Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This post is a post I’ve been dreading.  Mainly because this year has been tough, probably the toughest I’ve ever had to live through.  My garden projects fell by the wayside.  My projects and ambitions just didn’t matter when compared to the situations that the course of life brought us through.  But we’re getting through things, day by day.  I…

Previously in my new series of posts about how to garden on a budget, Thrifty Gardening Tips, I wrote about finding and saving discount plants. After writing that post, I had an urge to go out and look to see what I could find. It was the Thursday before the Fourth of July holiday and I had this feeling that…

I haven’t made it out into the garden much lately other than to gather the occasional item for the kitchen but I did manage to grab the camera and head into the yard this afternoon for a few minutes. Here’s a little of what I found! This is a ‘Golden Globe’ arborvitae.  It has a nice rounded habit with golden…

Every year I like to try a few new vegetables in the garden. New varieties add a little extra interest to the same old tomatoes and cucumbers that we grow every year. Sometimes the new varieties stick around in the memory and will be planted the next year and other times they are better left forgotten! I started my list…

On Friday my daughter and I planted another set of seeds.  These were all for the vegetable garden and they were all even in the same family, nightshade.  We planted a several varieties of tomatoes and peppers in our peat pot system.  We’re still waiting on a few more seeds to come in through the mail.  April 15 is the…

As always I’m excited to get new plants through plant propagation and I’m pretty excited to add 5 new dwarf arborvitae to the collection!  I bought the ‘Little Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja occindentalis) last fall on the discount rack and planted two of them in the birdbath garden on either side of the pathway to the bench spot.  The idea was…

Coneflowers are one of my favorite perennials. Environmentally there are few things to worry about with them. They are drought tolerant, bloom prolifically, and help to create a beautiful landscape. Unfortunately there is one major issue that can destroy whole gardens of these perennials: Aster Yellows. Recently I filmed a short video on a coneflower in my garden that has…

We all know the tale about that famous gardener who is protective of his garden and the hungry and curious little Peter Rabbit. The silly rabbit invades Mr. McGregor’s garden (not to be confused with Mr. McGregor’s  daughter’s garden) to gorge himself on the fruits of the gardener’s labor, then loses his clothes in the process of fleeing from Mr….

It seems the frosts don’t hold much sway over Achillea! The mums have mostly wilted away, but this little guy by the mailbox is still blooming. I took this picture this morning in 30 degree Temperatures.

It seems that the fall colors are slow to fade from one plant in particular in our front garden: spirea. This little shrub was transplanted from a previous location further down the sidewalk. It was little, just a small sprig that emerged in the spring after we bought the house. The previous residents allowed the landscape to grow out of…

The most exciting time in the garden is the harvest time! It’s the time when you get to go to the vegetable garden and taste the goodies the garden has grown. All the hard work that you put into the garden shows up at the harvest stage. It’s also where you can measure how good your garden really is! I’ve…

I knew what I was going to do today. Weather permitting I would get outside and harvest our basil and not only make our dinner using it but make enough to have pesto a couple times during the winter. I planned ahead and we stopped by the grocery store to get more Parmesan cheese. We also picked up some milk,…

The other day I had a surprise. While washing dishes at the kitchen sink I looked over at a small yogurt cup on the counter top to see this: Several small seedlings had appeared from some tomato seeds I was soaking. I’m going to have to admit one of my major failings here to properly tell the story, sometimes…I forget…

I mentioned in my last post I would show you the trees that dad planted.  There are quite a few and in this post I really can’t show you all of them but maybe you can see just how much dad loved his trees. This crape myrtle is really a beautiful fall color tree.  Most people usually consider crape myrtles…

This Garden Blogger fall Color Project Post is all about New Autumn, that is Autumn in New England and New York! If you travel to upstate New York to visit Kerri’s Garden at Colors of the Garden (a very appropriate name, don’t you think?) you will get a grand tour of the New York Countryside in October. Peak colors of…

I don’t know about you but I’m ready for spring. Notice I said spring not spring gardening. I haven’t done everything I need to do to get ready for the new gardening season but I’m already lamenting the cold temperatures that we are destined to have for the next two months (January and February). When March comes we usually have…

It’s about time I positively identify the Name that Plant. It was a ‘Duke’ Blueberry bush. Our eldest daughter loves blueberries and while I’ll eat them occasionally they were planted for her. I planted two this spring and while we are hopeful that this Northern Highbush blueberry will bear fruit we may have to be patient and expect it next…

The first major task I tackled this week with our patio project was this step landing. It was a problem that had to be fixed. When we had our home inspected before we purchased it the inspector noticed that the deck needed one more step to fit codes. That wasn’t the only problem here, the stairs led right out to…