Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis Unfortunately these pictures were taken in the fading light after rains had nearly washed us away the other evening, but you can see the craggy weather-worn structure of our old redbud in the back. Redbud trees are very common here in Tennessee and to me they are the ultimate symbol of spring’s arrival. Their blossoms range…

I’ve been looking back at my photo albums lately.  Looking back at old photos helps to get a perspective of where the garden is going by remembering where it’s been.  I can see how effective my efforts are at developing a garden, how much things have grown, and remember old plants I might not have anymore.  While perusing the photos…

While earlier in the week brought progress to the outside of the greenhouse garden shed this weekend brought some progress to the inside. I had already insulated parts of the shed where there is no glass but I needed to cover the insulation. Fortunately there is plenty of scrap plywood laying around the shed from doing the outside sheathing plus…

This week has been an interesting one! I’m amazed and astounded by the sheer number of comments generated for the compost bin giveaway from Clean Air Gardening. At the cut-off time for the drawing there were 120 valid entries (Nancy’s, of Leaping Greenly, doesn’t count since she’s Canadian but I always appreciate her comments!). Here’s how the drawing worked: I…

Since I havent’ shown the state of the front garden lately now seems like a good time! The daylilies are blooming like crazy (at least the yellow ones are). I’ll start with a long shot of the arbor from up the driveway. There are three moonflower vines planted at the base of the arbor that should take off very soon….

Over this weekend our travels found us at one of the local big box stores looking for shelving hardware for our downstairs closet (another project but not one that will make it to the garden blog).  While there I went through the seed kiosks looking for the plants that made my master list for seed purchases.  Now you’re probably wondering…

You’ve probably heard a lot over the last couple years about the Monarch butterflies and their need for support from gardeners like you and me. Hopefully you’ve heard about what these beautiful creatures need to survive and thrive. The main component to their survival is having adequate food sources for all stages of development. That doesn’t just mean the larval…

One of the lesser shown areas of my yard this year has been the sideyard and corner shade garden. In the past I’ve featured it quite a bit but to be honest I’ve been disappointed with it this year. After I removed a cedar tree in the spring the morning sun began to cook the hostas in the garden. They…

Sometimes we trap ourselves into thinking one notion and stereotype things accordingly. We tend to think of fall color as a time of changing leaves, which it is, but often we leave out the perennials and shrubbery that provide us with color throughout the fall. Asters, fall crocus, and eupatorium seed heads grant us readers a different perspective from the…

By now you’ve probably heard about the study that says organically grown vegetables are not any healthier than their “conventionally” grown counterparts.  If you haven’t I’ll sum it up in a nutshell. The study examined the nutrients and vitamins present in organic produce and compared it to conventionally grown vegetables and didn’t find a significant difference between the two. This might…

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a dogwood (Cornus florida) seed looks like?  If you read yesterday’s Name that Seed post you caught a glimpse of some dogwood seeds that were cleaned off by the birds.  Many birds enjoy eating the berries that form on flowering trees.  In this case the bird ate the fleshy outer covering of…

Similar to the “Things to do List” in form my “Things I’ve Neglected List” contains the stuff I should have already accomplished but didn’t for some reason (Greenhouse shed construction). The garden chores that have be displaced by the aforementioned project still need to be accomplished and I really hope to when I get the time! Things I’ve Neglected (in…

Let’s try this a little differently this week. If you can identify the plant of the week post what you think it is in the comment area of this post!

Strange things are always occurring in the garden. Or we think they are strange at first until we apply a little bit of logic to the situation! Over Thanksgiving I was visiting my in-laws. When we pulled up into the driveway I noticed something right away…the irises were blooming! Here in Tennessee we’ve had several hard frosts at this point…

Recently I highlighted a few new acquisitions to my garden under the guise of some sort of window collection. Clearly all you bright gardeners saw right through my windows and into my future plans to put together a greenhouse! Today I’ll officially tell you about my plans, and more specifically about its location, even though I still don’t have a…

While the weather still may not be ideal I’ve managed to get a few chores accomplished outside the last couple days. There’s much more on my weekend to-do list but I feel good about what has been started so far. The short list of things that I did: Cut back a Russian sage.  After I cut back the Russian sage…

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…

I picked up this sassafras leaf in our backyard. I was struck by its interesting coloration, red on the outside edges and orange around the main veins of the leaf. We have sassafras trees everywhere around in our yard so their leaves are easily found. They have a very strong lemon scent that can be smelled when you crush the…