Fertilization and plant nutrients are often a mystery for many newbie gardeners...and experienced gardener's alike. While I find soil biochemistry and nutrient analysis fascinating, I'll bet that my soil chemistry books would substitute for sleeping pills for most. I get so many questions about fertilization and plant nutrients, I thought I'd start a series of plant nutrient profiles in order of importance. Don't worry, you won't have to read a thesis; I'll keep it simple and break it down easy so you can take the info and run with it in your own garden.

The first in the series is of course: Nitrogen (N)

What does Nitrogen do? In basic terms, it promotes leafy green growth. Plants typically need a good amount of Nitrogen to thrive. Nitrogen is fast acting, promotes the growth of leaves and other vegetative green growth. A Nitrogen deficiency produces pale or yellow small leaves, weak growth and spindly shoots. Too much Nitrogen can stunt flowering.

So when do you need to add Nitrogen to your soil? At the beginning of the growing season in early spring, and then several late-spring and summer applications to turf grass and veggies. In warm climates you can also add Nitrogen to all plantings in early fall, but not too late: New leafy growth encouraged by Nitrogen is more suceptible to frost.

Nitrogen can be added in liquid form or granules. Liquid forms will be taken up by plants right away, so they are good to use if your plants are Nitrogen deficient. But they don't persist in the soil. For a slow release effect, use a granular form. Organic fertilizers typically top out at about 9% Nitrogen, but you can apply them regularly without fear of damaging your plants. Blood Meal is a good source of Nitrogen. Animal manures such as cow, turkey and chicken manure, will naturally provide about 18-22% Nitrogen so they are a great boost especially for veggie gardens; but they can burn plant roots if used fresh; compost manures for best use.

Legumes and Vetches, such as peas and fava beans, can fix atmospheric Nitrogen in the soil. They form a beneficial union nodes in their roots with soil bacteriain the genus Rhizobium, which help convert Nitrogen into a form useable by plants. Rotating legumes and vetches around your garden is a great way to provide free Nitrogen.

So, to keep it simple, Nitrogen = Green.

Lavender plants like dry hot conditions...so it may seem like a no-brainer that Lavender should perform very well in Texas, right? Well, not so...Here in North Texas, we have particularly heavy clay soil that doesn't drain well when wet. This is the kiss of death for most lavender plants. Many Lavender plants don't even make it through their first year planted before they succumb to exces moisture.

There are some varieties that perform better than others. I've had particularly good luck with this 'Goodwin Creek'. Of course, you should alway plant your Lavender "high and dry" meaning plant it in a higher spot in the garden, so it receives better drainage, and don't plant it where it will receive excess irrigation. Plants need to dry between waterings. You can topdress your plants with expanded shale to keep moisture away from the crown of the plant. Always plant in full sun. If you've struggled with growing Lavender in the garden, give it a try in containers.

Lavender is also a favorite of the bees...bonus!

An Unusual Spinach Substitute

For those of us that live in warm climates, we can't grow things like spinach and tomatoes at the same time....we actually have to split our edible growing seasons into "winter" and "summer". Spinach and other leafy greens thrive from fall through winter, but quickly bolt as our summer heat comes on. So how do you manage to keep in fresh leafy greens from the garden year round? Look for alternatives to the cool season greens; like Malabar Spinach.

This beautiful warm-season vine produces fleshy edible spinach-like leaves on purple stems all summer long. Now, it doesn't taste exactly like spinach, but that might be a bonus to some at it has a milder flavor. You can use it just the same as you would spinach; by cooking older leaves and using small young leaves in fresh salads. Not to mention, it's a beautiful ornamental. I grow mine on decorative trellises or other supports.

I don't know about you but I'm a big fan of "re-seeders". Those are crops that "come true" from seed and volunteer themselves all over the garden. Now, some re-seeders can be a nuisance, yes, but re-seeding edible crops come in quite handy. One of my favorite re-seeders is Dill.

My husband has asked me more than once..."so, why did you plant all this Dill again?" To which I always answer "I didn't, it planted itself". I suppose my front garden does contain what might seem to be a ridiculous number of Dill plants at this point, but they're just so pretty...and I happen to love Dill. There are of course other re-seeders in my garden, such as Arugula and Mexican Feather Grass. But none so prolific as the Dill. What are your favorite garden re-seeders?

As I get more questions about the new 'Black Diamond' Crapemyrtles and where to buy them, I thought I'd post this video about them from the LSU AgCenter.

Also, you can mail order plants from Plant Me Green and Sooner Plant Farm. Now, these are brand new plants, so do expect availability to be limited at this stage and don't expect to pay bargain prices!

If we're lucky gardeners, we have at least one special "garden buddy" that we've shared our gardening triumphs, failures, photos and obsessions with over the years. I'm lucky enough to have one of those garden buddies; my pal Carolyn Hestand Kennedy over at The Bark Tree garden blog. We met when I was 19 or 20 years old, her 22 (as best I can remember), whilst working at my first garden center, The Green Fiddler just outside of Denton, TX. I'd been working at the roadside nursery for a couple of years already. While we were a 3-acre facility, there were only ever 2 or 3 employees on staff at any time. One day I showed up to work to discover Carolyn there, who'd been hired by our colorful owner Carol Watson (really, Carol was a badass, but colorful sounds so nice!) Now, Carolyn and I traveled within the same circles and had both been in the art department at UNT (University of North Texas), but somehow had never crossed paths until our meeting at The Green Fiddler.

Being that I worked alone most of the time, I was tickled pink at Carolyn's arrival. We hit it off straight away...two artists with a plant addiction. Let me tell you, we quickly became the LIFE of every party we attended thereafter. I kid: Our endless one-on-one plant-centric conversations quickly drove off all bystanders. Somehow that never seemed to bother us. With Carolyn and I holding down The Fiddler fort, the owner Carol spent more time away. Our power team of two regularly handled the nursery all alone. Again, we had 3-acres so this was no easy feat, especially on weekends. Let's just say we earned our garden center chops in spades. Interestingly, there were plenty of male customers that seemed quite happy to let us load 50 or 60 bags of mulch into their trucks for them without assistance. Hmmm. LOL.

In any case, we lost touch for bits of time off and on over the years, but our love of plants always brought us back together. I left for grad school for Horticulture up in Michigan,while she headed off to New York for a career in graphic design. Eventually, I returned to Dallas as curator and research director at The Dallas Arboretum. Eventually for Carolyn, the plant bug was too strong for her to resist. She called me and I recommended she take up an internship at a botanical garden, which she promptly did at Wave Hill and spent another five years there.

Actually, it was during this time that Carolyn talked me into starting this blog...six years or so ago? Blogging was how she was keeping track of her garden goings-on and she wanted a way to keep up with mine. How could I refuse? So the growLively garden blog was born. All these years later and we're both still at it.

Three years ago, when Carolyn was ready to relocate to Dallas with her husband and young boy, she called me up to see if I could find a good horticulture position for her in town. DUH. I told her on the spot I'd give her a job if she could manage to relocated to Big D by March 1st. So she quickly packed up her small family and motored down to North Haven Gardens, the garden center I was running at the time. Me and Carolyn back together at a garden center. Full circle, eh? Carolyn is now the Marketing Manager for NHG and I'm out on my own...but I still consult for her on marketing needs. I'm so happy that after all these years, Carolyn and I are not only still friends and plant buddies, but also work colleagues in an industry we both love.

And yes, we can still run you off at a party in about 90 seconds flat with our planty banter.

So in honor of this fruitful gardening relationship, I give you "Food Flub", a gem of a gift given to me by Caro in 1993. Carolyn has quite the talent for "comics", but I'm convinced this is the best one EVER. It's based on a true story, which is awesome. What is even better is watching Carolyn act out this little comic of hers and sing the "Acorn Cake" song. A tiny yet dramatic moment in our gardening relationship brought to life. Cross pollination can be terrifying. Love you Caro!

Obviously, this artwork is copyrighted by Carolyn Hestand Kennedy. Reprint without her permission or Steal any of it, and I'll hunt you down with my garden mattock.

Need some new ideas for your spring and summer containers? How about unique pottery ideas? Check out my recent Gettin' Dirty segment on WFAA's Good Morning Texas show! The beautiful handmade pottery is complements of Redenta's Garden Center in Dallas, Tx.

Heads up folks, Sunset Magazine is hosting a photo contest for a chance to win a copy of the book "The 20-Minute Gardener".

To win a copy of the book, you just need to take these easy steps:

1. Like Sunset on Facebook: facebook.com/sunsetmagazine

2. Between now and May 20th, post your photos to the Sunset facebook page with the hashtag #20minutegardener

On Tuesday May 21st, Sunset editors will select the five most inspiring spring garden photos and winners will be announced via facebook. In addition to winning a copy of The 20-Minute Gardener, contest winners will be featured on the Sunset facebook page, Sunset’s blog, and westphoria.sunset.com.

Always looking for a good excuse to take more plant photos...as if I didn't have enough already!