Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

First let me thank everyone who entered the giveaway for the Troy-Bilt 4 Cycle string trimmer.  I really wish I could be like Oprah. Everyone in the audience would look under their chairs and find a new Troy-Bilt 4 Cycle string trimmer, but her bank account has a much higher capacity than mine!  Thankfully though my association with Troy-Bilt allows…

It won’t be long now until the first bloom of the new gardening season will be on its way. In just a few more days the Winter Jasmine will be coloring our front porch with its bright yellow blooms. I traded for the jasmine at plant swap a couple years ago and have found it to be a very welcome…

First let me apologize for not getting these posts up sooner.  This weekend has been a fun filled hectic one with carpet cleaning and a surprise leak that required a new kitchen faucet replacement.  The two events were not related unless you count the fact that they took time away from the computer! Skeeter is at it again at In…

My gardens haven’t seen any rain for several weeks now.  The grass is brown and I even commented to my daughter that it sounds like crunchy snow.  Of course the reality couldn’t be further from the truth – it’s hot!  No snowball could survive in our back yard today with temperatures expected to rise into the triple digits.  Droughts do…

Sometimes even getting the little things done in the garden can make you feel like you’ve accomplished something worthwhile. Today since I still couldn’t really get to work on the big garden chores I settled for getting a few little garden chores accomplished.By far the biggest garden task was really a fall yard maintenance one, overseeding the lawn. I overseed…

A few months ago I was sent some Muck Boots from the Muck Boot company to try out. Disclaimer: They sent me the boots for free but everything I say in this post is my own opinion. Also I’ve used affiliate links in this post to Tractor Supply if you would like to find a pair of Muck Boots for…

Up in Michigan Joey has posted some really cool collages for the Fall Color Project. The colors from the maples and other trees around her town couldn’t have been painted more vividly with any paintbrush. It’s a palette of autumn color that awaits you at The Village Voice! The colors have officially reached their peak here in Tennessee. Over at…

If you like Heucheras or Coral Bells as much as I do then take a look at this video from Fine Gardening Magazine. In it Alan Armitage talks about the heucheras in the trial gardens at the University of Georgia. Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ and Heuchera ‘Rave On’ stand out as two perennials I will have to add to my garden…

Even in winter compost happens. It may be slower but those microbes are still hard at work turning your pile of waste into “Gardener’s Gold.” You can compost all sorts of vegetable based materials. I even heard a news story not to long ago in New Jersey where they compost roadkill carcasses! They bury the poor animals in wood chips…

Last year for Mother’s Day I redesigned a garden area for my mom. Their fence garden needed a little revamping and I’m really happy with the results. Here is what the area looked like before: Here’s how it looks now! In the above picture we set the border stones to give an edge for the garden.  The stone also helps…

Here’s a quick look at the front of the greenhouse. My idea is to have the front side or the view from the house appear to be a small cottage in the backyard. The windows on the front were originally from one sliding window that I separated into 2 approximately 20 inch wide windows.  I say approximately because one is…

With the rise of gardening in America lots of people new to gardening are taking up trowels and digging in the dirt. Some people are just returning to gardening while others are trying for the first time. Here is just a little advice for those starting off to help you along. 1. Start Small. Don’t bite off more than you…

For those of you who are interested in the status of my garden shed I posted a little more on the floor. I’m out of bricks and didn’t quite get the whole area covered but I’m happy with the progress for now.  Let me know what you think!

This time of year when the weather is inhospitable I take a look back through the pictures I’ve taken and informally review the previous year. That’s one great advantage when you blog, you have a record of most things and photographs of almost everything else! Here’s a picture from September just outside our vegetable garden. In the fuzzy foreground is…

How much salvia is enough? I really don’t know the answer but I can tell you that I haven’t reached the salvia threshold yet. The easy answer is when I run out of room, but most likely enough will be reached well before that point. If you have salvia in your gardens you can probably identify with me. It is…

This year I’m really excited about our watermelons. I picked out the ‘Moon and Stars’ variety which not only is reported to be an excellent tasting variety but looks really neat too. ‘Moon and Stars’ are an heirloom variety that acquire a mottled coloring on the rind surfaces that resemble the night time sky! The nighttime sky also appears on…

Last year I planted two ‘Winter’s Snowman’ camellias in the front garden. I was hoping that they would bloom last year but alas it was not to be, but they have started blooming this year! The first of the white camellia blooms opened today.  It wasn’t fully open when I snapped the picture but I just couldn’t wait to share…

Today we worked a little more on the greenhouse project and managed to get another milestone accomplished: the bracing. Unfortunately due to the end of daylight savings time darkness descended too quickly for me to snap some good photos. Besides braces aren’t very interesting, just functional. We put braces on the joists that connect them to the rafters, braces on…