Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It may not seem to be the right time to be thinking about fall but it is! Temperatures are still in the 90’s here in Middle Tennessee but we have to get those fall seeds started and now is the time. Growing plants from seeds requires enough time to maturity to make sure you can have an abundant crop. Below…

This weekend I picked up some cuttings of a red flowering crape myrtle to propagate. I took 6 inch hardwood cuttings that were just beginning to leaf out. Since I didn’t have time to treat them right away I left them in a jar of water overnight to stay moist and treated them with rooting hormone the next day. For…

If you are like me and are always trying to find economical ways to improve your landscape and gardens then you should consider visiting a plant swap. Coming up next Saturday at Henry Horton State Park in Middle Tennessee is one such opportunity. The folks over at the GardenWeb: Tennessee community organized a plant swap that meets once a year…

To say that deer have been a challenge over the years is somewhat of an understatement. Deer love to graze around my garden. In fact over the last couple months we’ve watched as a family of deer has grown. Several fawns appeared in the garden and have been growing like the weeds. Gardeners and deer can coexist but as a…

A week ago we found ourselves at the doctors office for one of my children.  Nothing major (this time), just a regular check up and physical so she could run cross country (Very cool that a 7 year old wants to run cross country!).  After her appointment we left the doctor’s office and found a dogwood tree, Cornus kousa, that…

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…

Recently I started a few nasturtium seeds as a part of the Grow Project hosted by Mr. Brownthumb. Renee’s Seeds offered to send seeds for several volunteer garden bloggers to try. Each month throughout the season I’ll update you on the progress of the nasturtium seeds as they grow. Seed Starting Mix on left, Potting Mix on the right Today’s…

I’ve mentioned that with my newly redesigned garden layout that I would like to put a fence around it. Partly to keep the rabbits and groundhogs out but also to add an air of formality around the garden. I have two ideas in mind that I’d like to gather some opinions about. In the drawing below I have a standard…

Here you can find links to my posts about building a rain garden.The First Step to RecoveryDigging the Rain GardenWorking on the Rain GardenThe Rain Garden is Almost DonePlanting the Rain Garden(still to come)

If you have a freely draining patio set in sand like I do you may have noticed weeds growing up through the cracks. These are generally caused by seeds that have landed on the patio and germinated and can be easy to eliminate. The most obvious way to deal with them is to try to pull them up. For a…

Planting time is here, but before you plant there are a few things you should do to prepare your garden beds.  Here are a few things you should do to get the soil prepared before planting out your garden. Weed – This one is pretty obvious but it has to be done!  Weeding the garden removes competition for valuable nutrients,…

Welcome to a quick garden tour of our garden in April of 2022! There’s lots of blooming going on around here in our Zone 7 Tennessee garden. The viburnums are their usual showstoppers with their prolific blooms but there are many other things to observe as well. Solomon’s Seal, hostas, heucheras, honesty (interesting that honesty and money plant are the…

I’ve been perusing many catalogs over the past several days trying to figure out what seeds to get. I finally wrote down the vegetables the other day but while looking at the plethora of pictures in the catalogs I found a perennial shrub that intrigues me. I’ve seen it before but the catalogs’ pictures make the Blue Mist Shrub come…

Fall is creeping closer and closer each day which brings to mind cool evening breezes, pumpkins, festivals, the Fall Color Project (more on that later), and of course the fall vegetable growing season.  Most gardeners seem to garden almost exclusively in the spring or summer and don’t even consider the fall.  It’s probably since starting plants this time of year…

Red Spider Lily that is!  This Saturday I was mowing and passed by one of the garden beds on my riding mower when this bright red flower jumped out at me.  Did it really jump?  Nope but one day it wasn’t there and now here it is. Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) are also called a variety of names like Naked…

The tomatoes are coming along nicely in our garden which means it’s time to do a few important things for them to maximize their growth.  Here are a few quick tomato growing tips to help you grow your favorite home grown backyard vegetable! (It’s really a fruit though!) Stake and Trellis Your Tomato Plants Stake your tomato well.  Whatever method…

Even though Zinnias begin with the letter “Z” they shouldn’t be your last thought for your garden. I’ve found that zinnias rival any other flower for attractive hummingbirds and butterflies. Hummingbirds love them, so much so that feeders are unnecessary. They are easy to grow, just sprinkle some seed where you want them and keep them watered to make them…

Do you want an easy to grow shrub that has very few pest problems, isn’t munched on by deer or rabbits, and looks great at the end of summer? No it’s not impossible, think caryopteris! Caryopteris (Caryopteris x clandonensis also called blue mist shrub, bluebeard, or blue mist spirea) is deer and rabbit resistant if not proof, blooms in the…