I don't know if you've noticed, but Santa's a porker. Sure, he says he's jolly and all, but the reason he uses reindeer is that no one will sit next to him on a plane. Everybody leaving cookies for him on Christmas Eve just makes things worse. Why not offer him a healthy snack from a citrus tree you can grow in your house? It's called a calamondin orange. This little tree grows slowly to about 5 feet tall, so it's perfect for containers. If you like, you can keep it indoors year-round or move it outside in warm weather. It blooms and fruits off and on all year, often simultaneously. The tart, 1-inch fruit make good marmalade, which Santa will enjoy on his low-carb Melba toast.

Q:
My weeping yaupon is making me weep. It's 8 feet tall and blooms every year but never has any berries. What can I do?

Andi Crews
Alexandria, Virginia

A:
Put away that hanky. It appears that you have a male weeping yaupon. This native holly comes in both sexes, but only females have berries. So always check for berries before buying one (they are green in summer and red in fall and winter). You might consider adding a female weeping yaupon to your garden. That way, you'll get berries from at least one of them. Or you could give the male tree estrogen therapy, but that's a long shot.

Q:
I have Boston ferns outside and don't know how to care for them. They are looking kind of sad.

Cathy Birmingham
Maspeth, New York

A:
Maybe they look sad because they think you're going to let them freeze. Take these tender ferns indoors to your brightest window before the first frost. Trim back all foliage to the rim of the pot, leaving about 10 inches of topgrowth. Keep the soil fairly moist. By next spring, your plants should be bushy again. At that time, take them outside to a lightly shaded spot such as a covered porch. Feed them every two weeks during the summer with a water-soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer.

Q:
We just bought a house with a 7-foot-tall banana tree. How do I help it make it through the winter?

Jenny Mallin
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A:
All that you and other Coastal South gardeners have to do is mulch the tree heavily right now with several inches of pine straw or shredded bark. The top may die back with cold weather, but new shoots will emerge in spring. This strategy sometimes works in the Lower South, too, especially if the tree is in a protected spot, such as up against the house or in a courtyard. In areas where an ordinary banana tree isn't hardy outdoors, you can cut off the top in late fall, pot up the roots, and overwinter the plant indoors. Or plant either of two hardy ornamental bananas that are grown for their exotic foliage rather than fruit. Japanese banana (Musa basjoo) grows 10 to 15 feet tall and is hardy throughout the South. Chinese yellow banana (Musella lasiocarpa) grows 5 to 6 feet tall, bears huge yellow flowers that resemble giant artichokes, and is hardy everywhere but the Upper South.

SOURCES: Page 62: Calamondin oranges are available from Acorn Springs Farms, toll-free 1-866-424-8787 or www.acornsprings.com (O); or Raintree Nursery, (360)496-6400 or www.raintreenursery.com (O). Japanese banana and Chinese yellow banana are available from Plant Delights Nursery, (919) 772-4794 or www.plantdelights.com (O); or Stokes Tropicals, 1-800-624-9706 or www.stokestropicals.com (O).