Late summer is butterfly season at Little Cedar. It's also caterpillar rescue season. As you probably already know, Monarch butterflies are in trouble, and I believe it's backyard and community gardeners who will eventually save the day. At least that's what I tell myself as I bring Monarch eggs and tiny caterpillars indoors every day. It takes commitment, a whole lot of milkweed and trust in the process to bring these tiny creatures to flight. If you're interested, I can write another post about bringing Monarch caterpillars/eggs indoors and raising them. Just let me know. But, in the meantime, why don't you read my friend, Kylee Baumle's, new book, The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved Butterfly. I know she worked hard on it, and I think you'd like it especially if you want to save Monarchs. And, really, who doesn't want to save Monarchs? Cover of The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved...

Hello friends! I'm actually making it to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day this month on the actual day! I think it's the first time this year. Go me! Tiered borders with Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' black-eyed Susans, Leucanthemum x superbum 'Becky' shasta daisies and 'Bright Eyes' Phlox paniculata are blooming like crazy from all the rain. Thank goodness for black-eyed Susans! They knit my entire summer garden together. Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is sponsored on the 15th of each month by Carol Michel of May Dreams Gardens. Hop over there to see what's blooming in other people's gardens all over the world. Rain again fell on Little Cedar today. We had several pop-up showers that didn't last long, but when I went out to take photos, it was so humid my camera lens kept fogging up. Then, I came inside and realized all my pictures were black. Arrrgh! No, I did...

As I woke this morning, I heard the unmistakable sound of raindrops hitting the skylight above my bed. I sat up and glanced outside. It was still dark. I couldn't see, but I still breathed a sigh of sweet relief. Rain was falling on Oklahoma's dry and dusty plains. The prognosticators predicted rain all week, but it's August 1 and high summer. Not a time for 68° and cloudy skies, let alone, sweet, sweet rain. It rained all morning, and while I forgot to look at my rain gauge when I went outdoors and took pictures, I saw evidence of a slow and gentle outpouring everywhere. The phlox bowed their heavy heads in thankfulness for rain falling from the sky. Phlox paniculata 'Bright Eyes' and Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Peter's Wonder' coleus. In Oklahoma, we never take rain for granted. Never. My part of the state had received no measurable rain since...

Bella Italia means beautiful Italy You know how much I loved Italy when we went on a pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome last March. Well, now it's your turn to take a garden trip to Italy and see the sights. A stairway herb garden in Assisi. A garden trip you'll never forget. A few days ago, I sat down with my friend Julia Laughlin, co-host of the Garden Party on KTOK, horticulturist, and gardener extraordinaire, to chat about her garden trip to Italy in 2018. The trip is from Wednesday, May 30, 2018, to Sunday, June 10, 2018.   Ah, late spring in Italy visiting gardens. Could life be any better? A courtyard in Civita di Bagnoregio, the disappearing city on the hill. I don't think so. Bill and I traveled with Julia to England--remember the Chelsea Flower Show and London, Wisley and Sissinghurst? Those wonderful locations were just part of our...