Please note that this May 1 column is on top of May 8’s column–scroll down to see it.

Our gardening columnist Maggie Beyer has the right idea: drink in the scents of the outdoors; dig in the dirt for stress management, nurture your soul in the garden while your plants benefit from your presence. Meanwhile, I’ve neglected my garden in order to hole up inside to surf for garden sites. Anyway, welcome the Merrie Month of May with some overlooked garden sites.

Garden Humor (http://home.golden.net/~dhobsen). This is probably listed on page 125 of a Google search, because it is a home-grown, low-ad, folksy kind of stop along the Web. The humor might be a little on the corny side, but sometimes that is very refreshing. The garden tours have some nice—maybe even under rated photos. The “news” is funny. And I like the name of the book for sale here: “Soiled Reputations.” Have a look. You might find an answer to one of your gardening dilemmas.

Plant Swap (www.plantswap.net). You might swap garden lovelies with friends and neighbors. On the other hand, you might be wondering where to find some obscure plant or impossible-to-locate seed varieties. This site could be your answer. It is basically a gardeners’ discussion forum—nothing fancy. That is probably because those who post reserve fancy for their gardens, not the Web.

Flower Garden News (www.flowergardennews.com). The contents are appropriate for “kids 1-92.” And there are plenty of articles and tips to read. It was here that I learned I could use a castor oil product to rid myself of a very pesky mole problem (ask me later if it works). If you have found some seeds from the Plant Swap website, you can download some printable seed packets here to put them in.

Herbal Gardens (www.herbalgardens.com). Find information about herbs, plus recipes for your home-grown favorites. The site also includes seed catalog information. Discover how herbs promote not only a kick to your taste buds, but also to your wellbeing.

Garden-Gate (http://garden-gate.prairienet.org). Be prepared for a huge repository of links taking you to specific information about gardening. There are free online books to read, virtual garden tours, and even an article about saving those dying indoor plants of yours.

Weed Identification (http://weedid.aces.uiuc.edu/). Are you persnickety about your lawn? Finding clumps of quackgrass, crabgrass, and unknown wild things that don’t belong? This double-framed page can help you learn about those weeds. Plug in descriptive information in the left frame, or use the right frame for a link to some of the more common weeds. What surprised me were a number of native wild plants listed, included prickly pear. These are in lower case letters; the nasty varieties are in all caps, if it helps you to know. Cats are not going to appreciate that catnip is listed as a weed here.

Prairies (http://inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairielinks). We live close to several wild prairies, and this web page gives you links to many of them. Learn the types of plants that thrive in each, and which birds and insects inhabit them.

As I embark on my semiannual trip to Arizona, I have had to surf for not one, but two columns before I left. That is my excuse for presenting a mish-mosh of unrelated sites this week. I’m really good at rambling aimlessly around the Web looking for interesting stuff to tell you about. You have no idea how many sites I reject in the process. Meanwhile, my garden is languishing from lack of care.

Not Always Right (http://notalwaysright.com). Have you ever worked as a retail clerk, or in a service-related occupation? If so, you will appreciate the postings of employees having to deal with a clueless, or rude, or irritating customers. But you don’t have to be employed in service to enjoy this site.  I became addicted to reading the stories (short enough for short attention spans) and was laughing uncontrollably at most of the postings. This is way more funny that many of the so-called humor sites.

Botany Photo of the Day (ubcbotanicalgarden.org). This is just what it says, plus much additional garden information. (See last week’s CyberScribbles for garden websites).

Everything Turquoise (www.everythingturquoise.com). Well, why not? Here is a website dedicated to things you can buy in that summery color, or close approximations, including teal, robin’s egg blue, aqua, sky blue, seafoam, and ocean blue. All in one place. Now you are going to ask me if there are similar sites dedicated to other colors, such as coral or peach. The answer is, I don’t know. I did not check. But if I were a betting person, I would say yes, probably.

Recycleholic (www.recycleholic.blogspot.com). I am writing this column on Earth Day. Is that not appropriate? And here we have a very sincere gentleman who is logging all of his efforts of keeping our planet as decluttered as possible in these complex times. This man is by no means preachy, just dedicated. So dedicated that he does the math to figure out the effectiveness of each of his recycling projects. Chances are that few people outside of his acquaintances find their way to this blog. I am glad I ran across it. This blogger deserves praise for his recycling efforts.

Etsy (www.etsy.com). Attention all artists! You need to know about this site, if you don’t already. With art fairs taking a nosedive in sales and popularity, and marketing efforts taking all of your energy, Etsy comes through with a way for you to sell your wonderful hand made pieces of art to customers around the world. Attention art buyers! You need to discover Etsy, too. First, patronize our local artists—they are among the best of the best anywhere, right here in your hometown and environs. If they don’t happen to have what you are looking for, you can place a request for a commission that Etsy artists can bid on. How cool is that? Browse through pages and pages of a variety of art mediums and learn about the individual artists. Many have links to their own web pages, too.

Scrap Album (www.scrapalbum.com). Are you a collector of ephemera? Then you will like this illustrated history of early traditions, with links to dozens of ephemera collectors and sellers.

I am two print columns behind, since I did not use the computer while gone. Meanwhile, please have a look at Rusty’s Morningstar Ranch, as featured on Houston’s Fox television station. That’s where I spent my vacation, and I’m particularly proud of the guy in the red cap worn backwards. He’s my son Brian.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6443295&versio
n=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1