I feel like the blue in this dianthus' foliage. I'm cold. After several days in the mid-80s, we've dropped to a chilly 48F. However, while I shiver, I remember it's been too warm for much of April. Therefore, the lilacs and tulips are mostly not themselves. The spinach is trying to bolt, and I was almost tempted to plant green beans and corn. I stopped myself although I did set out my tomatoes. I like a bit of a gamble I guess. Tonight, we're supposed to get down to 35F. All of the tropical color plants I bought at Bustani Plant Farm are going to come inside for the night. This weekend, we should be out of the woods. Although it isn't a freeze, it is too cool for a tropical, Southern Hemisphere lovin' coleus or variegated tapioca. Spring is a fickle friend, which we should all remember. On the...

The queens of the garden, the roses for those of you who don't know, are most unhappy about the ill treatment they received in December, January and February. No offense to Shakespeare, but you might even call it the winter of their discontent. Even with the royal robes of leaf mold and pine bark, they shivered at the unseasonable -17F. Yes, you read that correctly. After the magnificent snowfall of February 9, 2011, Oklahoma faced temperatures which were not only unseasonable, but uncharitable too. The roses are not amused. Many of them died all the way back to where the snowfall collected on the ground. A few, like 'The Fairy' or 'Carefree Delight,' laughed at the cold, but none of the Knockouts® were happy. Most are now only eighteen inches tall. 'Cl. Pinkie' is in intensive care, but I did see a bit of new growth about a foot above...

Two friends, Rebecca Sweet and Susan Morrison, have teamed up to create a fun new gardening book, Garden Up!: Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces. Their publisher kindly sent me a review copy, but I would have bought the book anyway for the design concepts and beautiful photographs. From the cover you can see Garden Up! will be beautiful and engaging. Because I love climbing roses and the vines that twine, I am all about gardening vertically. Susan and Rebecca take this concept to a whole new level with vertical plantings, vines, living walls, and other methods to raise your garden awareness. I'm excited the first chapter was all about outdoor trellises and arbors. I have five arbors in my back garden, and I'm considering building another one to lead into the potager. If so, I'll need to get Bill on board. Perhaps, I should show him their...

Home. What memories does that word conjure up for you? For me, it's a garden full of earthly delights starting with bulbs and ground covers hugging the space beneath. Before the weather gets too hot, and the world is fresh and new. It's the scent of lilacs on such a spring day, or perhaps that of the stodgy hyacinth which smells so sweet. The musical backdrop is Irish or bluegrass ballads. Bill and I have been watching The Civil War PBS special by Ken Burns again, and I feel so much when I watch it. It was the first long running program we watched together because it premiered the year we married, 1989. Those letters from soldiers still make me cry, and sometimes, home is all about tears. Home should be a place from which fathers and mothers never leave, where children have love and enough good food to eat,...