The Mysterious Garden Muse

It's one day and counting until the new Harry Potter book comes out. The publishing world has never experienced anything like this and since this is the last book in the series, I'm sure they are going to milk this for all it's worth. I've read all the Harry Potter books and I've seen all the movies except the one that just came out (my kids have seen it and they loved it). I prefer the books to the movies but my favorite has to be the first book in the series. It was so much fun to meet Harry and his friends for the first time, in that magical world. I've preordered my own copy from England, but both of my kids will be at Barnes and Noble in Orlando to get their copies at midnight tomorrow night. They may even dress up for it -- I wouldn't put it past them. Oh, and did I mention these are college kids? Apparently dorkiness is an inherited trait. (Sorry, kids.) I may go to my local bookstore at midnight just to join in the fun. Anyway, stop in to the book cl...

Starting in August, the Mystery Book Club at Barnes and Noble's website (www.bn.com, click "Book Clubs") will be featuring The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the Agatha Christie classic. While it's not my favorite Christie, it is -- along with Murder on the Orient Express -- her most controversial book. A new hardcover of the book has just been published and we are using that as an excuse to get this discussion going. I'm a diehard Agatha Christie fan -- read my first one, Funerals are Fatal, at age 15 and I've been hooked ever since. I'm still moderating the Garden Book Club at BN.com but that site is quiet at this time of year -- gardeners are out in the garden in the summer! Except for me -- between writing and traveling this year, I've barely had time for my yard at all. It is unusual for me to travel this much but I figure it goes back to that "to every thing there is a season" and this year it is apparently my season to travel rather than to ...

With the chill of winter fresh in our memories, it may seem like summer with its shimmering heat is taking forever to arrive. May and June will soon be upon us, though, ushering in the seasonal craving for brightly colored flowers that seems ingrained in us all. Garden centers will soon be selling everything in bloom as fast as they can set it out, and landscape contractors will have their hands full filling beds, borders, containers and window boxes with foliage and flowers. After the grays and browns of winter, not to mention the mud-spattered, once-white snow, all a plant needs to sell itself is color, color, color. Take advantage of this seasonal madness by heating up the color palette in your plant installation and design. Crank up the heat with vivid scarlet, flaming orange and glowing yellows, whether you focus on annuals or perennials, and whether you are working in beds or containers. Perennial flowers tend to have a short bloom period but they also have the benefit of re...

I had a stopover in Dallas on my way home from McAllen. The combination of a big storm and Memorial Day weekend meant that I was stuck in Dallas for a couple of days. Luckily, I have friends and relatives in that area so it turned out to be a fun opportunity for some unplanned visits. I spent one night with my aunt and uncle in Carrollton. They have done wonders with their garden/landscape. I'm attaching some pictures of their yard. (More pictures to follow -- I have to reformat some of the best ones.)

In May I spent some time in McAllen, TX with my sister -- she's been there for several years but this was my first visit. I've been to Texas many times but never to this part of the state. McAllen is right on the border with Mexico, further south than Corpus Christie, and for some reason I was expecting it to be desert, sage-brush country, something like Amarillo. Instead, I found it very flat -- reminiscent of the part of the midwest where I grew up, in that respect -- but the plant life is actually sub-tropical. It wasn't all that different from Orlando, which really surprised me. My sister lives across from a gated estate that is beautifully landscaped. One of the residents of the estate, Mr. Larry (that's his last name, I'm not sure I've spelled it correctly), gave my sister and me a guided tour of the estate and several people let me take pictures. I'm posting a selection of them, including one of my sister and Mr. Larry. It was hot as blazes when we we...