One of the fun side events caused by the gardening habit is the witnessing of nature’s amazing works. Lately I’ve been seeing quite a bit of the fritillary butterfly in its various stages of growth. It’s probably the gulf fritillary butterfly but there are several different kinds in our area and even though I’m a … Read more
The dry season is well upon us. Here in Tennessee we haven’t seen a drop of rain in two weeks and even that was only .12 inches (at least in our garden). I’m not sure how long the plants can hang on without a good dose of liquid from the sky. And despite my repeated … Read more
Late this winter (or early this spring) I was contacted to try out some of John and Bob’s Organic Soil Amendments. They have a variety of different formulations that contain humus, beneficial minerals, and microbes that help the soil do what it does best – feed the plants! They sent me several things to test … Read more
I think I’ve failed to fully express my appreciation for my culinary sage. So let’s fix that! Sage (or Salvia officinalis) is one of those herbs that I use in all kinds of culinary concoctions from soup to seasonings. Almost any kind of meat tastes better with fresh sage. Chicken, meatloaf, turkey, just about everything…it’s … Read more
The heat and lack of rain are taking their toll on the vegetable garden here in late August but there is always something to talk about! The tomatoes are still producing but really could use some good irrigation from the sky. The garden is ready for some cleaning up and soon I will need to … Read more
Beans are simply the best vegetable in the garden. I know, all you people out there who hate eating your greens disagree, but really when you compare factors like the ease of growing, pests, and diseases beans really win out. In many cases beans will just continue to grow when other plants halt in the … Read more
Since so much of the garden right now is suffering from lack of adequate rainfall I thought it might be a good time to look back at a few past plant propagation posts. Some of these are favorites of mine and hopefully they will be useful for you too! Propagating Shrubs: ‘Shasta’ Viburnum plicatum var. … Read more
Here’s a quick look at my garden shed in the morning while a thin layer of fog was resting over the backyard. Two crape myrtles are planted on either side of the pathway but only one has bloomed – maybe next year the crape myrtles will achieve the effect I was hoping for.
Every gardener has an enemy, a nemesis, an evil villain that lurks in the garden that the garden would love to eradicate. I’ve had an invader this year that has been more aggressive than ever before – Bermuda grass. Once it gets a foothold in the garden it is extremely hard to hold back, let … Read more
Along one side of our property there is a narrow strip of land between the house and our neighbors’ properties. There isn’t much room to do a whole lot of gardening (or so I originally thought) and this side of the house felt exposed when we bought our home in 2007. This is how it … Read more
Before reading a certain garden blogger’s post I had never heard of a cotton plant with dark foliage (Gossypium herbaceum ‘Nigra’). Then this spring Nancy Ondra of Hayefield emailed me and asked if I would like to try some seeds. Me being the seed collecting addict I am I said of course! She also sent … Read more
This post is a little bit of a Hodge-podge of topics. A conglomeration of a couple of interesting things and one maybe no so much for you (but something I can whine warn you about!) Sunrise This morning we had a gorgeous sunrise that highlighted the early morning clouds. I snapped I picture from our … Read more
One of the precursors to fall is the beautyberry. Much like the forsythias harken the arrival of spring the beautyberries are always reliably beautiful beginning this time of year. The blooms of summer gradually have transformed from small white blossoms into clusters of tiny purple gems. Our beautyberry is now in its third year in … Read more
This summer heat, humidity, and assorted family issues have kept me behind in most of my goals. One of which was expanding the side border garden so that the caryopteris wasn’t completely absorbing the whole area. I tend to take a more conservative approach to pruning my caryopteris and consequently I didn’t prune them back … Read more
Have you ever stood back and tried to observe your garden at a different angle? Maybe from up high on a slope? Or down low from the ground looking up at the flowers and trees? Sometimes it’s helpful to take a different perspective in order to plan out your garden better. Here’s an example. I … Read more
But the harvest ain’t bad! Just look at this bunch of tomatoes: The round orange tomatoes are ‘Woodle Orange’, the round red ones are volunteers, the small and slightly purple tinted are some ‘Cherokee Purple’ tomatoes that didn’t grow as larges as they should have, and the elongated orange tomatoes are ‘Orange Icicle.’ The cherry … Read more
I’m a little late on this list since we’re already over a week into August but over weekend I’ve come up with a list of things that I need to accomplish in the garden this month. As is very easy to do the garden has gotten away from me and with the start of football … Read more
For while I thought the deer were gone. Then this spring we saw the telltale signs of the whitetail deer. The hoof prints, the nibbles and the um…other signs. Then came the sightings. A single doe came strolling through the backyard taking nibbles of various plants. Fortunately most of the plants in our garden are … Read more
This was definitely the year for trying new melons, at least here at The Home Garden. Yesterday I showed you the ‘Tigger’ melon we grew and tasted, today let’s welcome ‘Old Time Tennessee’ to the blog! Where the ‘Tigger’ melon is small, compact, and tasty ‘Old Time Tennessee’ is large, football shaped (perfect for football … Read more
Every year I try something new in the vegetable garden. When I was selecting seeds back in the dormant season I ran across this small melon called ‘Tigger’. Of course as a parent with three children anything with the name ‘Tigger’ catches my attention. The ‘Tigger’ melon was described in the Baker Creek catalog as … Read more
It’s been a long long while since I’ve updated this page about my garden shed. Of course if you follow me on the main The Home Garden page you probably know why my garden activities have slowed down over the last couple months. I won’t go into detail in this post but if you follow … Read more
Marigold ‘Yellow Splash’ It’s the second day of August which means it’s time to see how the GROW project seeds have fared since our July Update! ‘Yellow Splash’ Marigolds As you can see in the picture to the right we’re starting to get a few flowers on the ‘Yellow Splash’ marigolds in the vegetable garden. … Read more
This was one of those weekends where my garden time was fairly limited. I still managed to get outdoors some and accomplish a few little things. The biggest task was putting together the garden cart for my mower. It took almost two hours. That’s probably where most of my outdoor time went but when it … Read more
