Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Three years ago I redid a corner spot along our house and turned it into a shade garden. Two plants were present when I started to install the shade garden: a privet (ligustrum) and a cedar tree. I removed the privet mostly because I didn’t like it and removed the cedar due to a bagworm infestation I had early last…

It hardly seems to me that spring had even started before it was gone.  This growing season has gone by so quickly, or maybe I’m just getting too busy!  Unfortunately the garden has been through some rough times.  Drought and unbelievable record heat have crippled gardening in many ways from killing plants to keeping gardener’s with common sense indoors (although…

Welcome to my Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day Post for September 2008. On the 15th of each month Carol at May Dreams Gardens encourages her fellow garden bloggers to show what’s blooming in their garden. Please stop by her site to see what else is blooming around the blogosphere!We’ve made it through August and survived with the minuscule amounts of rain…

So on Wednesday of this coming week I’ll have had this blog open for a month. I find it interesting that about two weeks after I start articles all over pop up about garden blogging. Is it something that is catching on? Or is it publicity brought on by the talented folks who have paved the garden blogging way. The…

Plant propagation sounds like something very complicated.  A lot of gardeners are intimidated by the idea of getting something to root.  It looks challenging but in reality there are a great number of plants that are very easy to propagate.  That’s not to say that a cutting will grow roots each and every time.  In fact I’ve lost many cuttings…

The current project I’m working on for Lowe’s Creative Ideas fits into two categories for me: indoor gardening and vertical gardening.  “Migration” was the theme given to us which means we were to bring the garden indoors but the issue with that for me is space.  I bring plants indoors to overwinter each year like coleus or my avocado tree…

If you like Heucheras or Coral Bells as much as I do then take a look at this video from Fine Gardening Magazine. In it Alan Armitage talks about the heucheras in the trial gardens at the University of Georgia. Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ and Heuchera ‘Rave On’ stand out as two perennials I will have to add to my garden…

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…

Yesterday in the garden I finally got around to adding more evergreen plants. When the deciduous trees drop their leaves every fall the garden is left bare with very few spots of color. The blank slate of yard we inherited over four years ago has grown and matured every year but there has always been the notable lack of evergreen…

As you know I’m a huge fan of plant propagation.  I would bet that many of you reading this are too, or if you not a huge fan you are at least interested!  It’s a fascinating area and can be an amazing benefit for growing your garden.  Just think of all the free plants you can make from cuttings, or…

First let me apologize for not writing much lately. Life has been busy and I haven’t been able to get into the garden as much. Things are winding down for the cold season fortunately and while there is still much to do in the garden it always seems more manageable when the weeds are no longer actively growing! This morning…

Today was one of those days when everyone decided to have a great idea at once, post about fall colors! Unfortunately I’ve been working all day on the greenhouse and have just now been able to update the project. Better late than never right?We’ll start today’s flurry of fall foliage posts in the order they were received!The first stop today…

I had one of those extremely busy weekends.  The kind where you have so much to do you don’t know exactly where to start.  When you finally do start you discover that to do one task you have to do another task first. Then when you finally get going you move from one job, to another, to another, and there…

Since Labor Day is the unofficial/official end of summer I guess that means it’s time to start thinking about fall! And what else do you think about with fall?  FALL COLOR!  Which means it’s time for The Home Garden’s annual Fall Color Project! Since 2008 The Fall Color Project has been bringing fall color from Canada, The United States, Germany…

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! These pictures were taken after a rare snowfall last December (2008). While we are celebrating the holiday I will be taking a break from blogging until the beginning of January. Of course I reserve the right to write whenever the mood strikes but don’t be surprised…

Every garden experiences pest issues form time to time.  Insect pest can be frustrating and sometimes when you discover what is damaging your plants it’s already too late to do anything about it.  Here are five common insect pests that you may see in your garden for today’s Friday Five post!   Pest #1: Flea beetles You’ll first notice flea…

The recent blast of cold that barreled through our country last week caused lots of plant damage. It was unavoidable. The temperature dropped from the 50’s to -3° F in a matter of a few hours. That is a very significant temperature drop that wreaked havoc on our gardens. But don’t look at your brown and black leaf damage and…

After the daffodils and hyacinths have completed their performance the tulips take center stage in the front sidewalk garden. This time of year the front sidewalk garden is full of two kinds of tulips ‘Negrita’ and ‘Shirley’. These were both impulse purchases at a box store in the fall of 2007 and have really gone beyond my expectations. I planted…