After returning home from Italy last week, I found the garden in better shape than I expected. Ornamental gardens are forgiving. In spring, my garden is always covered in leaves and debris. I live at the axis of the shortgrass prairie and the beginning of the deciduous forest in the hills of east central Oklahoma after all. In the back garden, we removed the surrounding chicken wire fence and blew the leaves out into the lower pasture. The entire garden, including the back beds, is way ahead of last year. We will replace the worn out chicken wire with flat cattle panels cut in half to make it easier to weed-eat around the garden's border while keeping bunnies at bay. Front flower beds before cleanup yesterday and today. Yesterday, after a few days recovering from jetlag, I went outside and worked on the last two beds in disarray. I cut...

I've been away for a couple of weeks on a beautiful Catholic pilgrimage in Assisi. It's always been our dream to visit Rome and Assisi. Everything aligned, and Bill, Claire and I went for ten days with Fr. Cory Stanley and the good people of Prince of Peace Parish in Altus and St. Helen in Frederick, Oklahoma. Fr. Stanley lived in Rome for several years, and he was a great spiritual guide, who could also speak Italian. Fr. Joseph Schwarz was our other wonderful spiritual guide. Our main tour guide was Alessandro Pietro Gaj. He and Luciano, our fantastic, amazing bus driver, made our trip the best it could be. The tour company is 206 Tours, and they specialize in pilgrimages. I can't say enough nice things about this company. Bill and Claire on the plane to Assisi and Rome. We were very excited even if they don't look like...

Guess what! I'm doing another book giveaway with the help of Chronicle Books and Erin Benzakein of Floret Farm.  I love Erin's work. Don't know Erin? Well, where have you been? She's an extremely popular flower farmer, cut-flower style setter, mother, seed purveyor, and so much more. Erin's Instagram account boasts 389,000 + followers. Can you say, "Wow!? I was so happy to help out with her blog book tour. I mean, just looking at these photos is like taking a vacation to Skagit Valley, Washington, one of my favorite places on Earth. “I have found tremendous joy in growing and sharing seasonal flowers and foliage. My hope is that my book will help others discover this joy and provide practical information to grow the garden of their dreams.” Photo courtesy of Chronicle Books and Erin Benzakein. Since my blog is very photo driven, I asked for a photo essay, and Chronicle Books sent...

When I posted about February garden chores last week, I mentioned a Fiskars garden tool giveaway. I finally got the photos ready, and now I can share it with you. I wrote for Fiskars for several years until I wrote my book, The 20-30 Something Garden Guide: A No-Fuss, Down and Dirty, Gardening 101 for Anyone Who Wants to Grow Stuff. I had to then focus upon book promotion. I still love the people at Fiskars, and they are always so kind to send products to my readers and me. Thank you Fiskars! Note: This post contains affiliate links so that I get a small commission if you buy a tool. These small commissions make it possible to pay for blog hosting and other trivial things. No, I don't get rich from blogging. Far from it. Ha! My favorite Fiskars garden tool hands down, or hands up in this case, are my...