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A display at the recent Young’s Plant Farm Annual Garden Tour caused quite a stir not only within the industry that day, but on my Facebook page as well. I would like to take credit, saying it was my beautiful photography but to be honest when you look at a planting and say something like Holy Wow or Oh Wow, it is always the plants. The display was really a trifecta of award winners that just happened to come together and the Crème de la Crème was Blue Mohawk rush or juncus.

Like you, my heart has been with the victims, their parents, children and the people of Uvalde. My mind struggles with how such a horrendous act could have ever been conceived – and, honestly, I question how such a terrible mission was ever envisioned by a person with so little life experience.

The persona usually emerges during the birth of a woman’s first child. It’s been described many ways: the motherly instinct, a woman who is unapologetic for her choices when it comes to her children. The Urban Dictionary’s definition is: “A mom who can be cuddly and lovable but also has a ferocious side when it’s necessary to protect her cubs.

The Ladybird Lemonade is an idyllic groundcover in this setting with Vermillionaire cuphea, Luscious Citron lantana and ColorBlaze El Brighto coleus.

New in garden centers this year are a couple of Ladybirds. When you see the name Ladybird associated with a plant you can assume a few things, native DNA, great for the environment and most likely Tough-as-Nails.

Some say life in the good ole days was a lot easier. Maybe so. At least folks had a well-worn life script to follow.

Our Taste for the Tropics just got a lot larger this year as Proven Winners has added five new Hawaiian Ti varieties under their Proven Selections label. This brings the Cordyline group to a total of eight selections. Most of us have never seen a named variety of Hawaiian Ti known botanically as Cordyline fruticosa or Cordyline australis.

The Cover of Life by R.T. Robinson has been extended over Memorial Day weekend with performances on May 27, 28 and 29.

It took me years to believe that some people are just plain mean. I’m sure I had passed my 50th birthday before this realization occurred, and it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took some time, going over family history and life experiences before I realized: some people are just mean. They go out of their way to hurt others… to put down a co-worker…nit-pick someone’s performance, their appearance, financial status, house, car, children, educational level, etc.

Caution: If you are not comfortable reading about death and dying, you may want to skip this column.

A funny thing happened on the way to May... I have what looks to be a million tiny yellow flowers. It happens every year for about 4 to 6 weeks but no one talks about it some even look away. In fact, Lemon Coral sedum was the 2019 Proven Winners Annual of the Year, yet I don’t remember flowers being mentioned. While I am at it, I will add, I have never had one die either. The truth, or caveat to that is that I have lived my whole horticultural life in zones 7b-10. In other words, fairly mild to warm climates.

My first remembered encounter with a nurse was in the office of our family’s pediatrician. It was time for some type of inoculation and I didn’t want to play. Dashing out of the examination room, I eventually reached the waiting room, where I sought refuge under an unoccupied chair. Not a good decision!