A New Year and a Great Start

What a great start to the New Year. Lots of orders already and today I found a goldmine of cushion moss. It figures..... I had finally decided to stop selling cushions until Spring. The ones I was finding back here were just too wet and the color was starting to get "funky".
Today I found tons of beautiful green cushions. Also nice frog moss and what can only be described as a field of tree clubmoss and creeping wintergreen. Gorgeous stuff! I'll spend my whole day hiking tomorrow. I plan on getting as much as I can before Tuesday when the temps drop like a rock here. Monday will be Sheet Moss day. The sheets on this mountain are the best around - I was really disappointed in the sheets I saw during my hike today. They just didn't compare.
My Partridge Vines are selling like crazy on Ebay so I've added them to my Etsy store. Already I have a custom order for them along with other packages. Who'd a thunk that those crazy vines would be so popular? I don't think I can take a step in the woods without walking on them - They are everywhere!
Still cannot identify this moss I found - it's driving me crazy!

A Balmy Christmas!

I loved the balmy 50 degree weather today but it sure didn't feel like Christmas! At 2:30 I escaped the noise and madness and strolled back into the woods for some peace and quiet. Lately, I've been noticing color more and more in those woods. The red berries on the Partridge Berry Vines and these small trees with red berries. I'm not sure what the trees are - I need to find out. But I do know this.... I want to dig some up and bring them to my yard. I want to surround myself with color. Now that the fall foliage has come and gone, everything looks so brown and dead and colorless. I need color! And the red is so Christmassy!
What better time to plan next years winter garden than now when I can see what is missing?
Tomorrow I shall dig up partridge berry vines and plant them under my evergreen shrubs in front of the house. They won't get much sun there so I think they will thrive. A small stream runs from the woods along my property line to the road. Those trees with the red berries are growing along that same stream. I found some small saplings and I shall dig them up and plant them along the stream where I can see them from the dining room window. There's a nice big empty space there just waiting to be filled.
And there are about 20 small holly trees growing under the tall pines in the woods. A few would look nice  behind the shade garden. With time, they will get berries just like the tall ones in my front yard.
I may gather some teeny ones for a terrarium. I've seen some hollies only 3 or 4 inches high sprouting back woods.
I am so blessed to have this land to look to for ideas and inspiration!

Merry Mossy Christmas Eve!

Today looks to be a busy day for me - wrapping packages, bagging and shipping moss and hopefully a quiet hike at Koon Lake. Right now it's not too cold out. I believe it should get up in the mid 40's.We've really been lucky this year - no snow and only a few nights in the low 20's. The ground hasn't frozen yet.
I've decided to gather some Partridge Vine for selling online. Partridge Vine is wonderful to plant in a terrarium with a little cottage and let the vines run up to the roof. I've done that with a covered bridge and it sold right away. It is also a great plant for a winter garden - it is evergreen and gets red berries. I plan to add more to my shade gardens this year and may even do so this week. Fall is a great time to plant here. I can see where my perennial plants are and it's nice and damp out there but not too wet as in the spring.
Off to get to work! Have a great day!