Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Chattanooga, TN is one of the most beautiful places to visit.  It’s near the mountains in the south eastern corner of our state along the Tennessee river.  The natural hilly area is full of all kinds of trees which make it a perfect area for Emily Rose to photograph and share with us for the Fall Color Project! Stop by…

To say I’m furious tonight would be an understatement. The deer have struck again, and again this week, relentlessly. This week’s attacks have been the most brutal by far. I normally like the deer. It’s fun to see the fawns scamper through the backyard, or to watch the watchful mother and father deer looking after the young ones. But today…

Why should you consider planting a tree? Aside from the more pleasurable aspects of trees like flowers, leaf color, and shade there are some significant scientific reasons.I found a very interesting site called the Colorado Tree Coalition that has listed some very important information about trees and what they really do. The Colorado Tree Coalition talks about carbon sequestration. Which…

Building a new potting bench has been on my mind for at least a year. When we moved here I threw together a makeshift potting bench that cost me nothing in materials out of an old palette and some scrap lumber. It did well for what it was but I decided that this year I would upgrade. I used many…

It’s been a week since my last Fall Color Project Update and the colors are only getting more colorful as we go! Charlotte told me about her Fall Color Project post last Friday with some very rich and colorful fall favorites. In fact the plants she has pictured are some of my personal favorites! Japanese maples and pyracantha are two…

In yesterday’s post on propagating switchgrasses I left out the picture of the ‘Northwind’ Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Also I didn’t post any details about the two switchgrasses that I mentioned. So here’s a little more about switchgrasses! Switchgrasses are native to the United States and flourish during the warm season. In my observations they are later to emerge from winter…

The weather is changing, the shadows are getting longer, and of course the leaves are beginning to become more colorful which opens the door to a new season of gardening.  Every season has it’s own specific chores and things to do.  Winter is for planning, spring is for starting, summer is for maintenance and harvesting, and fall is for harvesting!…

I couldn’t help but snap the picture below.  It’s white clover and it’s in my lawn. What lawn companies will tell you is that this little beautiful green plant that grows in patches is a weed.  Don’t believe them.  Clover is a useful little plant in many ways! First of all clover is a legume. It’s similar to beans and…

I’ll continue with the Seed Starting 101 Series tomorrow but I thought I would use today’s post to share with you a related project. Recently I purchased a seedling heatmat that I’ve been testing in the garage to see how seedlings will grow out there.  The results have been pretty good so far with good germination rates for kale, chard,…

I have a goal in mind for my vegetable garden this year.  I have a similar goal every year but this year I think it’s especially important.  I want to make our garden into our grocery store.  I’m being realistic with this and in no way think I can completely eliminate the grocery store trips but I would really like…

Rosemary is one of my favorite plants in the garden. This amazing evergreen herb is well known for fragrant aroma and culinary uses. Rosemary grows very will in a variety of conditions including pots, in gardens, in raised beds, or even indoors! You might be wondering “Can you propagate more rosemary from your garden?” Yes you can! In fact it’s…

Periodically I like to walk around the yard to see what there is to see. I was out around 7:30 this morning and took these pictures of the yard. The plants are really showing their eagerness for the spring season.I don’t think many people consider maple trees for their flowers but maybe we should all take a closer look. The…

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…

Sometimes you just never grow up. When I was a kid one of my favorite toys was Legos. My brother and I would build all kinds of contraptions from buildings to vehicles. Even today I still play with toy building blocks with my kids but there is a different sort of block that I like to use in the garden:…

I wanted to share a few more pictures from my visit to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens the other day but also wanted to give you a Friday 5 post so I thought why not put the two together?  For today I’ll give you 5 Great reasons to visit Cheekwood and show you some of the great features I saw during my…

I’ve been a fan of oak leaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) for a long time. The large oak shaped leaves and white flowering panicles are two of its best traits but in the fall its color changes are very nice too. The leaves change through a range of colors from the year round greens to the autumn golds and reds. Our…

I’ve been spending a lot of time dreaming about what is to come for our family, our new house, and the gardens. It’s easy to come up with ideas but always much more challenging to implement them. I’ve designed a potential house plan and I know how we would site it on the property. There is still a lot of…