Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

A line of storms came through last night dropping the temperature nearly 20 degrees in an hour. Strong rain and wind blew all over Tennessee. Here in our yard we received about an inch of rain throughout the day. Fortunately our damage was minimal. Probably the worst thing affected was our sleep. The neighbor’s fence gate blew open and their…

Broken branch of a crape myrtle Sometimes in gardening, as in life, we experience bad breaks. We don’t intend for these to happen, they just do. Whether caused by too much stress, mistakes, or happenstance the only power we have over these breaks is to clean up and hope for the best. Such is the case with one of my…

If you are looking for daylilies in Middle TN then you need to check out the new farm my friend Nicole has started! Bluebird Springs Farm has a wonderful array of daylilies and other perennials just outside of Shelbyville, TN. Nicole and her husband have been working on the farm for only a couple years now and even built the…

Last week I caught my first glimpse of something I have never seen before, a fox in my backyard.  There was a little doubt in my mind when I saw it.  Was it some sort of dog that resembled a fox or did I really seen one?  I’ve never been fortunate enough to see one in the wild just in…

A shade garden just isn’t a shade garden without plants right? So what plants should get planted in a deer proof garden? Oops I said proof again. Nothing is 100% proof against a deer. Resistant is a better word. So let’s try this again.  What kind of plants should be planted in a deer resistant shade garden?  Surprisingly there are…

The days have once again become cold and wet. The beautiful spring like days we had in early March have been replaced (temporarily) with winter like cold and drizzle – ugh. It’s definitely disappointing for the gardener but spring is right around the corner. I can’t wait to see the sun but the wet and soggy days are ideal for…

Like everyone else this time of year my chore list seems monstrous, insurmountable, and just plain humongous.  To write it all down would be a chore in itself. I suspect that if I did write it all down at one time it might look so large that I would just give up – probably not, I enjoy gardening too much…

Low maintenance and hard working, it’s hard to go wrong with zinnias in the home garden! Zinnias have colors cover nearly any shade you could ask for in the spectrum. There are even varieties with multiple colors although I don’t have any of those in my garden. Zinnias are extremely easy to cultivate and just need a little water to…

‘Bluecrop’ Blueberry Bush As I indicated in my last post about the two camellias in one pot I’m always looking for ways to garden cheap.  Imagine my excitement when I stumbled across some ‘Bluecrop’ blueberries that are normally over $20 marked down to $5 each!  Of course I snatched two up (I might have gotten more had they had a…

Have you ever used a kids toy to plant seeds?  It might be worth a try!  While out in the garden planting rainbow chard and spinach I used a hula hoop as a planting aid.  Inside the hula hoop I planted the rainbow chard and in the outside ring I planted spinach.  When the plants sprout and begin to grow…

While the girls were at their grandparent’s house today I was able to get quite a bit done in the yard. Here’s the list of accomplishments in no particular order: Picked a handful of beans (this morning.) Mowed the yard with the riding mower, the trim mower and trimmed with the weedeater. Mowed a new pathway into our slope area…

A couple months ago I put together my little 6’x8′ Harbor Freight greenhouse.  It was an inexpensive greenhouse that I was hoping would be a good way to increase my growing area for my small nursery business.  I thought it was time I gave an update on how the greenhouse is working out for me. After one storm where a…

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 list what has been started…

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…

It’s time to start thinking fall garden if you haven’t already!  It may seem too hot, too dry or too much like August where you are but over the next few weeks we need to get our seeds started and growing. When to Start Seeds for a Fall Vegetable Garden? The tricky thinking about starting a vegetable garden in the…

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This ancient sentiment applies very well to the denizens of the garden. The tomato (tobacco) hornworm in the pictures is a being of great tomato destruction. This larval stage of the five-spotted hawkmoth is able to demolish whole tomato plants in a matter of days if not caught early. It feeds off…

In order to raise worms for worm composting (vermicomposting) you have to have a place to put the worms and the kitchen scraps. There are all kinds of composting bins that can be effective but they all work on the same idea. A box houses the worms, kitchen scraps, and bedding. As the worms eat they make their way through…

It probably seems early and with scattered snow it certain feels early but it’s never too early to start thinking about the vegetable garden! Store bought vegetables just don’t thrill me the way the fresh garden picked varieties do. It makes sense when you consider that garden grown vegetables don’t have to be picked days before use just to be…