Today at Home Depot, I was surprised to find that you can buy french fry seeds.
You grow fries, they grow you!
Saturday, August 26th, 2023 Alive 19,114 days
Does your landlord know about this?
Thursday, June 1st, 2023 Alive 19,028 days
Rough patch
Saturday, May 20th, 2023 Alive 19,016 days
The Houston Botanic Garden isnʼt the worldʼs greatest botanic garden. Itʼs probably not even in the top 100. But itʼs less crowded than Hermann Park, and after a long series of misguided “improvements,” it's added a coffee cart, so I keep going.
Is the poinsettia dead?
Thursday, December 8th, 2022 Alive 18,853 days
And wrikles, like you
Sunday, November 6th, 2022 Alive 18,821 days
You canʼt even spell New Haven
Saturday, November 5th, 2022 Alive 18,820 days
Guy looking at vines at the nursery: *Grunt*
Me: That one is nice and clingy if you want something that will climb brick.
Guy: You know about ivy?
Me: Just from my days at Harvard.
Guy: You went to Harvard?
Me: Lots. I used to deliver pizzas all over New Haven.
Guy: Walks away
Warming her cockles
Friday, October 28th, 2022 Alive 18,812 days
Brown thumb
Thursday, October 27th, 2022 Alive 18,811 days
Come get some dinner
Thursday, October 27th, 2022 Alive 18,811 days
Sweet potato you got there
Thursday, October 20th, 2022 Alive 18,804 days
A neighbor I’ve never met before knocked on my door tonight and gave me this. She’s moving out, and found it in her refrigerator. She’s admired the garden on my balcony, and thought I might take care of it, since she’s leaving.
Over my wife’s objections, I have put it in a pot with some dirt, and we’ll see what happens when it has sunlight to work with, and not just the dim bulb of a refrigerator.
I can’t imagine what the rest of her refrigerator looks like.
Common name
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 Alive 18,802 days
A butterfly came to visit my garden tonight. Itʼs called a common buckeye, but to me itʼs most uncommon, because I donʼt get very many butterflies.
Monarchs rule
Saturday, September 3rd, 2022 Alive 18,757 days
An idea percolates...
Saturday, September 3rd, 2022 Alive 18,757 days
Rain-dappled?
Friday, July 1st, 2022 Alive 18,693 days
BushX
Saturday, June 25th, 2022 Alive 18,687 days
Om nom nom nom
Sunday, June 19th, 2022 Alive 18,681 days
I decided to see why the holes in my Swiss cheese plant are so much larger than they should be, and found this little guy curled up in the garden.
I guess I should squish him or spray him or something. But I think Iʼll just let him have the plant. I can grow another. And the world needs butterflies more than I need yet another plant. Plus, birds gotta eat, too!
I shall call him “Herman.”
Youʼre a pond hen
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022 Alive 18,655 days
Political posies
Tuesday, March 29th, 2022 Alive 18,599 days
It is said that in Houston, you can plant broomsticks and grow brooms. Itʼs a way of saying that the cityʼs location, geology, and weather are so well-suited to growing plants that if you canʼt grow something, the problem is you.
Thatʼs mostly true, but only if you get enough light. If youʼre in a north-facing apartment, youʼre just as hampered in your growing efforts as someone facing north in Chicago, or Los Angeles.
To grow plants in Houston, you need a lot of sun to counteract all of the excess moisture you have to deal with. That's why under the city's proud canopies of oak trees, the vegetation is usually sparse, or in varying states of decay. If you get dappled sunlight, you might have luck with foxtail ferns, but the important word there is still ”luck.”
A good example is at Houston City Hall, where the mighty oaks spread their branches, bogarting the sunlight and leaving everything underneath to rot. It all looks really bad. But in the sunny spots, you can see the landscapers are doing a great job with the flowers.





Tulip service
Saturday, February 26th, 2022 Alive 18,568 days
There are parts of Houston that are really ugly. But there are also parts that are really pretty, and very often those are places where the city has made an effort to plant flowers.
I wandered through Main Street Square in the rain today, and the flowers are in full bloom.





Howʼs the gift shop?
Saturday, February 19th, 2022 Alive 18,561 days
I spent the morning at the tree museum. I think the Houston Botanic Garden will be really nice in ten years or so. Today, it looks a lot like itʼs just barely gotten off the ground. Lots of saplings on bare earth. Bulldozers. Sections cordoned off for construction. Urban hillbillies riding quads over the exhibits.
I became a member last year, but probably wonʼt renew. The benches that were nice for sitting on and looking at nature have been removed. Itʼs doing concerts now, farming for restaurants, and charging unwarranted prices to walk through its Christmas lights display. Even members have to pay, which is very unusual amongst serious musea.
It has a good location, and lots of potential. I suspect that the financial pressures of COVID have caused its leadership to lose its way in the forest.









Searching the web
Sunday, October 10th, 2021 Alive 18,429 days
Itʼs tiny
Monday, September 6th, 2021 Alive 18,395 days
Seed round
Thursday, May 27th, 2021 Alive 18,293 days
The two sunflowers Iʼm trying to grow in three-inch terra cotta pots have gone from silly to ludicrous. Oneʼs about four feet tall, the other about three-and-a-half. The seed packet said theyʼd grow to between 12 and 20 feet tall. Theyʼd better get a wiggle on if they want to reach that height before I move.