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.

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.

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…

… 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!

Join the conversation!  Do you have a story or have you heard someone else’s story that planted a seed of hope?
If so, go to my Facebook author page and share it with us. You can post your own story or a link to one you’ve found.
My garden is full of pass-along plants from friends and family. In that spirit, I am always storing seeds to continue the tradition. So, when you share a story, I will send you a few seeds, because that’s where growth begins.

For anyone who purchases two personalized copies of Our Shadow Garden from me, I’ll GIVE ONE AWAY for them to give-away!  Your free book can go to your favorite public library, school or church library, or even to a Christmas gift project dear to your heart.  All my royalties for this book go back to The Children’s Art Project at MD Anderson Cancer Center (www.childrensart.org), so you’ll be supporting them, too.
ORDER BY 12/8 and your name will go into a drawing for a FREE SCHOOL VISIT to the school of your choice.  (It needs to be within an hour’s drive for me here in The Woodlands, TX, or it can be a “virtual” school visit with Skype.)
The books are $20 apiece (I’ll pay the sales tax). Please add $3 per book for shipping.  To order, email me at - comments at cheriecolburn dot com  - and I’ll get all your info.

OUR SHADOW GARDEN ($20 plus shipping)

GOOD LUCK!