Category Archives: happening in my life
in my life.
My uncle passed away yesterday….
At 81 years old, Uncle Bob played at least 9 holes of golf every day until three weeks ago. His energy and no-fear attitude was my inspiration. In fact, he and my aunt took on re-doing an old general store/post office/bank building she fell in love with five years ago in Golden, Texas. They made it into a magazine-cover home. This was their second complete home renovation since he turned 70. Who starts a project like that when most of their friends are relaxing? Uncle Bob did.
Uncle Bob encouraged me to write a book about their young neighbor in Golden, The Bulb Hunter.
I loved staying with he and my aunt, talking faith and flowers till the wee hours. Uncle Bob enjoyed describing a plant he’d seen playing golf that day so he could know its name the next time, his beautiful clear blue eyes shining like a child on Christmas morning, always ending with “isn’t God good to us?”
No matter what time I arose the next morning, I was met by Uncle Bob, handing me a cup of coffee, his open Bible near his favorite chair. Did the guy EVER sleep?
Uncle Bob will be missed by everyone since he never met a stranger. He’s already teeing off near the Streets Of Gold rather than ones in Golden, Texas. And I have a feeling he’ll be telling ME the names of all the plants he’s discovered when I get to be with him again.
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- sign on the side of bob’s house.
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- bob’s fence.
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- east texas daffodils.
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- east texas daffodils.
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- east texas daffodils.
outside my window.
My roses enjoyed the rain we got this week. So did some bulbs I got from my friend and co-author on HEIRLOOM BULBS, Chris Wiesinger. (Most people know Chris best as “The Bulb Hunter.”) Double Roman, a historic daffodil believed to be cultivated since the 1500′s in Europe, naturalize well in the Coastal South, too. They bloom early and have a divine fragrance.
Although not the fragrance, a divine bloom in MY book is the cherry blossom. My oldest daughter and her husband live in the D.C. area so we traveled up for the Cherry Blossom Festival a couple years ago. It was breathtaking! I tried to get the feel at my house with a dwarf Mexican cherry since ornamental cherry trees don’t get enough cold here to bloom properly, but there is no comparison. The blooms transform Arlington Cemetery into something ethereal. The most moving moment was seeing the change of the guard that time of year.
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- rose in my front yard
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- double roman from chris
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- dwarf mexican cherry
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- arlington national cemetery
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- cherry blossoms
outside my window.
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- lettuce theif
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- swiss chard
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- leucojum (white snowflake)
change of scenery.
One of the many perks with my job is the ability to work from anywhere with an internet connection. This week that perk took me west to spend a few days at my youngest daughter’s house in Abilene. She and her husband are new homeowners and in celebration of her 25th birthday we broke ground on a patio. The project will be a work in progress for a while, but we created the bones of the area and prepared a portion as a bed for new plants!
outside my window
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Sugar Land Home and Garden Show last weekend! There was a great turn out. A friend tried to grab a photo of me during the seminar but apparently I don’t stand still for very long 
We had an appreciated torrential two inches of rain this week. While it forced me to slow down enough to realize I was a bit under the weather myself, my garden drank it up! Here’s what’s blooming outside my window today…
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- loropetalum (shrub)
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- dwarf pomegranate (yummy fruit!)
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- variegated trailing vinca (ground cover)
camelia & a garden show
What do those have in common?
Well, this is the lovely Camelia bloom that unfurled this week at my house…
… and a garden show is how I will be spending my time tomorrow (Saturday Jan 21). I am presenting a seminar at the Sugar Land Home and Garden Show, ” 7 Steps to a Drought-Proof Landscape“. According to the schedule I’m set to be on the Green Stage at Noon and 1 pm. I want people to come ask questions and bring photos so I can better answer your landscape woes!
Check out the show’s website for coupons for admission and exhibitions. So, if you are in the Houston area this weekend come to Sugar Land, enjoy the FREE parking, and stop by to say hello!
