Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s January and my garden is a mess.  That’s OK because it’s January!  My garden could be the perfect mixture of evergreen conifers and winter color landscape plantings specifically designed to brighten the gloomiest winter day, but it’s not.  I would love that, but my garden was never put together for the winter color.  I’m gradually adding plants for that…

The last week has been extremely busy and there are a mountain of fun things to talk about that sprang from it as well as quite a few neat things that will be coming down the road for the garden.  Of course right now we have results of the last of this winter’s oppressive ice storms, Titan, hanging around to…

Mid July finds my garden a little bit rough around the edges. The need for more garden time is always present with gardens needing weeded, the lawn needing mowed and cleaned up, tomatoes that need re-staked, and many other garden chores. It’s not just the lack of garden time though, the weather has played a significant role. No rain for…

A couple years ago I bought a fantastic native plant at a local native plant nursery. It was a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and is great for attracting everyone’s favorite tiny garden visitor, the hummingbird. The flower clusters are red (you probably expected that from the name: red buckeye), tubular, and bloom in early spring. Red buckeye trees grow best…

Beans are simply the best vegetable in the garden. I know, all you people out there who hate eating your greens disagree, but really when you compare factors like the ease of growing, pests, and diseases beans really win out.  In many cases beans will just continue to grow when other plants halt in the tracks due to dry weather…

This bell may not make a sound but it sure strikes a chord with the chickadees and titmice.  We received the seed bell as a stocking stuffer for Christmas.  The birds must have loved it.  After two and a half days the seed bell is all gone!  At least I managed to get some nice shots of the chickadees. Unfortunately…

Welcome to the first Seed Sowing Saturday of 2011! Where all of us seed starting fanatics recap our weekly seed starting experiences and share with each other what we’re working on, how we’re doing it all, and of course the results! I chose to start my seed sowing this week by starting shallots. We do a great deal of our…

Today is the day. The day when the challenge is evaluated by friends, family, and fellow bloggers through online voting at BHG.com and I need your help to win. The projects have been done and everyone has done a fantastic job by bringing us slick porch remodels, an elegant potting bench, a cool barbecue cart, and my personal favorite: a…

Video UPDATE: Bradford Pear Tree As I expected we now have a second Bradford Pear Tree boken. In fact it’s a rather dangerous situation due to heavy branch still attached to the tree. I’ve been working to get this tree cut down since this happened but take a look at why you shouldn’t plant one of these problem trees. In…

This post is a little bit of a Hodge-podge of topics. A conglomeration of a couple of interesting things and one maybe no so much for you (but something I can whine warn you about!) Sunrise This morning we had a gorgeous sunrise that highlighted the early morning clouds.  I snapped I picture from our upstairs bathroom window. It’s a…

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 was but plants, not people,…

It’s been a long time.  Last year, or last mowing season, I had the misfortune of blowing up my mower.  Well I nearly blew up my mower. It was close, very close.  While mowing one fine spring day last May the blades ran over a nylon cord and got caught.  I did what any responsible power tool user does in…

This plant is probably easily identifiable. In fact it’s a good bet that if you live in the south you have it in your yard, your neighbors yard, your school, your bank and pretty much everywhere you could think to put it! I saw rows of this at the home improvement store today which prompted me to make this post….

Obviously if you are reading this post you have discovered the world of garden blogging, but do you know how it can help you in your garden? Do you know how to best utilize garden blogs for your benefit? I have a tip that may give you a few ideas, but first let’s look at what garden blogging is about….

Friday we had thunderstorms rolling through Middle Tennessee. The rain came down fast with the accompanying winds. This storm cleated tornadoes that tore apart homes one county south of us. Here are some pictures I took of the storm coming. The rain fell very quickly. Our rain gauge measured at least half an inch of rain in 15 to 20…

I’m not big into potted plants, but maybe I should be. There’s something satisfying about having a garden 100% complete and only having to maintain it with a little watering and a smattering of organic fertilizer. Essentially a potted arrangement is just a simple miniature garden complete within itself. Of course you can get as complicated as the size of…

The fall season is a busy one.  We’re all busy cleaning up the outside areas of our homes and gardens to prepare for colder days ahead.  The list of things to do this fall isn’t a short one but if you can fit a few more items to your list you will save yourself some time in the spring!  Let’s…

Please ignore the mess of bricks and leftover lumber lying on the floor at the bottom of this picture. Instead focus on the cabinets! Family friends were cleaning out their basement and passed on quite a few pieces of lumber and odds and ends they thought could be reused. The cabinets came along for the ride too. With a little…