All the Dirt on Gardening

Rain gardens are probably not what you think. They are not just holes in the ground that collect rainwater and they are not places where gardeners put water-loving, tropical plants. In addition, they are not mosquito havens. Plants are made up of over 90% water and suffer when conditions prevent them from having the amount of water they need. Weather-wise, the amount of water our gardens receive from Mother Nature is a feast or famine situation. Northeast Oklahoma receives an annual average of 44-inches of moisture and almost always has a month or two of drought conditions each gardening year. Rain gardens take advantage of both extremes in an ecological manner. A rain garden is designed to capture and hold the water that naturally pours off your roof and flows across your yard. Several inches of amended soil in the rain garden basin holds the water for three days while it percolates into the ground. As an added ecological benefit, rain gardens clean pollutants out of the water as ...

The first time I read the opinion that butterflies and other animals in the garden made it come to life, I was perplexed by the thought. My focus was on improving soil, learning plants' survival needs and reading every garden book I could get through. Now that I have more experience, I agree with that author. Gardening is about so much more than plants. This week we have enough butterflies during the heat of the day that it is worth while to chase them with the camera. There were a couple of giant swallowtails out there, too, but they are so shy and difficult to photograph. 1st photo is Hackberry Emperor (I think). They do hang around on trees to eat sap. The hook is for a hammock and probably has sap around it. Check these photos http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Butterfly.html Do you agree? 2nd photo is a Black Swallowtail on Verbena 3rd photo is what I mostly get photos of when chasing butterflies: The flower they just left. 4th photo is a Fiery skipper on a zinnia volun...

Winter squash loves getting a good start in summer's heat just at the time when the summer squash is blooming and spreading. How many of these we grow depends on how much room we have in the garden. Summer squash, all the zucchini varieties and shapes included, is picked and eaten while the seeds are small and the skin is soft. In contrast, winter squash grows all summer and is harvested when the outer skin is hard and the seeds are pretty big. Trombetta di Albegna from Renee's Seeds Summer squash is curcurbita pepo including zucchini, marrow, courgette, yellow,  crookneck, etc. This year I planted Trombetta from Renee's Seeds . It climbs but I put it into the garlic bed to crawl.   The four kinds of winter squash are: curbita pepo such as spaghetti and acorn squashes, curcurbita moschata such as calabaza,and cushaw (the ones I have mostly grown), curcurbita mixta such as butternut and curcurbita maxima such as hubbard, turban and banana. There are pumpkin-types i...

Enthusiastic gardeners and nature lovers enjoy writing and teaching. They produce hundreds of books and videos each year. When requesting review copies, I ask for the ones that I think will appeal to a wide audience. This list reviews books and a DVD published between 2008 and 2011. They are about garlic, projects for grandparents, attracting pollinators, vines, disastrous bugs and organic solutions for plant problems. The information includes the publication information plus the full price and the online booksellers’ price. Armitage’s Vines and Climbers by Allan Armitage. Published 2010 by Timber Press (www.timberpress.com and 800-327-5680) 205 pages. $30 to $20. Whether you prefer woody vines and climbers or herbaceous (ones that die back to the ground in the winter), Armitage’s wisdom will guide you to choose the best selections for the space you want to cover. “Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies” by Xerces Society authors Er...

This large-leaf, gorgeous plant is cold hardy in our area. The leaves can reach up to 1-foot across. Rice Paper Plant, also known as Aralia or Fatsia papyrifera, will grow from 8 to 15 feet tall. In fact, it is cold hardy in zones 6 through 10, wants to be watered and is happy in sun or half sun/shade. Its name comes from the stem pith being used to make rice paper. In the warmer zones its inclination to sucker and move around the garden become a problem. I've been told that it will spread here in zone 7, but, I can tolerate that. The place it is planted is in a privacy screen bed about half way across our 3 acres. Top Tropicals , a Florida plant vendor says that the leaves grow up to 3-feet across but the ones I've seen here do not. They are probably evergreen in FL, too, but not here. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one in bloom but evidently the white flowers are in umbels. The genus Tetrapanax is from woodlands in South China and Taiwan. My experience has been...

The tour was a big success yesterday and we have the homeowners and gardeners to thank. So, here they are! Thank you, muchas gracias, arigatô, grazie, merci, danke, Wa'-do, Sas efharisto, Askwali, Dziekuje. Anita (Mrs. Mack) Whitaker  Barbara and Chad Richardson Jimmy Ginn with his daughter Macey Melinda and Jim Murphy Sarah and Bob Tidmore These gardeners worked, weeded and watered and then played hostess and host to over 200 visitors in one day. Thank you in 465 languages.

Each of the five gardens you will see on Saturday’s garden tour is distinctly different from the others. The homeowners have expressed their artistic and design talents in their front, side and back yards. Muskogee Garden Club 2011 Garden Tour Saturday from 10 to 5 Tickets $5.00 available at all 5 homes on the tour The Richardsons, 215 South 13th ST The Whitakers, 415 North 16th ST The Murphys, 4100 South Robb AV Jimmy Ginn, 801 North 45th ST The Tidmores, 4711 Howard ST The home of Jimmy Ginn is a showcase for his landscape and design company, Grounds Keeper of Oklahoma (www.groundskeeperofOklahoma.com). Ginn’s main office is in Tulsa but his work takes him all over the state. His design ideas made the best use of his house lot. The driveway retaining wall has a green strip on top that is accented with perennial Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus') and Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis). Shortly after buying the house six years ago, Ginn designed a unique sta...