Not really.  The plants need the rain for growing. It's been a wild week on the prairie.  We've had snow and sleet, freezing temperatures, and now, rain.  Most days, the sky has been covered in clouds, so Brit' Gal Sarah should feel right at home.  I long for those Oklahoma blue skies, but clouds mean higher nighttime temperatures, which help those tiny, new leaves to adjust. This morning, my deciduous magnolia looks a fright with her previously frozen, previously purple blooms hanging limp and brown.  I will go out later (once it warms a little) and clean them off her branches.  The rest of the plants though look pretty good considering.  I keep telling myself to be grateful for the moisture no matter what form it takes. Here's a collage to show a small sampling of what's going on in my garden, along with our ever changing weather. Don't forget,...

As way of explanation, Carol from May Dreams Gardens, Mary Ann from Idaho Gardener and I so loved the book, Dear Friend and Gardener, and since I thoroughly enjoyed The 3,000 Mile Garden: An Exchange of Letters Between Two Eccentric Gourmet Gardeners, we decided to create our own 1,000 mile Garden Project.  So, this gardening season, we'll be exchanging letters with each other about our vegetable gardens with today being our first letter.  We hope you'll enjoy our jaunt around three different hardiness zones. Dear Carol and Mary Ann, Spring has already sprung in my Oklahoma garden, so much so, that outdoors, perennial growth is about three weeks ahead of last year at this time.   This is a very dangerous time for weather in Oklahoma.  No, I'm talking about the tornadoes.   I'm speaking of Mr. Freeze.  Our last freeze date is actually April 20th, but tell that to the plants...

In the late winter or early spring, is there any plant with more ephemeral beauty than the Hellebore? H. x hybrid 'Ballerina Mix' Granted, you have to stand on your head to see some of them, but according to many yoga practices and Martha Stewart, inversion is a good way to refresh the body and relieve stress. So is this. H. orientalis hybrid 'Blue Lady' (hellebore) And this. H. orientalis hybrid 'Red Lady' I am still waiting for another one, 'Honeyhill Joy' to bloom.  It will be yellow/white against dark green foliage.  So far, it's all foliage, because it is a young plant.  I'm also waiting on two more I've ordered from Heronswood, 'Ivory Prince' and 'Phoebe.'  After I paid a premium for these, I saw that one variety, 'Ivory Prince' was now available at Lowe's.  I'm listing the name of the box store so that anyone local who wants...

If New Mexico is the "Land of Enchantment," then, today, my garden became  the "Land of Surprises." This is what greeted me this afternoon after a long morning's work clearing out the winter weeds in the vegetable garden.  It was so cheerful, so bright that I nearly plunked myself down in the grass to observe it all day. Purple so dark that this sweet, little crocus was named 'Negro Boy' a very long time ago (1910).  Despite the rather demeaning name, this beauty is still worthy of planting.   I got my bulbs at Old House Gardens.  They were pricey, but now that they've bloomed, they are priceless, and I have many more waiting in the wings. With two 80F plus degree days, everything around the garden began to open.  The weather was glorious.  Sunny.  Little wind.  It was a perfect day to garden.  I worked so hard that I was...