Garden Musings

If I were a Native American child on the Kansas prairie, or perhaps if I were any current child who occupies these arid grassy deserts, my f...

In the midst of a night burn I stand; enchanted, enraptured, and elated at the sinewy and fluid life of a prairie fire; spellbound by the fl...

I'm wondering this morning how many other MidWest closets and basements have become, in this season of our gardening discontent, a place...

If I were Catholic and this was a confessional, I'd have to admit here that I've long had a hankering to obtain and use a real cloch...

I had occasion recently to re-read Lauren Springer's (now Springer-Ogden) first text, The Undaunted Garden .  What a treasure trove it i...

Ornamental grasses are all the rage in the fall garden these days and gardeners also crave any shrub whose foliage turns red, orange, or yel...

For this Labor Day of the year of our Lord 2010, I'd like to highlight a now infrequently seen but delightful rambler, the rose 'Am...

It seems like the weather across the U.S. has cooled a bit this week and the Flint Hills were no exception, with highs in the 80's and l...

Oh boy, was I ever surprised!  I knew that one of the common names for Lycoris squamigera  was "Surprise Lily," but when one cropp...

North view from my house in December. Subject to human failings like everyone else, I sometimes forget to look past the mildewed phlox an...

I spend a lot of time and energy bemoaning the weather and the soil and the harsh wind and the boiling sun and the general misery that is Ka...

It is likely no surprise to anyone that ornamental grasses are an important part of gardening here in the Flint Hills. Hardiness and fall c...

Gardeners, in general, are a diverse mass of good people, but even the soul-building activities of toiling in soil and caring for living pla...

Yesterday afternoon we hit 93 here in the Flint Hills; that is, a 93 MPH sustained wind gust.  I've often lamented the windy nature of K...

I have a confession to make to all my readers and to the Higher Powers of gardening.  I absolutely love the sound of crabgrass.  "Wait,...

In these dog days of August, when gardening in the Flint Hills is confined only to the most critical tasks and then only in the early mornin...

Oops, I made a slight gardening error by taking a short four-day vacation this week.  We've had higher than normal temperatures for a m...

One thing about it for sure; there are certainly snakes on the Flint Hills prairie.  As a general rule, I don't mind snakes, but I do...

Here in the Flint Hills, my gardening efforts dwindle off in July and August as the sun and heat build and chase me inside. The garden doesn...

I owe an explanation to readers who have found this blog and are wondering what on earth ever possessed me to begin it: Once upon a time ...