Oh, what a show! There were so many fine speakers at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. I wish I could've heard more of them speak, but rushing around is the watchword at the show. Plus, there are the beautiful gardens to ponder and see, and oh, . . . the marketplace. Just check out Barbara Sanderson's beautiful, hand-blown glass. Her company is Glass Gardens Northwest, and she ships to other states. Consider yourself enabled. Barbara Sanderson's beautiful glass. Wondering if I can find another place to put more in my garden. I also loved the display by Swanson's Nursery. It combined the history of this great nursery with some very modern and cool displays. This display from Swanson's Nursery brought together new display ideas with their company history. I loved it. Swanson's Nursery garden display My first book, The 20-30 Something Garden Guide: A No-Fuss, Down and Dirty, Gardening...

A perfect red rose probably 'Don Juan' who died here in 2011. Bill and I were discussing romance this morning, and he asked me what I thought was romantic. You know I love roses, but not a icky, chemical-laden bouquet with no scent. Thinking about traditional Valentine's Day gifts, reminded me that it's also a great time to compile a list of gifts for rose gardeners. Tools aren't just for Christmas, and I bet your sweetheart would rather have a garden tool than a bunch of mass-produced, red roses for Valentine's Day. If you do want to buy him or her flowers, check out Debra Prinzing's Slow Flowers in coming months for local flower growers. While Slow Flowers won't be up and running in time for St. Valentine's Day, you will soon have a resource to find American-grown flowers throughout the U.S. That's something to cheer about! In the meantime, if...

Garden bulbs being forced on the window sill. I was recently with a friend, Emma Jeffery from Hello Beautiful, and we started talking about how to force bulbs. Emma is originally from England, and she said, "Oh yes, Mum always did that. I did too." She seemed genuinely surprised that in America we aren't as likely to force bulbs. I told her I think it just never caught on here like it did in Europe. Well, like Justin Timberlake, I've decided I'm bringing sexy back, and it's in a small vase full of water. Forcing bulbs is the cool way to get your garden going on in winter when you're bored out of your skull. Using vintage containers like forcing bowls makes bulb forcing even better. If you're not bored, you can read the next post. I am, however, easily bored in winter which is why I started buying bulbs...

The seed catalogs arriving daily in our mailboxes and email inboxes are a sore temptation for a gardener especially when it's cold outside. Google tells me Guthrie is a balmy 54F today, way up from the high of 10F we experienced only a few days ago. The clouds that have dogged us for days finally burned off, and skies are that clear wintry blue. Winter sky in Oklahoma That's winter on the prairie. Warm, cold, warm, cold--no wonder plants heave themselves out of the soil.It's enough to send a gardener into a seed buying frenzy. Stop. Before you plunk down that credit card, consider a few things. How much space do you have to garden? If your space is tiny like my potager, and you don't belong to a community garden, you don't need a lot of seeds. I hear your groans from here, but trust me and start small. If you succeed...