Interested in interesting people of Dallas? Check out the newDallas People 2012 issue of The Dallas Observer that's on newstands right now. Jim Schutze of The Dallas Observer was kind enough to include me in the issue and I'm honored. This chicken thing has gotten pretty popular...but I swear, I'm a horticulturist! But I'll go ahead and take that new title of "The Chicken Quihote" and slap it on my resume. Why not?! LOL

Leslie Halleck and her chickens

It's about that time of year when I start getting asked a lot of questions about why your tomato plants either haven't set fruit, or are not ripening on the vine. The first question I'll always ask is "When did you plant them?"...if you're here in Texas, or similar Southern climates, and you tell me you planted on April 15th, then I'll yet again wag my finger at you and tell you "that's too late!' There is an optimal temperature range for both fruit set and ripening in tomatoes. If the average day/night temperature is hotter or colder than that optimal range, you'll have poor or no fruit set or ripening. That's why it's important to get tomato transplants in the ground as early as you can push it. Here in Texas, depending on the weather, you can plant as early as late February. Ideally, you'll get them in the ground mid-March. April 1st is my absolute cutoff for planting; so plants have time to mature, produce flowers and set fruit before temperatures get too hot. Now, I know some of you will say something like "well I have cherry tomatoes and they are still fruiting..." Yes, that's often the case with smaller-fruited varieties. They are generally more heat tolerant.

Starting this weekend, you can plant your second crop of fall tomato transplants. Get them in the ground by mid-July. The 4th of July is always a good target date.

If you want to read more specifics about fruit set, ripening an the effects of temperature on tomatoes, you can read THIS POST.

Ok...we've gotten off easy the last couple of months with all the mild temps and rainfall...but SUMMER IS COMING... so it's time to mulch folks. That's what I'll be doing this weekend. Mulching all the new and old beds. On yard of mulch down...only 7 more to go. I think I'd better go ahead and take the ibuprofen now! yeeesh.

So, what are you folks doing in the garden this weekend?!

I've been harvesting some fruit off of my 'Golden Mama' tomato plants over the last few weeks, but the big haul is beginning to come in! I filled this obviously inadequately sized bowl to overflowing today, and there are plenty more fruits to come.

I'm also harvesting some wonderful 'Black Cherry' heirlooms. I've saved the larger fruit for slicing, but what to do with some of the smaller fruit? Well, one of my favorites and super easy thigns to do with cherry or small tomatoes is marinate them overnight, then roast them. So some of these babies will be going into a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary from the garden.

I'll let the tomatoes marinate overnight, then tomorrow, I'll pop them into a 425F oven and roast them for 15-20 min (15 minutes is typically adequate for cherry sized tomatoes, I give it an extra 5 minutes for larger fruit). And there you have it, the most delicious soft warm tomatoes to serve on top of bread, crackers, or anything really. YUM. I wish it was tomorrow already!

Just came across one of my shots of huge blue agaves in Ecuador...wow. They were truly stunning! (Most of my travel photos end up being plants...I know..it's a problem!)

Interestingly, small farmers use them to create living fence lines around their crops, like corn that you can see growing behind the agave, to keep the cattle out of the fields. It creates quite the fascinating landscape scene! Here, we'd drool over this impressive specimen as a pricey garden feature...But in case you're looking for a creative ideal to keep the deer out of the veggie beds..here ya go!

I pulled this photo because I was thinking about agave in general this morning. As we go into the heat of the summer here in the South, we're all looking for plants that will establish easily, even with heat and watering restrictions. If you have a good local nursery, you should be able to find there a variety of agave species in many colors and sizes to fit your needs. While you may not be building a living fence, you might simply be looking for some showy feature plants for containers on the patio or front stoop. You can plant agaves by themselves in large containers, or you can mix them with other succulents with similar water needs.

If you're intersted in learning to put together stunning succulent containers, and you're in the DFW area, you'll get a rare opportunity to learn how-to from Cody Hoya of Terrain Horticultural Design, on Saturday June 9th at 1pm, at North Haven Gardens in Dallas. You'll learn about the plants, concept, and maintenance for creative succlent containers. You leave the class with a good understanding of how to create a drought tolerant, modern, sculptural and beautiful design. At 2PM Cody will do a short pop-up class out in the garden center to talk about available succulents. Don't miss it!

Texans..it's about that time to harvest your garlic, if you haven't done so already. Click HERE to read more about garlic

Here's the story on NBC5, with Omar Villafranca, on urban backyard beekeeping! Enjoy.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Shot a segment today with NBC 5's Omar Villafranca on backyard bees in the city! Should run this evening on the 10pm news, but if it's rescheduled I'll repost.

if you're interested in keeping bees in the DFW area, check out TBA www.texasbeekeepers.org for links to your local group, where you can take classes and attend regular meetings.