So another month begins, the temperature a balmy 95 or 99 or 100 or whatever the hell it reaches today. I mean, it is freaking 92 at 8:30 at night as I write this. That is not acceptable, as my friend Avonell would say. And quite frankly it’s more than a bit irritating. But thankfully it is back down to the 70’s for highs by Monday. Nothing odd about that now is there, Kids?

Well, my last blog talked about the upcoming Garden Writers Association (GWA) annual symposium to be held here in Indianapolis. I’m sure you are all dying to know if I won the Gold in 2011. As a matter of fact, no, I did not. GWA did not award the Gold in my category this year. Both my competition and I had to settle for Silver. As my friend Scarlet once said, “As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again”. Now, what does that statement have to do with this blog? Frankly my dear, not a damn thing. It’s just what came into my head and I have to get those things out of my head right away sometimes. Anyways, I’m quite proud of my Silver Award in Electronic Media Writing.

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Filed under: Horticulture

Well, fiddle dee-dee. I had an idea for the blog and last night went and forgot to take the pictures I still needed. It was going to be a nice and easy one, relatively speaking. Now I gotta think of a new topic and figure out if I need illustration or music or web links, yada, yada, yada.

I could always talk about the weather.

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Filed under: Horticulture

And so we start another year. What it brings, I have no idea. I’m pretty much done with spring and summer designs. I hope my selections work well both aesthetically and culturally. If Mother Nature doesn’t play with me too much, I think they will be fine. But you never know her mood from one moment to the next.

I’m not so big on the whole New Year’s resolution thingie but I do see the start of a new year as an opportunity to do some things different. “That” didn’t work so well last year so I think I’ll try “this” and see if it is an improvement. And “that” and ‘this” could be a plant, a technique, or an attitude.

If we are talking about changing a plant, I have a few questions to ask. Is the new plant going to be resistant to the disease problems of the old plant? Is it going to be happier in the cultural conditions than the old plant? Most importantly, is it going to be prettier than the old plant?

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Filed under: Horticulture

This is the time of year I am furiously working on designs for next spring and summer. It helps to surround myself with memories of last summer.

Otherwise, I might only think about the current weather….

Have I grown tired of temperatures 20 degrees below normal? Oh, hell yes. It seems so ridiculous to have so many nights in the single digits and it is only mid-December. I guess it is weather like this that makes those of us living in more northern climates so appreciative when Spring returns. You are just so relieved to not have that Ole’ Blue Northern pummel you anymore. At the same time, the snow makes a very pretty landscape. Here’s the view from my office window.

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Filed under: Horticulture

I’ll be blunt. This post isn’t heavy on outside horticulture. Hell, it isn’t even heavy on horticulture. But you have to follow the muse. And the muse wanted sparkly, shiny, and glittery.

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Filed under: Horticulture