Welcome!
I’m Dee Nash, a native Oklahoman, and I’ve gardened here since my teens. I know from personal experience how challenging our prairie climate can be.
But my blog isn’t just for Oklahomans. Gardening can be challenging in other climates too. So, I share how to garden wherever you grow.
Enjoy the garden you’ve always wanted!
Featured posts
Letting the garden grow
As I’ve been garden coaching so many of…
The bones of the garden
The wind is blowing, and leaves are falling.…
Zinnia favorites
It’s probably no surprise I love zinnias. I…
Gardening is a love story
This morning I was talking to a friend…
Smiling through winter, an update
After last week's post, I implemented my seven ways to smile through winter plan. This quiet season covers at least five months of the year in Oklahoma so smiling through winter is vital. Like Demeter, we gardeners pine for Persephone until she returns from Hades, and green shoots push forth from the earth once again. A yellow kalanchoe brightens my day as I sit on the sofa and read. How did I implement my plan? First, I went to three four local stores--TLC Nursery, Whole Foods, Lowe's and Under the Sun--and bought four or five six or seven indoor plants including a variegated airplane plant. The 1970s are alive and well my friends. The airplane/spider plant is in the greenhouse video below. Consider it horticultural retail therapy. New rugs for the living room and two orchids help too. I move the plants in and out of the windows so that they get light. You...
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Seven ways to smile through winter
It's only mid-January, and I've reached winter's crying time. After the recent ice storm, I feel almost as frozen as this holly. We'll both thaw out in time. You think I'm being overly dramatic? I'm not. Usually, I reach this stage mid-February right after Valentine's Day, but crying time came early this year. Ice storms are beautiful, but hard on plants and people. I don't mind snow as much. In one week, Oklahoma had a snowstorm, an ice storm and copious rain. Don't panic. I'm not really crying. I am a bit lethargic and misty-eyed in winter's aftermath. So, this morning, I took myself in hand, sat down with a cup of tea and a breakfast bar, and considered ways to smile through winter. More of Mother Nature's icy grip. After 54 years of circling the sun, I know myself pretty well. First, I thought about why I'm in such a...
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A bevy of backyard birds
Bill and I were standing in the living room at the back window gazing outside as our son walked by. "What on Earth are you two doing?" he asked. "Watching birds," we said, in unison. Bill and I then turned and grinned at each other. I added, "It's what old people do." We then laughed. Our son just shook his head like we'd lost our minds and walked on into the kitchen where he promptly ignored us. How he thinks we'll lose our minds simultaneously is beyond me. Male Cardinals don't mind each other in winter when they need to be at the feeder. However, when temperatures and sunlight both increase in spring, watch out! They are fiercely territorial. See the female Cardinal on the right of the feeder? She blends in. Nature's protective camouflage for nesting birds. The truth is Bill and I have always been into birds. You can't...
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Magnolia Market, Waco, Texas
I like Texas a lot. In fact, second only to Oklahoma, it's probably my favorite state. Maybe because as I cross the Red River, our southern border, it still feels like home. A couple of weeks before Christmas, Bill and I took Claire to visit the University of Dallas in Irving Texas, and on our way back, we had to visit Waco. You know what's in Waco, right? MAGNOLIA MARKET!!! Yes, after Megan urged me for months to watch Fixer Upper, I finally did and fell under Chip and Joanna's spell. I blame it on shiplap, being primed for binge watching due to a horrid cold, and memories of our own fixer-upper--which only took us six years to complete, log-by-log. For years afterward, our expansion and remodel was a nightmare, but enough time passed I now have fond memories of standing on a huge ladder in our future bedroom hanging...
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