Hole-y Mole-y! It’s Kinetic Art!

April 25, 2011

A stroll across my yard can be hazardous to the health! It isn’t the poison ivy, the fire ants, or the occasional snake that is the problem (you can usually see those before they get you). No, the problem is in what you can’t see — a labyrinth of tunnels beneath the grass that rivals [...]

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Some Installation Required

September 20, 2010

In April, I told y’all about a visit to Argyle Acres, and showed you pictures of the beautiful irises that they grow. As I wandered the grounds, I fell in love with those timelessly lovely fleur-de-lis. In fact, I bought a boatload of them! At the time, I wasn’t thinking ahead … eventually somebody has [...]

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Pruning

July 21, 2010

From my back porch, I spend a lot of time observing the plants and critters in my yard. As I sit pondering, I often find that I learn lessons from Mother Nature. The problem for me is that as the seasons change, I forget what I have learned. At the moment, I’m trying to indelibly [...]

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Fred And Ethel Bushes

June 2, 2010

When I first saw the bushes in my front yard burst into wondrous blooms, I was tickled as pink as these flowers. I turned to my husband, who is a fountain of trivia and asked, “What do you call those bushes?” Have I ever told y’all that when attempting to extract serious information from Mr. [...]

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Her Name is Zebrina

May 18, 2010

Earlier this month, I showed you a picture of a plant I had seen in a “Shakespeare Garden” in Kilgore and asked if anyone could identify it. Naturally it was the only plant in that garden that didn’t have a tag to tell what it was, it was the only one I didn’t know, and [...]

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Name That Plant!

May 6, 2010

I’m sorry about that title. I didn’t mean to order you around, but I’m hoping that one of you gardeners will recognize this blossom. I noticed it while my friend Connie and I were exploring a tiny community garden here in Kilgore, Texas (I told you about this lovely East Texas town last summer and [...]

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Revenge On A Gardener

April 29, 2010

Probably not a single one of you would ever consider getting revenge on anyone. I doubt that you have a mean streak. But, if you do and you want to annoy a gardener, have I got an idea for you! There is an innocuous seeming plant called “lyre leaf sage” that you can give to [...]

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Intoxicating Iris At Argyle Acres

April 17, 2010

My Grandmommy’s irises were “Plain Jane.” In her garden, she had many of these lovely plants, but they were only in four colors: white, yellow, and two shades of purple. While I always admired them (and have some of each in my own gardens), I had no clue that I would ever fall in love [...]

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Fleur-de-lis

April 7, 2010

Have you ever tried to look up the meaning of a certain flower on the internet? I searched for the iris, and found hundreds of meanings for this lovely blossom that is the inspiration for the symbol of France. The word “iris” is said to mean “rainbow,” which makes sense I guess when you see [...]

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Dandelion Whine

April 5, 2010

Y’all know about my Muse, don’t you? The “inner child” who speaks to me and helps me write? She’s having a wall-eyed hissy fit right now because we have been slaving in the garden for days, and she is bored with the job. Here is the conversation that has been going on between us: I [...]

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Ménage à trois no more

September 11, 2009

In July, I told you with delight about a trio of birds who convene on my back porch. A pair of cardinals, and their sparrow friend have been my constant visitors at the bird feeder. The male cardinal seemed so tender and sweet to the females. He actually fed both of them. What a treat [...]

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Leaves Of Three — Let It Be!

July 26, 2009

Faster than Indiana Jones’ bullwhip, a long strand of poison ivy lashed out and wound itself around my leg; it dragged me to earth and hog-tied me and… OK, I exaggerate a little bit — but not much. I was working in my garden pulling vines and brambles out of the flower beds. In that [...]

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Just Call Me “Scissorhands”

July 14, 2009

Or you can just call me “Eddie.” OK. I realize that these aren’t “scissors,” they are hedge trimmers. But, I feel as if I’ve been pruning a yard the size of a football field with a pair of scissors for years. Our old hedge trimmer was a piece of junk. It couldn’t even chew through [...]

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Doubled Mint

April 21, 2009

My Mamaw had a lush bed of spearmint planted outside of her kitchen door. If company were coming to visit, she grabbed her broom and went outside to “beat” the mint. Bruising the plants caused their scent to fill the air, and it drifted into the open windows to make the entire house smell like [...]

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A Darned Good Feed Store. Only the Good Friday.

April 10, 2009

It’s really Good Friday, and not just because I say so! Easter weekend is here at last. For gardeners in Texas, that means we can finally feel comfortable about putting out our plants. Usually, there isn’t another freeze. Getting to plant means that I get to take a trip to my local feed store, which [...]

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Getting Down And Dirty

March 26, 2009

I told my husband, “Whooee, baby! Let’s get down and dirty!” He didn’t know I meant, “Let’s work in the garden.” His enthusiasm waned considerably when I handed him a rake. But, Mr. Tucker is a trooper, and he helped me clear out my flower beds. I’m glad I had his help, because there are [...]

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Give What You Grow. Only The Good Friday

February 20, 2009

I enjoy fresh vegetables from the garden, don’t you? Bell peppers are my favorite things to grow, but I have to admit that the smell of a ripe, red tomato fresh from the vine is almost as wonderful as the smell of bacon frying in the pan. Those washed out tomatoes you can find at [...]

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Make Like A Tree And Leave

December 30, 2008

Why do they call them “leaves?” The leaves at my house never do! Leave — that is. Not until I make them. No, as soon as they are ready each fall, they dive bomb into my yard and that’s pretty much where they stay. Some of them decide to settle into the rain gutters around [...]

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Only The Good

December 5, 2008

Have y’all ever gone down the aisles of your local Plants-R-Us store marveling at the luscious green beauties in those pots? Did you ever hear any of them call out to you, “Oooh! Pick me! Pick ME!“? Neither have I. What I hear, as the violets shrink away from me, is, “NOOOOO! Don’t let HER [...]

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Present: Tense, Past: Imperfect

October 12, 2008

I was the quintessential “Earth Mother.” Did any of y’all go through a phase like that? I’ve been remembering those days long ago, as the television news warns me of dire economic times ahead. It was the early 70s, and I had already missed my chance to be a “hippie.” In my conservative small town, [...]

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