Have you ever visited an artist's garden? One of Keeyla's cool statues of women. During the summer of hell in 2011, the OHS tour featured the gardens of local artists. That tour remains one of my favorites. I find artists' gardens full of inspiration. I love the use of color and playful shapes to create the artist's vision. I've written about Keeyla Meadows before. Her garden announces her vision before you even step up to her door. Vivid colors, multiple shapes and a mix of flowers and leaves combine to make your visit one of eye-popping delight. Petunia against a hot pink fence in Keeyla's garden. This petunia may be 'Fancy Dress.' I grow it too. From her books, I knew there would be color. What I didn't expect was how the color worked with the mixed media Keeyla creates. I found myself wanting to pack her containers in my...

Bill and I took a trip to Cherokee country on Tuesday. A map of Oklahoma's diverse tribal lands. Oklahoma may be one state, but we are many nations as Travel Oklahoma puts it. Every corner of Oklahoma is not only diverse in its topography, soil and weather, but also, in its people. Because of our history, we have native peoples from all over the United States. Oklahoma is home to thirty-nine American Indian tribes. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw and Seminole tribes, often called the Five Civilized Tribes in historical documents, were removed to Oklahoma from the southeastern U.S. Other tribes, like the Cheyenne, Comanche, Apache and Arapaho, made Oklahoma their home long before. Bill and I drove through the eastern part of the state on Cherokee tribal lands. If you look at the bottom of the red section in the map above, we were in Sequoyah County in Sallisaw where...

Life is full of serendipitous moments. You answer a call out on Twitter, and suddenly, you're having coffee with some of the nicest Oklahoma bloggers out there. A year or two later, you ask one of them, a gardener, if she'd mind you taking photos of her. You've become good friends through Facebook, Twitter, email etc., and she says yes. Marie next to her garden. So, lucky me, I got to visit Marie's animal menagerie and veggie garden. Where else would guinea hens, chickens, a gaggle of geese, a beautiful paint horse called Chanta, a blue and gold Macaw named Pacino and a teenaged buffalo named Chunk-Hi, but called Chunk, all live happily together? At the Lazy W Ranch, of course! Marie is supremely good at keeping everyone happy. Marie with Pacino, the Macaw, who is love with her. There are even llamas, a mommy, a daddy, and baby makes three....

A garden arbor and border designed by Star Apple. Photo courtesy of Ten Speed Press. I've been writing a book on edibles so I've been trying not to read anybody else's while I'm working on mine. However, I was walking through Barnes & Noble, where I saw The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design A Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs, by Leslie Bennett and Stefani Bittner. Some books just touch your soul. This one was a combination of good sound advice on growing vegetables and ornamentals along with gorgeous photos. Leslie and Stefani are co-founders of Star Apple Edible & Fine Gardening where they combine elements of good garden design with edible and ornamental plants. I think any vegetable garden is a beautiful thing, but there is that moment when everything starts to look ratty. By crafting a garden with good bones, you can alleviate this problem at least...