I was going to title this post: Before and After, but that could apply to so many things couldn't it? The containers that sit at the front of my house are always a garden challenge. In summer, oak trees are leafed out so that one container is in nearly full shade while another suffers from a lot of afternoon sun. Add to this that we put in drip irrigation. The garage kitties love to run behind the containers, and they used to knock out the drip line. Well, we didn't notice for a couple of very hot days, and I bet you can tell which one nearly died of unhappiness. The front containers before they were rehabbed. Here are the plants I bought to rehab my containers for fall. The bale of hay in the photo above will have pumpkins and perhaps a scarecrow sitting on it in a couple...

Bee on Euphorbia marginata, snow on the mountain I was supposed to take some dear friends to Bustani Plant Farm last Saturday. Then, we discovered it was Dad's Day at Oklahoma State University, and since I already brave Dad's Day at Oklahoma University every year. I just couldn't face the traffic. The weather was also chilly and raining. Our oldest daughter also requested a carrot cake for her birthday we were celebrating on Saturday night. I was burning the candle at both ends and in the middle too, and I felt a bit like the pollinator in the photo above. See the bright, gold pollen on her little legs? These are the things she carries. Bottle tree at the OSU Botanic Garden Then came Sunday. I had the Oklahoma Horticultural Society's fall meeting and garden tour at the OSU Botanic Garden in Stillwater. Steve and Ruth Owens invited the members...

A tropical, native plant paradise of variegated tapioca, Salvia greggii 'Pink Preference' and Melinis nerviglumis 'Pink Crystals' or 'Savannah' depending upon where it's purchased. Heady with their beauty, these plants are proud to proclaim it loud and clear. Our climate is changing, and instead of sporting a big ole' temper tantrum, I've decided to adjust to the changes by inviting more and more tropical growers. They must also come with plenty of good foliage color to make up for any lack of blooms. Often, if they do bloom, they wait until fall. A good example of this is Salvia Vanhouettei, a hot, little, red number I now use, throughout the garden, for late summer color continuing into fall. Salvia splendens 'Vanhouettei' or VanHoutte's salvia is a red like no other. No matter how high summer temperatures soar, I know this reliable bloomer will grow all summer and then stake its claim in...

Swiss chard and red fountain early last spring Fall and winter vegetable gardening in Oklahoma is tricky, and anyone who tells you different is wrong or misleading. I don't know which. While others north of us were sowing seeds in July and August to reap a fall harvest, we were still at 103F. Oh, wait . . . we're still at 104F today on September 3. Traditionally, August was a good time to sow fall seeds, but in the last couple of years, not so much. I'm putting in seeds for late fall crops next week, and I'm putting row covers over them as soon as the weather cools. Even though temperatures are high, I've been watching the forecast, and temperatures will come down. If I wanted fall lettuce instead of in winter, I needed to sow the seeds indoors under lights. I just didn't feel like it, and that's...