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...

Hi gang! For this post, my Stitch Fix September review, let's pretend RDR is a fashion blog. My blog does have ramblings in the title after all, and today, I want to talk about over-fifty fashion. Those of you not interested in fashion, check back later for more garden info. As I wrote in my last post, I can't get out into the garden as much as I'd like this year due to my cubital tunnel problems--which are much improved by the way. My forced "rest" gave me time to think about a lot of things including my health and fashion. I'm calling this a September post because my box was supposed to get here September 1st for my birthday on the 7th. It got here early. My boxes ship out of Texas. I've been receiving Stitch Fixes for a few months. According to my price sheet, this is my seventh fix....

Ornamental gardens are forgiving, and mine has certainly had a lot to forgive this year. The back garden with its gravel paths is very forgiving of my inattention. The garden's slump started with my trip to Houston in April for work followed by another trip to England in May with Bill. Great fun, but traveling put me behind the eight ball. Then, I went to the Garden Bloggers' Fling in Minneapolis in July and on a family vacation to Mobile, AL and Gulf Shores in August. On the way back, we visited Eudora Welty's garden. Hibiscus My Valentine with Limelight hydrangea and a lime green barberry. I love the hibiscus because that is its true red. It's bloomed for over a month now. Limelight is fantastic too. I also hurt my hand. I've been going to hand rehab for the last six weeks although the problems started much earlier when I scratched...