Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This month’s Garden Design workshop at Gardening Gone Wild is all about Whimsy in the Garden. Unfortunately my garden is not the most whimsical that you will find, in fact far from it. My sense of whimsical garden implements dodges the garden gnomes and household items that other gardeners are prone to plant amongst the hostas and heucheras. Truthfully there…

Yesterday I commented on a post on Gardening Gone Wild written by Nan for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project and said how some people consider the Sassafras to be a junk tree. Inadvertently I may have given the impression that I believe it is. The truth is that while it may not make my top ten tree list I…

This could be a tense question for all those opinionated gardeners out there but which should you pick, native or exotic plants? There are definitely advantages to choosing native plants with tolerance to the climate being first and foremost. Natives are better for the indigenous wildlife as it provides the food and sustenance they are used to eating.Exotic plants are…

This morning I attended the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap at Henry Horton State Park. If you’ve never been to a plant swap before you really should consider going to at least one. It’s a fantastic way to expand the plant varieties in your garden on the extremely cheap side. The concept is simple, bring any extra plants you have to…

Every year I like to create a list of garden projects that I plan to tackle for the year. It’s a list of goals that I would love to accomplish but often due to time I find I planned for more than I can do. My goal list helps me to organize and prioritize what I need to get done…

This week marks seven years since I began this blog, Growing The Home Garden. It’s amazing to see how many changes have taken place in the garden and in my life since that late October day. When I started this blog our backyard was vacant of trees, plants, and anything resembling a garden. It’s grown and so has our family….

Here’s a look back at a December Skyscape of almost the same location.Some other sunsets:Clingman’s Dome – Great Smoky Mountains National ParkMt. Juliet, TN

Is this the ultimate fall flower? Yellow Mums According to Robert Bornstein via Twitter and Stephanie via Facebook Or is this it? Goldenrod (Solidago) According to Suzy via Twitter Or is this it? Shasta Daisy According to Joyce via Facebook Or is it something else? What is the ultimate fall flower? Bloggers please remember the Fall Color Project!!!

Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is an amazing plant with unique characteristics that make it an awesome choice for gardeners. This phlox is an evergreen or semi-evergreen plant that has a creeping habit with needle-like foliage, adding texture and interest to any garden landscape. One of the most noticeable features of Moss Phlox is its mass of star-shaped flowers, which come…

I’m sure you’ve always been wondering “Where can I find a light post that can double as a bird feeder station and has a spot for hanging baskets too?”  You’ve come to the right place because I’m going to show you my latest project for Lowe’s Creative Ideas: a garden light post and bird feeder station with hanging baskets. The…

Thursday I got my new camera and of course I couldn’t wait to get outside and take a few pictures to test it! Let me just say that I am impressed with this Nikon D40. The pictures are much more clear and precise. The camera just functions better than our old Olympus. I’ll still use the old camera from for…

It’s time for October’s Garden Questions of the month! These are questions people have asked the search engines and found The Home Garden and hopefully they have also found the answers.  Q. Can you prune silver mound in the fall? A. It’s better to wait until spring. The foliage that remains above the plant will help protect it over the…

As you might imagine much of our time is spent in the garden. The kids are outdoors as much as possible (when the weather is cooperative).  I don’t think just being outdoors is enough, being in the garden is where children should be and here’s why: Gardening gets kids active physically. One big issue facing our country is childhood obesity…

Fall vegetable gardening can certainly be interesting in Tennessee!  You never quite know how the weather is going to shape up.  Is it going to frost early?  Late?  Will the temperatures be normal or extra warm like we’ll be having this week?  You just never know.  For gardening weather this October we’ve had a couple light frosts but nothing damaging…

Hummingbirds are one of those subjects that are a challenge to photograph in flight. The best way I’ve found to get a good shot of a hummingbird is simply to take a whole bunch of pictures. My only other tip is to stake out the bird feeders and wait for that perfect shot while taking multiple pictures per second. The…

As I mentioned in my previous post the folks at EcoSMART sent me four of their insect products to me for testing. Generally I am loathe to apply chemicals in any form on the garden but since EcoSMART products do not leave toxic residues and use natural chemicals and oils I figured it would be worth trying. Please keep in…

Maybe you can help us figure something out. Jaime sent me this picture of a plant growing where she wanted to plant zinnias. If the plant growing there is something good then she’d like to see it grow to flower but if it’s a weed well, you know what she’ll do to that weed! I’ve checked out several weed pictures…

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…