Year: 2008
Propagating Pyracantha from Cuttings
Here are some rooted cuttings of Pyracantha augustifolia also known as Firethorn. This is a very good plant to use in the landscape for privacy hedges and for attracting wildlife. Birds and insects both love this plant. Insects for its white flowers in late spring and the birds for the bright orange berries in fall … Read more
My Project List: The Done or Begun List
My rain garden is well underway and now is the time to plan my next project. I still need to plant the rain garden so it will remain on the list but there are a host of other projects to talk about. This will be the first of two posts. One post is just to … Read more
Plants I am Planning on Planting: Salvia splendens ‘Flare’
Salvia is a excellent plant to put in a garden. They are drought tolerant (which is important in Tennessee) and look great. They also come in many colors including red, pink, white, orange, blue, and purple. Depending on where you live and the variety you choose it may be a perennial or an annual. According … Read more
Weather Report: Cold with a Chance of Snow
A chance of freezing precipitation was in the forecast for today, but knowing how Tennessee forecasts work I did not put much faith in it. The forecasters begin talking about frosty weather several days in advance and there it remains, several days in advance. It just never seems to arrive. Tonight it did! Above you … Read more
From my window…
From my window I can observe the court of the reigning king of the hill. This prince of the porch reigns supreme as no one is willing to stand up (or fly) to challenge him. His desire: to save all the suet for himself. This king is no magnanimous monarch, there is no generosity associated … Read more
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day: Berries and Blooms
I didn’t want to just have one plant to show so I added the Nandina above. Its berries are showing some pretty good winter color. Here you can see the tiny blooms of our Mediterranean White Heather. Erica x darlelensis would look great as mass border planting. Too bad I only have the one, I’ll … Read more
The Rain Garden
Here you can find links to my posts about building a rain garden. The First Step to RecoveryDigging the Rain GardenWorking on the Rain GardenThe Rain Garden is Almost DonePlanting the Rain Garden(still to come)
Helpful Gardening Hints: Back Saving Wheelbarrow Techniques
If you are like me, you may have never given your wheelbarrow much thought. It really is a gardener’s best friend. This garden companion is with you in all seasons and through all manner of tasks. The poor little guy is taken for granted yet never complains and always does the job. Often it isn’t … Read more
The Rain Garden is Almost Done
The rain garden is very close to being finished. We worked most of the day and managed to get the soil put in to make the planting bed. All that is left to do is to select plants and cover with mulch! Here’s a look at today’s progress: Here is where I ended the other … Read more
On Today’s Agenda: Working on the Rain Garden
Here’s just a quick list of what needs done with the rain garden in chronological order. 1) Finish excavation: I need to expand the “Big Dig” to its final size. I’m not 100% sure how much bigger I’ll make it but I want to shape into more of a curve. I also need to finish … Read more
Mistakes, Blunders, Goofs and Gardening Gaffs
It’s a simple fact of life that you will eventually make a mistake. You don’t know when or how, but sooner or later everyone will make a gardening goof or gaff! Mistakes range from the minor ones like forgetting to water your peace lily during the week (why do I keep repeating this one?) To … Read more
Digging the Rain Garden
Thanks for guessing at my post the other day called Digging a Hole. Creative title right? Nan of Gardening Gone Wild, Tina of In the Garden and Gloria of Pollinators-Welcome all guessed right, it’s a rain garden. Our driveway is a slope and at the bottom of it is an area that collects and pools … Read more
Adventures on a Warm Winter Day!
On Monday Tennessee had near record temperatures in the upper 60’s. On Tuesday it got warmer. According to the local television broadcast Nashville hit 71 degrees Fahrenheit which ties a record set in the 1800’s. The warmth has left us now but we took advantage of it while it was here! Here’s what we did: … Read more
Plants I am Planning on Planting: Nepeta (Catmint)
If you don’t like kitty cats then perhaps you should not read further! If you can at least mildly tolerate those wayfaring strays, then this plant that I plan on planting this year might be good for you too! It has some profound benefits that don’t necessarily involve fraternizing with your feline friends. The plant … Read more
Plant of the Week
I’ve been neglectful of this feature this past week. So in an effort to get back on track after the holidays here is this week’s Plant of the Week! Let the commenting begin!
Digging a Hole
During the wonderful yet wacky weather yesterday I accomplished several chores and started a few others! What do you think this hole is for? It is about ten feet across and five feet wide at its widest. I dug the hole about 18 inches deep at its deepest point and about 12 inches in the … Read more
There’s a Greenhouse in my Garage!
Yesterday I did a fair amount of organizing in our garage. The primary goal was to fit my wife’s car in it but I also had an ulterior motive: organizing the garage would make it more usable for all the future projects I have planned. We have a bunch of boxes that are now stacked … Read more
Is it Spring Yet?
Is it spring yet? The weather sure seems like it! Today and tomorrow we are looking at temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s. Yesterday was warm also in the lower 60’s. The difference today will probably be the sun. That bright orange combustible ball of incandescent gas is out and warming things up instead … Read more
Some Pictures of Early January in Tennessee
Here are some pictures that we have taken of 2008! Here is a snowfall on a very cold evening. I like how the white snowflakes are captured, frozen in time, by the reflected light of the flash. A visitor to our new bird feeder! This white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinesis) is cracking open the shell of … Read more
New Uses with Old Lumber
I did some collecting yesterday in the cold drizzling rain. Some friends of my parents wanted to get rid of a pile of wood that used to be their deck. They remodeled their house a while back and hard-scaped around the pool so they didn’t need the deck. The lumber was sitting near their garden … Read more
A Short Walk Outside
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 … Read more
Gifts for a Gardener
This post may be a little late as Christmas has past us by over a week ago, but why not share some gifts that should make gardening easier and more fun over 2008? For those who enjoy wildlife, birds, and the outdoors bird feeders are a necessity. We already had three bird feeders but one … Read more
Plant of the Week: Trillium grandiflorum
This plant of the week resembling a swooping bird is known as Trillium grandiflorum! Trillium is a member of a group of plants called the ephemerals. And no, it is not some sort of new rock band, but a group of flowers that appear in late winter and go through a two month cycle. They … Read more
What Do You Compost?
Even in winter compost happens. It may be slower but those microbes are still hard at work turning your pile of waste into “Gardener’s Gold.” You can compost all sorts of vegetable based materials. I even heard a news story not to long ago in New Jersey where they compost roadkill carcasses! They bury the … Read more
Gardening in 2008 or NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS (insert dramatic music here!)
Happy New Year! It’s that time of the year again when everyone thinks of how they can do things better than last year. What can they improve? What should they never, ever do ever again? People call them RESOLUTIONS (insert dramatic music here). While there are certainly things that I can do better and improve … Read more
