2 weeks until my book’s out: 5 ways you can help

“All at once, summer collapsed into fall.”

APPARENTLY MRS. ANDRE’S TOMATOES succumbed to “tiny insect things that will not leave our garden alone,” we hear this week from Himself, who very sweetly shared the actual sympathy postcard he drew for Herself on the occasion of her lost tomatoes.

“And so I said very little,” his email continued, “and hoped (as I tend to do with my more serious doodles about depression) that people such as yourself would understand the enormous thing I did not try to say. If that makes sense?“I shall get back to my slightly passive aggressive doodling now. Ha. I am currently drawing a ladies bottom. I am as yet unsure how this will eventually become a garden doodle.”Stay tuned, dear readers. Next week promises to be a doozy. (I love my Andre emails almost as much as my Andre doodles, frankly. Well, except ones like this Quantum Physics Diagram, which actually does relate to gardening…and about 500 others.)Thanks for being Andre, Andre. And yes, of course it mak

THANK GOODNESS WE HAVE ANDRE JORDAN to warn us of the dangers all around us in this hazardous hobby of ours. I confess that even though I tried to exhibit restraint in this year’s seed orders, a few extra things have found their way into my stash.

T HOUGH I HOPE MY FIGURE IS STILL A TAD BETTER THAN THIS GUY’S, despite all the dark chocolate and fig bars lately, he is definitely on to something: Miracles abound outside the window.

WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR? Just in case you want the musical answer to be indelibly imprinted in your brain today (thanks, Andre Jordan, for the power of suggestion), how about a spin through the 40-year-old recording of Karen Carpenter’s decidedly non-horticultural answer to this question? This doodle is one ins  aeries of Andre’s “Songs for Ex-Lovers” (his own, shall we say, arrangement of some all-time favorite lyrics, that is). I hope we can see the rest sometime.

BESIDES OUR SOMEWHAT OFFKILTER HUMOR, Andre Jordan and I have another thing in common: We not so long ago each headed for the hills. (Wait, are there even hills in Nebraska?)

LIKE THAT SCENE FROM ‘JERRY MCGUIRE,’ what does one better half of a worm, er, couple, say to another? Answer: “You complete me.” The mad doodler Andre Jordan’s latest offering also has me singing Peaches and Herb’s 1980 Grammy nominated “Reunited” (“I was a fool to ever leave your side/Me minus you is such a lonely ride”). I will spare you (but it is really funny if you read it looking at the doodle…OK, so I don’t get out much).

IWAS FEELING A LITTLE ADRIFT (IN A DRIFT?) MYSELF. I admit it.

To move the latest stories front-and-center, the header, or logo, is slimmer than it was before designer Kenneth B. Smith and the programmers of WebDevStudios helped me revise it, using Brian Gardner’s hot new Genesis framework for WordPress. (Besides botanical Latin, I also talk some geek. You’ll get used to the fusion.) Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the “action items” that are placed up top, above and in the header. For example:ABOVE THE LOGO, left to right:ABOUT will take you to the About page.

TO CELEBRATE THREE YEARS OF DOODLES BY ANDRE JORDAN on A Way to Garden–yes, it’s three years this week!–Andre and I have set up shop, finally delivering on your demand that we offer postcards of some of his weekly doodles. We’ve put together 15-card sets for just $10 a pack. The hardest part was selecting which of the archive to print first.

It’s just a start; some things aren’t even planted yet, and nothing has grown in, of course. But I wanted you to see what I’m trying (and tell me what caught your fancy for containers this year). Click on the first thumbnail to start the slideshow, then toggle from slide to slide using the arrows beside each caption. Enjoy.Other Timely Mid-June TopicsPots don’t need to contain soil; they can be mini water gardens. Here’s how. As we watch the spring garden crumple, remember: Nothing lasts (and that’s OK). Which oregano is the one that tastes good, please? So confusing! I first formally “met” doodler Andre Jordan last June. Here’s the doodle that drew me to him. Categoriesannuals & perennials container gardeningTagsMargaret Roach