LIFE'S A GARDEN

Happy Easter! In the gardening world that means a lot. We have always used Easter as the magic date to make your next move in the garden. This year Easter is unusually early so we can only hope that the old wives tale will hold true. I don’t remember a year in my life that we had a frost after Easter. I may be forgetting one, but it has always astounded me that somehow mother nature knows to call it quits on all this funny business after Easter. Like last year, Easter was in

Green Oak nursery is a Jackson icon. My mother and father started this garden center in 1960. They were pioneers of their day as there weren’t many garden centers at the time. I think Callaway’s and Barnes Brothers started just about the same time or maybe a little after. My parents were friends with those guys as they all started this business together in Jackson. Garden c enters have come a long way since those days as is common with the garden center business and family

So far this has been a wild spring in so many ways. We’ve had temperatures in the upper 80s and we’ve had temperatures in the upper 20s all in a two week period. These warm days with relatively low amounts of rain have allowed for a lot of progress in our yards. The big question so far has been whether or not to start adding plants that are tender to the cold. Those plants that were cut back early enough like roses, and most of our perennials, have a lot of tender growth on t

Emmanuel came running around the corner to ask what was going on. I told him we had an emergency and needed to get back to the airport as quick as possible. He said he could make it happen. The lady from Delta airlines came on, understood the situation and asked what I would like to do. I told her we needed to get to Mississippi at all costs. Even if she had to put us in the luggage rack and reroute us through Hong Kong, I wanted to be on the front end of that storm before I

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, it’s like I’ll never learn. It feels like spring is here and it’s only early March. I know better than to start planting certain things before Easter but it’s really hard to stop myself this year especially. We are doing some big projects in our yard getting ready for the garden tour in May. That part I’m not worried about that’s a lot of Dirt Work and Woody ornamentals going in. But what’s making me itch are the bedding plants that are

Mom and I had a couple of coffees and then got on a boat that took us down the Nile River from the source. Mom and I both have now been on the end of the Nile river and the beginning. Back in the 80’s mom and dad came to Egypt to visit me and we took a boat down the Nile. The boat that we were on this time had other travelers on it, so we were able to meet some people and take some really great pictures of all the animals that congregate anywhere that there is plenty of water

By the time this article hits the mailboxes it will be February 20th. It already feels like spring is here, although I’ve been fooled before. I’ve been looking at that ten day forecast, and I just don’t see anything that says otherwise so far, but as we all know here in Mississippi we could be dancing in ice by next week! I know this is supposed to be a gardening article, but I’m just not finished with my Uganda trip yet. I am trying to at least incorporate some about the flo

Last weeks article was about a portion of mine and my mothers adventure to Uganda. We had experienced our first few game drives, some on foot and some from the vehicle. We were full of breakfast and had enough coffee running through our veins to get us to the next rest break on our 6 hour journey. We were heading towards the national park called the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one of a few habitats suitable for the 400 remaining Mountain Gorillas left on the planet. We were s

Last week Mom and I had arrived at our first night in the capital of Uganda, Entebbee. We woke up the next morning feeling no pain from the flights to get there. We had a need to get our legs moving so we took a walk around the gorgeously landscaped grounds of our lodge. We had a fresh fruit breakfast and found out then and there that Uganda was serious about their coffee. I should have known since Uganda is Africas leading exporter of Robusta and Arabica beans. Robusta is na

I have a story to tell. The story is one the wildest rides I’ve experienced yet. On the afternoon of January 11th Mimi dropped my mother, Rita Martinson, and me off at the Jackson International airport. We were bound for the East African country of Uganda. As any one from the Northside knows the airport is one of the most awkward places to kiss your main squeeze goodbye. They give you about 30 seconds to get your bags out of the car, get a smooch and a hug before they start h

I DO LIKE TO challenge myself. I get a kick out having some private goals that seem laughably impossible to reach. These self competitions are usually nothing major, just a list of things that would be satisfying at the end of the day or week or month if completed. I prepare for these lists as if I’m packing for a trip. I’ll have everything prepared in order to have a chance of getting to the end goal. I also count steps up flights of stairs. For some strange reason I’ve know

I told Mimi last night that I sure do get myself into some crazy situations. She looked at me like “Really”? We have only known each other for 40 years so she’s been a part of most of the nutty stories. This will be the beginning of one of the nuttier ones only this time she won’t be wit h me. By the time this Northside Sun reaches the mailboxes it will be my birthday, Friday the 16th, I will also be deep in Uganda on the equator. Yep, I am off on another life changing expe