​Check out the new local cookbook from Edible Dallas & Fort Worth. Whether it's piquant chili con carne or watermelon soup, there's nothing quite like Texas cuisine. Now, Edible Communities celebrates the Lone Star State's culinary traditions through a close-up look at Dallas and Fort Worth. Here are recipes and specialties straight from the region's best chefs, growers, and food purveyors--farm-to-table fare like indigenous herbs and chiles; down-home grits, collard greens, and fried green tomatoes; mesquite-grilled meats; and fruit cobblers.

Don't miss my recipe for homegrown grilled watermelon and arugula salad on page 6! Right next to Chad Houser's salad recipe on page 7! Books will be available at North Haven Gardens in Dallas very soon!

Before the exhibit is taken down in November, you should probaby scoot over to The Dallas Arboretum to get a gander at the Chihuly installation. It's even lovelier at night.

Another plant I'm in love with...the majestic Cardoon. This Artichoke relative is massive and stunning. You NEED silver foliage in your garden. I tell you this because it's true, lol. These plants are tough, easy to grow and will provide you with stunning focal points in your garden, or containers.

Now, during fall, is the time to plant Cardoon. Now, they don't look like much in a 4" pot, and even in a gallon sized pot, they'll seem somewhat un-impressive. But you'll be amazed at the growth these plants will put on over the winter. By mid-spring, they will have become a 5-foot specimen that looks stunning with roses, Iris, herbs and more. But you have to plant them now! Cardoon are also an edible, however you harvest the stems, not the blooms. If you want to read more about Cardoon in my garden, check out the current fall issue of Neil Sperry's Gardens magazine! You can also pick up copies (and plants) at North Haven Gardens.

Just a quick photo from Big Bend....This gorgeous grasshopper (still need to ID) just happened to jump right into the palm of my hand on a hike. He/she was AS BIG as the palm of my hand.

What a beauty! Now, I realize that these critters are not always welcome in the garden, but you have to appreciated it's style, no? This one will be going in my sketch book...

Plant Iceland Poppies in Fall for Cool Season Color

I'll admit, I'm totally in love with Iceland Poppies. I've been pushing them on you for years, and I'm afraid that is just not going to stop! The translucent papery blooms in all the colors of sherbet are just to die for. In Texas, you need to plant them NOW! They will bloom through the fall and also put energy into putting down a good root system over the winter. Then, in early spring, they will pop back out in full-blown bloom and continue through spring/early summer. But you have to plant them in fall to get such a display.

Iceland poppies are the perfect companion for Dutch Iris, Tulips, Mexican Feather grass, Daffodils, you name it! Butterflies and bees love them too. Just so happens, I'm planting mine today. I like to plant them in groups of at least three plants, but usually five plants. I plant several groups of them around the garden in order to provide repetition of the colors. Those are also the spots where I have Dutch Iris and will drop in some Tulips. Planting some extras will also allow you to use them as a cut flower. Gorgeous...just gorgeous!

I travel quite a bit from mid-summer through fall. Hence my lack of blogging! Most of these travels are for work. Conferences and buying shows where I check out all the new plant varieties and goods for the nursery trade to prepare for the spring season. But the trip I just returned from was personal. It was a West Texas journey. Out to Marathon, then Marfa, back to Marathon, Fort Stockton, Big Bend, then Terlingua. And back.

I have lots of photos to share both from my work trips, so you can check out some cool new plants and products, but also some wonderful photos from Big Bend National Park and West Texas in general. This photo is from the Chisos Basin in the middle of Big Bend. There had been a rare deluge of rain a few days prior so plants were popping out in bloom and greening up. Stunning. Enjoy!

If you think that just because temps are cooling that you need to put away the gardening tools...think again! In the South, now is the time to plant cool season vegetables and herbs, such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, lettuce, dill, cilantro and so much more! The cool season garden can be much more productive and is easier to care for than the summer garden if you live in areas with extreme summer temperatures. You have through early- to mid-November to continue planting these crops. Then a last spring succession can be planted again in February for spring harvest.

Want to go with seed? Now's the time to start direct seeding carrots, lettuce, spinach, chard, beets, turnips, radishes, dill, cilantro and more! So get some organic compost into your veggie beds and get planting!

One of the veggies (fruits) you can count on harvesting, even in 107 F degree weather, is the Tomatillo. This little tomato relative produces shiny green fruits surrounded by a paper wrapper from the calyx. The fruits look like little paper lanterns hanging from the plants once they start to mature. Plant in a sunny location and keep regularly watered. Otherwise, these babies are easy to grow! You'll also hear them referred to as "ground cherries', although this can be confusing because technically that common name refers to plants of the genus Physalis, a relative to the Tomatillo.

One important thing to note about Tomatillos is that are not self-fertile. This means you'll need to have at least two plants grown together in order to have successful pollination. Three or four plants is much better! Tomatillo plants will sprawl to 4-5 ft. wide and around 4-feet tall (but can get taller!). Typically, you'll want to harvest the Tomatillo's while the papery shell is still a bit more green than those I have in the photo. I've been remiss in not harvesting mine often enough! But, they till roasted up great.

I love making a "green" sauce or salsa with my Tomatillos. I just pop in the oven under the broiler on high for about 15 minutes, along with some peppers from the garden. Let the peppers blacken a bit...the Tomatillos should be beginning to blacken in bits, and be soft and popping before taking them out of the oven. I just through it all into my vitamix blender with a bit of salt. Yummy! You can also add garlic if you like a more traditional salsa flavor. Enjoy!