Breast Cancer Awareness

Each year, I look forward to the first day of October. It means that, for the most part, the days of 90-plus degrees and humidity are over. That's welcome news to gardeners, who are worn out from battling the heat that exhausts both them and their crops and gardens.

Summer has its charms; the long, hot days help make the garden bountiful. Many beautiful flowers and ornamentals are at their glorious best in the heat. But there is something about those first cool mornings that promise a revival of the body and the spirit.

October is important not only for gardeners and those who love the outdoors, but for all women and those who love them. It's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a reminder to get a mammogram. While the weather turns cool in October, display shelves turn pink. Each year, more companies are joining the list of those who promise a portion of the proceeds from sales of their products will go to breast cancer research.

Gardeners who want to support the fight against breast cancer can buy gardening tools like these I found at Al Cook Nursery in Beaumont. Look at your favorite nursery, home supply store and discount stores for similar products. As a breast cancer survivor who prays her daughter - and all our daughters and granddaughters - never have to battle this cruel and persistent disease, I join millions of other women who say, thank you.

Fall veggies

If you want to plant fall vegetables, you can find young plants all around town. Here's what I found at area nurseries yesterday:

Ritter's garden center - buttercrisp lettuce; Georgia collard; broccoli; Snow Crown cauliflower - $1.50 a four-pack

Al Cook - nice 4-inch pot of yellow straight-neck squash for .99; Giant Marconi Italian grilling peppers and buttercrisp lettuce, $1.99 a four pack

Lowe's - Rio Verde cabbage; broccoli; Georgia collard; Rubra spinach - 2-inch pots for $1.78, as well as larger biodegradable pots of Celebrity and Better Boy tomatoes and Black Beauty zucchini for $3.48.

Beaumont Greenery - broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage - $1.75 for a 4-pack

Nursery News

Today, I'm heading out to some area nurseries to see what gardeners are buying this week, what's on sale and what they recommend for planting right now.

Check back later this evening to see what I found.

Where can I buy spider lilies?

Yesterday. S. Ward emailed to ask where she could buy spider lilies. She had thumbed through catalogues but couldn't find any. I placed some calls to see if we had any available at local nurseries, but also came up empty.

They are available at Southern Bulbs (http://www.southernbulbs.com/) one of the best and most reliable sources online. But they are pricey - $9 for two bulbs. In the way of the gardening world, a once common plant that was in every garden began to seem too common and fell out of favor with growers. Now, spider lilies are popular again, and demand is high. Old House Gardens also has them as well at 3 for $10.75 or 5 for $17. Both sources carry the original Southern heirloom triploids. Many of the commercially available bulbs are earlier-blooming diploids, so check that out before buying from other sources you might find. The triploids are extra hardy.

Cool nights and warm days

Today is the day gardeners have been waiting for - waking up to crisp, cool air that promises relief from the brutal heat and humidity that makes gardening in the summer in the South a challenge. For four months, we've been sweating enough to water a garden full of bromiliads - and that's no fun. The sweating, that is.

For those of us who are especially susceptible to heat because of age or health, October - now just a week away - is a month filled with promise. We can work for hours instead of minutes at a time. We don't have to wear cool towels around our neck or caps with sweat bands. We can stay hydrated without keeping a gallon of water at our side.

Best of all, we can look forward to 8 months of good weather - minus about 8-10 weeks of cold - before the heat starts up again.

Most plants are happy to see the cooler weather as well. No more mid-day wilting and scorched leaves. As the weather grows cooler still, established plants that have been putting all their energy into producing leaves and blooms can use that energy to store up for next spring.

Fall is a great time for planting shrubs and ornamentals because it gives plants time to establish a strong root system before depleting energy stores on new growth next year.

Good-bye summer. Hello fall. Your gardening friends are happy to see you!

Horticultural Day at Houston Zoo

If a day trip to Houston sounds like a good idea, you might consider dropping in at the Houston Zoo Saturday, Oct. 10 for a 2-hour guided tour of the zoo's 55 acres of tropical and native plants, trees, flowers and ground covers. The zoo's horticulture Manager, Joe Williams, will lead the tour. In an inspired move, the zoo will open its gates 90 minutes early at 7:30 a.m. which means you can tour it during cooler hours. According to a press release, each year the Houston Zoo’s team of 12 horticulture professionals spend than 20,000 hours taking care of the plants. Tickets are - Member $25; Non-Member $30; Child/Student/ Senior Member $15; Child/Student/Senior non-Member $20. Admission includes a continental breakfast and all-day access to the Zoo. To purchase tickets on-line, see http://www.houstonzoo.org/horticulturetour/

Photo from Houston Zoo

Surprise flower

The first spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) of the season popped up this week. It's easy to understand why they are known as the "surprise flower." Unlike most plants, where flowers bloom on stems and greenery already in place, this old-fashioned lily emerges from the ground as a single stem with the hint of a bud at its tip. It grows so fast you can almost see it, forming a big, spidery bloom.

After the bright red blossoms fade, the bulb's greenery emerges, forming sword-shaped clumps of leaves. The plant stores food for the next season's bulbs, so don't cut them back or mow over them after the blooms die. Divide the bulbs of the spider lilies in spring when the foliage starts to yellow.

Speed up your plant's growth?

This morning, I read about Timelapse PlantCam, a camera that takes photos "at user-selected time intervals and then converts them into a time lapse video, so gardeners can see an entire growing cycle in seconds!"

Is this a good thing? Gardening is very much a zen experience - a celebration of the act of preparing the soil, planting a seed or transplant, tending it regularly, and watching it grow. It is a lesson in patience and perseverance, two things the world seems to be losing.

I believe that gardening is good for the soul - and like most things that enrich us in life, can't be rushed. Though harvesting the vegetables and fruits and enjoying the flowers are immensely satisfying, much of the pleasure of gardening is derived from the act, as well as the result.

I can see some positive points. It could be a good tool to explain to a child how a plant matures. Because most kids have short attention spans and are visually-oriented, watching a video could captivate them - and anything that helps create an interest in children for gardening and the outdoors is a blessing.

The product($79 retail) is from Wingscapes (http://www.wingscapes.com/); see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXZPzuevcPw

I checked on the rainwater harvesting system at the Master Gardeners Test Garden and this is what I found: According to Micah Meyer, the Horticulture Agri-Life agent, the system wasn't expensive.

"We had to buy the gutters, pvc pipe, & glue. The rain barrels were donated. I think we spent around $100 dollars on it. You should be able to find a rain barrel for under $50 or sometimes free. Depending on your current gutter system, you may not have to buy anything extra at all. I would imagine that most people could install a simple rainfall collection system for around $50 to $150. Its just a matter of how fancy you want it to be," Micah said.

Frog bookends

A photo to make you smile today...


I found these adorable frog bookends by Austin in the clearance room at Olive Barn in Houston, where I had gone to pick up a stainless steel counter top composter (which I love, by the way).


The frogs cost more than I would have paid at regular price, or maybe even on sale, but at clearance price, they were a steal.

I especially love the scroll work on their legs.

Pride of Barbados

While eating lunch with friends after church today, the subject of plants that produce colorful blooms in Southeast Texas came up. Glen and Mary mentioned that when they evacuated for Hurricane Ike, they stayed in Uvalde. While there, they became fascinated with mass plantings of a good-sized shrub with vivid red/orange blooms 3 inches across. When they returned home to Winnie, they called the city of Uvalde and asked for the name of the plant.

They had fallen in love with Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), an evergreen shrub that can grow to a small tree in frost-free areas. They called around local nurseries and found one at Al Cook's in Beaumont.

There are many things to like about this plant, which is so drought-hardy once established. In zone 9, it is a deciduous shrub. After a frost, it can die down, but comes back faithfully in spring and quickly attains 5 feet or more in height. It reseeds freely, so if you don't like to deadhead, plant it somewhere that you can mow around or weed out seedlings. The plant blooms in summer and fall and benefits from pruning to a desired shape - or you can let it spread into a small tree. It can grow in alkaline to acidic, well-drained soils. Full sun is best for the showiest blooms, but it tolerates some shade. All these positive traits earned the Pride of Barbados the Texas SuperStar designation.

Tree Frogs

One of my favorite creatures found in abundance on our two acres are tree frogs. These sweet little insectivores are native to the Southeastern United States. I love the songs they sing to each other late in the evening.

Since childhood, I've loved picking up a tree frog and letting it walk along my arm or leg. They are so funny when they shift their soft, sticky little feet as they walk around. Of course, when you first pick them up, they might pee on you a bit, since it's a little intimidating to be enclosed in a big monster's hand. We forgive them for that tiny social faux pas.

Yesterday, all that tea I drank working around the house built up and I had to take a bathroom break. I relieved myself and stood up to flush the commode. Just as I pulled the handle down, I saw something dark bobbing on a toilet paper boat. As it started down the drain, two pair of little green legs splayed wildly, trying to get a grip on the wet porcelain slopes.

Thank heavens tree frogs have those sticky pads. He was able to grip good enough to get above the swirling water. When it was done, he gave a huge jump and cleared the toilet by at least three feet, happy, I'm sure, to be safe. I didn't want to touch him at that point - having turned the tables for once and peeded on him - so I opened the window and used a magazine to steer him toward it. He cooperated, turning back to give me one last look of betrayal, and fled onto the front porch, then into the yard. Hey, even tree frogs get thirsty. I don't know how long he had been in the house, but they need to stay moist, and our air-conditioned house provided an inhospitable environment. Bless his little heart. I'm sure he's been immersing himself in a wet spot in the garden all night.

Photo from National Geographic

Rainwater harvesting systems

If you've been thinking about installing a rainwater collection system for use in a home landscape, now would the time to do it. Because of a stalled low pressure system and an area of disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, it looks like Southeast Texas finally is going to be very wet for the next few days - at a minimum.

Rainwater collection is obviously a good practice on many levels, from conserving water to saving money. Long before water wells, people collected rainwater in cisterns and barrels, usually from roofs. All it takes is a surface area (roof), a way to channel it (gutters and downspout) ad a receptacle (barrel, bucket, tank). The container needs to be food-safe and clean and ideally, will have a spigot for easy access. Be aware that asbestos shingles are not a good choice and old gutters could contain lead. Even though you aren't drinking the water, it will be absorbed into vegetables.

Numerous companies sell the barrels and kits, but you can make your own if you're handy with a few simple tools. Here's a good video from wonderhowto to get you started: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-build-a-rainwater-collection-system-121283/view/

Trees and Family Portraits

Joel and I took a trip to Kerrville over the Labor Day Weekend to celebrate his parents' 60th wedding anniversary. While we were there, we arranged for his brother, Denis, and sisters, Brenda and Sherry, to meet us early Saturday morning down at a little park on the Guadalupe River so we could take a family portrait for his parents as a surprise gift. We used a digital camera, downloaded it on Joel's laptop, printed it out and framed it. His parents loved it, as we knew they would.

When we scouted locations Friday night, I knew the minute I saw this beautiful oak on the banks of the river that we had our spot. The Texas Hill Country is filled with such scenery, which provides a perfect backdrop for a portrait. This is right behind his parents' home, in the oldest RV park in Kerrville, shaded by aged trees. The value of trees, as the late Dr. Dennis Franklin loved to say, is far more than to provide shade. You can insure trees, but it's impossible to calculate the aesthetic value of one of nature's most beautiful blessings.

September Birth Flower

The birthday flower for September is the aster, which represents Love, Faith and Wisdom and symbolizes Valor. Asters are members of the family Asteraceae (sunflowers and daisies belong, as well).

My favorite aster is the Stokes' Aster (Stokesia laevis), a perennial with deep green leaves and intense blue/purple flower heads that float on upright stems. They attract butterflies and have a long cut life. I planted Stokes in a bed that didn't get a lot of attention but it came back faithfully for four years, until my husband did what I should already have done - weeded the bed of all the Bermuda grass that had taken it over. Unfortunately, the Stokes got in the way and out it came. That's OK; it gives me a chance to put it in a better-suited place - and the bed looked so much better when he finished!.

Glue for mosaic work

Sarah posted a comment asking what I used to adhere the broken porcelain plate bits to the clay pot. For this project, I used a mastic adhesive that comes in a little tub, ready to go.

It takes only a small amount to adhere each piece, and it doesn't dry so quickly that you can't adjust it a bit if it isn't exactly where you want it. You can get mastic at Lowe's or Home Depot or a local hardware store. Be sure to tightly reseal the tub after use so it doesn't dry out.

Mosaic pot fun

Well, here's the finished product of the clay pot I covered with bits of broken china and pottery. The one on the right is the first one I ever made, using some leftover materials a fellow classmate had on hand (thank you again for sharing!). That was a challenge, which is one reason it's so gloriously gaudy with all those shiny beads, but that's OK. I'm giving it to my mother-in-law, Alta, whose taste tends toward the colorful and heavily embellished. I'm thinking it's a match made in heaven.

The one on the left is slightly more subdued, which will fit nicely in the Garden Room (our guest bedroom). And yes, I realize these are amateurish, but they are my first efforts, after all. I'm enjoying it so much I'm going to tackle a tray and then a table. I find it both challenging and restful. It's so beautiful outside today it was perfect for doing Mosaic work. I did notice that the low humidity and breeze meant the grout dried much faster, which made it a little harder to work with.

How to keep birds away from fruit trees

In the age-old battle between birds and fruit tree owners, the birds often win. It's hard to keep them away from ripening fruit. Even if they don't eat it, they can mar the fruit, the way birds do by pecking away at citrus fruit to get oil to rub on their feathers. One of the old-time methods was hanging aluminum pie plates from strings on the tree branches. Sunlight reflects off the pans as they spin in the trees and frighten the birds away. Really smart birds catch on, though it does help. Next on the shiny object arsenal came compact discs. Thread a string through the hole, and, voila - instant reflectors.

Now comes a new product. Whether it will work, who knows? But here's the info in case you're interested in trying. New product: The Bird Irator Reflective Discs -- Made of stainless steel, the discs are round and have a protective silicone edge. Hang the discs about 3 feet apart ("units will move and sway with the wind, setting off a reflective shine that deters the birds.") Suggested retail price: $29.95, available on http://www.inventhelpstore.com/. For more information, or for ordering, call (800) 851-6030 or (412) 288-1368; fax (412) 338-0497.

Good bulbs for Southeast Texas

If you're ready to plant some classic naturalizing bulbs for late winter and early spring blooms, try this pair of dependable bulbs that perform well in our area:

Golden Dawn jonquil (Narcissus tazetta) Plant by Nov 25 - Blooms: March - needs full winter sun

Snowflake ( Leucojum aestivum)
Plant by Nov. 25 - Blooms: February – needs partial shade to full sun.

Time to plant fall bulbs

Have you been tilling and composting and getting your beds ready for fall vegetable planting? I wish I could say I have. You know that saying about the best-laid plans of mice and men and how they oft' go astray? Well, this was going to the year I planted a fall garden, but if I don't get my butt in gear, another year will have come and gone.

The past few years, Joel and I have putting our energies into the inside of our home. When you live in a modest 100-year-old farmhouse, there's always something that needs to be done. So we have a wonderful new kitchen with granite counter tops and new cabinets and wood floors and our dining room looks great and the guest bedroom (decorated in a garden theme, of course) is taking shape nicely.

But work outside has been limited to post-hurricane cleanup, brush control, mowing and small ornamental bed planting and maintenance. The garden has yet to be dug, let alone planted. Here's what I planned to grow, along with the dates they should be put in the ground in Jefferson County:

Broccoli (Aug 15-Oct 1)
Cucumbers (Aug 15-Sept 20)
Lettuce (Sept 15-Oct 15)
English peas (Oct 1-Nov 1)
Radishes (Sept 1-Oct 15)
Tomatoes (July 15-Aug 1) Ooops!

To those of you who are on target with your fall garden, good for you! I hope we'll be able to join you soon.

Let it rain!

Every day I check the weather forecast to see what the odds are of us getting any rain. After a long, hot, dry summer, we really need it here in Southeast Texas. The trouble is, in our region, when it does rain, it's hit or miss. On the way home from Beaumont a couple of days ago, I drove through a nice sheet of rain. It stopped five miles from our house, which was dry as a bone. How can a cloud hold so much water that it has to let it go only to dump it with such precision that you'd think it had a logistics map and strict orders not to miss the target area?

We've gotten some rain, but not enough to make the kind of difference the ground needs right now. At this moment, the skies outside are a promising gray, but I'm not going to get excited until I hear the soothing sound of plump raindrops against the window panes. The weather forecast says a 50 percent chance of rain. I think they need to define 50 percent. Is that a 50 percent chance it will rain SOMEWHERE in the area - and that of that 50 percent, there is a 50 percent chance of catching a little of it? I'm not great at math, but to me, the odds are against us.

Garlic chives - you win!

I give up. I've battled and battled the garlic chives that keep showing up everywhere in my herb garden ever since I allowed them to go to seed before discovering it. I went so far as to pull out the plants and pull up the heavy clay chimney flues that make up the base of the herb bed so I can start again. I took out all the soil, then pulled each plant up by its root. They still kept coming, so I pulled some more. I think I might have eradicated them in a couple of pots, but they have completely taken over the space between the pots and the edging next to the brick walkway.

I am at a loss how to contain them without using a weedkiller, which I won't do around my herb bed. I bought some of that organic "weed killer" with cloves - and the chives just laughed as they licked their leaves murmuring, "Yummy!" Does anyone have any suggestions on killing them without toxins? And yes, that lone plant in the pot is a wayward Mexican petunia, another invasive plant that even pushes up through my brick and concrete walkway. My recommendation: don't plant either.

Do Dirt Daubers Sting?

Ah. summer. Cicadas singing harmoniously in the trees, fireflies dancing delicately across the pastures and dirt daubers darting daringly into the house at every opportunity.

We seem to have an abundance of the skinny little wasps that look so intimidating but pose a real threat only to spiders, which they sting and place inside the nest as food for the young. Dirt daubers don't bother me, and won't you, either, unless you try to squeeze one in your hand. But their nests do make a mess on our front porch and under the carport. Yesterday was clean-the-front-porch day, so I spent a lot of time washing away their mud huts. Sorry guys.

Bromeliads and moss

How cute is this? My friend Buddy gave me this recently at a celebration in my honor. It's a wonderful bromeliad mounted in moss on a wooden plank.

I've had only one bromeliad in my life. It was a plant sent to the memorial service of Tim Halley, a reporter I worked with who died of AIDS. Tim wrote a heartbreaking piece on battling the disease. It drew a lot of attention in a time when the disease wasn't talked about much. For many years after Tim's death, I coordinated the Tim Halley Scholarship, given to a Lamar University nursing student each year. It has gone to some outstanding students with hearts for service to those in need.

I nurtured Tim's plant as best I could, but after a few years, it died. I'm sure it was something I did or didn't do, not knowing any better. I think it was this same variety. I'm reading up now on what care bromeliads need. We have a local bromeliad society and I'll get some tips from them. In the meantime, I'm misting it often and watching it take off. Soon, I'll have to move it to a larger host.

Coral Vine or Queen's Wreath

Here's a closeup that shows the vine's heart-shaped leaves and pink blossoms.

The bees and hummingbirds love it.

It's beautiful crowning a fence or climbing a trellis - and produces great color in the fall, when many other plants have completed blooming.

Ruly versus unruly vines

Because our home is 100 years old or more, most of the hardy varieties of old plants already were here long before we were. That's been an amazing blessing. Who wouldn't love moving onto two acres that had an abundance of paperwhite narcissus, hardy amaryllis, old-fashioned daylilies, spider lilies (Lycoris radiata), a Belinda's Dream rose and more?

We had a little harder time learning to love two of the three vines that already had taken deep hold: wisteria and sweet autumn clematis (Clematis ternifolia aka paniculata). The wisteria had taken over the back fence, trees and surrounding hardscapes. We fought it for years before bringing it under control. Like an unruly child, it still tries to go where it shouldn't when your back is turned. The sweet autumn clematis is lovely when in bloom, but as a vine that can grow to 30 feet tall and spring up in clumps where there once was a lawn or flower bed, it is a bit of a challenge.

The coral vine, also called Queen's Wreath (Antigonon leptopus), is a delight. It can cover a fence or climbing rose bush, as it has here, but the vines are tender and easily pulled or controlled. The pink is so vibrant it lights up everything around it.

The Ginger Jungle

The pendulous blooms of the ginger plant are elegant and fragrant. But is fighting the plant's voracious spreading habit worth it? I'm beginning to wonder.

I've wanted ginger for some time, after seeing it in bloom at Nelson's Water Gardens in Brookshire, so I was delighted when my friend Laura gave me a couple of clumps from her grandmother's stand a few years back.

Now, it's crowding out everything around it. To be fair, it's not the ginger's fault I chose the wrong spot for it. That's often the case with wayward plants. I should have known more about its tendency to spread and placed it where that would be a good thing. But, as a novice gardener, I stuck it in an existing bed where its presence was unwelcome.

Another drawback to the tall plant is it almost never blooms. I can count on one had how many of the fragrant blossoms have made an appearance in all those years. Of course, there are many types of ginger, and this old standard might not be one prone to blooming well. Now, we're faced with the daunting task of digging up deeply established clumps to move it someplace more appropriate. One more lesson learned.

Broken china and mosaic flower pots

Last week, I took a brief mosaic class from Summer Sanderson at the Thyme for Herbs Society's monthly meeting out at Beaumont Botanical Gardens. I'd often thought about trying Mosaic work, but it looked rather intimidating and complicated.

As it turns out, it's not. At least, not for small projects. Yes, it takes a certain amount of creativity and patience - the process isn't speedy - but it's great fun. First, you get to take a hammer and whack an old, chipped china plate. Then, you take those broken chips and glue them to a terracotta pot, then fill in the spaces with grout. You can make it as ornate or simple as you wish.

I find the process calming. I can sit and look for the right pieces to fit just so, and get lost in the process. No thinking about the worries of the world, no thoughts of what else I should be doing - just the joy of creating.

Here's a pot I'm starting now, to give you an idea of the early stages. I'll be filling in the rim of the pot with more pieces before grouting.

Horace the Garden Spider

I walked out on our back porch one morning and looked up to find this big garden spider. I decided to call him Horace because he seemed so proper and aloof. Garden spiders do a lot of good by promptly dispatching pests. They do not, however, discriminate when something plump and juicy blunders into their web, as I discovered one day when I found a dragonfly wrapped as neatly as a mummy under Horace's feet.

Horace chose a spot just outside our guest bedroom window and showed no signs of moving on, so I started leaving the lamp on in that room at night. It attracts night bugs and Horace seems quite pleased with the arrangement.

My grandson, Jordan, however, was not. He hates spiders, especially big ones, so I've been spending some time talking with him about it. He thought it was funny that I named the spider Horace. Calling him by name seemed to make him more "human" and Jordan eventually began speaking to him. He still won't get too close, though. When he remarked that he'd never seen Horace move, I explained that he lives his life in the web, eating and sleeping there and never wanders. That made Jordan feel better, since the guest bedroom is where he sleeps when stays with us.

I viewed Horace as one more opportunity to teach Jordan that most bugs are harmless and have a role to play. And with garden spiders, it certainly doesn't include attacking humans. Before he left, Jordan said, "He's pretty cool."

My Grandmother's Garden

Yesterday was my Grandmother's birthday and the rose she loved (which still lives on through a cutting in my garden) had one lone rose. The bush blooms profusely in late April/early May, but sometimes a few blooms come again in fall. I like to think the rose was her way of reminding me on her birthday that she still is looking out for me. For those of you new to Dig-It, here's the first post I made when I started this blog:

My grandmother could grow anything.When she’d visit family or friends, she’d walk through their yards and, like most women of her day, pinch off shoots or branches to take home to root. She was incapable of walking past a flower gone to seed without dislodging the tiny prizes and catching them mid-fall.On occasions when permission wasn'’t easily attainable, whether a deserted homestead or an unattended garden, she took matters into both capable hands.

In our hurry-up world, where potted plants are so readily available, the idea of starting from scratch seems archaic.But in my grandmother’s Arkansas world, a woman who couldn’t drive and who couldn’t afford a nursery, even if one was available, had to be resourceful. And she certainly was. Her beautiful garden was a tribute to women like her who might not have much, but even on the darkest days had brightly-colored blooms in their yard.

When my grandmother died in 1968, two people sent gloxinias to her funeral. The lovely gesture of respect and affection was a bittersweet moment for those of us who knew how long she had coveted one of the exotic plants.

“Dig it!” is a gardening blog for those who cannot imagine life without flora (and fauna), from herbs to flowers to vegetables. This is not an expert answering complicated botanical questions, although I’ll certainly do my best to find answers for you. This is one person passionate about gardening sharing with others of like mind. If you already garden - or want to start, if you love thumbing through gardening magazines or seed catalogs, if you have a gazebo or front porch or simply love being outdoors, this is the spot for you.

So take off that wide-brimmed hat, put down the trowel and join me in lifting a glass of iced tea to Ruby Lee Johnson Nowlin, the woman who taught me to love digging in the dirt. As she would have said, pull up a chair and sit a spell. And remember, the pleasure of shared conversation requires your participation. I'd love it if you'd join in.