One of the things I love the most about traveling is to see the plants we sell growing in their natural environment. A small island in Greece that I recently visited was no exception. It was hot and dry and very rocky as we hiked up the hills outside of the small town we were visiting. The only plant with blooms turned out to be thyme. It was in such abundance that hundreds of beehives had been set up along the roads. Little did I know that Greece is famous for its thyme honey.

On the sides of the hills, along the sides of the road and even in the road, I kept noticing a fairly low growing mounding plant with rather lush looking leaves and pinkish flowers. These were caper bushes. It turns out that the immature flower buds are pickled - this is what we buy as capers. If not picked these buds form the pinkish-white flowers we also noticed. These produce the larger caperberry which are also usually pickled and served as an appetizer. Not surprisingly, the Greeks also use the caper leaves in salads.

I also noted sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender and sweet myrtle. Did I mention it was hot and dry? After 8 inches of rain here at our house this past month, I now know why my sage is dying. It wants to be in Greece!

After more than thirty years living in the metroplex, you would think that I had scoped out everything there was to see. Not so. Searching for places to hike, I came across the Cedar Ridge Preserve on Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas. I do remember hearing about it when it was called the Dallas Nature center; alas, I never found the time to visit. Now Audubon Dallas maintains it, and is certainly work checking out.  

It encompasses 600 acres, with most left in its natural habitat. There are 9 miles of hiking trails, with lots of hills, something not so common in this area. At an elevation of 755 feet, one feels “on top of the world” overlooking the surrounding area. Native grasses and wildflowers, butterflies and birds made the hike so pleasant. The highlight was a painted bunting perched on a dead branch right out in the open. What a treat!

There is an old adage in the gardening world. When you plant a perennial, the first year it will sleep, the second year it will creep and the third year it will leap. How true that is of some of the plants in my garden. Purple coneflower from 4″ plants three years ago, have completely taken over the spot I planted them in, far exceeding my expectations. What was going to be a two to three foot plant is approaching four feet and still growing. It goes without saying that next year I will be thinning out this bed.

Taller and much more striking is the ‘Peter’s Purple’ monarda. I have fallen in love with this plant. The lavender-purple flowers atop erect 4 ½ feet stems are beautiful. There has not been any hint of powdery mildew, a common complaint with bee balm. True to its name, bees love it; so do the butterflies.

There are other stories - Rudbeckia goldsturm knows no bounds, one hardy hibiscus is at least four feet wide, Turk’s cap keeps on growing and growing…

What an incredible spring this has been! Good, that I have been quite busy in the stores…bad, that I have spent so little time in my own garden. We have had lots of rain and cooler temperatures. Some plants look like they are on steroids. Others have bloomed like they never have before. A couple of weeks ago, the garden was a riot of color. It has quieted down for a bit as warmer weather plants get ready to put on their own show.

My favorite orange rose, as you may know, has had an interesting history. First of all, I have no idea what it is (if someone can tell me, I would be so happy). I planted it about five or six years ago. Two years ago, it had reached eight feet in height. The thorns are formidable, but it makes a great cut rose that lasts for days. It is a favorite of my husband - he loves to cut flowers from our garden and place them by the kitchen sink. Disaster (in the form of beavers) struck. The rose bush was cut down overnight to about two feet in height. It has never looked as good as it did this year. Neighbors across the lake were even impressed and I had lots of flowers in the kitchen.

For several years now, the spring highlight of the garden at our Arlington store has been the Chinese snowball viburnum. It is such a beautiful specimen, probably 15 feet tall. This old-fashioned shrub is planted in a spot where it is getting very little direct sunlight. In February, the flower clusters start forming in a striking chartreuse color. By mid-March large hundreds of 6 to 8 inch snow-white blossoms cover the shrub. It is stunning.

It all ended overnight. The rain and wind knocked off most of the blossoms. It was sad - and yet so beautiful…

Sunday, I found myself in our garden all day long, the first time I have done that in awhile. What a lot there was to do and discover. Our exceptionally cold winter had me worried about plants that might not survive. That was not necessary. The olive tree had not one dead leaf. It is already beginning to flower, though I suspect again I will not see one olive to pick at season’s end. The birds always win that one. Lemon verbena, Mexican oregano, prostrate rosemary - they are all thriving. Until a week ago, I was sure my five-year old lemongrass was history. Not so, new shoots are sprouting. Three esperanza bushes are starting to grow again. I never thought for a minute they would make it.

The eight-foot bay tree suffered the most. There were lots of dead stems and crispy brown leaves. I thought I was going to have to pull it out and start all over. A win for procrastination - there were new shoots all over the tree. I spent at more than an hour selectively pruning it; I think maybe it will one day return to its former glory.

For as long as I can remember, there has been a purple martin house mounted on the fence in front of our Dallas store. Several pair returns each year to nest. I absolutely love their songs as they fly into and around the house.  This year I was in a state of panic. We had remodeled the front of the store and had forgotten about the purple martin house. A few weeks ago the martins returned to find no house there - I was crushed. Almost daily, they flew over the store, to no avail.

On Friday morning, the new purple martin house was raised. Within one hour, six martins were back singing and settling in to their new abode. All is right with the world. In the meantime, a pair of robins have started a nest under a prime spot above the perennials. And Friday morning, I watched a hummingbird at my house sit and drink out of our little water feature. Spring has sprung!

The “Herb of the Year” is dill. Had I known, over 40 years ago, that the name comes from the Norse word, dilla (to lull), for its ability to soothe colicky babies and induce sleep, I would have used it in abundance with our first child, whose name I will not mention.

I do know that it is a great herb that easily grows from seed. Successive seeding in very early spring will provide a continual source of fresh dill weed. I cannot imagine grilled salmon, new potatoes or lamb chops without it. And my favorite dish of all is tzatziki, a Greek dip made with yogurt, cucumber and garlic. Successive seeding will also ensure lots of seed when you are ready to pickle. If you do end up with seed before the cucumber harvest, just dry them and save till you are ready to use them. Do leave some of the seeds on the plants -it will reseed readily. My first vegetable garden in Texas was a classic example - dill could be found in every nook and cranny.

Plant extra for the swallowtail butterflies - they like it as much as I do!

We had all of maybe two hours of sunshine today. Typical February weather would be 60 degrees, only 2.37 inches of rain and sunshine more than 50% of the time. That is not what we have had so far. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicted below average temperatures for February and March, above average precipitation for February and below for March. This is tracking true. What worries me is the prediction for snow showers March 15 - 20.

What a challenge this is for gardening (and the gardening business) here. We will have to capture every sunny, dry moment to plant our cool season garden. If we do not, our “window of opportunity” will pass. But then, that is part of the fun. If we plant early, if it does not rain, or snow, or get too cold we may have a bumper harvest. So this week, no matter what the weather, I have planting to do. I have waited too long and my window is almost running out.

I never believed I would ever experience the likes of the snowstorm we had here late this past week. Not that it was like anything I grew up with - eight to ten foot snow banks lining the sides of the country roads our school bus drove down were not unusual. But it was a thrill, never the less for me, as well as many a child. I did not build a snowman, but I did spend a good deal of time outside reliving childhood memories. It was so beautiful. Three days have passed - there is still snow on the ground - unbelievable.

Twice we had to knock the snow off our olive tree. It does look as if it has survived intact. Rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley, lovage and salad burnet are unfazed. Lettuces and peas are just fine. I am a bit concerned about my bay tree (it had been transplanted last summer); otherwise, I see little to worry about.

This morning the cedar waxwings were out in force stripping the berries off our yaupon holly. On the ground underneath were flocks of robins cleaning up the berries that had dropped. Is it possible that spring may be on its way?