Mr. McGregor's Daughter asked all of us to take a census of our houseplants.  Somehow, this census is supposed to save her relationship with all of her houseplants, or was that her husband?  I can't remember.  She said anything alive counts, so here goes: The above are barely living tulips.  Don't ask me why they look so bad.  I also have a very sad Norfolk pine which is hanging on, and being the merciful sort I am, I did not photograph it because it was too embarrassed.  Let's move on to the amaryllis (really Hippeastrum) which finally decided to bloom after Christmas.  I had plans for it with the jolly, red decor, but sometimes plants don't cooperate. The next picture is in here just because I love the vase which I purchased online.  I also have a blue one, but forgot to photograph it.   Antique stores are another great way...

Yesterday, an inch and a half of freezing rain fell on most of  Oklahoma creating a crystalline and cold paradise. Today, in a repeat performance of Christmas Eve, snow started to cover the ice, and it continued snowing all day.  These photos were taken at the beginning of snowfall.  Beautiful, isn't it? But, it's a 007 kind of beauty, dangerous with a license to kill. Goldfinches wait for their turn at the feeders The birds come from everywhere to eat.  We probably saw 50 birds around the feeders and in the nearby trees.  If you've been feeding birds, you must now keep the feeders filled.   They also need sources of water so, if you don't have a lake or other body of water nearby, heaters must be placed in bird baths.  The birds now depend on us. Although the ice and snow are beautiful, being outdoors can also be dangerous. ...

The ice is here, and the rain chain tells the story.  Birds fly from the bird feeder stations to the rain chain for water. After watching them for awhile, what else is there to do but order seeds? Then, the phone rings.  My non-gardening best friend (NGBF), Aimee, calls and says "What'cha doin'?"  Normally she's at work by this time, but they were told the roads were too bad and not to come in. I tear my eyes away from the computer screen and try to concentrate. "Uhm, I'm buying seeds.  There are so many choices I have a headache, and I'm only looking at three catalogs.  Make that four." She starts to laugh.  It's not that funny, I think.  I probably have eleven catalogs from which to choose. "So, what will you grow this year?" she asks, but I know she doesn't really care.  Her dad was an herb...

About a hundred years ago, when I first started gardening out here in the country in my red dirt, I subscribed to Kitchen Gardener magazine (formerly known as Kitchen Garden).  Like a vegetable garden bible, I carried this magazine everywhere, and I read its bimonthly issue cover to cover.  I was so entranced by one particular article that I ran with it to HH and begged him to make a garden like it for me.  The design was a diamond in the middle with four triangular beds surrounding it.  As those of you who regularly read RDR know, that design was later expanded. After a few years, Taunton Press decided Kitchen Gardener would be no more, and I wept bitter tears.  I kept all my back issues and consulted them regularly like scrolls.  Then, one day, we had a roof leak, and guess what . . . my issues were...