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Merry Christmas!
I would like to wish you and your family a safe and very merry Christmas season! Photos: Nandina berries (top left), eastern red cedar under snow(middle left), blue garden shed (bottom left), happy little bluebird in snow (middle bottom), daffodil coming up in a March snow (bottom right), Our Snow covered house (top right). Coming up after Christmas: 2011 Project…
Husker’s Red Penstemon in the Garden
One of the neatest perennials in our garden is ‘Husker’s Red’ penstemon (Penstemon digitalis). ‘Husker’s Red’ has reddish foliage that adds color to the garden during the growing season but it also blooms prolifically for several weeks in the spring. Ours are just now starting to fade so I thought I would take a picture to share with you. The…
Vegetable Family: Solanaceae (The Nightshades)
The other day I wrote about crop rotation, it’s importance, and it’s benefit in the garden so today I thought we’d begin looking at the individual families of vegetables and how they fit into the grand scheme of things. Since it is probably the most popular family, because of one of its members (the tomato), we’ll start discussing the nightshade…
A Helpful Garden Mulch Calculator
Garden mulch can be an essential part of your garden. Mulch has a number of benefits including keeping the moisture in the soil and adds beneficial organic matter. Mulch can be valuable in reducing weed pressure as well. How much mulch do you need? Below is a simple mulch calculator to help you determine how much mulch you need for…
How to Extract Seeds from Chaff
Have you ever wondered “How do I separate those tiny seeds from the chaff?” It’s not hard and shouldn’t cost you a dime to remove all those tiny seeds. There are quite a few methods for separating the seeds from the chaff, this is just one possible method you might use. Take a used plastic container form your recycling bin….
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day September 2010
Thank you for stopping by to see what’s blooming here in TN during September. Also thanks to Carol for hosting Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day each month. Before you look at the pictures below I want to invite you to participate in the Fall Color Project for 2010. Click on the link to see the information about the Fall Color Project….
Fall Color in Southern California
Denise from Southern California has another great Fall Color Project post for us! You might think that her region may not have much fall color to offer, but if you look you’ll find it! Just take a glance at the muhlenbergia in full bloom, the ginko trees, or the sweetgum and you’ll see the fall color that comes to Southern California….
Worm Bins for Vermicomposting
In order to raise worms for worm composting (vermicomposting) you have to have a place to put the worms and the kitchen scraps. There are all kinds of composting bins that can be effective but they all work on the same idea. A box houses the worms, kitchen scraps, and bedding. As the worms eat they make their way through…
5 Essential Vegetable Garden Chores
It’s planting time in many areas of the country and many gardeners are just starting their first gardens. Figuring out just what to do in the garden can get a little overwhelming for beginning gardeners so here are 5 essential garden chores that gardeners can do to maximize their success! 11 Things to Consider When Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable…
The Japanese Maple Garden
And now here comes my favorite part of the patio project so far. No project feels quite as complete as when you finally plant something. OK I suppose that only holds true for gardening projects but it really is the exciting part! Welcome to the Japanese Maple Garden! It’s a small raised bed made from the edging stones that I…
The First Daffodil Bloom of 2010
During these gray overcast days of a winter almost past, seeing the first daffodils of spring bloom in our yard is like watching the sun sprout from the earth. Our garden is behind most at this point but that’s OK because it means that there will be more blooms overlapping each other than usual! When did your first daffodil bloom…
Self Sowing Coleus in the Garden
I love surprises in the garden. Plants that pop up where you least expect them – unfortunately those are usually called “WEEDS.” Sometimes though we find plants of value that pop up. Here are a few pictures of some self-sown coleus plants that came up in my front garden this year. I grow coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) every year but have started…
Aphid Alert
While aphids are easy to deal with they are definitely a nuisance! I discovered these on our hostas the other day feasting on the flower stalks. Aphids are easy to find, just look for the ants. Ants are opportunistic little insects that love a sweet and easy meal that the aphids provide. When the aphids begin to feed on the…
Lady Beetle Larvae: Garden Helpers
Don’t be afraid, unless you’re an aphid. These little larvae are on the side of good and fight the evildoers in the garden. They may look creepy at first but these little lady beetle larvae are some of the best friends you could have. They eat even more than the adults do! Lady beetles love aphids as well as mites…
Mint Mayhem! (The Herbs)
The other day I mentioned rosemary but another herb that I utilize often is mint. While mint is a great plant to have it also has a reputation. You see, once it gets established it grows fast – very fast. It can quickly overtake other plants that are near it. Some people wouldn’t plant it with a ten foot pole…
Three Perennial Plants Never Touched By Deer
Never say never right? In my experience there are very few plants that are truly safe from deer. This year I’ve had big time deer issues. The extra tomato bed I planted was completely devoured by the two deer that are camping out in our backyard. That isn’t shocking really. I wasn’t able to put a good fence around any…
How to Prune and Deadhead Echinacea (Coneflower) to Prevent Aster Yellows
Coneflowers (Echinacea), with their vibrant blooms and pollinator appeal, are a staple in many home gardens. In this post, I’ll share my approach to pruning coneflowers to encourage healthy blooms, support pollinators, and provide food for birds later in the season. I’ll also cover a serious plant disease—aster yellows—that can affect coneflowers and other members of the aster family, and…
My Rant on The Media (The Tennessee Flood of 2010 Part 1.5)
Please forgive this short ranting post you are about to read. My next post for this afternoon will have a couple videos of the flooding in our backyard then I’ll get back to gardening but I wanted to say a few words about a subject that is really irritating me. The rant is below. It’s short, non-political, and I felt…
