Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s a sure sign of fall when the goldenrod stands tall! These tall golden yellow plumes rise above most of the native grasses in our naturalized side yard. Unfortunately for this beautiful perennial flower it is commonly mistaken for a more insidious vegetative villain, ragweed. When you sneeze in the fall it isn’t goldenrod causing your problems. Ragweed is the…

Tatyana took a walk through her town in Washington to bring us fall color. Along the way she found some spectacular images of fall in the Pacific Northwest. I envy their ability to grow Japanese maples so successfully in that region. Birches, maples, evergreens and the Olympic Mountains all have their place in Tatyana’s fall photos! See the most recent…

Ah Sunflower, weary of time,Who countest the steps of the sun;Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveler’s journey is done;Where the youth pined away with desire, And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,Arise from their graves, and aspire Where my Sunflower wishes to go!by William BlakeThis post is was inspired by the wonderful poems and quotations provided daily…

Compost bins are essential in the garden. They take the waste materials from the yard, garden, kitchen, or farm and turn it into usable soil. Good compost is worth its weight in gold to gardeners which is exactly why it is nicknamed “gardener’s gold.” One of the easiest ways to make a lot of compost is to set up a…

My thoughts on gardening in 2020 2020 has been a crazy year so far hasn’t it? On the positive side it has introduced a host of new gardeners to the fun of home gardening. People these days are looking for ways to spend their time at home and maybe participate in a healthy activity that can offset some expenses with…

Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons in the garden. Fall because I love the changing leaves, the cool crisp air, and the feeling of closure that comes with shutting down the garden. Spring is my other favorite because of the rebirth. All the spring flowers and foliage are emerging and everything is brand new again. It’s a really fun…

Here’s just a quick post to share a few photos! Enjoy the red mums of fall!   From bud… To blossoming… …to flower! Don’t forget to join in the 2011 Fall Color Project when your fall colors are at their peak!

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…

Every year I write down my ideas for gardening projects.  It helps me to put down some thoughts and map out where my garden needs to go throughout the season.  I won’t be able to accomplish every project on the list but it does give me some direction.  At the end of the year I’ll go back and see how…

Yesterday I put together a small vegetable layout plan for my raised bed garden. It’s just one of many possibilities for companion planting and it only deals with a small number of plants. This plan features tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and marigolds in a 4 foot by 8 foot bed. All of these plants are listed in various companion planting guides…

This week has been an interesting one! I’m amazed and astounded by the sheer number of comments generated for the compost bin giveaway from Clean Air Gardening. At the cut-off time for the drawing there were 120 valid entries (Nancy’s, of Leaping Greenly, doesn’t count since she’s Canadian but I always appreciate her comments!). Here’s how the drawing worked: I…

Mums are the staple of almost every household in the fall because of their abundant fall blossoms and varied array of colors. One thing many people don’t think about is that they are actually perennials. Some people realize this of course, but often people treat them as annuals only to buy them all over again next year. That is fine…

The other day I had an idea.  Instead of taking my pruned Russian sage branches and just dumping them in the compost, I thought what if I tried to make cuttings from them? I’ve propagated Russian sage cuttings very easily in the spring from softwood cuttings and even some during the summer but I’ve never tried hardwood cuttings.  This may…

A cut flower business sounds like a neat idea doesn’t it? It’s a lot of work but if you enjoy gardening with flowers it may be a great business for you. I’ve compiled a list of potential cut flowers that would make good options for a cut flower business. Check out the list below. This list of plants is certainly…

It’s time for my end of the year garden project review. In the remote case you don’t know what I mean I’ll explain. This is where I go back and see what I actually accomplished from among the lofty project goals I established on January 1, 2009. I’ll have a new set of projects for 2010 very soon but some…

When winter comes I really feel it and maybe you do too. I feel the feeling of melancholy that accompanies being stuck indoors for long stretches of time. There is a name for that feeling, Seasonal Affected Disorder. I’m certainly not a doctor but I can recognize when “SAD” is hitting me and the best cure for me is to…

It won’t be too much longer now before the Yoshino Cherries begin to bloom in Tennessee. Last year the Yoshino Cherry trees bloomed at the end of March. Right now the buds are beginning to swell which makes me optimistic that they will bloom at about the same time as last year. We have three Yoshinos and maybe four. I…