Lilium 'Forever Susan,' asiatic Susan. Want some drama in the summer garden? Why don't you plant some lilies this year? You say you're scared of lilies? Don't be. 'Amarossi' Orienpet lily Though they look exotic, lilies are pretty easy to grow. In Oklahoma, the genus Lilium is almost foolproof grown in sandy soil. If you have clay, amend it to the max with compost, or leaf mold, or some other soil amendments that break up clay. Or, you can dig out the clay and purchase at least eight inches of good soil to place on top of the nasty stuff. If you have sandy soil, just add compost or other organic matter for better drainage. Compost and other soil amendments make clay soil less glue-like and retain moisture in sandy soil so nutrients don't wash away. It's almost like magic. Lilium 'Golden Splendor Strain' trumpet lily. We Oklahomans know all...

A couple of weeks ago, I ran up to Stillwater to visit Bustani Plant Farm, which as you know, is my favorite nursery. I had a lovely time, and I bought a lot of plants. Where do I put them all? Shrug. It's a big garden--about an acre and a half total. This post started out as a list of all my favorite plants from Bustani Plant Farm, but it became too long. So, let's start with my favorite perennials, shall we? Cestrum 'Orange Peel.' I think Steve and Ruth Owens sell two other varieties of cestrum also, but the one I grow is 'Orange Peel.' It blooms in the middle of summer for a long time and is a great backdrop for other large-flowered plants. 'Orange Peel' grows about three feet high in my garden in full screamin' sun. I grow it next to 'Pink Velour' crapemyrtle and Salvia greggii 'Pink Preference.'...

It's the beginning of May. Sorry I haven't written in a couple of weeks. You must forgive me. Like the garden, I am gathering my strength, girding my loins, and getting ready to launch myself and the garden into June. We are facing the calendar and weather with courage, the kind that's said its prayers. We have weddings and graduations in May and a regional daylily garden tour in June. We are fixing fences, building beds and borders, and weeding, always weeding. Anything we can't fix, we will cover with mulch and call it good. We are fluffing with abandon. This is the back garden from atop a side border. I am standing on top of the retaining wall about five feet in the air. No bulb foliage here, but you can see the great, greenness that is early May. Most of the garden is in its green phase between...

In my garden, there are four or five real problem plants. I have other interlopers, but the following natives and non-natives are really bad actors in my leaf-mold enriched soil. Note: most natives can be kept in check if you don't water much and have lean, sandy soil. My garden's natural soil is red sand with large pockets of clay. Over the years, I've enriched it with Back to Nature cotton burr compost, my own homemade compost and shredded leaves along with various wood bark mulches. My current favorite is shredded pine bark, but it can sometimes be hard to find. Our first problem child, 'er plant, is Verbesina alternifolia, commonly known as wingstem and yellow ironweed. When it blooms in summer, it is beautiful, and pollinators adore it. I do not. This native absolutely loves my garden and all of its resident plants...to death. I've ripped and pulled and done...