What do you do when the shrub you based your entire English-cottage-style garden upon dies? The rose, that fair-blossomed beauty, fell prey to an ugly disease which we've discussed here before, Rose Rosette Virus. You might begin to invest heavily in new native shrubs, choosing hardiness and diversity for your garden. If you want native shrubs, they aren't that easy to find locally in Oklahoma. I can't imagine why, but they just aren't. Well, maybe I can think of a few reasons why. Rosa 'Carefree Beauty,' another one I still have. Maybe it's because plants native to the U.S. don't grow in as tidy a fashion as smaller cultivars. It could be because natives are often dioecious, needing both a male and female plant to produce fruit. You also can't trademark natives so there's no money in them. Some natives grow slowly too--not a good quality in a society used to gratification...

With a flourish, Spring opens her petals and waves her branches in a cheery hello. Even today's cloudy skies can't dim her enthusiasm. And, so the garden season begins. 'Jane' magnolia is the star of the front garden. I fertilized the Fescue lawn this week with Milorganite, but it will take a few days before it turns bright green. I also overseeded it in anticipation of the rain forecast for yesterday afternoon. The fruit trees are gorgeous this year. Must be all that winter rain and snow. We're still in a drought, but at least, we got some moisture. Even if we get a late freeze, and I don't get peaches, the blooms are so exquisite I would grow them anyway. If you're going to have one spring-blooming tree in your front yard, make it a fruit tree. You may need two if it isn't self pollinating. I wrote about this at length in...

On this rainy, nearly spring day, I've been sitting at my computer and having a big think. Was it Winnie the Pooh who used to sit and have a think? I can't remember. Anyway, these are some of my current garden thoughts and plans. They include some things I want to do more of, and some I'd rather stop. The garage border always looks good this time of year I think. It will be even prettier in coming weeks. Garden throughout the year. There was a time long ago when, in the fall, I would put the garden to bed and not think about it until February or March. Then, I would go out, make some rows and plant some seeds. Pretty simple, right? The last ten years the climate in Oklahoma changed everything. I could now garden most of the four seasons, because our winters, while fierce part of the time, are...

In Oklahoma, there's not much blooming this March for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Normally, by now I'd have tulips starting, along with the early daffodils, but that late winter blast of cold, snow and ice set things back. We saw nearly the same thing last year in March. This isn't a bad thing. A spring sprung too early is destined to fall prey to a late freeze. Violas and pansies with a perennial or two. I'll hold the perennials in the greenhouse. I noticed the redbuds are thinking about blooming. The weather the last couple of days will have everything going crazy, but stop yourself before you plant anything that will freeze. If you simply must plant some flowers, you can try to find some violas, pansies, snapdragons or dianthus, although they seem to be in short supply at local greenhouses. These cold-weather flowers are...