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Dear Helen: My two small children have begun to express an interest in gardening. What would you suggest as Christmas gifts to nurture their interest? I’d like as well to find a project or two that would help to keep up that interest until spring. R.

Dear Tony: The Richmond RCMP has identified a growing number of problems with mail theft in strata corporations and other multi-family properties.

Like clockwork every fall, the Plant World Seeds catalogue arrives from Newton Abbot in Devon, England, in the last week of October.

I don’t know where November evaporated to, but here we are in December — a month greeted by some with delight and by others with galloping trepidation.

Dear Helen: When is the best time to divide dahlias? I’ve heard it can be done in either spring or fall. Do you have a preference? A.D. I prefer to divide clumps of dahlia tubers in the spring.

Dear Debbie: We are holding the family holiday dinner this year and I am conflicted about how to set the table. We have a long-established tradition of using the classic white tablecloth, crystal glasses, fine china — you get the picture.

Dahlias are garden gifts that keep on giving. The plants churn out flowers from July through to frost, and in most sites and soils they can be treated as hardy perennials, requiring dividing only every few years. Dahlias have history.

Dear Helen: I have a follow-up question to one you answered about over-wintering citrus trees. We were told to put them in our unheated garage, but we decided we’d rather keep the car there. You suggest wrapping.

I’m all about magic delusion these days. It stems from the seasonal process of clearing leaves off lawns, cleaning plots of dead matter, and chopping away at the summer’s rampant overgrowth covering outbuildings and closing off pathways.

Dear Helen: As an extremely busy worker/gardener, I am seeking a shortcut method for processing pumpkin to make purée for using in pies and other things. The usual peeling, cubing and steaming takes a fair amount of time. Is there a quicker way? L.F.