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reddirtramblings

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You guys have heard me talk about the meadow/wildflower garden Bill and I planted last October in the our upper pasture. We sowed 25 pounds of wildflower seed from @americanmeadows.
Well, I have exciting news! The perennial seedlings are starting to emerge, and I just had to share that with you.
Hopefully, the bees, including my honey bees with their tiny, short tongues, will find enough flowers for forage this year. Also, I planted for my adult butterflies, although the regular perennial garden has lots of plants for long-tongued native bees, butterflies and their caterpillars to munch on.

Although I grow vegetables and roses, growing plants for wildlife is the primary focus of my garden for the last several years.
Why do you garden? #wildflower #wildflowers #garden #nativeplants #pollinatorgarden #gardening #plants #mygarden #growsomethinggreen #savethebees #savethepollinators #instagarden #greenthumb #gardenlife #botany #gardener #butterflyrancher #reddirtramblings #gardens #plantsarefriends #bees #butterflies

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I'm thinking a lot about seeds today. I have a million seed catalogs.
I'm exaggerating! But, I do have a lot.
Sometimes I buy all of my tomato plants. Other years, I start them all from seed. Some years, I do a mixture of both.
@indygardener and I recorded our weekly podcast this morning, and I said I was going to buy most of my plants from Lisa Merrell, the Tomato Man's Daughter, in Tulsa. I also said I'm going to grow all of my plants in @smartpots this year.
Then, I saw this photo from a couple of years ago, and it made me want to start my own tomato seeds again. I tried to find the name of the tomato, but I wasn’t able to. Isn’t it the cutest though?

Sometimes, it’s hard to decide. What will you do this year? Should I take the easy route and buy plants, or should I bite the bullet and grow from tomatoes from seed again?
#tomato #homegrown #growsomethinggreen #growyourownfood #vegetablegarden #gardening #gardener #mygarden #instagarden #kitchengarden #gardenlife #organicgardening #tomatoes #backyardgarden #ruralgarden #cottagegarden #gardensofinstagram #gardeninspiration #inmygarden #growyourown

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Want to have more butterflies, bees and birds like this beautiful red Cardinal? More insects in your landscape mean more birds. Baby birds eat a lot of smushed up bugs in spring. Ask their mamas.
First, don't use pesticides. If you have an infestation of some creature, start with the least harmful thing first. Soapy water liberally applied often helps. Birds will eat a lot of your insects too.
My second tip is to grow native plants. This happy Cardinal and two other bird friends are taking cover and staging in this American wisteria 'Amethyst Falls.' After I lost 80 of my roses including all of my climbing roses, I replaced eight different climbing roses with native vines.
It was the best gardening decision I ever made. If you'd like to learn more about how to attract butterflies, bees and moths to your garden, and in turn, birds too, come see me at the OKC Home and Garden Show this weekend. My butterfly, bees and moths talk is Saturday at 3:00 p.m. For everyone who can't come, I'll be writing a blog post on this subject very soon. Look for it next week.
#pollinators #savethebees #pollinatorgarden #savethebees #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #cardinal #gardenblogger #birds #bumblebees #carpenterbees #nativeplants #birdwatching #instagardenlovers #gardeninsects #instagarden #loves_garden #gardenlife

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Even if people can't agree to love stinging insects like bees and wasps (also good pollinators), I bet we can safely say everyone except two of my daughters loves butterflies.
I took these pics in my garden late last summer as the Monarchs migrated through Oklahoma. Did you know you can help the Monarchs and other butterflies pretty easily? In the first photo, two adult Monarchs sip on Stachytarpheta 'Nectarwand Red' false vervain, an introduction from @bustaniplantfarm.
It’s a great nectar plant.
However, don't just plant for adults. Plant for their caterpillars too. If you'd like to learn more, come see my talk on attracting butterflies, bees and moths to your yard at 3:00 p.m. next Saturday at the Oklahoma City Home & Garden Show at the Oklahoma City fairgrounds.

Stay warm Oklahomans! Spring will be here before you know it.
#honeybees #monarchbutterfly #butterfly #lepidoptera #butterfliesofinstagram #insect #falsevervain #moth #butterflies #insectagram #insects #monarch #deenash #reddirtramblings #redflowers

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Here’s another view of my back garden for our #summergardenfestival.
For those who don’t know, I decided to use this hashtag so we can share our gardens from last summer. Most of us either have snow on the ground right now, or our gardens are basically brown. That’s usually an Oklahoma winter; a brown garden. Boring, but necessary to see this later. Everything and everyone needs rest.
If you want to join in, just use the hashtag. I’ve found everyone’s gardens a refreshing respite. Thank you all!
#gardenblogger #mygarden #deenash #landscape #instagarden #oklahomagarden #oklahomagardening #roses #focalpoint #gardenlife #instagardenlovers #lovegardening #gardenlove #growsomethinggreen #gardendesign #jardin

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My greenhouse at night taken by the iPhone 11 Pro.
To me, the greenhouse is like a small ark in the Oklahoma winter landscape. In its confines are many of my precious plants two-by-two. #gardenblogger #gardening #greenhouse #nightphotography # #mygarden #myoklahoma #greenthumb #gardenlife #nightimages #instagarden #deenash #reddirtramblings

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Thanks to my Instagram story yesterday, I got my answer! This is a Chinese evergreen, red Aglaonema. Many thanks to @costafarms @gardenmedia and @carol.wycoff for their ID assistance. I'd love to tell you I know everything about plants, but just like anyone else, I learn more every day!
That's one of the great joys of loving plants and gardening. Red aglaonema can have red foliage or pink like mine.
I just love pink plants, and this one is super easy to grow. It is also a relative newcomer to the houseplant scene. Mike Rimland, a plant hunter with Costa Farms, found these multicolored versions of the original Chinese evergreens. They can grow in indirect, bright or low light, although they need more light to look their best. I water mine every two weeks, but it can go without water for several weeks.
Truly, it's almost bullet proof. I can't wait to share it with all my local friends when I speak on houseplants next week at the OKC Home & Garden Show. My two talks on houseplants are on Saturday at Noon and Sunday at 3PM. If you're local, I hope to see you there. I'll have a bunch of my houseplants for show and tell. I'll also share garden tips on how to keep them all happy.
I'm bringing my own plants so you can see which ones I actually grow and find the easiest.

Feel free to repost this or put it on your story if you think it will spread the word and help people know about this fabulous, easy plant!
#pinkplants #gardenblogger #deenash #reddirtramblings #gardenblogger #gardenspeaker #gardenwriter #gardening #houseplants #indoorplants #indoorplantphotog #indoorgarden #foliage #chineseevergreen #redaglaonema #tropicalplants #plantstagram #crazyplantlady #instaplant #greenthumb #growsomethinggreen #plantlove #instaplants #plantsarefriends #indoorgardening #greenfingers #plantlife #plantsofinstagram

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I've been going through photos, and I came upon this picture from last summer of Hemerocallis 'Sherry Candy,' and honestly, it just took my breath away.
This is exactly what it looks like in my garden. No enhancement of the photo. Straight out of my camera. It's not a new variety. In fact, it was introduced by Stamile in 2006. In daylily years, that's an older cultivar. I've tried to find where you can buy it. Maybe on the lily auction? I don't know why it's called the lily auction because daylilies aren't true lilies, but I digress.
Want to hear how I got my double fan? I was volunteering at the daylily sale a few years ago at the Central Oklahoma Hemerocallis Association, our local daylily club. They have a sale in the spring each year, or did. Anyway, two members said I simply had to have this one. I'd not heard of it, but I've always blessed those ladies' hearts for telling about this truly fine plant. May 'Sherry Candy' grow large and bountiful for the rest of my gardening days.
#plants #daylilies #sherrycandydaylily #stamile #gardening #blooms #hemerocallis #beautyforaday #flowersofinstagram #flowerstagram #flowerporn #flowerlovers #flower_daily #instablooms #blossoms

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