I spent a few days in Chicago last week – I really like this city. There are plants everywhere. It was interesting to learn how one person’s determination (mind you it was, and is, the mayor!) to beautify a city can make such a difference. Since Mayor Daley came in to office, hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted, miles and miles of boulevard planters have been built and planted, window boxes and troughs hanging from railings and parking garages have been filled with plantings. Trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and grasses fill the containers. It is beautiful!

I took the opportunity participate in a tour visiting a few “green roofs”. That, too, was inspiring. We were not able to visit Chicago City Hall, which has a huge one, as it was one of the city’s furlough days. We did get to see the very first Wal-Mart store with a green roof. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s green roof had native plants on it mimicking the plantings surrounding the facility. I was quite surprised to learn that the 24-acre Millennium Park is actually a green roof built entirely over underground parking garages. This is an incredible outdoor space in the middle of the city. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry offers free concerts throughout the summer. The Lurie Garden provides a quiet spot to contemplate. Everybody – child and adult – wants to touch the Cloud Gate sculpture. My favorite is the Crown Fountain – I love watching the children interact with this water feature. You must visit.

After some forty plus years of marriage, I still get flowers…

Our yard is not a large one. Nevertheless, I have always tried to plant some plants that will serve as cut flowers. They vary from month to month. African blue basil, purple coneflower, rudbeckia are some of my favorites. I will use the plumes of lindheimer muhly and inland sea oats. Rain lilies, columbine, ground orchid and hardy amaryllis go into vases.

There are three rose bushes in our yard. Graham Thomas is a yellow, very fragrant English rose. Red Knockouts are my husband’s favorite, because they are so easy to take care of, and bloom almost the year round. And, there is an orange rose that I have no idea what it is. Last year, when it had reached almost 7 feet in height, we woke up one morning and found it reduced to eighteen-inch stubs. Our local beavers had decided they needed it for their home! They had also made a feast out of the knockouts.

This year all have recovered.

Each day as I go to the kitchen to prepare dinner I find a new rose in a small vase by the sink. It is a simple (and cheap) act that warms my heart.

When I was a college student (many, many years ago!), I thought I was going to be a teacher. At the time, I became a mother instead. Several years later, I spent a year as a teacher’s aide and another year as a substitute teacher. I learned two things. One – I was not meant to be a teacher and two – good teachers are incredible people.

Last week I attended a Professional Development day sponsored by REAL School Gardens. This amazing organization now works with 57 elementary schools, 30, 000 children and 1400 educators to create outdoor learning gardens to be used daily for all parts of the curriculum. Several of the educators spent the day working on a project designed to teach the children about wind power and solar energy – alternative energy sources that will power the water pumps in the school gardens. This particular project is being funded by a $50, 000 grant from the Motorola foundation.

Another session demonstrated how a wonderful bilingual book My Nana’s Remedies/Los remedios de mi nana by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford, could be utilized to teach math, science, art, language and more in the garden.

These educators are so eager to teach and inspire a new generation to understand and appreciate the many facets of our environment. Thank you so much.

The little lake (or maybe, pond) we have lived on for the past ten years, has hundreds of turtles in it. All summer long, we see them out sunning themselves. We love to watch them when they perch on wayward tree limbs or other debris floating on the lake. Occasionally a duck will join them, a comical sight.

Last month, for the first time, we found several broken eggs in a bed close to the lake. They were next to holes that were a foot or more deep and about two or so inches in diameter. We had no idea when the eggs had hatched. This past week, my husband looked out the window and found a turtle busy at work. For more than an hour, she dug, flinging dirt (and the poor heuchera in the spot) everywhere, and then sat on the hole laying eggs.

We only hope we can witness the eggs hatching.

As I make our morning coffee, even before dawn, I cannot help notice the hardy hibiscus in full bloom. The dark red blooms are now 8 to 10 inches wide – plant descriptions talking about dinner-plate sized blooms are right on target. Though each bloom lasts only a day, the plant is covered in dozens of flowers at a time. Standing five feet tall and almost as wide, you just cannot miss it! It will bloom all summer, all the way until frost and is in full sun all day long. It does not skip a beat. After frost, just cut it back to the ground. As soon as it warms up next season, it will return to its rightful place towering over other perennials in the garden.

I have it planted amongst some Lindheimer’s muhly – I love the combination, especially on breezy days.

A quick road trip this past weekend to Kerrville, San Antonio and Port Aransas to visit relatives reminded me again, how vast this state of ours is. And how much we need to pay attention to our water use. We chose the leisurely route – US 281.  Green fields quickly turned to brown as we headed south. The Kerrville-San Antonio area is in the middle of a historic drought. Temperatures have been brutally hot, with July temperatures being on track to set records. Average rainfall for Kerrville is 34 inches. Last year they had 13.66 and only 8 inches so far this year. In San Antonio, they can only water once a week between 3-8am or 8-10 pm and no watering on weekends.

Low-water use plants – native and well adapted – have become a necessity. Smart gardeners are replacing their large yards of turf with natural plantings. These yards look like they belong in this area. They are so much more pleasing to the eye.

It is also quite dry in the Port Aransas area. At least they can go enjoy the water on the beach.

It’s noon on a Sunday here in north Texas and the temperature has already hit 100 degrees! Crazy though it seems, I planted a couple of “fall” tomato plants this morning and will plant a couple more later this week.

What kept me going were the images that my cousin David had recently sent me from the Shetland Islands. Everything looked so lush and green. As I have mentioned before, he (and his wife, Fiona) have their own set of challenges, one of which is not heat!

Their growing season is quite short and they have very strong winds. To protect the garden, they have erected a 2-metre (about 6 ½ feet) tall fence. Just as they were beginning to have some success, the cabbage white butterflies descended in droves. Almost daily David and Fiona are out there physically removing the large quantity of eggs deposited on the brassica plants (we call them cole crops). Next year they have already decided to put some netting or row cover over these crops to keep the butterflies at bay.

I learned of another pest that I am not sure we have here in our part of the world (and I thought we had everything!). They had noticed several cabbages wilting despite regular watering. When they removed them from the ground, they discovered cabbage root fly larvae. So next year David is thinking he will put some plastic ground cover down and grow the brassicas through slits in it, in a different patch of the garden.

Welcome to organic gardening in the Shetland Islands!

Our first home in Texas had an arbor over the patio to shade us from the hot afternoon sun. We had many hanging baskets, each watered by a drip irrigation system twice a day. Over to the side of the yard was a clothesline. Every summer we hung several hummingbird feeders under the arbor. We were entertained by the hour by as many as a dozen or more hummingbirds. Each picked its own spot – either one of the baskets or a line on the clothesline. Each defended its own territory to the hilt. What a show they put on.

We do not have a spot in our backyard to hang any feeders in our current home. However, we have lots of plants for them to feed on – flame acanthus, cigar plant and salvia greggii being their favorites by far. The hummingbird wars have already started; two have definitely set up home base in separate sections of the olive tree. I was so pleased yesterday watching one of them chase a sparrow out of the tree. Maybe they will help in saving me at least one olive this year to eat!

Some herbs absolutely thrive in our summer heat and at the same time are great in drinks to cool us off. My two favorites are lemon verbena and lemongrass. Both are considered tender perennials – I have found them to be quite hardy. The lemon verbena dies back to the ground each winter, but comes back vigorously each spring. I believe I have lost the lemongrass just once. I could have easily dug up a clump and overwintered it in the garage – I just took the chance. Both are in the full blazing sun and can easily survive on one watering a week.

Consider making syrup. Mix 1-cup sugar and 1-cup water. Toss in either a couple of lemongrass bulbs cut up into pieces or a cup of lemon verbena leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Cover and cool. Pour the syrup through a strainer and refrigerate.

Use the syrup to flavor water. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons to a tall glass of sparkling water. It is so much better than a coke. It is also great to sweeten ice tea.

Yesterday I tried out a newly purchased ice cream maker. The lemon verbena sorbet passed the husband test – he loved it!

All of a sudden, the heat is on deep in the heart of Texas. Temperatures this past week have been in the mid 90′s and higher. To make it worse, it has also been humid. Oh, how I wish I had finished one of the basic chores I tell everyone in our stores to do. Mulch! I have been putting off this yearly task. Now it has become a necessity.

Bare soil is a no-no, especially in the hot blazing Texas sun. No plant’s roots like that kind of heat. Early in the morning, bag by bag, I will work on this – my plants are telling me it needs to be done.

These beds have had lots of compost, organic fertilizer and mulch added to them over the years. The soil is no longer compacted and there is no run-off as they are watered. They take less watering as well – we can water long, deep and much less often.

Meanwhile, in all this heat it is time to plant fall tomatoes – can you believe it!