It’s spring in Oklahoma! The first day was Friday and it was in the nineties. It might snow yet. Love those April snows, thick and don’t last too long. And we may break one hundred degrees. You never know. But my grape hyacinths and forsythia are blooming! The irises are standing up looking like they are thinking about spring blooms, and I have trouble bending over to tend them after back surgery last fall. I am thinking I might sit down and clean them out and then struggle to get back up. No matter how old I get, I still want to garden. Or maybe I should write about it and not get my hands dirty. We’ll see.

But the perennials never die. At least I hope they don’t. There are leaves on the Clematis and the Phlox are greening up. I’ve been thinking about what to put in the pots on the front porch—maybe an herb this year.

Have you ever grown a perennial fern in a shady side garden? I love ferns. I’m thinking about trying some this year. How hard can they be if they come up by themselves in every forest in the world?

My grandmother grew a massive garden in northeast Arkansas during the Great Depression. It fed a family of ten. It was on one side of the house with the fruit orchard on the other side. The chickens ran lose during the day and the milk cow was out back. She was less than 5 feet tall and had eight babies. She was tough. I doubt I am anywhere near as tough as she was, but I hope some of her green thumb was passed down to me. She’d shake her head at how lazy I am but maybe I can grow a few things.

So, tell me, do you garden? If so, what do you like to grow and are you successful?

What are you reading, writing, growing, or creating this week?