Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Chris over at Outside Clyde posted a great picture of the Smokey Mountains that reminded me of when we lived out that way. We really miss living in east Tennessee because of the proximity to those mountains. There are all sorts of beautiful nooks and crannies to explore, breathtaking views, and animals to see. If you’re lucky you may even…

Who doesn’t like free seeds? Today I have an opportunity for you to win a variety pack of garden seeds from a new seed retailer: Hometown Seeds! Hometown Seeds is offering to give these seeds to three lucky readers who visit their website and report to me about the most interesting seeds you see. That’s all you have to do!…

Today I have two more Garden Blogger Fall Color Project posts to share with you! Take another trip overseas to Veg Plotting in Chippenham, England where VP has taken some great shots of the fall colors and pieced them together in a collage for us to see. Colorful smoke trees and Japanese maples are certainly brightening up what could be…

Among many garden chores that come in spring perhaps the biggest is the trimming of the ornamental grasses. Trimming back perennials can be time consuming but the ornamental grasses can be a bear. It’s not the tiny little hair-like strands of the Nassella tenuissima (Ponytail grass), or the tall and narrow ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grasses. The panicums aren’t a…

It’s Friday!  I think I may have heard you exclaim in glee from here…maybe that’s just my imagination.  The weekend is approaching and you are eagerly anticipating being outdoors in the garden.  Have you planned out your chores and tasks yet?  If not here are a few things that I need to do in my garden that you may need…

I figured since you’ve been waiting in anticipation for the winner of the $50 Lowe’s Gift Card from Lowe’s Creative Ideas that I would share with you a picture of something I’m waiting on – ‘Clara Curtis’ mums to bloom.  These beautiful daisy flowered mum that I received at a plant swap several years ago have grown and spread into…

April is an amazing time of year to get in the garden. The weather is better, the soil is warming up, and the plants are coming alive from their winter rest. April is the time of year when gardeners need to be going full speed agead to prep their Zone 7 gardens before the heat of summer arrives. Here in…

It’s time again for another Seed Sowing Saturday post where we talk about what we sowed over the week, how the seedlings are doing, and any tips or tricks that we run across in our seed sowing adventures. This week I finally got around to sowing basil, peppers, eggplant, and a few others! I planted the seeds in a peat…

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….

Imagine my surprise when I looked out of the back door and saw an accipter yesterday! That’s a member of the Acciptridae family which are birds of prey like hawks. Don’t worry I didn’t know that either until now. I looked into what kind of hawk-falcon this bird was and finally settled on a Sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus) after comparing…

This week we’ve gotten some serious work done on the patio area but there is quite a lot still to do; isn’t there always? Thursday I brought a truckload of sand to cover the gravel. The sand helps when setting the stones in place by creating a soft layer that is easily manipulated for leveling the stones.Here is how it…

To say that I am ashamed of certain spots in my garden is an understatement. Several gardens have become filled with weeds run amok and whether or not the weather is cooperative I have to get some work done. Today I spent some time outdoors in the 95 degree heat tackling a couple of the raised bed problem areas in…

I put together a short slideshow of the greenhouse pictures I’ve taken since beginning the project. They start in August with pictures of the site and end with the greenhouse’s current state (in December 2009). I hope you enjoy the look back!

Recently I was sent three products to take a look at that could be used in the garden world fro various functions. Fortepromo.com specializes in customizing various products for companies and groups to make unique individual promotional products. The three items they sent me to look at were a tape measure, a water bottle, and a garden bag that is…

You know the story. Everyone travels to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. All the family gets together and stuffs their bellies full with turkey, ham, potatoes, numerous sides, and of course the stuffing (oh wait we call that dressing down here in the south ;)). And of course, you know it’s true, every family has one or two, and sometimes many…

It seems like I’ve blinked and it’s gone from May to September!  This summer has been a complete blur to me, but that’s how life is sometimes. Needless to say there are many garden chores that are coming up that will need done this month.  Here’s my September garden chore list! Finish pruning trees and shrubs. Here in Tennessee we…

Salvia is a excellent plant to put in a garden. They are drought tolerant (which is important in Tennessee) and look great. They also come in many colors including red, pink, white, orange, blue, and purple. Depending on where you live and the variety you choose it may be a perennial or an annual. According to the website Floridata, there…