Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies. I love to plant bulbs, tidy flowerbeds, and cultivate boxwoods. One item that has really improved the health of my boxwoods is dormant oil.
Dormant oil is used to eliminate nesting pests and their eggs from your shrubs and trees. Spray the oil onto dormant trees on a sunny day during the winter (late January or early February in Oregon, maybe even March in some places). It should be at least 40 degrees outside and not have any precipitation for a couple of days before or after spraying. Applying this when plants are not dormant will burn the buds or any new growth, which is why you want to do this before any buds begin to swell.
You will find more gardening tips, flower arranging, and hundreds of fabulous recipes in my book Ooh la la! French Inspirations for Entertaining and Travel, available here.
