Features

From time to time, I like to include historic personalities in this column, men and women never mentioned in my history classes, grade school through grad school. I have only heard about, read about and researched these folks within the last decade. Yet, in my humble opinion, many were differencemakers in their time. I’ll begin this Women’s Month’s series with one of Washington’s early social arbiters who wielded amazing power in the nation’s capital during her lifetime. Her name: Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931).

The Esperanza is one of those shrubs that brings about hope and anticipation for the growing season. Actually, that is what Esperanza means in Spanish. As a gardener who got his horticultural roots in Texas, I can tell you the Esperanza is a plant to be treasured and even more so with the debut of Chicklet Orange in 2022.

I wanted to share this story as we end another Black History Month:

Shasta daisy lover will rejoice as the Amazing Daisy collection is more than doubling with the addition of three new varieties for 2022. The Garden Guy can hardly wait to get his hands on Amazing Daisy Marshmallow.

Once upon a time in mid-October, a pair of bald eagles built a nest near White Rock Lake in Dallas. The structure, located in a cottonwood tree, was engineered their new home with an exterior of large twigs. The eagles decorated the interior with softer materials, making it suitable for nesting.

There is not a gardener I meet that doesn’t crave plants that are all about Blooms, Birds and Butterflies. Shoot add Bees to it and you would have a surefire award winner. The Dallas Arboretum has one of the superior plant trials in the country and they gave the award for most Pollinator Friendly Perennial to Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues salvia.

In TV’s, STAR TREK, the series' scientists are seeking “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

The awards just keep coming! When I last wrote about the Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo it was in 2020 and was making its debut. It had already won 24-awards in trials even though it was just arriving to the public. Now the awards are 3-dozen and in fact the Supertunia Mini Vista series now totals over 160. How can this be for a petunia with the word mini in its name?

If you have gone complacent or perhaps even boring when it comes to scaevola The Garden Guy is here to tell you it is time to Crush the Color Combos. In the spirit of truth and candor I must say the Commercial Guys are waking us up and thank goodness.

As we held our breaths, awaiting last Thursday’s cold front, I probably wasn’t the only person in Dripping Springs who was looking back to last February’s “Snowpocalypse.” Okay. I’ll confess. I had been buying an extra case of water every week. I also was unpacking my heaviest sweaters, and yes, our family invested in a small propane generator.

Recently a post came across my Facebook that read today is January the 74th and by George I agree and I want change. I need blanket flowers or gaillardias. Ok I know February is too early but let this servenotice, start sourcing the award-winning ‘Heat It Up Blanket Flowers’ for spring planting.

As a bit of background, I was a proud supporter of NASA and our space program. No, I didn’t have dreams of becoming an astronaut -- not when I couldn’t summon the courage to ride the roller coaster at the State Fair. Not when I couldn’t ride the Tilt-A-Whirl with my friends without punctuating each ride with a rush to the restroom so I could throw up in privacy.