Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Over the last two months life has thrown many curveballs that have beaned the batter on numerous occasions. You would think that I’d be making some runs here or there but unfortunately I seem to be getting out at third every time. What does this baseball analogy have to do with anything? Well sometimes we get taken away from what…

I wrote about caryopteris last year so I won’t go deep into the details again but I thought you might like to see how I’m using it in the garden. First a bit of explanation. I once saw a picture of a row of caryopteris at Longwood Gardens and I thought “why not try that here?” The picture had caryopteris…

I find that there are few things more rewarding in gardening than growing plants from seed. It saves money and lets you grow a variety of really cool plants that aren’t locally available. More than that though there is a feeling of satisfaction you get when you harvest from those plants you grew. Starting tomato and pepper plants from seed…

This weekend after all the garden related chores were done for the day, and just before sunset came, I took a few photographs of how our gardens look this April.  I still have mulching, pruning, weeding, and many other things to do but I thought it would be a good time to share some of our garden with you.  These…

It isn’t often that you get to be a part of something very special.  Recently the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 team had the opportunity to visit a place in need of some help to grow the community, the Perrine Community in Florida. Together with the other 5 Saturday6 members, the Troy-Bilt team, and the Keep American Beautiful organization we put together a…

‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum seed heads persist through winter. This time of year the flowers are mostly faded and few things have retained enough foliage to be markedly interesting.  But those faded flowers have left something behind – seeds!  Seeds can do a few of very cool things: They sustain the plant species for the coming year as new plants are…

This time of year the bones of my become very exposed. The deciduous leaves of most of my plants have fallen and blown away on the wind to reveal the stone and structures that lay underneath. It’s a good time to evaluate how the stone in the garden fits. Here is one of my dry creek beds that helps to…

Have you ever considered propagating arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) from cuttings? It’s an easy and fun way to make more plants. Arborvitae can make a great privacy screen and hedge. Here you will find the steps I take to propagate arborvitae as well as a video to see it in action. How to Propagate Arborvitae from Cuttings The first step in…

I’m finding that this year has by far been the most challenging year for the garden. At least so far. It’s not just because of the sweltering heat that is sitting on us like some big ole bear on a circus ball. And it’s not just the complete lack of rain over the last couple week (wait I did feel…

It’s already time for another look at what’s blooming in my garden for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. It’s mid-October and the trees are just beginning to turn but there are still plenty of blooms to see. And if you’re interested in showing off your fall foliage colors then please participate in the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project!Here’s what blooming in…

Who would have thought? A daffodil (Narcissus) blooming in mid-February! The little sprouts are coming up all over but this one and a couple others like it have decided they like the weather. It could be that they are in a slightly warmer micro-climate near concrete but mostly it’s because of the extremely unseasonably warm weather we’ve been enjoying. It’s…

Here’s a quick press release from the Herb Society of Nashville about their quided walking tours. For more information contact using the email addresses below! The Herb Society of Nashville has created a variety of  Guided Walking Tours of their Cheekwood Herb Garden for May and June of this year.   The tours are conducted by members of the Nashville Herb…

Here is a post I meant to publish over a month ago and it just got lost in the abundance of things to talk about this growing season! I have added a couple updated pictures.In our corner shade garden we have hostas, heucheras, an oak leaf hydrangea, coleus, and astilbe. It’s fun to play around and see what plants look…

Spring will be here before you now it.  Which means all that fun garden time for us gardeners.  In order to maximize the productivity of your garden and minimize the maintenance required we need a plan.  We need a spring preparation garden plan.  We need a plan of attack to get all those chores done, all those projects mapped out,…

I spent a good deal of time this weekend getting out into the garden to get some long past due chores done. Summertime is one of those stretches where the garden seems to find itself a but neglected.  It makes sense. The kids are going back to school, the weather is hot and humid, and this year the mosquitoes are…

I found this plant on a limestone outcropping near the Yellow Corydalis and the False Garlic. It appears to be a type of succulent. The stems and larger leaves have a red tint around the edges while the smaller leaves are more narrow and green. I suspect it is a wild stonecrop of some sort but I don’t know for…

Achillea millifolium is one of the easiest perennials to grow. Almost no care, very little maintenance, and bright punches of color make it a very good plant for low-maintenance gardens. In our garden we have 4-5 varieties which unfortunately are mostly unnamed but their colors include red, yellow, white, and pink. The only thing I do to maintain achillea is…