In my garden, this is the year of the salvia. I deem it so. Why the year of the salvia? Two reasons: So many new varieties are on the market, and they are so easy to grow in Oklahoma. That's why I've written about salvias before in three salvias to salivate over and the bold and the beautiful. Salvia 'Roman Red' with 'Brazilian Red Hots' alternanthera. Don't poo-poo easy-to-grow things. Trust me. In our climate, you're going to need them. First, the sciency stuff. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, "Salvia is a genus of over 900 species of annuals, biennials, herbaceous and evergreen perennials, and shrubs. "The genus name Salvia comes from the Latin word salveo meaning "to save or heal" in reference to the purported medically curative properties attributed to some plants in the genus." Favorite types of salvia If I wanted to sound more professional, I might write favorite salvia species, but...

Some of you may not know that my neighborhood, home, and garden were part of the Simpson wildfire in Logan County, Oklahoma, a little over a week ago. I've hesitated writing about it because, honestly, it's still so fresh, but I want a record of what happened. My home was spared. In less than 20 minutes, the wildfire blew into our upper pasture down the hill, engulfed our horse barn and the trees surrounding it, and then split around our home. From the front yard, everything looks just fine. Appears to be a perfect spring, doesn't it? The front of the house looks just fine. You would never know, would you? Before I tell you about the damage, I need to share about that day. Buckle your seatbelts. It's about to get stressful. I was up early, and it was so unbelievably windy; I told the two women who occasionally...

Bill and I went on a little trip a couple of weeks ago. We were on the lookout for Texas wildflowers, bluebonnets in particular. And, did we ever find them!! Texas bluebonnets close-up and personal. To get the timing right, I'm a member of several Texas wildflower groups. I follow the Texas Wildflower Report on Facebook, and the projections for wildflowers were more exciting than I'd seen in years. Much of Texas had abundant rainfall last September, which many wildflowers, including bluebonnets, require, so this was expected to be a banner year. Texas wildflowers. Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush in a field. The Texas wildflowers did not disappoint us. Our journey began by driving down to Waco. Of course, we had to drive by the Cottonland Castle, restored by Chip and Joanna Gaines. I was surprised that the castle was right next to a main thoroughfare. We've been to Magnolia Market...

This week I've had a lot of questions from my garden coaching clients about containers and what to grow, so I thought I'd share a little container gardening tutorial. I've also written about container gardening before. We've also discussed container gardening on the Gardenangelists podcast. Pots on the deck with 'Arizona Sun' gaillardia. I used gaillardia in my containers for the first time in 2021. With deadheading, they lasted a long time. If you read and listen to these and want individual help, just contact me at dee@deenash.com for a personal gardening coaching appointment. Containers all in blue and St. Fiacre too. This is from 2011. I still have many of these glazed containers. Container gardening isn't difficult, but it does take a little planning, starting with the containers you buy. Here are some choices with their pluses and minuses: Glazed ceramic. I like glazed ceramic containers that have glazed...