'Cl. Old Blush' bloomed in my garden spot for over twenty years. I mentioned recently on the Oklahoma Women Bloggers blog that 'Cl. Old Blush' had Rose Rosette Virus (RRV). I don't mean to harp on this subject, but gardening isn't always just sunshine and bluebirds. I wish it were, but that would be heaven, not planet Earth. 'Zephirine Drouhin' and 'Cl. Old Blush' in my garden when they both were young. I'm down to one 'Zephirine', and she's not doing well. Since my son was here this morning, I decided it was time to tackle 'Cl. Old Blush' and the other rose I'd seen with RRV. I knew it would be hard to pull this climber down, so I started out early this morning with our DEWALT Bare-Tool DC385B 18-Volt Cordless Reciprocating Saw to get it down to size. Brennan came out later and dug out the roots. His part along...

Tulips in terra cotta pot: 'Temple's Favourite', 'Rococo' and 'Orange Princess' with dark blue pansies planted in early spring. Consider this your bulb-buying reminder, nay warning. Now is the time to buy bulbs to plant for fall. If you want tulips, daffodils, purple hyacinths, blue chionodoxa, fritillaria in cream, orange, yellow or even dusky purple, you need to order now. Otherwise, you'll be sad in November when you sit down to the computer to order bulbs, and see "sold out" on every website. Order now my friends. Check out some of my bulb archives for ideas. I'm a bulb nut, and it shows. Daffodils and tulips in the back garden. They are as colorful as Easter eggs. Personally, I'm the mix and match sort. I love sprinkling these beauties throughout the garden and just letting "nature" create a tapestry. At least, I pretend Nature does, and the truth is, over time, some...

Did you ever wonder where the term, the "Dog Days of August" came from? Do you suppose it refers to hot weather and a general malaise? Well, sort of. The Romans named the days from July 23 through August 23 for the dog star, Sirius. Romans feared these days so much that they did some vile stuff to appease their gods. Orthosiphon aristatus, cat's whiskers, is a wonderful herb that I grow as an ornamental plant. I overwintered it in the greenhouse last year. I won't go into that here. This is a garden blog where we want sunshine and blue skies. Right? Mesa Bright Bicolor gaillardia (blanket flower) has bloomed nonstop all summer. I'll be surprised if it comes back because blanket flowers almost kill themselves by blooming too much. I think there might be a metaphor in there about book promotion. People can bloom themselves out too. In years when June and July are...

Remember all that hurrying and scurrying we did from late February to June? Well, the dog days of August are here, and because I don't have to work so hard, I've had time to make a few August garden observations. I really like the plant combinations around the red fountain this year. Pineapple sage, 'Dallas Red' lantana, 'Pink Crystals' ruby grass and 'Victoria Blue' salvia (returned from last year.) 1. Weeds never leave. Sure, once things heat up, the spring weeds take a hike, but they are soon replaced by the summer weeds. Any spring weeds I missed set seed in the gravel paths to torment me later. If I didn't know it before, I know this much now. Gravel is a great seed starting medium. I find stray plants in it everywhere especially that of Verbena bonariensis, zinnias, the various gomphrenas, anything that self seeds. So, use grit on top of...