Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Recently I happened to by driving by our property and noticed a huge change, one that I hadn’t planned. Suddenly a good portion of the front of the land was cleared. It was something we were going to have to pay for eventually when installing the water line for our future home but we didn’t hire anyone to do the…

The other day I mentioned that the Winter Jasmine would be the first thing to bloom… I was wrong! It’s the Witch hazel! It’s the first time it has bloomed in our garden. So what’s blooming in your February Garden?

The plant of the week this past week was an oak tree. This tree is actually in West Tennessee at my wife’s grandmother’s house. It is a very large and majestic tree that provides great shade and a bounty of acorns each year. The picture was taken from the base of the tree looking up at the canopy. As for…

Rudbeckia is a great perennial for the garden. Low in pests problems and high in visual interest it never fails to provide an impressive display in the late summer. It reseeds easy and is especially good for problem areas and wildflower gardens. It’s seeds nourish the birds in the fall while it’s petals nourish the eyes of the gardener in…

Lately I’ve been thinking about my fall vegetable planting and since the time is upon us I thought I would put together a fall vegetable garden layout of how I might plant one of my 4’x8′ raised beds. While this vegetable garden design is not necessarily drawn to scale with regard to the number of plants possible it should show…

As real gardening time approaches and we stop planning and dreaming to actually begin planting we have to know what we are going to do with our gardens. The big thing on my mind lately has been the vegetable garden. I miss the tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers that came out of our garden fresh everyday. I want to grow more…

For those of you who took a stab at the Name that Seed post they were seeds from a Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)! In the fall you can see these fruit trees laden with orange pulpy fruit. According to my Field Guide to Trees from the National Audubon Society persimmon trees grow up to 70 feet tall with and thrive…

I’ll simply title this next picture the off-season. If you garden, you know exactly what I mean! The leftovers of an Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower) seed head after the birds have visited.

I haven’t made a list of gardening projects in a while. I think it’s time to start getting organized and planning out my 2018 for some great things! Years ago I decided rather than post about resolutions that I would focus on projects I wanted to accomplish like building a shed, building raised beds, or other similar garden projects. My…

Isn’t this just a pretty tomato? This is one of the new varieties of vegetables I’m trying this year in the vegetable garden. Cherokee purple is an heirloom tomato that actually has a Tennessee origin. In 1990 man in Sevierville, TN named John Green sent a package with an unnamed tomato variety to Craig LeHoullier in Pennsylvania. According to Green…

Today I did a few garden related things just to get outside – nothing major – nothing terribly exciting. Just a few little things as an excuse to breathe some fresh (and rather cold) air. The weather forecast calls for snow flurries over night but little or no accumulation – at least in our area. Butterfly Bush Cuttings I took…

I have to admit I’m lovin’ my lawn right now. This is our third spring in this home and the lawn is beginning to look very nice. It’s not perfect, in fact far from it. Weeds can be found within a few feet of anywhere you look but the fescue is taking over. Areas that used to be clumps of…

Panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) are garden favorites for many gardeners because of their showy cone-shaped blooms, cold hardiness, and easy-care nature. Whether you’re nurturing one plant or dreaming of a whole hedge, learning to propagate panicle hydrangeas can be both rewarding and cost-effective. I purchased a single ‘Limelight’ hydrangea last year to add to my garden with the idea that…

Summer is the peak time for tomatoes which makes it the perfect time for tantalizing tomato talk! I’m pretty excited about this particular tomato that my wife selected from the Baker’s Creek Catalog last winter. I’m talking about ‘Woodle Orange’! It’s a funny name and prior to reading it in the catalog I had never heard of it before. Because…

While we are eating, and playing, and celebrating the holiday let us always remember why we celebrate, our freedom! Happy Independence Day!

I’ve mentioned several times about the value of companion planting so today for the Friday Fives I thought I’d go a little more into detail with some specific plants.  Companion planting is an integrated planting technique where the plants benefit each other through pest repulsion or through other beneficial qualities.  5 Companion Plants and How They Help Companion planting is…

I’m still playing in the dirt with seedlings! Aren’t you? This week I was excited to see some of my recent plantings begin to emerge from the soil. What is really cool about seed starting is the variety of plants you could potentially grow. Almost anything is possible! It’s also very cool when the plants are shared from another gardener….

When I started putting together our first garden areas in our blank slate of a yard I always second guessed myself. Every planting was met with the oncoming thought “is this going to work like I want it to?” or “does this look right?” Ideas flow freely from my mind all the time and I always try to imagine what…