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Dear Tony: Our strata corporation normally has its annual meeting 60 days after our fiscal year end at the end of February.

With twigs, hawthorn berries, moss, crisp baby ferns, ornamental crab apples and more, landscape architect Twyla Rusnak makes her artistic statement.

For gardeners, the winter solstice on Monday has special significance. It starts us on the pathway to spring. The word solstice means 鈥渢he sun is stopped, or stationary.鈥� On this turning point in the year, the sun halts its downward path in the sky.

Dear Helen: In a recent column you mentioned gift dish gardens on a Christmas theme. At what point do you move the plants into individual pots? B.B. Keep the plants together as long as possible.

This late fall season has been even more heavily garden and plant centred than usual. First, there鈥檚 my budding re-addiction to indoor plants.

Dear Debbie: I am thinking about adding some decoration to the bedroom ceiling. Unlike any other room, it does get looked at a lot.

Dear Tony: Will the recent changes to the insurance industry mean we will be paying less for insurance in coming years, or that the dramatic increases will slow down? Our 78-unit townhouse complex in the Interior renewed its policy in November with n

Dear Helen: When and how should I prune my hydrangea shrubs? C.L. That depends on the kind of hydrangea. Probably the most commonly grown here is bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla).

Dear Tony: I am the acting treasurer for our strata corporation in the Fraser Valley. I took over a year ago. In the process of setting up a series of maintenance contracts, I discovered payments from 2013-2018 to a company that does not exist.

I hesitate to utter what one of my friends refers to as the 鈥淐鈥� word, at least until the arrival of the relevant month. Can鈥檛 really avoid it though: Christmas in 20 days.