Down here in HOT old Texas..........

We live in zone 9a, and have very mild winters. Winter is usually 3 days, not consecutive. Just 3 days total.

It fools you sometimes, and really does get cold. It is the nastiest, wettest, coldest cold when it is cold here; it just goes right through you. But it doesn't last long. The next day, it will be back up in the 60s or 70s, with a bright sun in the sky. We garden year 'round.

The killing weather for us is our hot, HOT summers. August in South Texas can be brutal. We lose more plants in summer than we do in winter.

So, when the gentle temps of October and November roll around, we get in the mood to garden again.

My husband starts to talk about turning the AC on in April. I resist, usually until about July. Nights are pleasant with a fan, and sleep is comfortable. When it gets too hot at night for tomatoes to set fruit, I relent and turn the AC on. He has never understood this.

So, last April, I told him, "When we turn the AC on, I won't go out to work anymore." And I didn't.

Actually, it wasn't the heat that kept me inside. We had rain everyday for forever. It was impossible to work outside.

Well, yesterday, we were working in the garden, reclaiming it from several weeks of neglect. My Husband told me we were never going to turn the AC on again.

LOL LOL LOL! I have giggled about that all day!

Sometimes the garden is ART.

This is a favorite garden. I don't know the gardener, only that she is an elderly lady.

As far as I know, she does all her gardening herself. I have never seen anyone there to help her. AND....I have never seen a weed in her garden. Her space is immaculate!

This is the first time I have know her to grow zinnias in that space. She usually has beautiful RED poppies there. It is a wonderful sight to see!

I see this garden on most of my travels from home, unless I go to water's edge, which is the opposite direction. The garden is a lovely gift for all of us, and the gardener is truely an artist.

aggravation, aggravation

I am aggravated! I haven't figured out this blog thingie. I want it to look one way, but can't figure how to do it. I think I need to wait quietly, don't throw things yet, until I have time to work with it. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to post a picture. OR change things around................

Working with plants is so much less complicated. The fall garden is almost all in the ground.

I pressed seeds of dill (Bouquet) into a circle of soil in a raised bed and added a border of curley parsley. Arp rosemary encircles that, and the whole bed is squared up with corners of oregano and mint. They are both supposed to be so invasive, but in my garden, they must feel deprived, because I have never had it go crazy on me. I have seen it go crazy in other flowerbeds. We don't want that, we certainly don't!

Planning is the part of gardening that is most fun. Well, eating is good too.

I have found some new area to work. We dug several good size Spanish Mulberry trees out of some beds. They volunteer so easily. It is a pretty little tree, but I would prefer some LA lilies there, maybe. The area is about 12'x 10'. If I thin some branches out of a crepe myrtle in that area, I will really have a nice space.