Hellebores are beautiful evergreen perennials that bloom in early spring. There are at least 15 species of Hellebores and numerous hybrids that are often misidentified in the horticulture trade.

In today’s column is the second of a two-part pruning guide for trees and shrubs. In last week’s column was the ‘what to’ prune; this week discusses the ‘how to’ prune, providing some techniques in proper pruning.

WICHITA FALLS-Hospice of Wichita Falls (HOWF) has received a generous multi-milliondollar gift from the Perkins-Prothro Foundation, Dianne and Mark Prothro, and Dale Prothro to name its new Inpatient Care Center on Cypress Avenue.

KNOX CITY – There continues to be a blood shortage around the nation, including here in the Big Country, because there is no substitute for human blood. Noting the shortage in the region, Knox County Hospital District (KCHD) is partnering with Hendrick Regional Blood Center to host a mobile blood drive at Knox County Hospital on Feb. 19.

The Messe Frankfurt (literally “Frankfurt Trade Fair”), in Frankfurt Germany, is one of the world’s largest trade fairs for the restaurant / foodservice industry. About 4,600 exhibitors and 136,000 visitors from 166 countries attend this annual 4-day event. Since this is one of the biggest trades show in the industry I worked in, many of the suppliers I worked with attended. I had never been to Europe, so when I had the opportunity to go to this trade show about 18 years ago, I was excited to meet with suppliers as well as see Germany.

KNOX CITY – The Aging Center in Knox City hosted the monthly live music program on Feb. 6 with musicians joining in the jam session from Haskell, Vernon, Spur, Vera, Knox City, and two visiting musicians from Massachusetts.

SNYDER—The Ritz Community Theater in downtown Snyder will be launching its 30th season of live theater with “The Sweet Delilah Swim Club” February 23-25 and March 1-3. The play is a comedy about five Southern women whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team, who set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships.

MUNDAY – Saturday Feb. 10 saw six generations of the Fidel Rodriquez family gather for a family photo and to welcome the newest family member, Lilianna born just four weeks ago. This line of the family range in age from 89 years to 4 weeks old. That makes a total of 89 family members, most living in Texas; Munday, Vernon, and Wichita Falls.

Pruning guidelines for trees and shrubs will appear in the next two columns. The most urgent need right now is to shape up oaks when they are dormant and before leaf break. February is the month to prune oaks. Gardeners who don’t or can’t take care of their oaks in this month need to wait until summer to safely prune oaks.

Also called Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year 2024, the Year of the Dragon, falls on Saturday, February 10 and ends with the Lantern Festival on February 24. Celebrations last up to 16 days, but only the firstsevendaysareconsideredapublicholiday (Feb. 10 through Feb. 16). My friends in China say most factories will be closed until about March3butmostofficeswillresumebusiness on February 17 or 19. As with holidays in the USA, the Chinese New Year holiday has a multitude of traditions andcustoms.Thisweek’scolumnwillbe aboutthetraditionalfoodsandtheirmeanings for the New Year. Family is the basis of the Chinese society, which is seen in the significance placed on the New Year’s Eve dinner, or Reunion dinner. This feast is extremely important to the Chinese. All family members must come back home. Even if they truly can’t, the rest of the family maysetaplacewithutensilsforthem.Foodisoneofthethings in which the Chinese take the most pride. And of course, a lot ofcareandthoughtisputintothemenuforthemostimportant holiday of the year. As with other Chinese New Year activities and decorations, the dishes are created to give blessings for the next year. Though every region and even households within a region may have different customs, there are some common dishes seen on every table.