Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

On my trip to the Vizcaya gardens in Miami I saw this salvia (Salvia leucantha/Mexican Bush sage) and thought it was a perfect way to display it – against a red backdrop.  This salvia was located in front of a large patio area made from limestone blocks facing Biscayne Bay.  The faded red from the side of the patio is…

Through the generosity of other gardeners and the creative use of old materials you can do a lot! Last week a friend of my parents was cleaning out their basement and found some things that they passed along to me. One of the items was a kitchen sink. It’s really more of a bar sink with a slightly bent faucet….

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…

How cold was it this morning? The wireless thermometer said 15.5 Degrees Fahrenheit at 8:00 AM. That’s pretty cold! The low last night in our little nook on the hillside was somewhere around 3-4 degrees! But really, how cold is that? Cold enough that the bird’s won’t receive any enjoyment out of the birdbath in the birdbath garden for a…

Gardeners garden for many reasons.  Perhaps the most common reason is to get back to that part of us that belongs with nature.  We want to see the world around us come through our garden and provide for its positive growth.  How we do that can vary in thousands of ways but almost every method provides some sort of food…

Weeds are one of the most troubling elements of gardening that gardeners face.  A gardener’s definition of a a weed is simply a plant you don’t want in a place you don’t want it!  Which means that even desirable plants can become a weed pest in the wrong place.  Gardener’s want simple and easy ways to remove weeds from the…

Here is the beginning of a running tally of vegetables we collect from the garden. I’ve noticed that several other garden bloggers are doing similar vegetable counts and it’s just too cool of an idea to pass up! Hopefully I can keep it updated on a daily basis. Keeping track of the total vegetable crop should be a good way…

Here is Part Six of The Home Garden’s series of posts on how to garden on a budget.I began planning this post with the intention of talking about the importance of planning a garden. After typing and typing I realized that this is a subject so large that it really needed to be broken down into smaller sections. One of…

Every gardener experiences loss. In fact some gardeners experience more loss than others but eventually no matter what kind of gardener you are (experienced or not) you will lose a plant. Sometimes the plant fades away and you don’t even notice it disappeared until later when you think “Didn’t I have a [insert whatever plant name you like] here?” Often…

A few years ago I helped my parents build together a focal point in their yard. It is made of two concentric circles of decorative concrete retaining wall, with the center circle taller than the outer one. The circles serve as a central location in the yard for some garden pathways. In the center ring is a weeping cherry tree…

Several years ago I used to watch a cartoon called Earthworm Jim. (Yes I’ll admit I watched cartoons in college!) It was based on a video game that I never played but I guess was somewhat popular at the time.  In the cartoon Earthworm Jim was a space traveling superhero worm valiantly ridding the universe of bad guys like Professor…

It’s not often that I am so impressed by a nursery that I feel compelled to write about them.  So many nurseries just do things the same way, the established way.  I know it works well but when a nursery steps it up a notch it REALLY works. Growild Nursery in Fairview, Tennessee (7190 Hill Hughes Rd, Fairview, TN 37062) to…

Beware gardeners for danger may lurk beneath a rock. Though a rock may be a home to many creatures there are few that rival the venomous Black Widow spider. This spider is one of only two spiders gardeners in Tennessee have to watch out for, the other is the brown recluse. The black widow loves to lurk underneath rocks and…

It seems that we are not the only one’s enjoying our side garden entry arbor. This little ruby throated hummingbird seems quite fond of our nifty native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) climbing up the side of the project. Honeysuckle is one of my favorite vines to attract hummingbirds. The arbor was part of a Better Homes & Gardens Challenge where we…

How about a fall foliage trip to Bethlehem? Bethlehem, PA that is! Yet another example of fine Pennsylvania foliage is on display with photos taken from Penn’s Peak by Marie at Garden in Bethlehem PA. Oaks, maples, locusts and all kinds of other trees are coating the hills like paint on a canvas.Kylee of Our Little Acre has fall colors….

As part of Gardening Gone Wild’s Front Garden Workshop I’ll show you the tulips that are in our front sidewalk garden bed, which is a work in progress. There are only two kinds of tulips in the front garden, a purple one called ‘Negrita’ and a mixed purple and white one called ‘Shirley’. The tulips are blooming in a small…

Today I’m issuing a challenge to any glove maker, manufacturer, or garden handware retailer: Make me a glove that lasts longer than 5 months! I’m throwing down the gauntlet, or the garden gloves as the case may be. So far I have not met a pair of gloves that lasts more than a few months. This pair of gloves was…

Springtime is full of all kinds of color.  New foliage comes out, flowers bloom, and all kinds of fresh growth begins.  One of the classic plants many people think of for spring is the tulip.  Tulips are usually best planted in the fall about 6 inches deep in the garden, but sometimes we forget to plant tulips in the fall…