What are their little nightmares? Me, with a .22 doing my best imitation of Annie Oakley. No, make that a double barrel over and under like John Wayne.

This was supposed to be the daylily show, but after twelve inches of rain in 24 hours, the daylilies will need to show off another day. In fact, the entire garden looks bedraggled this morning, but I'm not worried. Once it drains away, all that rain will make the flowers bloom better, and the vegetables taste sweeter. Although too much of anything is not wonderful (no matter what Mae West said), we were lucky. My garden sits on the side of a hill, and its base is a mix of red sand and clay, predominantly sand. So, my garden will recover nicely. On the other hand, the gravel paths which all slid downhill will take some work. Fortunately, I'm not on a garden tour this year. Other people were not so lucky. Those west of Edmond along the creek had flooding in their very expensive homes, and my dear friend,...

Dear Carol, Mary Ann and all of our gardening friends, A huge thunderstorm is roaring through much of Oklahoma this morning, and our weather station shows six inches of rain so far. I have the windows open because at 66F, it is wonderfully cool. Potager in torrential thunderstorm with raindrops on the camera lens As for the veggie garden, the potager is turning out to be one of the best things I've ever done. Because of its height, I find it very easy to harvest and weed. I just sit on the edge and do most of the work. Being a group of raised beds they warmed up quickly so the vegetables are ahead of schedule. Being deep, they retain moisture. It's a win-win. Barring any disaster, this should be a great tomato season. I have loads of little green tomatoes. In a few weeks, they will ripen, and I...

And, it's not just them. All pollinators are in trouble. The European Honey Bee is simply the first casualty. For several years now, we've known honey bees were on a steep and seemingly unwavering decline, but I don't think I realized until recently how bad things are. I have a friend through the construction industry (Hey Pat!) who is also a beekeeper, and I've been thinking about getting bees myself so I called him the other night. He was very enthusiastic about a visit (which I've yet to do), and the art of beekeeping. When we discussed Colony Collapse Disorder, his mood became somber. He has three hives, and lost two of them within a week this spring. The bees were there one day and gone the next. He ordered two more packages of replacement bees, but he is worried. We all should be. According to the 2010 Preliminary Report...