An August Sunset

Here’s a look back at a December Skyscape of almost the same location. Some other sunsets:Clingman’s Dome – Great Smoky Mountains National ParkMt. Juliet, TN

Oh Deer!

I thought the deer were gone but I was wrong. After a house was built behind the woods that skirts the edge of our property I thought the deer had left but when I returned home last weekend from my trip I discovered that the deer made a return. While they could easily make it … Read more

Back Home Again

We’re home again! For the last week we’ve been on the road and away from home which means that not much gardening was happening. I was away teaching at a band camp and my family was staying at the grandparent’s house. It was a busy and tiring week at band camp and now that both … Read more

Beneath the Rocks Lurks the Black Widow Spider

Beware gardeners for danger may lurk beneath a rock. Though a rock may be a home to many creatures there are few that rival the venomous Black Widow spider. This spider is one of only two spiders gardeners in Tennessee have to watch out for, the other is the brown recluse. The black widow loves … Read more

Plants with Cool Foliage: Silver Mound (Artemisia schmidtiana)

Could their be a more aptly named plant than ‘Silver Mound’? Artemisia schmidtiana has several common names like wormwood, mugwort, sagebrush, or just silver mound (which to me is the most descriptive.) This mounding perennial has soft silvery gray foliage that invites the casual observer reach down to touch it. It’s hard to walk by … Read more

Landscape Scenes from A July Wedding

It’s Sunday and another family wedding is complete! The happy couple said their vows yesterday before the thunderstorm arrived. Since the wedding was outdoors at my mother-in-law’s house it was fortunate that the rains only came during the reception that followed. Rather than talk too much I’ll show you the results of our wedding preparations. … Read more

Thrifty Gardening Tips: The Generosity of Gardeners

Here is Part Two of my weekly series of posts about gardening on a budget, Thrifty Gardening Tips. One of the best ways to get plants and other garden paraphernalia is through other gardeners that you know. Those who garden are generous people and always seem to want to encourage others in gardening endeavors. Often … Read more

Arborvitae in the Home Garden

Arborvitae is a very nice plant for the home landscape. Also called Thuja occidentalis, arborvitae is an extremely versatile evergreen tree in the landscape. It can be used as a foundation planting, privacy screen, or even as a windbreak. These columnar evergreens tend to evoke a formal mood in the garden. There are cultivars that … Read more

More Success in Propagation

Last night I potted up a few more successfully propagated plants. While none of the cuttings were difficult by any means, I’m always pleased when I have a few more viable plants to add to the garden. The plants still need a little more time to develop their root systems, but they were ready to … Read more

Ah Sunflower

Ah Sunflower, weary of time,Who countest the steps of the sun; Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveler’s journey is done; Where the youth pined away with desire, And the pale virgin shrouded in snow, Arise from their graves, and aspire Where my Sunflower wishes to go! by William Blake This post is … Read more

Laying A Natural Stepping Stone Pathway

This spring on one corner of my house I installed a shade garden. I removed the old $30 builder special privet bush and put an oak leaf hydrangea in its place. I added astilbe, ferns, hostas, heucheras, and heucherellas. We traded at a plant swap for some variegated Soloman’s seal and added annuals like caladiums, … Read more

Propagating in the Early Morning

Early morning is the best time for so many things including plant propagation. Taking cuttings when it is cool prevents them from drying out and losing too much moisture before they get prepared. If a cutting dries out it very well could be the end of the road for your potentially propagated plant! This morning, … Read more

Blue Skies Smiling at Me

This morning I went out to tinker in the garden and had to capture some of images of the clear blue skies overhead. I was out taking cuttings on this cool spring-like morning that I’ll share a with you later today. The sky began as mostly overcast with a few spots of blue shining through. … Read more

My Vegetable Garden Layout Revisited

I suppose it’s human nature to second guess oneself and lately I’ve been wondering if the vegetable garden layout I decided to make was designed the best way. It’s very functional and all the vegetables have been growing wonderfully (until a couple pests came along, but that isn’t related to the garden’s layout.) Aesthetically the … Read more

Enemies of the Garden: Squash Vine Borer and Cucumber Beetle

I’ve been riding a gardening high since everything seemed to be going so well. The summer squash has been putting out squash prolifically and everyday there have been more cucumbers to pick. Things are changing. Now there are some pesky pests who are honing in on my vegetables. The squash vine borer and the cucumber … Read more

A Japanese Maple for Father’s Day

This post is a little late in coming, especially since I actually received my Father’s Day present from my wife and children a couple weeks early. They gave me a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). I always like unique plants in the garden and a Japanese maple adds some foliar interest with its delicately shaped and … Read more

In the Clouds

The other evening some clouds were blowing. Here’s a look at what we saw. A small storm was on its way through our area which is usually when you get most interesting clouds! Please excuse the power lines. Half the neighborhood has them below ground, our half doesn’t.

Dinner at Dave’s

Tonight we were able to make good use of our vegetables from the garden. Here’s a quick look at what my family had for dinner tonight! Now the chicken was the main course and it didn’t come from the garden but the squash did! I covered it in olive oil with a little salt and … Read more

Timber!

Among the many chores I mentioned in my last post was the toppling of several large trees. There were three trees in that were dead and needed removal. At some point recently one of the branches of the trees fell and speared the ground below to a depth of 6-8 inches. To keep the trees … Read more

A Quick Wedding Landscape Preparation Update

I don’t have any pictures ready for this post although I did take some. I’m working to prepare my in-laws landscape for my brother-in-law’s wedding in July. Here’s just a quick list of some of the projects we’re working to complete. Weed the various gardens including a patio garden, a front yard sidewalk garden, a … Read more

A Rabbit Rant

I had really planned to put up a different post tonight, all about gardening with children featuring my two year old daughter. Unfortunately that post will have to wait for tomorrow since I’m still seething over tonight’s discovery, a rabbit attack. This wasn’t some killer attack rabbit from Monty Python. On second thought maybe it … Read more

Walking on a Saturday Morning to See the Sunset (Echinacea and Maple)

This Saturday Morning I walked around the yard doing some little garden chores. I stopped by a mum and clipped it back (and took the cuttings inside for propagating). I watered a few things around the gardens, mostly cuttings that have been potted up. I limbed up our ‘Sunset’ maple (Acer rubrum) to prevent some … Read more

Another Tennessean’s Shade Garden

There are so many variations a person can make for a shade garden. Often there are similarities between plant selections or plant placement but the individual responsible for putting them together has a significant impact. Recently another Middle Tennessean sent me a picture of her shade garden. Rachel put together a very fine display of … Read more

A Rad Harvest

No you’re not having a bad 80’s flashback. The word rad in the title doesn’t refer to big hair glam bands or jelly shoes but rather radishes! How could you even think of the other stuff? The radishes are in from the vegetable garden and are quite tasty. Here’s the bunch I pulled today. There … Read more

A Bird Bath Garden Layout

I’ve been working on establishing my bird bath garden over the last couple days. I’ll show you the results soon but I thought I would show you the layout of the garden first. I’ve chosen plants that both the birds and the butterflies will enjoy for their diets. Of course the main reason I selected … Read more

Name That Plant!

Is this a wildflower or a weed? Of course the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” always applies to wildflowers. What one person appreciates another might find invasive and vise versa. Then again someone might appreciate it and find it invasive…what do you think? This wildflower is very common in the southeast … Read more

Rainy Day Cuttings

Today and yesterday it rained. While it wasn’t the nice steady soaking rain that every gardener dreams of it also wasn’t the wimpy little sprinkles that tantalize the taste buds of the drought worried plant person. It was somewhere in between. Hopefully a little more rain will fall tomorrow as I can envision our tomatoes … Read more

A Budding Garden

Things are really starting to show their colors here in our Tennessee gardens. The spring flowering plants have displayed their petals and are preparing for next season. The daffodils and tulips are long gone. The salvia has given its first performance and is ready for dead-heading to prepare for the next show. Many of the … Read more

…and the Bees

I was inspecting the Birdbath Garden the other day when a persistent buzzing sound became noticeable. I looked around a little closer and found this little bee happily buzzing among the stalks of the salvia. No wonder I like these plants! They are magnets for these happy little pollinators. This bee buzzed from stalk to … Read more

The Birds…

The mockingbird has been causing trouble again. The suet was the issue of contention in the backyard because our resident Mockingbird King claimed it and all the surrounding territory. No other birds were allowed near the feeders, even if they only wanted sunflower seed for which the king has no desire. When the mockingbird gave … Read more

Potting Up

I was able to get outside this afternoon and do a little potting with some cuttings that had rooted. It’s a constant process right now since as soon as one batch gets rooted I start some more. You never know if you will have enough! Sometimes you give away the plants to friends and family, … Read more

Beefing Up the Shade Garden

When I went to the plant swap this past weekend I was hoping to find some shade tolerant plants to add to the corner shade garden. Something new or unique would be a great addition to the shade garden. I saw several hostas at the swap. Almost everyone loves them (I don’t know anyone who … Read more

More Sedums for the Garden

One of the plants I was looking for at the plant swap this weekend was sedum. We have a small area between our driveway and our sidewalk that I want to convert into a sedum bed. We already had three varieties of sedum (‘Blue Spruce’, ‘Autumn Joy’, and another unidentified sedum) and we wanted a … Read more

Plant Swap Tomorrow

The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap is tomorrow. I’ll write more about it later. Here is what I’m bringing: 4 Russian Sages 2 Red Twig Dogwoods14 Japanese Dappled Willows (Salix integra) 12 Euonymous fortunei (‘Emerald Gaiety’) 4 Blue Spruce Sedums8 Purple Leaf Plums4 Nandinas (courtesy of the birds) 2 Chrysanthemums of an unknown color and variety. … Read more

Name that Plant: Blueberry Bush

It’s about time I positively identify the Name that Plant. It was a ‘Duke’ Blueberry bush. Our eldest daughter loves blueberries and while I’ll eat them occasionally they were planted for her. I planted two this spring and while we are hopeful that this Northern Highbush blueberry will bear fruit we may have to be … Read more

A Great Way to Get New Plants

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 … Read more

An Iris Profile

Here you are, up close and personal with a purple bearded iris. This is just one of many irises we we’re given by my parents. They had quite a few that they divided last year and didn’t have places for them all. They are definitely dressing up the landscape!

A Greening Rain

One of the more vibrant times to observe the yard and garden is just after a rain when the sun is beginning to shine. The rain replenishes and nourishes the plants better than any watering I could do. The leaves are brighter and they glisten with the glaze of the rain still coating them. Over … Read more

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

One of the best things about feeding the birds is seeing a new bird you have never seen before. We’ve seen grosbeaks like blue grosbeaks and cardinals (which are a type of grosbeak) but this is the first rose breasted grosbeak we have seen. It’s not a surprise that we haven’t seen them before since … Read more

Rock ‘n Roll

How do you move three giant boulders? Very carefully and with as much help as you can find! I couldn’t have moved these three large rocks without the help of my brothers-in-law. The three boulders needed moved about 40-50 feet to their final location as a part of the woodland shade garden for my brother-in-law’s … Read more

A Pot Garden?

The other day I wrote a post about protecting your plants from a freeze. I followed what I preached and came through with no frost damage on my covered plants. I think Tennessee is now officially in the clear! I came away with these interesting shots. A new kind of pot garden?

The Crane Fly

These giant mosquito like creatures called crane flies are all over the Middle Tennessee area right now. They are flies that may look like mosquitoes but aside from their unfortunate appearance have no other similar attributes. Crane flies are perfectly harmless in their adult form but can be very annoying. In their larval form they … Read more

My Vegetable Garden is Started!

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 … Read more

Arbor Day 2008

Plant a tree. It’s a simple enough sentiment. They give us shelter, they give us shade and fruit, and they give us life. There are so many reasons why you should plant a tree that the opposing list of why not to plant a tree is very short. In fact some of those reasons are … Read more

A Sunrise Among a Cedar Glade

Here’s a few pictures to start your day. There is something magical about being in the forest at sunrise as things come awake among the trees. If you have planted a tree for Arbor Day this year please let me know by Thursday evening (here) and I can add a link to your post for … Read more

What Trees Did We Plant?

So far this year we have planted two actual trees along with a number of shrubs. I’ll talk about the shrubs another day but here are the two trees we planted. I have always admired the canopy of maple trees and the fall color of the red maples in particular. We put this tree in … Read more

Weekend Update

It’s been a busy weekend. We’ve been out of town since Friday visiting the in-laws house. I spent much of the weekend working on their landscape trying to get some things ready for the wedding in July. My task has been to spruce up various areas that will be around the wedding. I won’t be … Read more

Some Ornamental Trees

There are many choice of trees to plant and reasons why you might want to plant them. In this post I want to highlight a few ornamental trees that might be worth planting in your landscape. Ornamental trees really could be any kind of tree but typically have great flowers or special and interesting foliage. … Read more

Why Plant a Tree?

Why should you consider planting a tree? Aside from the more pleasurable aspects of trees like flowers, leaf color, and shade there are some significant scientific reasons. I found a very interesting site called the Colorado Tree Coalition that has listed some very important information about trees and what they really do. The Colorado Tree … Read more