Last week, I did a live video on Facebook about my fall container rehab. Click below to see me in action. embed-code      It's time to pull out the old and bring in the new. I threw the old plants on the compost pile. They had a good run, but summer is thankfully over, and it's time to begin anew. Empty container just begging for new plants. Fall is a great season for these containers because they actually get enough sun. In summer the container on the right side of the door gets afternoon sun, and the left one is mostly in the shade. It's hard to pull off anything that looks symmetrical, but I still try. In Autumn, all is forgiven because the oak trees in the front yard begin to lose their leaves. Plants from four stores and a new doormat for fall. The mat says "You...

I was going to write "Five lessons from GWA" because it's short, to the point and SEO friendly, but the organization's new name, GWA, the Association for Garden Communicators, tries to encompass all the ways we communicate about gardening. I think we should change the organization's name to GCA, get a redirect link for the website and move on, but I'm not part of that decision-making process. There's probably a good reason we haven't. I am on the Outreach Task Force. I giggle every time I say or write that. I feel like part of the Garden Army Special Forces or something. My weapon of choice would be a berry-colored Dramm One-Touch sprayer. But, as usual, I digress. Here are five lessons I took home from the Garden Communicators' annual meeting. 1. Videos and live streaming are bigger than ever. Chris Sabbarese from Corona Tools gave a great talk about live streaming...

Do you like hydrangeas, but despair of growing them in hot and sunny Oklahoma? Here are several hydrangeas for Oklahoma's finicky climate. Choose wisely because hydrangeas live for a very long time, and many of them take up a lot of gardening room. If your garden is small, but mighty, choose one of the dwarf types I feature in this post. There are old favorites and new ones to love. As you know, I lost many roses to Rose Rosette Disease, and I used hydrangeas and native shrubs to replace roses in my garden. These young plants are now growing into good anchor plants for herbaceous beds and borders. Plus, they're easy care. Note: click on the photos in the galleries to make them larger. H. arborescens 'Annabelle' First up, of course, is H. arborescens 'Annabelle.' The beautiful 'Annabelle' has lived in my garden for many years and grew from two small cuttings rooted by...

Good morning Sunshines! I hope all is well in your world today. Mine is a-ok, copacetic, in fact. Today, I want to share what looks good now. Even though Oklahoma is still hotter than a firecracker--97F forecast today--the garden looks pretty darn good. We're in that in-between-the-blooms stage so foliage plants are carrying the load. Asters and mums have yet to start, and as days grow shorter, tropical bloomers are slowing down. However, 'Moy Grande' hibiscus, shown above, is still strutting her stuff. Other plants, like orange crocosmia 'Antique Montbretia,' are sporting interesting seed heads nearly as pretty as their flowers. Seed heads on crocosmia are almost as beautiful as the blooms. Mexican feather grass and purple heart are show stoppers in late summer. If you don't grow either of these in Oklahoma, why? I know they're easy. That's the point. Try the hard stuff--fine--but also save places in your garden for...