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...

Lagerstroemia indica Dynamite® with blown glass in the same color scheme. If the rose is the undisputed queen of the garden, then crapemyrtles are her knights in shining armor, for when summer temperature rise, and the queen goes into seclusion, that's when crapemyrtles really begin to shine. "When sustained daytime temperatures are about 85 degrees F or above, and other species are losing their luster, crapemyrtles begin to produce flower buds for their summer show-off period," said Carl Whitcomb, PhD. and President of Lacebark, Inc., "Once flowering is triggered to begin, on many cultivars, it continues for 100 to 120 days or more." Unknown selection of pink crapemyrtle with Artemisia 'Silver King', maiden grass, pink perwinkles and 'Belinda's Dream' rose. The dry foliage in front are iris. It was too hot for them this summer. Crapemyrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, is a large flowering shrub or small tree native to China, but it...