Merry Christmas! We are so excited about what next month will bring: the launch of the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show on January 28. We’re passionate about the gardens and ideas we’re going to share with you, as speakers lecture on everything from African violets to oak trees, and experts tell you how to find the [...]
” ‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the house Not a creature was stirring, Not even a ……..” Okay, this isn’t a mouse. It’s Cornbread, one of the little cats that likes to hang around my garden–possibly because I keep out a bowl of kitty chow for my furry neighborhood visitors. He’s pictured [...]
Remember those bottle trees you used to see in yards all around the South? They were actually dead trees that creative gardeners decorated by sticking empty colored bottles onto the bare branches. Gardening author and radio personality Felder Rushing still has a couple in his front yard in Mississippi. Click here to see what I’m [...]
Ho, ho, ho! Christmas is coming, and I’ve got a gift for you gardeners out there. My publisher, B&H Books, has created an absolutely gorgeous calendar for 2009, packed with beautiful garden photos and growing tips. It also contains quotes and scripture from my new book, Mustard Seeds: Thoughts on the Nature of God and Faith. You [...]
It’s not everyday that you learn to make raspberry jam alongside the retired captain of a nuclear submarine, listening to Captain Nemo-like stories of the dark and briny deep—but I did. My chance came a couple of years ago, while on assignment for Delta Air Lines’ Sky Magazine. My editor wanted a story that combined travel and education, and [...]
No offense, but –leave your Lima beans at home when you visit the Southeastern Flower Show on opening day. Why? Because keynote speaker Mike McGrath, host of the nationally syndicated public radio show, ”You Bet Your Garden,” hates Lima beans with a passion, that’s why. Hey, we’re cool with that, Mike. After all, the theme for the 2009 show is passion, and that intense [...]
Okay, class: what do foam, frogs, and pearls have in common? I should be fair and tell you that the kind of pearls I’m talking about aren’t the freshwater ones that grow in oysters (so lovely when strung on silken cords and worn around the neck–hint, hint, Santa). I’m talking about Water Pearls, floral foam, and metal frogs. Water [...]
Kids in the garden? If we’re honest, we might admit that children aren’t always welcome in the rose bed and tomato patch. At least, not if they’re going to break off our prize blooms or bombard each other with ripening fruits. (Hey–it happened in my garden. Plump, juicy tomatoes, it seems, explode beautifully when you throw them on [...]
Did you know that the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show isn’t only about flowers? Sure, you might think so, given the name. But with all the great demos and exhibits and speakers being planned for you, fellow gardeners, you’ll find that the show isn’t limited to blooms and blossoms and petals. You’ll find something to appeal to [...]
Hey—anybody out there? I thought so. You’re all out shopping, searching for sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving that signals the start of the retail holiday season. I don’t blame you. (Guess where I’m going as soon as I finish posting this message?) But you’ll be back, because there’s leftover turkey in the fridge, and cranberry sauce, and maybe a slice of pumpkin pie that [...]