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Fall Color Project: In the South
As yesterday we saw more and more fall color from the south in Virginia and Tennessee today brings us more proof that fall is here in the Southern U.S.. SC Gardener has fall foliage that is well worth a look! One post entitled Fall Color Isn’t Just for Trees: Shrubs With Fall Leaf Color gives us a look at the…
Incorporating Herbs in the Garden
One of my goals this year is to add more herbs to the gardens (not just the vegetable garden). Herbs have many different characteristics that can make the attractive as well as useful.Basil (Ocimum basilicum)Last year I became painfully aware that after making a delicious batch of pesto that we were out of fresh basil and it was the end…
A Crop of Fall Potatoes
This afternoon I went outdoors in the beautiful 60 degree weather and harvested our potato crop. Truth be told its a rather small harvest of potatoes but considering that I didn’t intentionally plant them I am quite pleased! When you leave behind a few potatoes from the spring/early summer harvest they grow into a nice fall crop. Growing potatoes is…
Designing the Winter Garden: Starting Small
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…
Irises in the Garden (Part 1)
Our first group of irises has just started to bloom. The iris blooms are coming much later than last year due to the cold temperatures that have pushed everything back about nearly a month. There are a just a couple types of iris here in my garden including the tall bearded irises, the Dutch irises, and some Siberian irises like…
5 Vines to Attract Hummingbirds to an Arbor or Trellis
It seems that we are not the only one’s enjoying our side garden entry arbor. This little ruby throated hummingbird seems quite fond of our nifty native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) climbing up the side of the project. Honeysuckle is one of my favorite vines to attract hummingbirds. The arbor was part of a Better Homes & Gardens Challenge where we…
5 Fallish Things To Do!
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!…
Building A Simple Arbor in a Day
You can never have enough arbors can you? Arbors are a design element for a garden that add vertical structure and can provide definition to garden areas. Today I put together a very simple gateway arbor as an entrance to the shade garden I’ve built for Lowe’s Creative Ideas. The last I built used gutters to create planters but this…
5 Companion Plants and How They Help!
I’ve mentioned several times about the value of companion planting so today for the Friday Fives I thought I’d go a little more into detail with some specific plants. Companion planting is an integrated planting technique where the plants benefit each other through pest repulsion or through other beneficial qualities. 5 Companion Plants and How They Help Companion planting is…
Greenhouse Project: In The Front
Here’s a quick look at the front of the greenhouse. My idea is to have the front side or the view from the house appear to be a small cottage in the backyard. The windows on the front were originally from one sliding window that I separated into 2 approximately 20 inch wide windows. I say approximately because one is…
November in the Vegetable Garden
As strange as it may sound there are things still growing in the vegetable garden in November and it’s not because of our unusually warm weather. Unfortunately there is only one vegetable growing but there are several kinds of herbs that are doing great. All the vegetable garden pictures were taken this morning while a light frost was still covering…
A Stepping Stone Pathway (Backyard Remodel Part 2)
With every project comes some challenges. The biggest challenge for our backyard remodel and patio project was what to do with the septic line area since one of the most important things to remember with any major project is to avoid the utilities as best as you can. Unfortunately in our case the builder of our home did not put…
The Arbor Project: Scotch Moss (Sneak Peek 2)
Here is another sneak peek at the Arbor Project for the Better Homes and Gardens 48 Hour Blog Challenge. Today’s look is just one of the elements in my planting scheme. I’ve had a fondness for Scotch Moss (Sagina subulata) for a while but never really had a place for it, until now! I managed to divide the four clumps…
Crape Myrtle Propagation by Cuttings
One of the great flowering summer trees of the south is the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). They typically grow well in zones 6-9 (Tennessee generally falls in the zone 6 area with a few areas in the 7). One of the growing traits of a crape myrtle that makes them good for propagating by cuttings is their ability to sucker….
Garden Photo Updates from the Weekend
Here’s a quick look at my garden from the weekend! The ‘Diablo’ ninebark is in bloom. It has beautiful purple-copper hued leaves and flowers with these clusters of white flowers each spring. In the vegetable garden the lettuce is coming along – finally. It’s taken a while this year to get some good germination. I think the weather fluctuations have…
Vegetable Family: Legumes (Leguminosae)
The legumes are one awesome vegetable family (Leguminosae). Really, they are! Legumes are essential to any crop rotation plan because of one major trait: legumes are nitrogen fixers! What does that mean? It means that legumes have an amazing ability to take nitrogen from the air and change it into a form usable by plants. But it’s not really the…
Seeds of the Persimmon
For those of you who took a stab at the Name that Seed post they were seeds from a Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)! In the fall you can see these fruit trees laden with orange pulpy fruit. According to my Field Guide to Trees from the National Audubon Society persimmon trees grow up to 70 feet tall with and thrive…
Viburnum nudum: A Native Alternative to Invasive Shrubs
If you’re looking for a versatile, wildlife-friendly shrub with four-season appeal, Viburnum nudum absolutely deserves a spot in your garden. Commonly called possumhaw viburnum, raisin tree, or witherod viburnum, this native plant brings glossy green leaves, colorful fall foliage, and clusters of berries that both birds and pollinators love. Best of all, viburnums are great a native replacement for many…
