On this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I'm going to focus on one plant: my 'Annabelle' Hydrangea arborescens. Until I met 'Annabelle,' I didn't have much luck with hydrangeas. Their performance was just so-so. We have extremely hot summers, and even in the shade, my hydrangeas often sulked. Once again, I must credit my friend, Wanda, for my love of 'Annabelle' as she introduced us two years ago. Her shade garden was bordered with these beauties which she grew from cuttings. Thank you, Wanda. For several years, I grew an old fashioned mophead hydrangea (I don't know the variety,) and it did pretty well, except that we also have cold winters, and late freezes. The mophead often had beautiful leaves, but no flowers due to being nipped late in the spring. Because 'Annabelle' flowers on new growth, she is never badly hurt. I also grow the Everblooming series of hydrangeas. Thus...

Warm southern breezes touched by the sun. Just enough rainfall to make the perennial border sing with color; the vegetables abundant and crisp; and the Bermuda grass still green in July. Dragonflies and butterflies zip and swirl in an acrobatic dance above the flowers, while their plant eating cousins only nibble, not destroy. This summer, I don't think there is anything I could do to hurt this garden. For this moment in time, it is as close as Oklahoma comes to paradise. Summers like these fool many into thinking gardening is easy. Those of us in the trenches know better. Gardens are lovely, artificial creations which take time and effort to design, plant and maintain. Summers like these don't often come. Another half inch of rain fell this evening. That's not normal for July, but there is no normal here. When I moved to the country, the first few years,...

The alternative title could be "How I Got Poison Ivy from Hell." Our log cabin rests on the east side of a gentle hill. HH originally built it that way to take advantage of the lakeside views from our French doors. It also has something to do with keeping us safe from tornadoes, but that I don't really understand so I asked him. "Tornadoes run from southwest to northeast generally in Oklahoma. By being on the east side of the hill, we are down low, and tornadoes skip over us," he says. Umm, O.K. That's why he's the scientific engineering type, and I'm the writer. We have a simple deck in back and then the large garden. Beyond the garden is the spring fed pond/lake. We own a portion of it as does everyone else bordering it in our neighborhood. You can just see it on the right in the...

We have reached that pinnacle of the gardening season when we need to deadhead many of our perennials and shrubs. The spring and summer flush is over, and we're faced with ugliness at the end of the stem. Wait a minute. You say you don't want to? It's too hot outside? You'd rather sip a cold lemonade while lying on a hammock? Better yet, you'll just drop your pruners and head indoors where it's cool. Before you leave, here are five good reasons to stay. Deadheading promotes new growth and more blooms. It tells your plants that just because it's hot and dry is no reason to stop. See the faded pink blooms on the rose above? Newer flowers are crowding in and trying to bloom on top of the faded ones. That's not pretty. Some roses also form rose hips sapping energy from the bush and telling it to...