Opening the doors to the back deck this morning, I encountered the sweet relief of autumn. As anyone who attended the Dallas GWA symposium can attest, summers in the south can be brutal. Yesterday, in Ft. Worth, several of us trudged around gardens while the sun beat down upon us. Temperatures increased to nearly 100F, and I watched the folks from Canada nearly melt. In the middle of Dallas traffic, I began my three hour journey north to Oklahoma, and as I crossed the Red River, I rolled down the window and took a deep breath of home. Oklahoma is part of upper south, and we feel Autumn enter a month before our Texas friends. In fact, storms are flirting with southern Kansas, and our upper northeast corner, in which sits Commerce and Miami, may get rain. My family called me in twice in Dallas, and with excited voices, said...

Not hurricanes, nor heat and tired feet could stop us from our appointed rounds as we spent the afternoon and evening touring the Dallas Arboretum. The clicking of hundreds of cameras and the collective oohs and aahs resounded everywhere. As we entered, I was struck by the precision of pumpkins on the march. They were also floating in fountains and made into a gazebo for kids to play in. Speaking of children, the arboretum is getting ready to build an entire new children's garden which will also focus on helping children learn about gardening while they play. I am always excited about anything which involves kids and gardens for I think they were made for each other. As I wandered throughout the sixty-six acres, around a corner here, and up a stairway there, I was struck by the color. We often hear the word "breathtaking," but the autumnal finery was...

Dear Carol, Mary Ann and all of our gardening friends, This is our last letter for the season, and it's a good thing because I don't have much to report. The chickens jumped up in the garden and ate my cantaloupe, so today is cleanup day in the potager. (Oh dear, that rhymed. I apologize.) I'll pull up all the tomato vines, the okra and other summer vegetables while leaving annual herbs, like basil, until frost for the pollinators. Vegetable gardening is funny in Oklahoma because you never know what you'll get. I had so many tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers and potatoes, summer living was sweet. I thought for sure I'd also be awash in melons, but because they didn't flower until the heat hit, I only had a few and didn't get to eat those. Silly chickens. From the look of these vines covering the walks, I should...

I have a news flash for you. None of us is getting any younger. Yet, we march through the years as if we will live forever. It's said the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. My birthday is Tuesday, and for the last few years, on every special date I celebrate, I do it by planting a tree. Remember the Royal Raindrops crabapples I planted last November? Okay, that wasn't a holiday, but still. For Christmas, it was Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' (actually planted in January). Other plants include a southern magnolia for one anniversary and the maples planted for each of our children. The southern magnolia is thriving, and its lemony scented blossoms serenade me as I work in the garden in early summer. As for the maples, all died but one, and I'm sharing that because some experiments are not so successful. Now, I'm...