Welcome!
I’m Dee Nash, a native Oklahoman, and I’ve gardened here since my teens. I know from personal experience how challenging our prairie climate can be.
But my blog isn’t just for Oklahomans. Gardening can be challenging in other climates too. So, I share how to garden wherever you grow.
Enjoy the garden you’ve always wanted!
Featured posts
A bowl of blooming amaryllises and more for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
Hello friends! For you this month, I have…
Continue Reading A bowl of blooming amaryllises and more for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
Letting the garden grow
As I’ve been garden coaching so many of…
The bones of the garden
The wind is blowing, and leaves are falling.…
Zinnia favorites
It’s probably no surprise I love zinnias. I…
Redbud revelry
Each year, just when we fear winter will never end, redbuds swell and eventually pop open creating a purple fantasy. I think God gave us redbuds as a kind of "Here's to you, Kid," for surviving another brown and gray Oklahoma winter. If February is the cruelest month, then March is Little Miss Tricksy. One day, it's 80F, then back down into the 30s. What's a plant to do? Go native, that's what, and gardeners should follow their lead. Enjoy what nature has to offer and wait until late April to plant those tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant at the local box store. About this time each spring, my email inbox also swells with questions about Cercis canadensis. People see that lavender against the Oklahoma blue sky, and they find they must have one or two for their yards. I mean, it's Oklahoma's state tree, right? Everyone should own this piece...
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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, March: the daffodils have it
Please forgive me for being late to Bloom Day hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. I apologize. I was laying sidewalk from the potager to the back door. It is nearly finished, and my poor shoulders and elbows feel older than their years. March in my north central Oklahoma garden is all about the bulbs, those darling, deer-and-rodent-proof daffodils and their friends, the crocus. Support staff for the narcissus blooms in the form of flowering shrubs like Spiraea 'Ogon' a/k/a Mellow Yellow. I hate the tradmark name Mellow Yellow. Although it trips off the tongue quite well, it sounds silly. Even with its silly name, I have three of these beauties which give me color three seasons of the year. Other daffs which have long ago lost their tags still bloom prettily. This is an early white one with a large, school bus yellow cup. It blooms beneath a...
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Awaken your sense of child-like wonder
The weather is finally turning a bit, and I've been planting like a busy bee. Today, as I dug holes for an apricot tree and four shrubs (a forsythia, two red-twig dogwoods and a golden arborvitae), I thought about why I garden. I was covered with leaf mold, cotton burr compost and dirt, and yet, I felt like a child again. All around me violas, pansies, crocus and daffodils were blooming. Bees were just starting to buzz, and every day, something different was poking its leaves above ground. In our ever busy, super techno world, it seems people are more cynical, and many try to regain their childhood in unhealthy ways. I can promise you playing Xbox is not the path to happiness. I had a bone density test this morning, and as is often the case this time of year, I stood, in jeans, boots and gardening t-shirt, waiting....
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Wait, little garden, wait
Wait, little garden, wait. It's not April even though the weather makes us feel like May. New bulb shoots are popping up all over, which is fine, but you're also blooming like preteen girls at a party, and there's no music yet. Wait, little garden, wait. No, sweet daffodils, it's not yet time even if you're very cold hardy. Please wait . . . and tulips, don't even think about sending up flowers yet. You can't stand a sustained low of 27F like we had this morning. Wait, little garden, wait. Spring's youth flirts with you, dizzying your thoughts with blue skies, soft rain and heady temperatures. He is only playing with you and telling you lies. Winter isn't finished with us yet. No, roses, I won't buy you tender annuals and perennials to place at your feet. I don't care if the big box stores are already selling them...
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