Yard-of-the-Month: 3002 Norhill /  by Lori Bigler

Shawn & Dominique Rodgers, at 3002 Norhill, love supporting local businesses and love planting their own plants each season. Everything in their yard was sourced this past Spring from Buchanan’s Native Plants on 11th Street. Dominique spent several days researching to pick out just the right plants. They wanted hardy perennials that were heat and cold tolerant, drought resistant, good with full and partial sun areas of the yard, and ones that would mix well together for visual and textural appeal.

So far they have done the job, including:

  • Fox Tail Ferns

  • Monkey Grass

  • Regular Mondo Grass

  • Bronze Ajuga - ground cover, perennials (along the flower bed borders) - these are some of their favorites.

  • Queen Anne Lily of the Nile - perennial - around the base of the trees. These grew beautifully in their back yard, so transplanted to the front yard.

  • All Summer Gardenias - perennial (in the large pots.)

  • Baby Gem Boxwoods - perennials (in the medium sized pots) and regular boxwood in all the flower beds.

  • Black & Blue Salvia - perennial - around the street post and in the main flower beds. The bees & butterflies love these.

  • Salvia Amistad- perennial - in the main flower bed.

  • Angelonia - in the main flower beds

  • Cora cascade polka dot Trailing vinca - in the bed to the left of the house.

  • Graffiti White Pentas - perennial - all over the yard.

  • Zebra Hydrangea - on the porch in pots.

Living on the Norhill Esplanade means they have front row seats to the festivities every December, and are looking forward to celebrating with their neighborhood again this year!

- Stephanie Riceman, VP-Beautification

LIGHTS IN THE HEIGHTS DECORATIONS JUDGING – Thursday December 6th! /  by Lori Bigler

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The judging committee will be rolling down the route Thursday evening on the 6th, so make sure to have your decorations lit if you would like to participate. If you’re ON the route, you’re automatically in the running.

If you’re OFF the route, you’ll need to nominate your house or your neighbors by emailing robyn.klepper@nadel.com so the judges can be sure to include you in the competition.

This year there will also be a BEST BLOCK competition (on-route only), so get busy stringing up those lights with your neighbors! Good luck to you all!

Calling all Bakers! Porch Cookies needed for Lights in the Heights. /  by Lori Bigler

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LITH committee is needing volunteers to help with cookie baking. The cookies are a long-standing tradition provided to the houses that volunteer their porches for the night’s live entertainment along the official route. Be a part of the tradition and fire up those ovens! Cookies will need to be delivered between December the 6th and the 7th – any time of the day.

If you can help out, please email robyn.klepper@nadel.com to sign up for more details.

Creature Feature #2: Amelia Stowers' Menagerie /  by Lori Bigler

The Stowers family lives on Highland Street. Their daughter, Amelia, loves animals and has seven pets, including her new basset hound puppy, “Spots” and her bearded dragon, “Sunset”. “Spots has long ears that drag the ground”, Amelia explained. And her father Greg said, “And Sunset will ride on Amelia’s shoulder and not jump off.” These are some cool pets!

Amelia Stowers, Spots & Sunset.

A holiday Brontosaurus.

This editor, while out walking our dogs, recently observed the unveiling of their latest addition, a very bright Brontosaurus, just for the holidays.

Adopt a Drain, Name a Drain, Prevent Flooding! /  by Lori Bigler

Houston's Adopt-A-Drain program launched April 2018 and upgrades have been unveiled recently, including the naming feature. The program allows the community to help prevent future flooding and keeps neighborhood storm drains clean. As Adopt-A-Drain partners, program participants are asked to keep their drain clear by cleaning it at least 4x/year (especially before it rains). Click here for info.