Now Playing at Your Local United- The Birds!

I have been fascinated by the grackles who have chosen the trees at United for their winter roosting site. This is not an advertisement for United, by the way; that just happens to be where I do my grocery shopping, which means I see those birds when I go to the...

Let’s Talk Dirt!

A reader asked about the soil I use with my cactus and succulents the other day, and I casually responded that I mix compost dirt and perlite. Later I realized that really wasn’t a very helpful answer! I suspect he is not the only person who grapples with that...

A Few More Winter Blooms

Not much going on with the cactus and succulents these days. Thanks to our very cold, very dry winter, the outside plants are in really sad shape. Those in the greenhouse and barn are faring much better, not doing much growing yet, but here and there I find spots of...

Love as Strong as a Horse

I was ten and my sister Louise, or Weesie as I called her when I was learning to talk, was sixteen when she died in 1957. She was diagnosed with leukemia in September and died the following April. My parents were devastated, as parents would be, but mine had a love...