Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

While we were away last weekend picking pecans I snapped some photos of the setting sun. Sometimes I think wintertime sunsets are trying to make up for the lack of color in the garden and elsewhere during this season.This picture was taken overlooking one of the fields near my wife’s grandmother’s home.

Tonight while mowing I had no fear of the myriad of carpenter/bumblebees that were hovering through the garden. I was on my riding mower and said to the bumbles “my buzz is bigger than yours.”

Sometimes looking at plants from above just makes you think of more winter, more cold, more rain, more sleet , more snow… ‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum – seed heads …but if you look underneath you just might find a little bit more to look forward to! ‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum – sprouting Greenhouse Update: I completed some work with some concrete blocks…

Here are a couple videos that I pieced together of our backyard during the recent flooding rains. I do want to reiterate from my post yesterday that my experience was insignificant compared to how this flood has changed the lives of many fellow Tennesseans. We are doing fine with very few problems in our yard but please keep those people…

As you can see from the picture to the left that this tree has taken a beating. Last fall when the deer were out in force a buck decided to rut against several of my favorite trees. Coincidentally all the deer damaged trees were young trees that I had planted in the yard including two maples, a dogwood and one…

In the fall there are several iconic thoughts that spring to mind of most people. Cool crisp days evoke good feelings and memories created around fall festivals, apple cider, holidays, and other fall activities. One way to share the fall experience with your family is to add a backyard fire pit. What could be better than a cool crisp evening…

We’ve talked about how to pick your seeds and we’ve talked a little about the soil to use, but when should you start your seeds?  This is when good planning comes into play.  You want your seeds ready to go when it’s safe to plant but you don’t want to start them too early, so how do you figure that? …

Our unusually spring like fall weather has encouraged quite a few plants to either continue blooming longer than usual or bloom at a very unusual time!  I went out this morning and took a few pictures of what’s blooming in our Tennessee garden as a result of those 70 degree days we’ve had. Three different varieties of Achillea millifolium are…

Sometimes plants just want to fall open in the center. There’s an easy fix for this but it requires some spring stem tip pruning! Check out the video below for this very simple garden tip! How to Keep Plants from Falling Open in the Center

Here at Growing The Home Garden I’m a huge proponent of raised bed gardening.  Raised beds can be made of all sorts of materials and have all kinds of advantages for growing a garden.  Raised beds are great solution for many tricky situations in the garden. Here are a few ways that raised beds can help a garden that may…

For many years now viburnums have been one of my favorite shrubs in my garden. For the most part viburnums grow without issue, add beauty to the landscape, and provide sustainable for wildlife. What strikes me as confusing is why they aren’t more popular in the home garden? When in bloom viburnum flowers rival hydrangeas for impact. The rest of…

It’s been a few weeks since I last mentioned a notable weed but I can tell you that doesn’t mean the weeds haven’t been growing!  Ragweed and Johnson Grass are coming up in force with the warm weather and so is the weed I’m about to talk about today – pokeweed!  Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is a very prolific weed in…

Nope we aren’t talking football here but fall foliage! Monica the Garden Faerie has posted some fantabulous fall foliage! She also happens to have many of my favorite shrubs in her garden including fothergilla, Red Twig Dogwood, viburnums, and smokebush. I would be right at home in her garden, except or the whole Michigan cold weather thing! Go pay Monica…

Wild animals have always fascinated me and I think there are not many that have the beauty and majestic nature of the birds of prey. While we were at the Bloom ‘N Garden Expo on Saturday there was a table set up from a wildlife rescue group. I wish I remembered the name of the group so I could give…

Here are two more updates for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project! I want to take a second to thank everyone who has submitted a post so far. I’ve seen so many interesting places with fantastic colors and scenery that I never would have been able to see in one season! If you haven’t submitted anything yet don’t worry about…

It’s been a difficult year for many of use to get the optimum fall color shots since rains seem to be perpetual but Garden Lily has managed some very cool shots of her Canadian landscape! Cascading Japanese maples, beautyberry bushes, and burning bushes all provide some unique fall color in different ways. Go check out Garden Lily’s Flowers and Weeds…

It’s been a very, very long time since I mentioned anything new with the garden shed. Today I went out and took a look around at my overwintered plants, watered a few things, and saw some good signs that most of my plants made it through the winter – at least so far! Garden Shed February Update!

Last week I made some cuttings of my ‘Concord’ grape vine in an attempt to make a few more vines. Grapes are great edible plants to have in the garden whether you like eating them at the table, making juice, or even making wine.  Grapes enjoy a full sun location. Here’s how to propagate grapes from greenwood cuttings. How to…