Good afternoon! Yesterday morning my part of Oklahoma saw a low of ten degrees, but that's January for you. I think we can categorize this Oklahoma winter as chilly with a side of snow. We had blowing snow, and there is a chance for measurable snow at the end of the week. About yesterday. Yesterday, I arose and made coffee, which is one of my rituals. This is my very fancy espresso, coffee and latte maker. My very fancy KitchenAid espresso, latte, and coffee maker. I love the ritual of making tea and/or coffee. My kids find it funny, but since I'm still fume reactive from Alpha-gal syndrome, I bought myself to a high-end whole-bean coffee maker. Whole bean coffee is less prone to mold. Fresh ground coffee makes my mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) happy too. My MCAS is a by-product of AGS. So, I was drinking my first...

Hello friends! For you this month, I have a bowl full of blooming amaryllises and more for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Waxed amaryllis from Costco in a Chippendale soup tureen. Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is the longest-running meme in gardening blog land. It's hosted on the 15th each month by my podcast co-host, Carol Michel. If you don't know, we host a garden podcast called the Gardenangelists. Because of Carol's heavy lifting, we are in our seventh season. An episode drops each week on Wednesdays unless you subscribe to our newsletter, and then you get the episode a whole day early. See that one little yellow flower? I'm counting these succulents in the greenhouse toward Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. There's not much going on in the garden that we can see in December. Most of the action is underground. If temperatures are above 40°F, plants are growing roots. Most insects...

As I've been garden coaching so many of you, one thing we often discuss is letting the garden grow, hopefully making it simpler to care for. At least, that's the idea. 'Oklahoma Carmine' zinnias look great, and I love their ombre color. Letting the garden grow doesn't mean letting the garden go. There's a fine line between exuberant, healthy plants and those intent on world domination. Weeds, for example, fall into that second category. Carol Michel and I discussed many plants we wish were not in our gardens on a recent podcast episode called shoulda, woulda, coulda. Baptisia in the Lurie Garden in Chicago grows behind the meadow sage with maiden grass and Amethyst sage in the foreground. As I matured as a gardener, I became inspired by gardens like the Lurie Garden which has its fair share of spreaders. I've visited twice, and I'm in love with their style,...

The wind is blowing, and leaves are falling. Autumn is the perfect time to review the bones of the garden. Once the landscape puts itself to bed for winter, you can truly see its structure, but now is a good time to plan for better garden bones for next year. Yes, you can always add garden bones, although some are easier to implement than others. Tree and shrubs are garden bones. You especially notice them in fall as the leaves turn and fall. Trees, shrubs, and hardscape are your garden's bones. As I walk my garden paths, I can now see the garden bones starting to emerge, with hardscape, like arbors, pathways, focal points, and garden borders of wood, stone and concrete. Like the bones in our bodies, trees, shrubs, and grasses provide structure. Without structure, the garden looks fuzzy and frankly boring. Gravel paths interspersed with concrete pavers to...