Gaillardia, blackeyed Susan and coreopsis all bloom together now. Last weekend, Bill and I went to Tulsa for the Audubon Society's fall garden tour that featured native plants. There were also four native plant vendors, so while we were there, I bought more native plants for the meadow. These included: Veronicastrum virginicum, culver root, Ratibida pinnata, gray-headed Coneflower, and Liatris elegans, elegant liatris. Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' is a plant I'm going to transplant to the upper pasture. i'll keep it in the bed facing the street too, but I want this tall drink of water to tower over other plants in the upper pasture. Speaking of the meadow, my presence up there spreading seed and planting is a huge source of curiosity for my neighbors. I've been approached a couple of times and asked if I was okay. When I told the first woman I was photographing native flowers,...

Sunday morning, I didn't really feel like making gluten-free biscuits, but I decided to anyway because, last week, I harvested fifteen beautiful jars of honey from my three hives. This is my third year of beekeeping. Because we purposely grow clover and lots of other wildflowers, we have wildflower honey. Wildflower honey is one of many reasons gardens matter. Little Cedar Honey made by my honey bees from the wildflowers Bill and I grow. I wasn't up to anything too difficult before my second cup of coffee, so I pulled down one of my favorite cookbooks by Marion Cunningham, The Breakfast Book. The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham, is probably my favorite cookbook. It is definitely tattered and torn. I've written about her fabulous cookbook before, and I shared another favorite recipe on this blog for her nutmeg muffins. This time, I used her recipe for cream biscuits, one she...

Want to keep your garden blooming into fall? Here are seven easy steps to achieve a beautiful fall garden. After all, splendor in the fall garden begins in spring. Part of the back garden in September. 1. Look for plant holes in your landscape. Plant holes, everyone has them. It might be from a plant that died, or, maybe, a perennial didn't grow as expected, and you now have more space than you intended. Install a fall-blooming perennial in that space. In coming years, it will delight you each autumn, and you will be on your way to creating a beautiful fall garden. Goldenrod, Solidago spp., is just starting to color up in the upper meadow. I hope all of the pollinators find it. It is a great source of pollen for them. Solidago rigida (rigid goldenrod) which doesn't appear rigid at all in my garden. In fact, I prop...

This is the first season I've grown white Cuban buttercup, Turnera trioniflora. I planted it in a large container on my back deck as the spiller portion of the thriller, filler, and spiller planting technique. Pretty little Turnera trioniflora, white Cuban buttercup, growing on my deck in a container. Flowers that open and close I love how white Cuban buttercup opens early in the morning as soon as the sun hits it. It closes up shop around Noon or so. Of course, if we have a cloudy day, it stays open longer. Flowers that only open for part of the day add a little mystery to things, and I find I look for their presence in the garden more. Mirabilis jalapa, four o'clocks, Portulaca grandiflora, rose moss, Ipomoea alba, moonflower, and Ipomoea purpurea, morning glories, are other flowers that quickly come to mind with specific opening and closing times. I...