Isn't it wonderful getting more sun? I've had lots of treework done (mostly Norway maples and thinning), and my lot has gone from mostly shade to partial shade. I want more sun! I have a plan with my tree guy to take down the last huge Norway maple in my yard as soon as the snow melts (we have about 2 feet right now). I can't wait to get rid of that thing and grow more stuff. :-D I grow bronze fennel and it doesn't produce the bulb. That is "Florence fennel" and it's a cultivar of Foeniculum vulgare that has an enlarged bulb. It is similar to celery but has a mild sweet licorice taste. I cook them with brussel sprouts and carrots, or other winter veggies. It sounds like the pesticide applicator is targeting the woody plants. Hopefully he won't hit the host plants. Next time you see the sprayer, I would go over and ask him about the herbicide. Probably Triclopyr or 2-4-d. I think they kill broad leaf plants but not grasses?

Nell, Sassafras trees are not native in Oklahoma. When I was taking the scenic route through NC through the mountains, we stopped in the little mountain community of Highlands. I bought a Sassafras walking stick as a souvenir to take home to my son who was house sitting while we were gone. I bought two t-shirts: one for me and one for him that had the following words on them: "Hike Naked. It adds color to your cheeks". I get a lot of double take looks when I wear it. (hehehe) But we do have Hackberry trees everywhere, and they are butterfly magnets. I have seen the Spicebush butterfly here on my property from time to time. Not sure what they find here for their habitat plant(s) of choice, but they do come here to my place. Not sure if they are listed as a common butterfly in Oklahoma though. I was thrilled! Haven't spotted one yet this year. This is the first year that there haven't been any yellow Sulfurs, however. They are usually here in clouds, filling the air, so to speak. Last year they were spectacular! Those late freezes may have something to do with it. During the warm spell before the freezes there were butterflies out and about, bees and all. Then those three freezes hit in late March and early April and that may have killed them out. Don't know. I sure hope they return. I love those little yellows. They frequent my Salvias, especially the Lady in Red variety. Perhaps they will return soon, as my Salvias are just now starting to bloom. That is really late too. Darned late freezes messed everything up this year. Everything is way out of kilter time-wise. I couldn't find any Pentas this year. Wonder why? I love those beautiful flowers, too. Maybe we gardeners were butterflies in a former life. :) The high temps have returned again today. UGH! Clouds are building again and rolling in. Big, white clouds, coming out of the Northwest and fairly low to the ground. I hope, I hope, I hope we get more rain...and the lower temps return. Hope you all have a wonder-filled Fourth of July. May it be a memorable day for you all. Going out now to add horse manure-hay mulch to more of the flowers beds and fruit trees. It is really making a big difference already. Have a good one! ~Annie

Oh, so pretty!!!

Ah, photos. I've never been good at organizing my own which ended up stuffed in lots of cardboard boxes-many still in the photo envelopes from back in the day when you got em printed at Walgreens or CVS. I also took all of the photo albums and loose photos when we cleared my MIL's house. And last year when my dad died I took HIS photos when we cleared the house. I've started going through them and as others have done, I was pretty clear about dumping certain categories. I do not save vacation pictures, or pictures of friends and friend gatherings. For some reason my MIL was extremely fond of taking pictures of rooms and household objects she had-gone. I took pictures out of albums and then loosely started organizing them in photo boxes, usually grouped by families and/or individuals. I use Shutterfly to make photo albums and I do enjoy that process. I made one of my BIL's life in pictures for what turned out to be his last Christmas, and he was very moved by seeing a lot of images that he'd not viewed in many years. Have done an album for my son in law of baby/childhood pictures of my daughter, which he also seemed to like. Still want to do my son's equivalent for my DIL--they dealt with infertility for several years so I didn't know if she would want to see lots of baby pictures but now they've had their daughter so I will probably do that for Christmas. I do struggle with discarding pictures of my kids; it's just so damn difficult to throw away their images, even the ones that are blurry or not well composed. I'm not generally very sentimental but photos are an exception, I am so reluctant to see entire batches of family images tossed out. And at least unlike furniture or other large objects they don't take up huge amounts of space!