Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Back in the fall I decided to take some arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) cuttings and test to see how well they would root over the winter. Propagating plants over the winter as hardwood cuttings has some big advantages so it was definitely worth trying. How I Took the Arborvitae Cuttings I used the same method for taking cuttings that I wrote…

I’ll simply title this next picture the off-season. If you garden, you know exactly what I mean! The leftovers of an Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower) seed head after the birds have visited.

Well the end of my rock posts has come…for now! Here’s a quick summary of what we did this week with rocks. Feel free to take a look back if you missed anything. If you rocked this week tell me about it! Sunday (August 16, 2009): I’m a Fan of Rocks Monday (August 17, 2009): And the Rock is… Tuesday…

I wrote about caryopteris last year so I won’t go deep into the details again but I thought you might like to see how I’m using it in the garden. First a bit of explanation. I once saw a picture of a row of caryopteris at Longwood Gardens and I thought “why not try that here?” The picture had caryopteris…

As the first frost approaches, now is the time to take essential steps to protect your garden and set yourself up for success next spring. Below are a few simple garden tips that can help you save money and preserve your favorite plants while extending the beauty of your garden into the cooler months. Propagating Tender Perennial Plants Propagating perennials…

Anyone else ready for spring yet? Have a look at some dianthus, it may help to sustain you until spring! Or it might just make things worse…It’s supposed to be 29 here today for the high. I think I’m ready for spring!

This post was meant for Saturday morning but our internet connection was down all day. I went outside yesterday for the first time in several days to tinker in the yard. I was only out for about 15 minutes (not including the time it took me to adjust our satellite dish) but in that time I checked out the little…

The weather this past weekend was perfect.  No rain, lots of sun and warm temperatures have given all the plants the kick they need to break their dormancy.  Hopefully they will remain safe from any heavy frosts.  I’m looking forward to seeing the blooms on this Sargent Crab Apple (Malus sargentii).  It was a just sapling a few years ago…

Today I did something I’ve been thinking about for a while, I ordered a new camera! My old camera has been great, it’s an Olympus D-560, but I’ve been thinking that it was about time for an upgrade. I began taking quite a few garden pictures when I started up this blog back in October 2007 and would like to…

The other day I went out to the garden and picked one of the best cantaloupes we’ve ever eaten. The taste of a store bought melon can never beat that of one that is homegrown!Cantaloupes are actually muskmelons (Cucumis melo ‘reticulatus’) that are given the name cantaloupe to sound more palatable. Musk just refers to the smell but if you…

OK gardeners and garden bloggers I need your help. Years ago I bought our first video camera to help film the antics of our children.  I bought it just before our oldest was born and many things have changed over the years. Essentially technology has made my old mini tape video camera obsolete. I can’t even hook it up to…

Several years before we had a house with a little land we had to garden on our back porch. Friends and people I worked with thought we were crazy but it really makes a lot of sense. For small spaces gardening in pots is an excellent way to garden. Many vegetables come in varieties that are perfect for pots due…

There was one plant that I knew I would purchase the second I saw it ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia. I found one last year on a discount rack and rescued it from an unknown fate. ‘Oranges and Lemons’ quickly became one of my favorite plants in the garden. It bloomed forever and had some really attractive seed heads shaped like…

My recent fascination with the snowy owl visiting our town isn’t something new, I’ve always been interested in birds and wildlife. Gardening and nature to me are so closely woven together in the tapestry of life that you don’t get one without the other, and if you do you’re doing something wrong. Nature in all it’s glory ultimately controls what…

These two crepe myrtles are holding strong to their color. Although these bright red and orange beauties are not mine, I did manage to get a couple seedlings from them to plant in my yard. Most people think of crepe myrtles for their summer flowering colors, but these two are evidence that there is more to a myrtle than meets…

I have to admit it, I’m way behind on the Facebook thing! I’m just now getting around to adding an official Facebook page for The Home Garden where people can follow the blog. Many other garden bloggers have already created pages there and it really looks like an easy way for people to keep up with their favorite blogs. So…

Here is the current list of seeds I have started so far. Only a few seedlings have popped up but more will come. It is still early and conditions outside are just now starting to warm up. I’m starting them in the garage under the cover of my mini-greenhouse and some plastic containers turned upside down as propagators. Spending $5.00…

Spring weather is at best fickle. One day it’s warm and sunny with temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s then next day the weather forecasters are bringing up the “S” word – SNOW! We didn’t have any of the white stuff thankfully. Sometimes I suspect that there’s a fair amount of weather sensationalism out there where bringing it up certain…