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This is how it starts, the happiness of spring. ???

March 24, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Spring has sprung in my garden and I’m feeling the happiness of spring. I worried about my tulips when our temperature plunged to a rude 25 degrees a few days ago, but bulbs are hardy and they were unfazed. Last night we had wicked weather and I spent some time in my safe place. I felt a little silly sitting in the closet with my purse but with “TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY” warnings blasting through my phone and television and tornado sirens wailing in the neighborhood, I decided I’d feel even sillier when I woke up dead.

Lucy and Annabelle wanted nothing to do with holing up in the closet. I see regular tornado drills in our future.

Luckily, we survived. Our flowers survived. I pray everyone else did because it seemed to be a severe storm. Maybe it blew the crazy March winds out of here…

So back to spring.

Check out this daffodil. What a gorgeous surprise. It bloomed from a bag of bulbs labeled mixed yellow varieties.

daffodil

Continue Reading

Happy Sunday! Happy Spring!

March 20, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

happy spring!

Just a quick post to say Happy Sunday, Happy Spring, and go away winter. Today is the first day of spring but it doesn’t feel like it. I’m so over this cold weather. When I left Austin it was 92—not that I look forward to the hot summer because I don’t—but tonight our low in Fayetteville is 25 degrees.

Over.It.

My tulips are about to bloom. I can’t protect my whole yard from the heavy frost we will most certainly get.Continue Reading

Blue and the Bluebonnets

March 12, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Blue and the Bluebonnets, Austin, TxMeet Blue. Blue belongs to my daughter, Kelsey, and she belongs to him, and they live in Austin where the bluebonnets are in full bloom. It’s a great relationship except for the fact that she broke her ankle and he’s a puppy with tons of energy and they live in an upstairs apartment and she’s in law school and I’m sure you can understand why I might be in Austin for a few days. While there’s never a good time to have a broken ankle, it worked out well for me considering the bluebonnets.

So Blue and I go for walks in the bluebonnets.

U.S. News and World Report named Austin, Texas the #2 place to live just ahead of #3 Fayetteville, Arkansas (where I live). I’m pretty sure the bluebonnets pushed Austin ahead of Northwest Arkansas. Bluebonnets and Tex-Mex food, no doubt. And, of course, all of South Congress.Continue Reading

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of:

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Why a Rainy Day Is the Best Time to Visit a Botanical Garden
  • Happy Birthday, Theo Gruene!
  • Sunday Letter~ 05.17.26
  • Sunday Letter: 03.29.26
  • Sunday Letter: February 22, 2026

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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