Case in point. I belatedly went shopping for soaker hoses last weekend, (I know, I know - this should have been done in March. I SAID "belatedly". didn't I?) only to find that they were sold out - everywhere. "Come back next week." they told me. "We'll have a new shipment in by then." Instead, I decided to return home to my invitingly cool house, crank up the computer and surf on-line. Bad idea. 

Now, if I'd found them at the store, I'd have grabbed the first ones I saw, but sitting in my comfy chair, with a cool beverage, this aberrant cheapskate gene kicks in, and I spend hours looking and comparing, until I find the best bargain. Which turns out to be a 50 footer by Swan out of Lowe's.com. 

But lookie here -  Lowe's offers free shipping on orders over $50! So if I add $30 to my order, I can get it all delivered right to my door at no charge, and avoid the ARDUOUS process of detouring two blocks on my way home from work, parking  & walking the whole 25 feet to the in-store pickup counter. (Obviously, my "thrift" gene tracks effort as well as money.)

Well, I can always use a few odds & ends. Might as well get an extra hose, some hose end menders and make several smaller soaker hoses for the short beds, too. And, oh - they've got that porch glider I wanted on sale - wow, I'm really saving some big bucks today!  

So, shopping for two $9.75 soaker hoses cost me $155.00 + tax. But hey, the shipping is free!

Think that's pretty funny, don't you?  Wait for the rest of the story.......

The glider doesn't ship, I have to make that trip to the store to pick it up anyway.

The soaker hoses are not round, they're flat, so I can't do my cut & paste to fit them in the small flower beds. Anybody need 3 hose end kits? 

And, they're not really soaker hoses, they're "Soaker Sprinklers" which, instead of dripping evenly onto the soil surface, squirt little streams of water, right over the tops of my plants and onto the driveway. (Guess why they were on sale.)

Which, of course, I don't find out about until I've spent two hours uncoiling & placing them.

And, finally, I'm told that I can't just return them to the local store - they shipped to me, if I don't want 'em, I have to ship them back - at my own expense, of course.

Darn you, Grandma!!!

Looking for an unusual, interesting present for your Dad?

If he likes to cook (or even eat), I have a suggestion.

 Make him a patio salsa garden!

In a 24" (or larger) pot, plant:

1 tomato plant - Celebrity or Goliath works well.

 1 jalapeno  pepper plant

 some chives or pearl onions

 1 cilantro or culantro plant

 1 parsley plant

 and some lemon or lime verbena

 He'll have everything he needs for homemade salsa!

If he's more into italian, you can do:

1 roma tomato

1 bell pepper plant

and add italian parsley, garlic chives, oregano and basil.

Happy Father's Day!!!

I must be a pretty good mom, because my daughter has given me a rose garden for Mother’s Day. Well, the potential for one, anyway. Which she knows is the best fun of all for me.

 She lives way up north in Chicago, but we chat back and forth all the time, frequently about gardening. She was forcibly exposed to it as a child, one of her chores being to weed the vegetable garden. I thought I’d ruined her for life, but the gardening gene kicked in when she bought her first house, and hasn’t quit.

She knows my plans for the garden at my new house. She knows that I have to go at it piecemeal, as funds become available. She also knows my favorite Houston garden center, so – BINGO! – I have a very generous gift certificate to spend.  She explained it to me by saying “I could have just sent flowers, but I’d rather give you flowers for life.”

I DID tell you she was very smart girl, didn’t I?

So, I have a 18’ x 3’ bed along the east side of my house, right in front of my bedroom windows. Since I used it last fall to grow vegetables, the soil is in pretty good shape. I’m thinking that I can get one climber and 4 to 5 bushes in and still leave enough space for good air circulation.

I’d prefer old fashioned or antique roses, in different colors, suitable for cutting and – most importantly – very aromatic, so I can open the bedroom windows this fall and sleep rose scented dreams.

Help me out – what are your favorites? Also, any planting/ soil preparation advice would be greatly appreciated!

I've never met a gardener who wasn't a kid at heart. Maybe digging in the dirt & getting your knees dirty keeps the inner child more alive.

I've also never met a gardener without a band-aid on his or her finger. I have one on right now. Got into a wrestling match with a reluctant weed. I won, but not without a little bloodshed.

Because I had a lot more to accomplish before it rained, I quickly washed the cut, applied a little antiseptic & grabbed the first band-aid to hand. It happened to be a batman bandage out of a packet I'd purchased last summer during a visit from my grandson. And it made me smile every time I looked at it.

Remember how much fun you had with the decorated bandage your mom applied to that skinned knee? It was a badge of courage, an honorable wound prominently displayed, inviting grizzly discussion amongst your friends. It even made it hurt less.

So, why aren't there any deco bandages for us older kids? Why is it assumed that we want to disguise our justly earned wounds behind a boring, flesh colored wrapper?

They have designer checks, why not designer band-aids? I think it's a great idea. Mine might be puppies, or blue skies with fluffy clouds, or flowers of course.

What would yours be?