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...

In Oklahoma today, we're in the midst of snow play. Bear is testing the snow now to see if it's the good sledding kind. I'm betting it is. I'll join her as soon as I write this post. Green chairs in the front lawn. In recent years, Oklahoma has had more snow than I remember from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s let alone the 2000s. However, I thought the winter of 2014-2015 was never going to start. It felt like one of those warm non-winters Oklahoma gets every few years. No wonder the plants stay so confused. Days in the 50s were the norm in December and January, and everything had that brown and gray cast we always see on cloudy winter days. In February, roses broke bud and began leafing out. I was getting lots of emails about pruning and hard freezes. Gardeners were understandably worried. Go ahead and prune after this snowstorm melts...

In honor of the fifth anniversary of Gail Eichelberger's Wildflower Wednesday meme, I want to share some of the wildflowers I grow in Oklahoma. Over the past five years, my garden has leaned closer and closer to a wildflower pollinator haven. Whenever I must remove a rose because of Rose Rosette Virus, I tend to plant a grass or wildflower in its place. The garden seems happier that way. It doesn't mean I've given up on tough roses yet though. Featured above is yellow Baptisia sphaerocarpa. I have two or three different yellow baptisias, a white one, two blue ones, and even B. australis x B. alba 'Purple Smoke,' a seedling from the North Carolina Botanical Garden according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. They should know. In my mid-spring garden, baptisias really shine, but don't try to move them about. Being prairie natives, they have tap roots. Move them, and they will sulk at best,...