The 20-30 Something Garden Guide (St. Lynn's Press 2014) When my friend, Fran Sorin, asked if I wanted The 20-30 Something Garden Guide: A No-Fuss, Down and Dirty, Gardening 101 for Anyone Who Wants to Grow Stuff (St. Lynn's Press 2014) to be part of her garden book celebration at Gardening Gone Wild, I jumped at the chance. I'm excited to be included with all of the other authors involved. I also liked how Fran approached her subjects. She asked us questions, and let us talk about why we wrote our books. Head over to Gardening Gone Wild to see our answers and also get a chance to win one of the books. Each author is giving away a copy of his/her book so you have seven chances to win. See Fran's post for more details.  

Rosa 'Meicoublan' White Meidiland rose A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at Roses, Inc. Green Country in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, one of my favorite towns. Speaking about tough roses for the Oklahoma landscape, makes me think of all the roses I've loved and grown here. It is a wonderful thing to get to chat with folks who adore the same plant you enjoy. Roses were my first passion, and while I don't buy every new one now because of Rose Rosette Disease, I still love them, and I love gardeners who do too. New Rosa 'Darcey Bussell' rose for the Mary garden. The nursery tempted me, and I brought home four roses for my garden. 'September Song', a Griffith Buck rose, was one. I do enjoy Dr. Buck's roses, and September is my birthday month. It seemed a good one to add. I also got another 'Darcey...

Clematis 'H.F. Young' a true performer. The last couple of weeks, I have gardened like a mad woman. Everything looks a lot better. Even though I'm sore, I'll garden like crazy again today. Why? Bumblebees are many good reasons to plant American wisteria, Wisteria frutescens. Because I'm terribly behind, and the weather has been as cool as iced green tea. Today is forecast as hot and windy, but I'll be out there again. I've been working to empty the greenhouse before it gets too hot to keep plants happy and watered. It will remain mostly empty until fall. While I worked, I noticed the clematis are happier than they've been in years. 'Pope John Paul II' is blooming his head off, starting out a dusty light pink and opening to blooms of nearly pure white. Clematis Pope John Paul II is a lovely pink to white addition to the garden. The...

This is the view from my back deck. I'm elevated so I can see most of the back garden. I can also see some of the tiered garden border to my left. Seeing this reminds me I need to move those terra-cotta pots that held bulbs out of there and into the nearly empty greenhouse. Good morning everyone! It's that time again. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is upon us. A special thank you to Carol Michel for hosting us yet again on her blog. Looking back over past bloom days, I see that I usually write about roses. Not this year. Spring has been so cool and dry that the roses are just beginning to show a little color. In fact, most of the garden is green. I water with drip line so my garden does have water. Still, I am a bit worried. If we go into summer with no measurable...