My porch gardening article in Oklahoma Gardener magazine is hitting the shelves. I took the photos and wrote the article based on the assignment of Life on the Porch: Beat the Heat by Gardening on the Porch. I came up with the concept of the three P’s of porch gardening. Pick up a copy to find out what they are and how to use them.
I got this from someone who had left it for dead outside in the full sun on their patio. I put it on one of the shade tables at our nursery and voila, beautiful blooms a couple of months later!
It’s been a relatively cool August here in central Oklahoma but we haven’t had much in the way of significant rain. Things are a bit dry and dusty, but all in all a nice late Summer time. Here’s some random recent sights from some of our gardens and the region.
Shawnee project coming along.
Eragrostis secundiflora. West Norman near the river. I wrote about this grass in the recent ONPS newsletter.
One of our west Norman gardens
Eriogonum annuum. Norman.
Eriogonum annuum (annual Buckwheat) field west Norman.
Crew leader Jason Davis at the Eco booth for Doug Tallamy’s recent lecture.
Xanthisma texanum (Texas Sleepy Daisy) amongst the grasses at Eco HQ.
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
New native and drought tolerant bed. 37 species replaced one large Privet.
Flowers of Side Oats Grama grass.
Zuchette rampicante
Cool poster seen at Six Twelve.
On August 15th I’ll be giving a seed saving workshop at Six Twelve in Paseo, OKC from 9-10ish. Since the late 90s when I first got into Organic gardening and farming, seed saving has always been a keen interest of mine. These days I’m mostly saving local native plant seeds and plants for landscaping use but I still save some veggie and grain seeds. I’ll be covering the basics of seed saving, storage and even get a little bit into breeding and selection. We’ll also have a little seed swap at the end. I hope to see you all there.
2001 Ecology Action Research Garden. Appreciating wheat.
I was lucky to attend some lectures and events by Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds and Seed of Change. He was always an interesting speaker and thinker. I also go to visit his research garden in Corvalis, OR a couple of times. His lectures were very influential on my early development of gardening philosophy and practice.
This short video says a lot in a few seconds and with few words. Be bold like Lady Bird!
Silphium laciniata seems to be doing really well this wet year. I saw this stand recently along Route 66 in NE Oklahoma.
Silphium laciniata (compass plant) stand along NE OK highway
