Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

The other day I wrote about layering rosemary plants. Layering is the process of propagation where roots are formed by placing the stem of the plant underneath rooting medium (soil) to allow it to root with the support of the parent plant. If you look closely at the picture to the left you can see small roots being formed at…

As you know I’m a huge fan of plant propagation.  I would bet that many of you reading this are too, or if you not a huge fan you are at least interested!  It’s a fascinating area and can be an amazing benefit for growing your garden.  Just think of all the free plants you can make from cuttings, or…

Every year I show off the first daffodil to bloom in my garden.  This year, I have to say, my first daffodil is less than impressive.  The cold and wet weather has put a damper on the beauty of this little yellow flower.  So far it’s the only one in bloom that I have seen but I haven’t fully explored…

Since my garden shed’s construction was complete my updates have been less frequent. OK it’s not really complete yet but the physical structure is finished. (Feel free to check out the YouTube slideshow on the shed’s construction) There is a huge list of things I would like to add or improve on the shed and over time I’ll be tackling…

Back in June was the last time I posted about my birdbath garden. I thought I’d take a moment to go way back to the beginning of the garden and show you where it came from and where it might be going.The picture on the left was taken just after I completed the birdbath and installed the first few plants….

If you every wondered exactly why the beautyberry is called a beautyberry I’ll give you two words: “Beauty” and “berry!” These beautiful purple clusters of purple berries are well worth the wait each year for the autumn display. I’ve added several new beautyberries from cuttings to my garden this year and can’t wait until their display matches the first one…

“There has been an awakening, have you felt it?” – Supreme Leader Snoke Yes, indeed we have. While Star Wars and Gardening are not necessarily tied together I felt that this quote is so appropriate for describing the spring garden. It is an awakening. The warmer weather and longer days combine to encourage plants to come alive again from dormancy….

Are you looking for something, anything to keep you going until spring time?  Are you frantically searching the garden for signs of life?  Here are two early signs to look for that will tell you spring is just around the corner! The daffodils are rising!  The foliage of daffodils always comes up early but these are especially early.  This photo…

There are few trees that I know of that can rival the beauty of the Yoshino Cherry tree. I have a fondness for most plants in the prunus genus but the Yoshino is a special favorite of mine. It’s white blooms seem to glow in the sunlight and after they have fallen coat the ground like a luminescent snowfall. They…

Updated on 11/23/2024 Fall is that time of year when gardeners begin the process of cleaning up the garden but also is the time when we begin to think of next year and saving seeds. One of the my favorite plants is echinacea and I like to save the seed from it to grow and expand gardens. Saving seeds of…

As usual the weather forecasters just couldn’t nail our weather forecast. Several days ago they began hyping the massive snowfall of 1-3 inches that was on its way. The forecast at one point even predicted 2-4 inches! OK I know you northern gardeners are saying “massive snowfall?” Please keep in mind that everything is relative and a massive for Tennessee…

I began the first part of cleaning up the vegetable garden and preparing it for winter today. The summer garden went much longer last year and we had tomatoes until the end of the October. Unfortunately that’s not the case this year. The few tomatoes that were left on the vines were not worth waiting for them to ripen. Besides…

The battle has just begun. The lines have been drawn and the enemy has been sighted.I began scouting the territory in an attempt to locate the the wily villain and took these pictures. It was a difficult mission.I crept closer and closer to the encampment of the enemy, stopping often to cautiously take reconnaissance pictures. I was afraid of discovery….

Here’s a picture of our eastern property line. Along the line we placed 4 Canadian hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) about 8 feet apart to create a border hedge and privacy screen. The hemlocks will eventually fill together and create a nice soft evergreen screen for that side of the house. I would like to make this area into a woodland corridor…

Normally I’m a fan of Ipomoea, normally. I like the ornamental sweet potato vines, the heart shaped leaf morning glories with little blue flowers, and of course I love eating sweet potatoes but this three lobed morning glory has worn out its welcome. It started off inconspicuous enough, just a couple little leaves in the spring gradually twining through the…

This Friday I thought I’d try something new…an open post!  I’d like to hear what you think about the garden, gardening ideas, projects, or just your thoughts on various issues.  So here’s what I’m going to do.  Every couple weeks I’ll host a Friday Free for All Post where you can comment on a subject and share what you think…

Ginkgo trees are beautiful and amazing trees. These trees (Ginkgo biloba) are native to Asia and can be extremely long lived, as in over 1,000 years! In fact the ginkgo species existed at the same time as the dinosaurs. Ginkgo trees are also called the Maidenhair tree and have fan shaped leaves. In the fall the leaves turn an amazing…

After being cooped up all winter my daughters and I hightailed it to the backyard and spent the day outdoors digging in the dirt. We accomplished many of the chores I mentioned on Friday (wait they weren’t chores because I enjoyed doing them!). One of those tasks was a rearrangement of the vegetable garden. I wanted to move four small…