After I wrote the post, Rain Music, about the joys of my rain chain, I was contacted by the good people at Teak, Wicker and More. They asked if I would like to try one of their products, or give one away. Guess which one I chose?  I wanted to give you, my dear readers, something beautiful. I was able to choose any item from their outdoor furniture line.  Several people commented on the rain chain post that they would like a rain chain of their own, so I thought this would be perfect. Here are the features (copied directly from their website): Crafted from stainless steel electroplated copper Available in 6 different cup styles Available in full and half length chains May be shortened or combined with another chain to create various lengths Easily attaches to existing gutter systems Hanging attachment included Some assembly and installation required Full Length...

Carol from May Dreams Gardens (Zone 5), Mary Ann from Idaho Gardener (Zone 6) and I enjoy reading books like  Dear Friend and Gardener and The 3,000 Mile Garden: An Exchange of Letters Between Two Eccentric Gourmet Gardeners, so we decided to create our own 1,000 mile garden project.  This gardening season, we’ll be exchanging letters with each other about our vegetable gardens, and we’re now in week nine.  We hope you’ll enjoy our travels around three different hardiness zones.  I garden in Zone 7. Dear Carol and Mary Ann (and all of our other gardening friends), This week I want to talk about flowers.  I can almost hear you two laughing and saying "Don't you always want to talk about flowers?"  True, but in connection with our vegetable gardens, I want to show my edible flowers.  They are still very, very small, but soon, I'll have Nasturtiums like 'Black...

Water tumbles down the rain chain outside my open window.  It's art in motion, combining visual and auditory stimulation.  Perfect partners for the article I'm writing about rain chains, rain barrels and rain gardens.  Of course, our gracious Creator would send me rain as inspiration. Yesterday, I planted more tomatoes and made identification tags for the roses I've planted this year.  I'm trialing three Easy Elegance roses, and they are supposed to be scented.  My fingers are crossed.  Rose hybridizers have worked on the disease-resistant, scented rose conundrum for a long time.  Katie M., a gardener friend, gave the Diva an 'April Moon' rose for her Confirmation present.  'April Moon' is a Griffith Buck rose, which makes me very happy.  Other than 'Serendipity' and 'Distant Drums,' Buck roses have been great performers in my Oklahoma garden.  The Diva is just happy because it is yellow, her favorite color.  'April Moon'...

Steve Bender from the Grumpy Gardener issued the challenge, and I accepted the gauntlet where it lay. Which six plants in my garden could I not live without? That's a very tough question.  I've pondered it for several days and thrown some of my original choices onto the mental compost pile. Number one is obvious.  Come on, everyone knows it . . . yes, roses!  Not those silly Hybrid Teas which require a crash cart on continual standby, but instead, the beautiful, landscape shrubs, both old and new, which add such grace to a garden.  If that's not enough incentive, what about the old rose scents which are complex and beautiful. Number two is the daylily. I know there are some people out there in blogland who don't like humble Hemerocallis, and that there are others who are self-professed Hemnuts, but I fall somewhere in between.  I dearly love my...