The only things blooming at RDR in January are those in my indoor garden: amaryllis, hyacinths, daffodils and lily of the valley, to name a few. This living menagerie is enough to get me through winter. As I wrote last week, blooming plants beat the winter blues. I started forcing hyacinths and milder scented paperwhites in September and October, the date dependent upon whether I wanted them for Christmas flowers or after. I try to time them for a continuous indoor garden from November through March. I also scour local nurseries and stores for other blooms too. The photo, above, although not blooming, is one of my favorites because there is so much promise of good things to come. Hyacinths are starting to peek out from behind their leaves. Some won't bloom all the way in spite of my chilling period. The hyacinths are just starting to peek out from behind their leaves with...

I don't know how you feel about winter, but if you've read RDR in the last eight years, you know it's not my favorite season. That's an understatement. Oklahoma skies are gray and bleak throughout January and February, which can give a red dirt girl the winter blues. I see more rain and snow forecast for today and tomorrow. Whoopee. I'm glad we're getting rain, and I know the garden needs its rest, but those gray skies can sure bring me down. Budding hyacinths and paperwhites grace one window. Here's the good news. We're seventeen days past the winter solstice, so our days are already growing longer. The bad news? January and February in Oklahoma aren't much fun, and we only have St. Valentine's Day to distract us. I have some ideas to help gardeners get through the rest of winter. A silver pot of lily of the valley. Let's take exquisite care of ourselves. Don't forget...

Two thousand fifteen, you were an exceptional year, and a lot happened around the Red Dirt ranch. It's nearly time to move on to the babe of 2016, but first, let's reflect over our journey together before you go. Like Tap, our chocolate Lab, I was thinking deep thoughts last January. Doesn't he look like king of all he surveys? After the holidays, January felt like the cold, dark days of winter. It was good to watch Downton Abbey and dream of spring. I tended my indoor bulbs, played in the greenhouse and bought seeds, even though I already have plenty stored away like the little squirrel I am. It's hard to resist the seed catalogs arriving everyday in the mailbox. I also resolved in 2015 to garden more, and I certainly did that. The back garden's main path and two of the arbors in February's snow. February saw snow, and Oklahoma, along with the...

Today, on Christmas Eve, I got a craving for The Last Word in Nutmeg Muffins, so I scanned my kitchen bookshelves for one of my greatest treasures, The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham. It was published in 1987, a lifetime ago--I bought it before I married Bill--but Cunningham's recipes are timeless. As I took the tattered and food-stained volume down from the shelf, I turned to Claire who was standing in the kitchen. "When I die, make sure one of you gets this book. Don't let it go into the estate sale." The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham, probably my favorite cookbook. Claire looked askance and slightly horrified. Who could blame her? I tried to explain. "I have all of Marion Cunningham's books, but I think this one is her best. She taught me how to cook." Claire still looked at me as if I had two heads. She's the youngest child of four. She doesn't...