Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This spring I bought this pineapple sage at a garden show fully expecting it to thrive and burst into colorful red blooms. Well I can say one thing, it is thriving!  For some reason the blooms are just now beginning to form despite it growing to a size of about three and a half feet round.  It has nearly overtaken…

Sometimes certain plants can be tricky to germinate from seed. When germinating Baptisia australis seeds you will find that the seeds have an extremely hard coat that will require some external actions to penetrate the hard outer shell that will allow the embryo to get water.  There are several methods for getting underneath that hard seed shell.  Scarification is one…

The other day the rain garden completed a mini-test. It really was more of a pop quiz. It wasn’t multiple choice or fill in the blank. It was true or false, did it work or not? There was only about 0.34 inches of rain but it easily handled that amount. Here’s what the drainage looked like before the rain garden…

This week I actually found myself outdoors sowing seeds directly into the soil of my garden. Thanks to wonderful Tennessee weather, where you can count on a few days of warm even in February, we’re able to plant a few cool season crops this month. So far in the vegetable garden I’ve planted: Lettuce – two varieties Little Gem, and…

Large cocoon on ninebark For several months I’ve been watching this strange cocoon attached to my ninebark.  I was curious what might come from it, and a little apprehensive too, then yesterday I found a second one on a viburnum.  What if it was something that would chow down on my garden?  What if it was some dangerous?  What if…

Seed shortages on our minds saving seeds from your garden is more important than ever. So how do you save tomato seeds? There are a couple of methods that can be successful but one way you can do this is through fermentation of tomato seeds. This is not a hard process so don’t let it intimidate you! I’ve described the…

Spring time is always interesting for hostas. They emerge from the soil with tight leaf buds designed to drill their way up to the surface and finally open up to become the foliage plants we all know and love.Our hostas are springing up all over our corner shade garden. Along with the heucheras, heucherellas, oak leaf hydrangea, and Soloman’s seal…

As the official date of the beginning of winter is almost upon us it’s time to say farewell to fall! What better way to say good bye to the fall of 2009 than by taking a look back at all the wonderful posts that our fellow bloggers have written about fall foliage. The weather was an issue for many who…

If you look in the garden you won’t see my nasturtiums. That is because they have developed a rare sort of variation called invisibility. No matter how hard you look you will not find them. They have developed a superpower beyond the ability of all creatures to completely evade detection! At least that’s what I’m telling myself… Well… I tried,…

I wanted to say thank you to Barbara Wise for an excellent container gardening presentation this past weekend at the Spring Hill Garden Club Meeting! The slides and photos of the work you do were fantastic and the garden club appreciated seeing the ideas created by a expert in the field of container gardening. It was definitely a perfect start…

This bell may not make a sound but it sure strikes a chord with the chickadees and titmice.  We received the seed bell as a stocking stuffer for Christmas.  The birds must have loved it.  After two and a half days the seed bell is all gone!  At least I managed to get some nice shots of the chickadees. Unfortunately…

When starting a new garden there are a million things you may be thinking about. While they may be important, or at least important to you, there are 3 key elements that are absolutely the most important things to consider when starting a new garden. I’m beginning the challenge to starting a brand new vegetable garden from scratch and these…

Take a look at the new plant of the week! Here’s a small hint: It’s a tree. OK not much of a hint. See if you can guess it!

I’ve said repeatedly that I’m a fan of salvias. It’s no wonder since they bloom prolifically, are easy to care for, and attract pollinators right and left. One salvia in my garden (among many) that I’ve accumulated is the ‘Blue Bedder’ Salvia farinacea which is also called Blue Bedder Sage. It’s not reliably hardy to my zone according to many…

As a member of the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 I was provided compensation and products to review from Troy-Bilt.  All opinions and statements in this post are of my own observations and experiences. Today though I’d like to share with you my experiences on the Troy-Bilt RZT Mower. The 46″ RZT Mower is a 0-turn mower which allows the rider to quickly…

Yesterday our family visited the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show. It’s put on each year at the Nashville Fairgrounds and has a ton of garden vendors and lectures for gardeners. The vendors at the show were selling unique plants (like succulents, hellebores, and confiers), garden equipment (mowers, pruners, hoses, foods and spices, soaps, and home improvement products. We visit the…

Every year I write down my ideas for gardening projects.  It helps me to put down some thoughts and map out where my garden needs to go throughout the season.  I won’t be able to accomplish every project on the list but it does give me some direction.  At the end of the year I’ll go back and see how…