Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

One of the greatest places to find fall color is on the campuses of our country’s learning institutions. Each of these beacons of knowledge are aesthetically landscaped to entice new students to come and to give the students and faculty that attend a sense of nature to enhance their education. This idea is alive at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. At…

Lately I’ve been working on getting everything up and running with my vegetable garden. I followed the raised bed layout I made and filled the beds several weeks ago. I’ve already planted lettuce, tomatoes, marigolds, peppers, beans, cucumbers, watermelon, catmint, and squash. In the picture to the right you can see the little cucumber sprouts popping up through the soil….

It is officially fall and we all know what that means – its time for the Fall Color Project! Every year I encourage bloggers to use Growing The Home Garden as a hub to share the peak colors in their area.  Fall color is different every year and in every area.  There is no way a person can see it…

It will be fun to think of what next year’s growing season will bring. The yard here is pretty much a blank slate still. I’ve done a few things, like making a garden bed or two, making a bird bath garden, and added trees but there is a lot left to do to fit my vision of what this yard…

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…

With many gardening activities slowing down and the temperatures dropping (although yesterday the temperature was actually near 70 degrees!) I spend much more time indoors.  Fortunately I can still enjoy the great outdoors by watching the birds stop by to visit the bird feeders.  Here are a few of the visitors who stopped by for breakfast yesterday and the day…

Stopping to smell the daylilies may get you a mild to severe case of nasal pollenitis. Symptoms include a dusty yellow-orange substance that can be found on the surfaces of the nose, possible sneezing and runny eyes, as well as a possible case of severe giggles.

After you have a good list of the elements your edible landscape needs and you have pieced together a solid “To Grow” list you need to evaluate what you already have in your garden.  Some people might put this step first and that’s OK but if you do your evaluation after you decide what you want to grow you can…

Do you need another reason to like Red Twig Dogwoods?  Take a look at these pictures from Ann Althouse.  These pictures illustrate exactly why I like them as much as I do! The fiery stems really add color to the snowy landscape. More on Red Twig Dogwoods: Red Twig Dogwood Propagation Red Twig Dogwoods (Cornus stolonifera) and Why I Like…

Spring is saying “hello I’m coming” this weekend which means time to get into the garden and get a few things done before she arrives! Wet weather is expected on Sunday evening so Saturday is the day. I’ll be skipping the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show this year to work on my own edible landscape AKA the vegetable garden. (I’d…

This week is greenhouse week! My wife took the kids to her parent’s house and left me to work on my greenhouse project.  While I have no illusions of getting the project completed I do hope I get a major chunk of the groundwork done so that I can tinker throughout the fall until it’s finished, hopefully just in time…

It’s getting close now. Can you feel it? Seed starting time! In preparation for my seed starting activities of 2020 I thought it would be fun to tell you about my favorite tomato and pepper varieties for Growing The Home Garden. In this video I go through some of my tried and try peppers and tomato varieties. They may not…

This may be an unusual tool to consider a garden tool but I have found my Swiss Army Knife very useful in the garden. As you probably know Swiss Army Knives have many useful attachments from the knife itself to toothpicks. I don’t use the toothpick at all but there are many other parts I use frequently. Disclaimer: Some affiliate…

The peak fall color this year is on its way and Tina has a great post for us with lots of Autumn color to share!  Tina writes the blog In the Garden and lives in Woodlawn, TN which is north of Nashville and just south of Kentucky. What fall color does her garden have to offer?  How about a Korean…

Salvia is a excellent plant to put in a garden. They are drought tolerant (which is important in Tennessee) and look great. They also come in many colors including red, pink, white, orange, blue, and purple. Depending on where you live and the variety you choose it may be a perennial or an annual. According to the website Floridata, there…

I know, it’s early to start seed but I have a plan and just couldn’t resist. Inside of a walk-in closet I put up a grow light and suspended it about 12-14 inches above the seed starting spot. The lights are 48″ fluorescent shop lights that I used last year to start my seedlings. I even made a little light…

There are few trees that are more colorful in the fall than maples!  The Acer genus really has cornered the market on autumn brilliance.  That’s not to say that there aren’t other trees just as dazzling but its hard to actually beat maples for the color show this time of year.  The colors they show range from gold to red…

Meet Prunus caroliniana, better known as a cherry laurel. This evergreen tree makes an excellent privacy screen and is great for attracting birds. It’s a native to the eastern United States from Florida on up to North Carolina. It very low maintanence as my parents can attest. Just plant it and water it then let it grow. They planted cherry…