Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

For a quick, easy, and cheap stocking stuffer gift idea try a homemade seed packet! I learned how to put together these seed packets that use a technique of  paper folding from Nancy Ondra’s blog Hayefield House. Go take a look at her post titled Origami for Seed Savers to learn how. The only thing that you need to do…

In our haste to welcome the new gardening season many gardeners only think of the flowers beginning to bloom. The flower buds and blooms sure are interesting but why not take a look at the evergreens? Our collection of evergreens is relatively small but here are a couple that we have in our garden that are showing some nice color:…

Things are looking good for my butterfly bush cuttings. So far none have succumbed to damping off. Only one lost any leaves. One good sign of a cutting is when new growth starts to develop. As you can see on the closest cutting that new growth is starting to sprout. This usually means that roots have emerged! I’ll leave them…

Today I’m issuing a challenge to any glove maker, manufacturer, or garden handware retailer: Make me a glove that lasts longer than 5 months! I’m throwing down the gauntlet, or the garden gloves as the case may be. So far I have not met a pair of gloves that lasts more than a few months. This pair of gloves was…

Not many plants bloom in the dead of winter but you can count on Mediterranean White Heath (Erica x darleyensis) to put on a subtle show.  It blooms with tiny little snow colored blossoms that (at least in my Tennessee garden) emerge during January and February.  I have five of these little winter gems located throughout our front garden and…

While we are eating, and playing, and celebrating the holiday let us always remember why we celebrate, our freedom! Happy Independence Day!

Most people look at plant foliage and admire the wonderful variegation of the leaves or the shapes, but have you ever stopped to admire the multibranched vein patterns? If not take a look sometime when you are out in the garden or hiking in the woods. The veins form very unique patterns that whether follow the variegation or simply highlight…

It’s the seed starting time of the year! This is probably where I have the most fun gardening. I get to imagine the possibilities! This week I started Oregon Sugar Pod II peas by presoaking. It only took a few days after planting until I had germination from the first two seeds. To see how I started the Sugar Pod…

It’s that planning time of the year still for most plants and I want to mention something I think is important, herbs! Herbs go great in the vegetable garden mixed in with other plants like tomatoes and peppers. As companion plants go herbs are said to prevent various insects from effecting your plants. (Darla had an interesting post about companion…

One of my greatest gardening pleasures is that of making a new plant, for free!  Well I don’t actually do the work the plant does, but knowing how to give the plant the optimum conditions for rooting is important for success!  The plants I’m listing today for The Friday Fives are easy to propagate plants from cuttings.  In case you…

My addiction to plant propagation has reemerged from it’s winter slumber. It’s Spring which means it is time to get many kinds of cuttings ready for growing. It’s still early and many of the plants I’d like to propagate still don’t have adequate foliage but agastache, catmint, and salvia are ready to root! In my garden I planted two Agastache…

A few weeks ago I was asked to review a website of a commercial furniture manufacturer for garden furniture. I took a look around at The Oxford Garden website and from what I can tell they have some very nice furniture. The furniture has a classy yet casual look and whether you are looking for a nice bench to sit…

Spring is saying “hello I’m coming” this weekend which means time to get into the garden and get a few things done before she arrives! Wet weather is expected on Sunday evening so Saturday is the day. I’ll be skipping the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show this year to work on my own edible landscape AKA the vegetable garden. (I’d…

Today in the garden I spent a good deal of time cleaning up and clearing out the old vegetables of the 2008 season. The tomatoes are gone as are the cucumbers, squash, and beans. The cantaloupe stopped producing weeks ago and surprisingly the watermelon gave us one more last week before its demise. It wasn’t much of a watermelon but…

The other day I went out to the garden and picked one of the best cantaloupes we’ve ever eaten. The taste of a store bought melon can never beat that of one that is homegrown!Cantaloupes are actually muskmelons (Cucumis melo ‘reticulatus’) that are given the name cantaloupe to sound more palatable. Musk just refers to the smell but if you…

Over at Ledge and Gardens in Rhode Island Layanee has put together a post about my favorite trees, maples! Layanee’s maples are mostly Japanese maples and their color is nothing short of awesome. From orange to red to gold-green these maples don’t disappoint for fall color. Included in her post are the Acer palmatum varieties ‘Omurayama’ and ‘Osakasuki’, as well…

Well the end of my rock posts has come…for now! Here’s a quick summary of what we did this week with rocks. Feel free to take a look back if you missed anything. If you rocked this week tell me about it! Sunday (August 16, 2009): I’m a Fan of Rocks Monday (August 17, 2009): And the Rock is… Tuesday…