Birches, chamaecyparis and confers of all types mixed with red-twigged dogwoods, hellebores and hamamelis (witch hazels) artfully blended to create scenes of Great Northwest fantasy. I heard several friends were going to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Tired of brown Bermuda and trees without snow, I decided to use some of my points, fly across the country and join them. While I strolled through indoor-wrought scenes of garden and patio life, several friends asked if I were speaking at the show. No, not this time. I just wanted to come and see what a garden show could be. I know these pictures are large and probably taking a bit to load, but I wanted you to see the show as I did. These were full-sized trees artfully arranged. Our Oklahoma Home and Garden Show replete with aluminum siding and gutter guards pales in comparison. In fact, it should be...

This time last year, our red dirt world was covered in snow due to a blizzard of epic proportions. Oklahomans aren't used to twelve inches of the white stuff, and so much frozen precip ground the state to a halt. I enjoyed it, but Bill, who had a snow contract, worked really, really hard. So did all of his employees. After removing a mountain of snow, they got the city moving again. In 2010, it snowed in early February too. We're told we may get rain or snow this weekend, and still parched from last summer, we will be glad for it. We'll even take snow. A touch of snow would be our first seasonable weather this winter. Odd isn't it? I think this has been the nicest winter of my lifetime thus far. I have small crocus popping up out of the soil and other bulbs can hardly contain...

Last summer, while in Seattle, Bill, the kids and I visited Victoria on Vancouver Island and Butchart Gardens. I was told I should visit, so I did, and I dragged ASW and Bear along. Poor things. This may make me very unpopular, but while I walked Butchart, I kept thinking about how it reminded me of the Disney World prototype of gardening. A riot of color and themed rooms all kind of plopped down around a winding path filled with visitors from every country. I think gardening can truly bring divergent cultures of people together in a kind of harmony so it was fun to hear all the different languages. But, I wondered how the Butchart gardeners kept all those annuals, roses and shrubs at their peak throughout the tourist season. Plants are living organisms. Annuals especially grow, bloom and die without constant tending. They must have a dead-heading crew...

The beautiful, blue cover of Grow Cook Eat One of my very, dear friends has written a book full of insight and inspiration. Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover's Guide to Vegetable Gardening, Including 50 Recipes, Plus Harvesting and Storage Tips, by Willi Galloway is a feast for the eyes. Willi has tapped into something I haven't seen in other gardening books lately. She points out that if we grow our own food, we can enjoy it at nearly every stage of its existence. The roots, shoots, seeds and leaves of vegetables and many herbs are delicious during myriad stages of growth. Willi teaches us how to grow them and then partake of them at their best. Not only can you eat sweet peas in the pod, you can also enjoy their blossoms and shoots in a salad with shaved Parmesan adorned with a lively, lemon vinaigrette. Salad with Parmesan...