Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

All the telltale signs of fall are upon us. The leaves are beginning their changes and one of the first to highlight the season is the sassafras. It’s a beautiful fast growing native tree here in Tennessee and as you can see sets up the wild areas of our yard with some fiery color. But leaves aren’t the only signs…

When we purchased the Harbor Freight 6×8 greenhouse back 8 years ago we weren’t sure how long it would last. We spent around $250 on this little backyard greenhouse and based on that I really think it’s done a good job for what it is. It can be assembled in a weekend and you can go ahead and start growing…

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…

Picking a photo for Gardening Gone Wild’s Photo monthly contest was a challenge. The subject matter for September is ornamental grasses. I took photos of the grass leaves, the seed heads, and from different perspectives and finally settled on the first picture of the Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’. I liked the second picture of the seedheads because of the similar orientation…

Maybe your garden didn’t turn out so well this year.  Maybe your tomatoes may died out due to disease or other vegetables might not have produced as well as they have in the past.  It happens.  Sometimes it’s the weather that causes it and sometimes insects bring in diseases, but those factors are hard to control.  One factor you can…

With fall fast approaching and some areas of the world already beginning to see the shades of autumn leaves appearing I thought it might be a fun idea to track where the peak colors are changing. I hope you’ll jump in and participate in this project!Here’s the idea:1) Take pictures of the peak fall colors near you and post about…

As a member of the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 I was provided compensation and products to review from Troy-Bilt.  All opinions and statements in this post are of my own observations and experiences. Today though I’d like to share with you my experiences on the Troy-Bilt RZT Mower. The 46″ RZT Mower is a 0-turn mower which allows the rider to quickly…

In my last post about the irises of May in my garden I showed you several of my irises. Today a new one opened up that we just planted this spring. It’s also a hand me down and has no real identity but it’s nifty to look at! I planted it with several others in front of the garden shed….

I missed posting yesterday due to the birth of our brand new baby daughter! So let me introduce you to Olivia Rose. She was born yesterday morning at 10:44, healthy and happy! She weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 ozs. and 19 1/4 inches long.Everyone is doing great and both mother and daughter come home tomorrow!

This time of year can be very confusing.  Especially when the weather throws a few curve balls like extra warm temperatures!  It almost makes you think it will be fine to plant those tomatoes four weeks early.  I know why, everyone wants bragging rights about that first ripe tomato! I thought for today’s Friday Five post that I would mention…

Even though it’s been a short week we have lots of fall color to share for the Thanksgiving edition of the Fall Color Project! I won’t be posting for the Fall Color Project on Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday so I thought I would highlight these posts a little early! What could be more perfect than fancy foliage, a…

This post is a little late in coming, especially since I actually received my Father’s Day present from my wife and children a couple weeks early. They gave me a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). I always like unique plants in the garden and a Japanese maple adds some foliar interest with its delicately shaped and burgundy colored leaves. I have…

For years now I have complained about our Bradford Pear Trees. In my mind they are one of the most problematic trees ever planted in the landscape. I despise Bradford Pear trees. There are so many reasons why Bradford pear trees are terrible for planting that I constantly wonder WHY were these things ever released to the public for purchase….

This year one of the tomato varieties I decided to grow was the ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’ tomato. Overall it proved to be a tasty and easy to grow tomato. The ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’ tomato is a determinate variety that is well suited for growing in pots. It grows to about 3 feet tall, at least the plant I grew did in my…

The cutting bug is back, being spring and all. Everywhere I look I see another propagation project awaiting me. Some projects I’ve done before like the chrysanthemums and others are new experiments like the crape myrtles. Here’s what I did this Wednesday!Cut the grass! OK you may not have expected that one, but technically it IS a cutting.Butterfly Bush cuttings….

One of the more unusual vegetables I am growing this years is the ‘Trombetta’ climbing squash. Its name is derived from the Italian word for bugle or trumpet which is the shape it resembles. ‘Trombetta’ is a climbing squash that when ideally placed has the strong support of an arbor or trellis on which to grow.  The squash itself gets…

There are very few gardens in Middle Tennessee that go without Chrysanthemums (Mums for short) or Asters for fall colors. With such a variety of colors there is one that can fit in nearly any garden. Both asters and chrysanthemums belong to the same family, Asteraceae, along with many other popular plants. In our garden we a have a few…