Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Here is Part 8 of The Home Garden’s Weekly series about how to garden on a budget.I call it the Two Season Trick but there really isn’t much of a trick to it. Just plan in fall for spring and plan in spring for fall! Or as a general rule plan ahead at least two seasons. The budgetary savings here…

This post is a little late in coming, especially since I actually received my Father’s Day present from my wife and children a couple weeks early. They gave me a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). I always like unique plants in the garden and a Japanese maple adds some foliar interest with its delicately shaped and burgundy colored leaves. I have…

Last Sunday I should have posted about the Grow Project with the Nasturtium seeds but unfortunately our internet connection was out and the weather didn’t let up until Sunday night. There’s only so much blogging you can do without computer/internet access! I’ll update you on the progress of the ‘Spitfire’ Nasturtiums again in the future and hopefully I’ll have a…

Milkweed Seeds Seed starting is just about to begin in earnest for the year. In some cases the seeds you might want to grow may require some extra steps to germinate best. Annuals tend to do just fine without much pretreatment but often perennials need a period of cold to break dormancy and begin to germinate. This cold period is…

Wilted ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia As most of you already know the weather here has been abysmal. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90’s frequently with little rain to cool things off or water the plants. In most cases I’ve let the plants fend for themselves. Many are drought resistant/tolerant and should come out OK in the end…

The summer heat is coming and with the heat comes a whole new set of rules for gardening. The warm season vegetables grow great while the cool season plants bolt quickly. What if you want to keep your cool season plantings growing longer into the summer? Is there a way to do that? The answer is yes there is, move…

There are still fall colors beckoning gardeners in Illinois to pull out their cameras! Rose of the blog Prairie Rose found quite a few colorful trees in her neck of the woods. Crabapples bearing fruit, ashes, maples and a hackberry all join in the fall fray. One very interesting thing among the many photos to look at is the flowering…

Welcome to another Fall Color Project Post! The leaves are changing faster as we progress through one of my favorite seasons which means we get to see more fall color from our blogging friends and neighbors! Last Friday an Obsessive Neurotic Gardener (aren’t we all? ;)) put up a post with some beautiful scenery. Could pictures of fall that include…

Please forgive this short ranting post you are about to read. My next post for this afternoon will have a couple videos of the flooding in our backyard then I’ll get back to gardening but I wanted to say a few words about a subject that is really irritating me. The rant is below.  It’s short, non-political, and I felt…

For a couple years now I’ve watched and waited for our hellebore to bloom. Every year I jealously read the posts of other gardener bloggers who are happily displaying their hellebore blooms but alas, I had no flowers to share! But now the single Lenten rose I have has grown into an 18″ little bush with glossy green leaves and…

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…

In 2003 we didn’t have a house or a garden that we owned but we treated the Great Smoky Mountains as our garden. We traveled frequently to the park and took pictures of anything that caught our interest. As part of the Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop: Color in the Garden at Gardening Gone Wild I thought I’d contribute some photos…

The organic weedkiller winner is… as selected by the random number generator at Random.org… which came up with the number… (I’m drawing this out a little)… (just for fun)… (are we having fun yet?)….   3… which means that…. Meemsnyc from the blog: Gardening in the Boroughs of NYC is the winner! Congrats and email me your mailing address ASAP…

Here you are, up close and personal with a purple bearded iris.This is just one of many irises we we’re given by my parents. They had quite a few that they divided last year and didn’t have places for them all. They are definitely dressing up the landscape!

From time to time I’ll be posting some new graphics about specific plants with a little important information about them.  Today I share a few echinacea or coneflower planting facts.  Echinacea is one of my favorite choices to plant in sunny areas that don’t receive a lot of moisture. Coneflowers love the sun, are drought tolerant, attract beneficial pollinators, and…

Despite recent events at the White House the security of my greenhouse shed just won’t ever be as good as that of the Secret service. Since it is also a shed and will be housing my lawnmowers, weedeater, various garden tools, hoses, and all the plants I hope to propagate I need something to keep people out. Tools don’t walk…

For anyone who follows this blog locally in the Spring Hill, TN (Maury and Williamson County) area you’ll be able to hear me on the radio tomorrow talking about The Well Sprung Garden. Just turn to WAKM (that’s 950 on your AM dial) at 8:00 AM. The Well Sprung Garden is an organic vegetable garden started to supplement a local…

Memorial Day isn’t about cookouts or backyard BBQs. It’s not about the fireworks or vacations either. It’s about paying tribute to the memory of those who have given their lives in the service of their country. Originally it was meant to honor those who died in the Civil War and eventually changed to honor those from all wars after World…