Dirt Therapy

Author Daphne Simpkins will be signing copies of her latest novel "Cloverdale" on Sunday, November 6th from 1-3 p.m. at Coldwater Books in Tuscumbia. I have known Daphne for years. She is a fantastic speaker and a wonderful writer. She teaches writing at Auburn University at Montgomery and she is a member of the Alabama Humanities Foundation Speaker's Bureau. She has published four books: "Cloverdale" , her latest novel featuring her character Miss Budge, "Miss Budge in Love" (a collection of short stories), " Nat King Cole ", a biography for children and "The Long Good Night" , a memoir about caring for her father while he was ill with Alzheimer's disease.  Question :   Why did you write a novel about older people?   Did any publisher warn you that older people were not an attractive subject for mainstream readers? Answer:   Yes.   I was warned that the age of the main characters was not a strong demographic for sale...

This plant used to reside next to the walk near the front door but it suffered from too much shade. After the debacle with the cryptomeria , I had more room and moved it here. The additional sun has helped tremendously and it is loaded with blooms and the stems are not stretching for the sun rays. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

The Angel's Trumpet is one of our most spectacular plants. It is one that can stop non-gardener's in their tracks to inquire about it. We have a glorious yellow one (most likely "Charles Grimaldi") growing in our vegetable garden area in a raised bed next to the street. It grows tall and stately, extending above the hedge, and the blooms are on display to anyone driving or walking past. I'd often had people stop and ask me about it when I'm out there working.   They are very easy to grow but oddly, you don't see many in people's gardens. This could be due to their reputation. All parts of the plant are poisonous to both animals and humans if ingested. We've always had pets around and I've never seen one munching on one so I suspect they have enough common sense to stay clear of them.  Brugmansia (and the closely related Datura ) are in the Nightshade family and are well known as plants that can induce wildly hallucinogenic states. The...

I've been working on the fall and winter pots for the past few weeks. Pansies are really the only flower you can have through the winter. Snapdragons will bloom through the fall and come back again in the spring. And then there is ornamental kale and cabbage. I remember growing it once before when I was pleased with how it looked. Other years it would bolt and look awful and not display much color. I decided to try again this year.  The major problem I have with planting the fall pots is that I can't bring myself to tear out the summer plants that are still looking good. I would hate to work a public place where you have to rip out perfectly good plants to put in the next season's display. I can see why it has to be done but it hurts me to do it. Therefore, I'm searching for pots all over the place and trying to decide which plants I should throw out. I have an inner conversation in my head that goes something like this: "Oh, I forgot all about all the pots ...