Lifescapes

Bloodroot, Indigo, Dill and other Good Stuff

Whew. Lots of out and about this week, actually, virtually. This morning, I'm over at Crafty Gardener, blogging about three of China's mysteries: Bloodroot, Indigo Dying, and a Dilly of a Death. Be sure to enter the drawing, too. To you lucky winners--your books are on the way! There's still time (as of this moment) to enter the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday drawings, as well as today's. You'll find links and other info on the tour calendar page.

This is part of the group at the Kerrville Master Gardeners meeting. Thanks, Kathie, for setting it up, and thanks to everyone who bought books. We sold over $600 worth of books, on behalf of Story Circle. Way to go, guys. And it was fun, too, especially the Q&A. If you're in the Kerrville area, watch for a notice of the MGs upcoming plant sale.

And this is the very nice party the Berkmans threw for me at their wonderful bookstore, Berkman Books, in Fredericksburg, where the people just kept coming and coming, all evening long. People I knew, friends of China Bayles ("friends of the work," as May Sarton used to say), a gal from one of the local lavender farms, tourists, a whole gang. Most fun I've had at a signing for a long time (of course, that good local wine didn't hurt a bit, did it?). I've promised to go back in the fall for a Beatrix Potter event, so all you Cottage Tale readers in that part of Texas, stay tuned. And the next time you're in Fredericksburg, put Berkman on your must-visit list. They have several splendid collections of rare books and collectables. Both David and Lucy are real book hounds. Thanks, guys, for a wonderful evening!

Tomorrow, I'll be at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It'll be beautiful. Guaranteed.

Reading note. We are obligated to leave the country looking as good if not better than we found it.--Lady Bird Johnson

Mistletoe and moths

I'm blogging over at Rurality today, and won't detain you here. You really need to hurry on over there, not just to read my post on chiles, lavender, and mistletoe (which of course I want you to do), but also to see the absolutely stunning photos of a hummingbird moth enjoying a nectar snack from a Virginia bluebell (posted on Sunday, March 30). An intimate glimpse of an essential act.

When you've finished reading Rurality and entered the contest, here's something else for you to read: a brand-new review (just posted this morning) of Nightshade.

Reading note: Nothing in this world is really precious until we know that it will soon be gone.--Donald Culross Peattie, The Loveliness of Vanishing Things

Preview #1

The Nightshade Blog Tour is scheduled now--Peggy has posted the calendar here, and I've put up a blog roll of all the places I'll be posting. (Check out the right side panel for the list.) It's a terrific roster of blogs, and I thought it would be fun to give you some previews at the places I'm visiting. If you get a chance, skip on over and get acquainted with these host bloggers. Each of their blogs is very special, and they're all very different.

May Dreams  As winter wears on and spring seems far away, garden bloggers just have to have a little fun. May Dreams' "Let's Talk About Hoes," for instance. It's funny, funny--and do keep scrolling on down to the pictures. But I have to say that some of those hoes look like they might wind up as a weapon in a murder mystery. Do you think?

Carol (an Indiana gardener) has been blogging at May Dreams for over two years. She says, "What has been most amazing about blogging about gardening is all the connections I’ve made with other gardeners, whom I would never have known if not for our garden blogs and exchanges of comments and emails. For my own blog, the name “May Dreams Gardens” comes from the joy I feel about gardening in general, and especially about gardening in the spring.  As noted on my blog, all year I dream of the days in May when the sun is warm, the skies are blue, the grass is green, and the garden is all new again." Till then, of course, there are hoes!

I'll be at Carol's May Dreams blog on Monday, March 24, guest-blogging about the plants in the nightshade family. Join me there!

Cold Climate Gardening

Cold Climate is one of the longest-running garden blogs on the web, providing links, book reviews, and plant profiles to help northern gardeners (USDA Zones 4 and colder). It was created over five years ago by Kathy Purdy, who also writes for Horticulture, Fine Gardening, The American Gardener, and Upstate Gardeners Journal--a blogger with lots of writing and gardening experience!

Kathy says that she started blogging about her garden because she wanted to meet and become friends with other gardeners, and share what she had learned about gardening in a cold climate. But the more seriously she took her blog writing and the more time and effort she put into getting everything right, the more her blog felt like a magazine. "I was no longer merely chatting over the fence with a fellow gardener. I was writer, editor, and publisher rolled into one. An editor from a major gardening magazine came across my blog and offered me the chance to do book reviews. I’ve worked with that editor on several more assignments, and gotten brave enough to query other editors, resulting in other work." (You can read more of the history of Kathy's very interesting blog here.)

I love hearing success stories like this, don't you? Blogging is often an end in itself, but sometimes it's a means to another, surprising end. You just never know where life is going to take you. Now, Kathy reviews books, critiques products, and offers gardening suggestions, as well as reporting on what's going on in her own garden. And sometimes she hosts guests bloggers! I'll be at Cold Climate on March 26, blogging about the China Bayles series (specifically, about the herbs in the first three mysteries). Hope you'll drop in and say hello.

Oh, and when you do come by one of the blogs on the tour, be sure and register for that blog's book drawing. You'll find the link somewhere in the post. (The drawing will be open for only three days, so you'll have to be prompt.) Who knows--you just might win a signed first edition copy of Nightshade!

I'll have more preview peeks later on, so stay tuned.

Bloggers, listen up!

China Bayles and I are planning our Nightshade blog tour for the last couple of weeks of March and the first week or two of April. If you're interested in being a blog host for this tour, you'll find all the details and a sign-up sheet here. Deadline: February 24. After that, we'll start putting the tour together and will post the tour schedule on China's website (www.abouthyme.com).

Pecan Springs Journal

In June, I started a coleus collection. A neighbor watered the plants while I was gone, and the extra rain was a blessing. They're lush and gorgeous--a cheering sight, given the state of the rest of the garden. But we're making progress there, too, and I'm looking forward to the change.

This is a short post, just to tell you that I've started posting again at the Pecan Springs Journal. For the duration (while I'm writing Wormwood) that's where I'll document the writing of the next book in the China series. Let me know what you think about that, and what you'd like to hear about the writing process. Of course, I'll be posting here, too, as usual. I'm also doing additional book reviewing--more about that later.

Reading note. People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.--Thich Nhat Hanh

a celebration of trees

"I wanted to see the self, so I looked at the mulberry." Marvin Bell, "The Self and the Mulberry"

Pablo, a frequent commentator on this blog, is hosting the second-ever Festival of the Trees at the Roundrock Journal and invites us all to come over and explore links, admire photos, and enjoy quotations. He's posted a link to my post about the mesquite, and links to other wonderful posts that will make us all aware of the unending generosity of trees. And if you're a tree-lover and tree-poster, you might want to contribute to the third Festival, which begins September 1 and will be hosted by Bev at Burning Silo.

And here's a tree--a small one--to celebrate. This Texas native is the rough-leaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii) that grows so gracefully along our creek, somehow managing to look cool and crisp even in the wilting August heat. White blossoms in spring produce these white berries in late July and early August. They'll all be gone in a few weeks, eaten eagerly by mockingbirds, cardinals, jays, titmice, woodpeckers, even the crows. A bountiful feast that will surely yield--as nature has so happily arranged it--more forests of rough-leaf dogwoods in years to come.

AOL "issues"

If you're an AOL user and you've subscribed to this blog through Feedblitz, please read this. (If you're not, scroll down and look at the picture while we discuss a bit of a problem.) AOL may be bouncing your notification emails, so you don't know that the blog has been updated. Feedblitz is working on AOL's "issue," which is between Feedblitz and AOL (not between Lifescapes and Feedblitz). Once I get the current book finished, I'll see if I can add a few more subscriber options to the blog. In the meantime, please be sure that you have added FeedBlitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your permitted senders list (your "whitelist," as it is called these days), and check back here for updates.

Reading note, from the Feedblitz blog on their problems with AOL: "It is what it is and the proverbial something must be done." (Have you noticed how often the phrase "It is what it is" pops up these days? There are some things--like the Middle East, and the current heat wave--for which this is a perfect description. It is what it is and whining won't change it.)

Now, to happier things. This is Mexican turks-cap (Malvaviscus arboreus), except that it is not as pendant as other turks-caps, and I can't tell you what variety it is. More here. It grows under our cedar trees, in very dry shade. The red blossoms are like rubies, or like frosting roses on cakes. The hummingbirds adore the nectar and will hover for long moments, sipping.

China's blog

If you're looking for China Bayles, you'll find her at the Pecan Springs Journal, along with Ruby and the rest of the Pecan Springs gang. They are posting every Monday morning (at least that's the plan). Drop on over and see what's going on.

Oh, and hey, a big Texas thanks to everyone who emailed encouragement and suggestions for the new blog. You guys are the greatest!

apologies

...to those of you who tried to post comments to China's new blog yesterday. Typepad was having a Bad Hair Day. We're up and running at the moment (fingers crossed here). I'll leave the password on it for at least another day. To get in, here's your key: username chinabayles (one word, lower case), password ruby. Comments welcome!

hey thanks!

Good ideas here, guys. Keep 'em coming. China and Ruby want me to tell you that they're beginning to see how all this might come together. It'll take some work, though, and maybe a few weeks. If we can pull it off, we'll post the news here.

Reading note: "What I fear in writing is the safe decision."--Anne Rice