The 10 Best Dallas Suburbs - Grapevine

In a tie for the #4 spot, Grapevine was recently featured as one of the 10 best Dallas suburbs to live in.  Check out the article here

As wonderful as it was that Grapevine made the top 10 list, what made it even more special is that it was a picture of my yard was chosen to represent our fair city!    How cool is that?!!!    What an honor!

Grapevine is #1 in my book :-)

Happy Gardening in 2016!

Toni :-)

P.S.  As you can tell by the date of the previous post, I've been a little absent from my blog the past year.  I've been hanging out over on Facebook, so "like" my page:  Signature Gardens

It's Not Nice to Rhyme With Ice

Have all the poppies perished? 

Are the columbines soon to croak?

Winter became reality,

the icy forecast was no joke!

March 2nd ice accumulation at my entryway

Have the roses come to ruin?

Oh, the salvias look so bad!

Will they live to bloom another day,

when now they look so sad?

The catmint looks all crinkled

The spiraea lost its buds.

Will they have a second flush of growth,

or are they merely duds?

Triumphator Lily June 2013

Will the Triumphator lily rise again

to toot its lovely horn?

Or will this winter be its end

and leave me so forlorn

The day the icy precip fell

and temps began to drop ...

 The daffodils once stood tall and bright...

Ice Follies the day before the ice

...then froze and took a flop

The pansies and the kale in pots

I fear are finally toast.

No containers full of color this year

about which I can boast.

Colorful containers February 2013

 About right now the warmth of spring

would really hit the spot. 

I'm so ready for winter to cash it in;

I just hope my plants have not!

A few buds remain to comfort me

Maybe spring's about to start.

A little sign to bring some hope

for my winter-weary heart.

I wrote this poem to lift my spirits

after a winter filled with ice.

And even though the words may rhyme,

this winter's been all but nice! 

Take care...and stay warm!

Toni :-)

Dirt: The New Prozac

In a recent Outside Magazine article entitled "The Pursuit of Happiness," I found one of the "life-improving strategies" of particular interest.  
It is simply...

Get Dirty.    

 "Dirt may be the new Prozac. Working in soil raises your spirits, in part because you pick up cheerful germs while digging. University of Colorado researcher Christopher Lowry injected mice with dirt-dwelling Mycobacterium vaccae and found increased serotonin in the critters’ prefrontal cortex. Getting your own dose is as easy as taking a walk in the wilderness or planting something. You don’t need to wait until spring: even in the dead of winter you can sprout basil seeds in a pot on your sunniest windowsill."


You know, I always say, "A day without dirt under your nails is like a day without sunshine."  Who knew what I was really saying all along was, "A day without Mycobacterium vaccae under your nails is like a day without serotonin." :-)

As we start a new year with all kinds of often unreasonable, unattainable resolutions and goals, I think this is one resolution we can actually keep.

So get out there (or in) and get some Mycobacterium vaccae under your nails, and have a...

Happy New Year!  

Toni :-)

Frozen in Time

In my last post I shared pictures of the icy blast that hit our area the first week of December.

I have a decorative birdhouse that sits on the top shelf of my potting bench.   As you can see, it (along with everything else in my yard) was covered with ice.

As I looked closer at the icicles hanging from the roof of the birdhouse, I was amazed to see this single droplet of water frozen in a moment of time, suspended on a single strand of silk from a spider web.

It made me think about the critical timing of all of the elements that went into creating this scene.

 The spider had to spin this strand of silk at some point before it got too cold for the spider to survive the freezing temps, yet not so long ago that the strand could have been destroyed.   And then the rain had to fall in just the right spot that it landed on this strand, and the temperature had to be just the right degree to freeze this droplet of water before it fell off the strand.

Sometimes it's the little things in life that I marvel at most.

I hope during this busy holiday season that you are not so overwhelmed by the big things that you miss the opportunity to marvel at the little things.

Toni :-)

You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Having a little more free time here on a cold winter day at the first of the new year, I have been visiting my garden blogging friends online in the comfort of my nice warm home.   David at Tropical Texana has inspired me to try my hand at making a photo collage.   Like David, I too have been admiring the collages of so many other bloggers; but since I am a bit of a techno-dinosaur, I had no idea how these collages were made.   

After doing a little research online, I came upon piZap.com, a free online photo editing program.    It was really easy.   No program to download.  I just clicked on the photo collage section of the program, chose the layout of the collage (and there are many choices), uploaded the photos from my computer photo files, saved the finished collage to my photo file, and then uploaded the collage to my blog.

Wow, a new year and a new trick.  How great is that?!!

I hope someone inspires you to learn something new today...

Toni :-)

Twelve-Twelve-Twelve

Another date must be recognized

It's not something we can shelve

Month, day, and year the same once more

For today is Twelve-Twelve-Twelve

Last year had Eleven-Eleven-Eleven

and before that Ten-Ten-Ten

Repeats of other special dates

Centuries of years back when  

Since we don't have a 13th month

Next year this phenomenon is done

That is until 89 years from now

On January 1, 2101

To celebrate, we could plant dozens of bulbs
or maybe pull dozens of weeds
Or look through dozens of catalogs
and order up dozens of seeds

Or maybe it's time for a little N-P-K

time to spread some 12-12-12
But whatever we do to commemorate this day
In the dirt of our gardens let's delve

Happy Gardening this 12th day of December 2012  

Toni :-)

North Shore Memories

On vacation this summer, we stayed at a cabin on Caribou Lake along the North Shore area of Minnesota.  Here's the view from the dock where we watched the sunset every evening and felt the cool breezes blow and heard the call of loons in the distance.    And I bid farewell to my 40s.

I greeted my 50s with a hike to waterfalls at Cascade River State Park.  The water is the color of root beer because of the minerals in the soil and decaying vegetation.

I saw this wildflower all over the North Shore area.


I believe this is called Fireweed (Epilobium angustofolium)

I am not sure what this groundcover is called, but the bright red berries caught my eye as we walked along the trail.

Update: Bunchberry (cornus canadensis)







I had to stop and pet the moss because it fascinates me.   You don't see a lot of moss growing in Texas in the middle of August!

I know this picture does not do it justice, but I tried to capture the beauty of the peeling bark of the white birch trees along the trails.

I call this next picture "Growth Through Adversity"

We all encounter hard places in our lives.   We can only hope that we grow through them and in the end we stand tall and strong, right?

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge

Psalm 18:2

For you have been rooted in Him 

and are being built up and strengthened in the faith 

Colossians 2:7

This old spruce tree was a little large in its midsection, and through the years it has grown a few more lumps and bumps.

H'm...come to think of it, 

that's just about how my 50-year-old body feels right now :-)

These large trunk nodules are called burls

Even the golf course was beautiful,
with rolling hills, rivers, boulders, and trees.

And flowers, of course.

These simple yellow wildflowers were especially beautiful with Lake Superior in the background.

We enjoyed our break from the Texas heat
along the cool shores of Lake Superior.

I brought back memories...

...and a few rocks :-)

Toni 

'Fireworks' on the 4th

How about some fireworks on the 4th of July!

Here's a variegated purple fountaingrass I tried this year in a container.  

Its official name is Pennisetum setaceum rubrum (wait for it) 'Fireworks'

I love the brightly colored variegated foliage.

And the soft fuzzy purple plumes.

I put it in a container by itself this year, but I think it would look great paired with sweet potato vine, purple heart, periwinkles, or pentas.

This is definitely a thriller that will add sparkle to any summer container garden.

'Fireworks' is an annul in my zone 7/8 garden, but it is no dud!  It takes the Texas summer heat with ease and makes me go ooh and aah as the plumes shoot up above the colorful foliage.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!  

I hope you get to see some great fireworks :-)

Toni :-)

Backyard Bling #3 - A Bridge to Somewhere

Several years ago I built a dry creek bed in my backyard.

The creek bed serves to catch water from several downspouts connected to underground drains that empty into the creek bed.   This year I had to reroute the tail end of the creek bed and transplant a Japanese maple whose roots were being exposed because of soil eroding away from the water running through the sometimes not-so-dry creek bed.

As I finished the creek bed revision, I thought, it sure would be cute to have a little bridge going over the creek bed.   I have been coveting admiring the little blue bridge in the woodland garden of Deb's Garden.  With the garden tour date quickly approaching, I figured there was no time like the present to add even more backyard bling to my garden.

So I got online and found just the bridge I wanted from DesignerBridges.com.    It came unassembled, but after the recent construction projects my husband and I have tackled, we knew we were up to the challenge.   They had already predrilled all of the holes for us AND they had written instructions to follow.   This was going to be a piece of cake!  And it was!!

Here is the finished project :-)

A flagstone path leads through my shady backyard.  The bridge connects the flagstone walk as it meets the dry creek bed.

One of my favorite shade plants, Farfugium (Leopard Plant), is in the foreground, and the transplanted Japanese maple is in the background.  

The bridge is made out of red cedar, but I added a natural cedar stain to the bridge after we assembled it to give it more protection from the elements.

This concludes our construction projects, but there is still more bling to come...

Please visit again to see another "tweet" addition to our garden.

Toni :-)

P.S.  I have not been paid to endorse DesignerBridges.com, but I have to say, I was very impressed with the quality of this product.  The online ordering was a snap!  The materials arrived in a very short time.  The cedar lumber was excellent quality, and the instructions were simple to follow.  I am so happy with our new little bridge, and I would highly recommend this company to anyone!