Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

With fall almost here it’s time to start thinking about gardening chores and the task that most people have to do in some way is deal with the leaves. What do you do with the leaves is an important question. For way too long many people have burned them which to me is the worst possible way to dispose of…

Before the first frost of the fall I took a few cuttings of my Persian Shield (Strobinlanthus dyerianus) to hopefully overwinter it as a houseplant. This was the first year for Persian Shield in my garden and I’ve only seen it at one nursery around so I wanted to be sure I had some for next year in the garden….

The Gardening Gone Wild photo contest for February is all about Winter Light. The picture below is my entry which I took from our upstairs window out across the yard. I’m calling it Shadow Play, you can probably figure out why! The shadows of the ice covered trees are dancing across the backyard and the children’s playset creating an unusual…

As a gardener you will find that you wear many hats.  We aren’t talking about fedoras, ball caps, or even straw hats here. We’re talking about the different roles you will be called to fill as a gardener! Gardening isn’t just about sticking a plant in the ground and watching it grow (although there is always some of that), gardening…

The holidays are almost past and that means it is time to start thinking and planning for the spring garden. Below are 5 things to do to start planning for that spring garden. Aside from getting a better start each year making the to do list puts my mind on the sunny days ahead rather than the cloudy cold days…

The other day I was contacted by the folks at Workman Publishing. They had a new book that they wanted someone to look at so I said I’d be happy to check it out. The book is The Garden Primer: Second Edition by Barbara Damrosch. Some of you may be familiar with the original version of this gardening manual that…

Spring is officially here and it seems like the daffodils were waiting for the memo. They are in full bloom now and their yellow flowers are a bright and happy sign that the cold dreary days of an extra long and extra cold winter are behind us. Sure we’ll have some cold days ahead, but those are little dips in…

In all our gardens we start small and add plants as we go. If you look back the the birdbath garden you can see what I mean.  What started with a birdbath and five small plants has slowly turned into a medium size garden area with about 15 different plants. The winter garden will be no different! With economics being…

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,…

They call it winter blooming jasmine, and last year it really was. I suppose that technically this year it still is but with spring fast approaching it’s almost too late to call it winter, almost. The first bloom happened several days ago but more and more blooms are rapidly opening. Its lateness in flowering is probably due to the extremely…

I never let a good container go to waste (much to my wife’s dismay – admittedly, I do save way too many)! These foam containers are perfect for sowing seeds just like the store bought flats. Just poke a few holes for drainage in the bottom add soil, seeds, and water and you have an instant garden. Well, maybe not…

Everything has it’s own time, even seeds. They just don’t last forever! Fortunately though many seeds do last a long period of time and you can use seed from previous years to grow your garden. I’ve had tomato seeds germinate that were over 10 years old. Best of all they produced healthy tasty tomatoes! I’ve had echinacea seed as well…

When you plant a tree there are many things to consider about its location. The amount of sun it needs, the soil qualities and the size of the plant are some things that need to be considered. When you think about the size of the plant you need to think in three dimensions: the height of the tree, the diameter…

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…

The signs of spring are showing themselves all over the garden. It’s not just in the flowers the bees and bugs are all coming out of their winter nesting places to sip on nectar and gain strength for another growing season. Here are a few pictures of the flowers I’ve seen over the week. The daffodils are coming up everywhere….

Spring is here and the garden is most certainly coming alive! Unfortunately some freezing temperatures are in the forecast for later in the week here in Tennessee. Here’s a quick look at what you will find in my garden at the moment! Purple leaf plum and forsythia   I trimmed the forsythia back after it bloomed last year into more…

Part 2 of incorporating herbs in the gardens is all about oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme. These four go well together so why not post about them together? Oregano (Origanum vulgare) Oregano is such a great herb for the garden. It’s attractive, grows like crazy, smells great, tastes great, and is a general purpose repellant for insects! Could you really…

I have a fondness for fall color. I think we all do this time of year. We like seeing the transition of green to gold or red and oranges. There’s a little bit of a feeling of closure that begins to come to us through the fall. That the end of one chapter is almost here and soon we will…