Dear Carol, Mary Ann and Everyone, Last summer, I wrote about summers that make you forget you live in hot, dry Oklahoma.  This summer is its infernal opposite. You know it's hot when . . . the rosebuds air dry before they completely bloom you go outside only to water the containers and check for any vegetables, and you are dripping sweat within a moment or two; the thermometer measures 108F for days and days and days; the air conditioner is running full blast indoors, and it's still not cool; you go to the hospital, and you pass folks in the parking lot who not only don't say hello (which in Oklahoma is odd), but they also walk with their heads down as if to ward off a blow; concrete parking lots shimmer like diamonds too bright, and asphalt streets create mirages from their surface heat; you no long make hot tea,...

Gail from Clay and Limestone had her Garden of Benign Neglect (which she rehabbed), but I think my mess is a bit more embarrassing.   At least hers looked like it was a mass of wildflower wonder instead of a grassy meadow surrounded by worn railroad ties. It's a shame that I don't love this garden as I should.  Every year, in the spring, I clear out the oak leaves, and I have the best intentions, but . . . . Once again, I've let it go. I can present no defense to the Court of Garden Bloggers except this:  the garden is too far from the house,  facing the street, and I never see it unless I'm coming or going down the driveway.  I cruise through the gate, see it, sigh and then cover my peripheral vision with my left hand as I run indoors.  Once inside, I promptly...

Dear Carol, Mary Ann and Everyone, Although the perennials are doing well, as I write this, the vegetables seem lackluster to me.  I am impatient for vegetable bounty to adorn my table and my stomach, but I am still waiting.  The tiny zucchini still appears to be growing, and so do the tomatoes, but nothing, alas nothing, is edible except a few paltry 'Sungold' cherry tomatoes.  Those I ate while hoeing.  Carol, you'd be proud. Do you discern from my writing that I've been reading Regency novels?  Nothing could be more true.  I just finished And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily Mysteries, Book 1). It was fun, but back to veggie talk. Mary Ann, I took your advice on the diatomaceous earth.  It seems to have stopped the damage.  I also dusted the two tomato plants which had the most hornworm damage with Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis.  I haven't seen any...

Dear Carol and Mary Ann, et al., Can you believe we've reached week 17 in our vegetable journey? This week is all about bugs.  With the extremely warm weather, the insects both good and bad are doing their bit in the garden.  I don't yet have squash bugs (I hate to type that for fear that I will jinx the poor zucchini), but I do have squash vine bores which are almost as bad.  Now, I didn't take a photo of the damage because I was up to my waders in muck from the rain soaked soil and weeds.  I was afraid I would get dirt in my lens.  I already broke one Nikon lens this week, and if this other one goes down, I am lost.  Squash vine borers are a real drag because the stupid moth lays an egg inside the leaf stems or the vine itself, and...