Late summer is the season of garden editing especially in a year with consistent rain and moderate temperatures. Consistent rain and moderate temperatures in Oklahoma? Yes, indeed. The summer of 2015 reminds me of the summers of my youth. There's heat, but only a few days over 100F, and it's rained every few weeks throughout June, July and August. Rudbeckia hirta 'Chocolate Orange' I am overjoyed by this turn of events until I think of my garden blogging friends out west. In case you haven't heard, California is drying up and on fire. Washington and Idaho are also going up in flames. Because I've blogged since 2007, I have friends in all of these places. I see their shares on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and my heart hurts for them. Oklahoma is frequently dry and on fire too so I empathize. I am praying for that Godzilla El Nino with a vengeance even though...

When you plan your garden in early February, what do you consider most important? Do you want fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, or a mix of each? Do you think only of what you want, or do you also consider the pollinators that will, or won't be stopping at your pollinator buffet? Can you see the Sulphur butterfly on the red pentas? It's trying very hard to blend into the green and gold coleus, 'Electric Lime.' Before you think this post is nothing more than another horticultural guilt trip, wait. The truth is, I never considered insects like butterflies, wasps, caterpillars or bumblebees when I first began planting a garden over thirty years ago. I was terrified of insects especially those of the stinging variety. I was stung several times as a child. Once, I stepped on a bumblebee at the park, and another time, I sat down on a wasp that had...

Do you find it difficult to write about summer gardening? I do. I feel the same way about summer after July 4th that I do about winter after December 25th. I love the two holidays, but the weather tends to get worse after each. Sunlit morning garden. No hint of the 101F high to come this afternoon. Summer in Oklahoma isn't any fun. The plants know it. Gardeners know it. Even professional weather prognosticators know it. The only creatures who like an Oklahoma summer after the fireworks are the pollinators--but do they really? In July and August, pollinators work so hard they seem to know they don't have much time. The only reason I garden in summer is for them--oh, and tomatoes and okra. I do like tomatoes and okra. A lot. Dark mahogany sunflower with bumblebee. The other head ripens seeds for the birds. Where I live, we joke about summer. We call it...

July temperatures are above normal today, but it is the middle of an Oklahoma summer so I'm not surprised. This post started out as one for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I missed the 15th so now it's about summer flowers for summer heat instead. You can't go wrong with these tough beauties. Hemerocallis 'Cherokee Blanket' daylily on rebloom with a spotted coleus and Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm,' a perennial so easy to grow that it's ridiculous. Still, don't plant this black-eyed Susan anywhere that is boggy or wet because it will take over with its underground stems. I don't like summer heat, but I do love summer flowers. Other than going out at daybreak to pull a few weeds, take a few pictures and make sure everything is watered, I don't stay outside much in summer. I prefer movie theaters or a good book instead. Everything growing slows down in summer, and I do too. The past...