Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s time for the Fall Color Project to officially begin with our first participant! When the fall colors peak in your area consider it your blogging duty to share the view!Joco was concerned a couple weeks ago that there would be very little fall color in the UK due to the unusual weather but thankfully for us and our leaf…

When working in the garden or on the farm being able to positively identify poison ivy is very important. Who wants to end up with an itching spreading rash? There is the old adage “Leaves of three Let it be, leaves of five let it thrive” but that isn’t always clear. There are lots of plants that at first glance…

I got a few more pictures this morning of the Snowy Owl here in Spring Hill, TN from Pete.  The first one can only be described as spectacular with a sunrise in the background.  He also managed to get a  few close-ups!     Related Snowy Owl Posts: A Snowy Owl Story Snowy Owl Visits Spring Hill, TN

When I was out and about in the yard with my daughter on Monday I made a small discovery. It was lurking beneath the overgrown ivy topiary in a planter we have had for several years. From time to time we have planted different things in the planter. Once we had ornamental grasses and another time we had bulbs. I…

Or rather my garden shed was! I laid down part of the brick flooring that will eventually cover the entire shed floor. You can take a good look at the floor at the Garden Shed page!

Building a new potting bench has been on my mind for at least a year. When we moved here I threw together a makeshift potting bench that cost me nothing in materials out of an old palette and some scrap lumber. It did well for what it was but I decided that this year I would upgrade. I used many…

I think you will see why I bought Coreopsis ‘Limerock Dream’.  I have a fondness for perennial coreopsis since they are so easy to grow here in Tennessee. The colors on this variety drew my eyes instantly. It’s not plain yellow like my ‘Moonbeam’ Coreopsis or ‘Jethro Tull’.  The yellow colors seem to begin in the center of the flower…

The weather is changing, the shadows are getting longer, and of course the leaves are beginning to become more colorful which opens the door to a new season of gardening.  Every season has it’s own specific chores and things to do.  Winter is for planning, spring is for starting, summer is for maintenance and harvesting, and fall is for harvesting!…

A springtime flowering favorite of mine is the Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus x yedoensis).  I’ve written about these trees several times in the past and I know I’ll write about it again as it is such a valuable tree in the landscape for it’s ornamental beauty. I’ve never been able to root this tree…until now!  A couple months ago I…

Like the neighbor’s cat holding onto our railing, many of the maples have decided to hold onto their leaves, at least for a while longer. Not all of them of course, the reds lost their leaves several days ago. The sycamore trees still have some dead leaves hanging onto their branches. Their leaves will remain there for an indefinite period…

While searching for a picture to confirm the identity of my mysterious sedum I found a great wildflower website written by another Tennessean! It’s called East Tennessee Wildflowers. The site is full of pictures and information and even has lesson plans for teachers who want to add a wildflower element to their classrooms. Kris, the author and photographer, is a…

This time of year the native honeysuckle growing on my arbor is one of the showiest flowers around. Tons of flowers are covering the controllable version of lonicera. The native honeysuckle goes by the name of Lonicera sempervirens and not Lonicera japonica. I have the exotic foreigner too but it came with the garden! And it’s been ignoring my eviction…

We had a short reprieve from the cold winter temperatures we’ve been having.  It reached nearly 70 degrees  and we actually saw the sun for the first time in days. It felt good to be outside this afternoon tending to some minor garden chores. My first task was to pot up some more Purple leaf plums (Prunus cerasifera) that had…

Last year for Mother’s Day I redesigned a garden area for my mom. Their fence garden needed a little revamping and I’m really happy with the results. Here is what the area looked like before: Here’s how it looks now! In the above picture we set the border stones to give an edge for the garden.  The stone also helps…

Cover crops are an excellent way to improve the soil without adding chemical fertilizers – and they look great too! Today while driving home from a talk I gave on plant propagation I drove down an old country road and took a few pictures of the red clover. Most likely the farmer is using the clover to enrich the soil…

Another part of our back yard patio project was fixing up the deck. I suppose you could almost call this project more of a backyard remodel. In my last post I showed you a step/landing I built to bridge the gap between our patio and the deck. Today’s post is all about (and around) the deck. In the picture below…

Last year I told you about the Japanese maples that grew naturally from underneath a tree at my parent’s house. I over wintered young trees in my garden shed (see the April Video update) and have been taking care of them here in our garden. The other day I transferred the Japanese maple seedlings from the shed because it was…

It’s been a difficult year for many of use to get the optimum fall color shots since rains seem to be perpetual but Garden Lily has managed some very cool shots of her Canadian landscape! Cascading Japanese maples, beautyberry bushes, and burning bushes all provide some unique fall color in different ways. Go check out Garden Lily’s Flowers and Weeds…