and you’ll be all in. The cast is ridiculously first class and includes Vincent Cassel as the falsely accused Athos, Eva Green as the slithery Milady de Winter, Louis Garrel as the threatened King Louis XIII, Romain Duris as the charmer Aramis and François Civil as the cocky D’Artagnan. The production values are exquisite, the cinematography gorgeous and the fighting sequences exciting. It’s on a par with Richard Lester’s 1972 version, and that is saying something. Details: 3½ stars; available On Demand; Part II will be released next year.

“Eileen”: Seasonally appropriate in a strange and twisted way, this dark, dark noir — set near Boston during Christmastime in the 1960s — is cut from the same pulpy antihero cloth favored by such iconic crime writers as Jim Thompson and Patricia Highsmith. Like the works of those genre specialists, “Eileen” coughs up a dim view of human nature. Director William Oldroyd’s shadowy psychological thriller is adapted from Ottessa Moshfegh’s serpentine, character-driven 2015 novel of the same name, a Booker Prize finalist that earned praise for its unique voice. Moshfegh adapted her novel for the screen with writer Luke Goebel, and the duo have produced one of the smartest screenplays of 2023, one that presents Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway with juicy parts. McKenzie sheds all innocence to play the title character, a voyeuristic 24-year-old caregiver to a belittling and drunken dad (Shea Whigham). She’s mesmerized by the striking entrance of flashy new counselor Rebecca (Hathaway, in full femme fatale mode) who drives into the office parking lot that’s full of beige and boring autos in a sporty red car. Rebecca’s unorthodox ways and professional practices tantalize Eileen and turn many heads, naturally. As they two get closer, “Eileen” hits you at the two-thirds point with a huge surprise — it’s not a wowza, and it works, as does just about everything else in this demented and twisty thriller. Details: 3½ stars; opens Dec. 8 in San Francisco, opens wider next week.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

By Sam Kemmis | NerdWallet

Many frequent travelers carry tales of delayed flights and disappointing hotel rooms. Yet Airbnb “horror stories” are a genre all their own.

Videos with the tag #AirbnbHorrorStory have more than 63 million views on TikTok, featuring guests venting about unclean properties and last-minute cancellations leaving them stranded. The website Airbnbhell features hundreds of similar accounts, where things do not go as expected for short-term renters.

While many of these stories offer little more than schadenfreude, others can act as instructive lessons for travelers looking to avoid similar pitfalls. While there’s no way to avoid short-term rental surprises outright, many guests who have experienced them say there were warning signs they wished they had watched out for.

Look for reviews

Jack Epner, a marketing consultant and digital nomad, has lived out of Airbnbs for more than four years. Of the many difficult stays in that time, one rental — a house in Ecuador — stands out.

“It wasn’t clean, distinctly not clean,” Epner says. “We’re talking black mold all over the kitchen, hair all over the bedding. I ended up with bed bugs.”

Beyond that, Epner says the host’s friends would use the front lawn as a parking lot, and the host entered the (private) property unannounced several times.

After messaging several Airbnb customer service teams, Epner was eventually able to receive a refund. Yet the stay was so difficult, that it forced a recalibration of how much emphasis he now places on guest reviews.

The home had only one review, from a local, Epner says. And while he would usually look for more reviews before booking, the lack of availability at the time made him willing to take the risk. He says that’s a risk he won’t repeat.

“I do avoid places without reviews now,” Epner says. “If there’s really only one review, I’ll be wary; I would like to see two to three minimum. The more reviews the better.”

Have a backup plan

When Agnes Groonwald saw an Airbnb listing in Crestone, Colorado, it looked too interesting to pass up.

“The place was intriguing. It looked like a spaceship buried in the ground,” Groonwald says.

Groonwald, a nomad and creator of the blog Travel on the Reg, says the listing’s uniqueness wasn’t totally convincing. Yet, with no other listings available nearby, it seemed like the best choice.

Upon check-in, she noticed another group was already there: a family of mice.

“As soon as we arrived, we saw a little critter in the kitchen sink,” Groonwald says. “This was an infestation; this was the real deal.”

Groonwald, too, was able to receive a refund for the booking but couldn’t find alternative lodging nearby at such short notice. That meant cohabitating with mice for several days.

“We would wake to the pitter-patter of little feet in the middle of the night,” Groonwald recalls, saying that the experience taught her two lessons.

First, don’t be drawn in by quirky photos. Staying in an unusual home, such as a spaceship, might sound fun, but it can mean dealing with equally unusual problems.

“Sometimes boring is better,” Groonwald suggests.

Second, make sure there’s a backup plan in place in case of deal-breaking problems. That doesn’t mean you have to book another rental, but just make sure there’s another lodging option available on the same dates in case something goes wrong with your Airbnb.

Communicate beforehand

Gabrielle Dahms, a realtor based in California, says she has always had good Airbnb experiences. Then, she checked into a five-day Airbnb rental in San Rafael, California, and discovered an unexpected hazard: synthetic fragrance dispensers.

“Anytime anyone made a movement, these things dispensed fragrance,” Dahms laments. “Within two hours, my sinuses were completely swelled up.”

Dahms complained to the host and Airbnb customer service, which resulted in receiving a one-star guest review. It has since soured her on the entire platform.

According to Epner, these problems of mismatched expectations between guests and hosts can be addressed by communicating with the host ahead of time.

“Anytime there’s the potential to not be on the same page, I think it’s helpful to connect before booking,” Epner says.

He learned this lesson after staying with a host who wanted to be friends with guests, rather than respect privacy. He now messages hosts with a few questions before booking, to gauge their communication style.

“Do they treat it as a dumb question, or are they polite?” Epner says. “Anything I can do to get the sense of the host before booking, I’ll do that.”

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

 

The article These Airbnb Horror Stories Can Teach You What to Watch For originally appeared on NerdWallet.

By Carla Vigos | Laguna Woods Globe cooking columnist

Italian families have certain traditions, and a lot of them circle around food. If you ever go to an Italian wedding on the East Coast, you would be amazed by the cookie table. Unless you have seen it, you could not fathom how many cookies and how much variety there is.

In my Italian family, my mother would start making her cookies for the holiday season during the first part of December. She would make Italian cookies that would be decorated with icing and candy sprinkles, fig cookies called cuccidati, butter balls, and pizzelles, traditional Italian waffle cookies.

Family and friends would share their cookies, and all would benefit. Traditionally, I make a variety of cookies, and so does my daughter, Angela.

With the onset of the holiday season, here is an easy recipe for cookies that are light and buttery. Eat them all yourself (so easy to do) or share with friends or family.

If you have any question or comments, email me at cjvigos@yahoo.com

Italian Angel Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

PROCEDURE

With an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and cornstarch. Now add this gradually to the creamed mixture and blend, scraping down the sides. Add the almond extract and beat until well blended.

Set the oven to 325 degrees. I use a nonstick baking mat on a cookie sheet, but it is not necessary.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in powdered sugar. Repeat this process. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes till just when the cookies are getting a little golden on the edge. The cookies will spread while baking, so allow for that.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 24 cookies.