Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Before the first frost of the fall I took a few cuttings of my Persian Shield (Strobinlanthus dyerianus) to hopefully overwinter it as a houseplant. This was the first year for Persian Shield in my garden and I’ve only seen it at one nursery around so I wanted to be sure I had some for next year in the garden….

Spring time is such an exciting time for gardeners. The weather is better, the garden is growing again, and it’s time to add more plants to the garden! Thanks to Monrovia plants I splurged on plants for my garden the other day! Which one’s did I add? Heucheras and heucherellas! Before I tell you more you might be wondering, what…

This time of the year it seems like there are a million and one choices for seeds.  The catalogs have been rolling in at record paces enticing us with beautiful pictures of what we could have in our gardens but how do you figure out what you need to buy especially if your trying to save money?  The first step…

This summer there will be another wedding in the family. My wife’s brother will be getting married to his longtime girlfriend on July 12th. What does this have to do with gardening? The ceremony is going to be help at my in-laws house in their backyard and I will need to help plan the landscaping for the area surrounding the…

Here are a couple pictures of the morning sky through the newly bare trees. The trees with leaves are either oak or eastern cedar depending on where you look.  The cedar of course is evergreen but the oaks tend to hang on to their leaves until much later. This old tree is marked for cutting but sometimes you can find…

Saving seeds of squash and zucchini is a very simple process. When the growing season begins to wan start allowing a few squash fruits to grow. They will become large and tough and won’t be well suited for eating but will be perfect for generating seeds. Once the squash fruits are of a suitable extra large size harvest them and…

This past weekend I put together a small corner shade garden. We have a garden spot on one side of our house that only receives 3-4 hours of morning sun per day. We thought that the spot would be a perfect candidate for a shade garden. When I think of shade gardens I think of foliage. Colorful flowers don’t come…

I wrote about caryopteris last year so I won’t go deep into the details again but I thought you might like to see how I’m using it in the garden. First a bit of explanation. I once saw a picture of a row of caryopteris at Longwood Gardens and I thought “why not try that here?” The picture had caryopteris…

Take a Walk Down the Garden Path and visit some Pennsylvania fall color.  Cindy’s pictures are an excellent example of lighting and color blended to make perfect pictures.  The maples are turning and shedding their leaves creating a carpet of color.  Fantastic images of fall are all around Pennsylvania!

Here are a few of the early March blooming flowers in my garden. Crocus, daffodil, and forsythia. The forsythias have burst into full bloom since the picture was taken!

What a difference three years makes in the life of a plant. Welcome to my front sidewalk garden at the beginning of July. You will notice right off the bat several flowering perennials on the left side of the sidewalk that could use a little pruning. The Russian sages (Perovskia atriplicifolia) are towering over the walkway. In retrospect this probably…

Yesterday I showed you part one of the state of the garden which contained mostly the front yard and side yard, today we go into the backyard to visit the gardens. The Vegetable Garden Let’s start by looking at the department of agriculture. The vegetable garden isn’t being very productive right now even though it could be. Hoop houses constructed…

The number one thing people think of when the fall season comes is the leaves.  Thoughts of harvests, festivals, and cooler weather come too but when the fall season comes to mind its the leaves that get the attention.  Everybody loves the leaves!  Here’s why: 5 Reasons to Love Your Leaves The colors.  Mother nature gives us a spectacular color…

I needed to get a few things done in the garden today but I had a limited amount of time to do it. The oldest girl (2 years) went down for her nap just when the youngest one (just over 5 months) woke up from her nap. When their naps overlap is when I can get something done, but that…

Summer is in full gear. Which means there is a lot to do in the garden, there always is isn’t there? The tomatoes and peppers are beginning to produce and in a couple short weeks should be ready to pick. Here are a few summer gardening tips to help you in your garden.   Watch for Pests Always be vigilant…

The shovel, the rake, and the hoe.  Three tools no gardener should be without.  Ever.  They dig, they grade, and the chop the earth.  They cut roots and aid the gardener in tilling when the tiller is kaput.  While they take a little muscle to use they are capable of great deeds, such as Bermuda grass removal! Raised Bed Vegetable…

OK, I wouldn’t have titled the article with Pimp My Yard (I’m really not cool enough to do that) but there’s a very good article on Slate about garden coaching as an emerging horticultural profession.  Garden coaches offer guidance for do-it-yourselfers who want to learn how to garden better.  For more information beyond the Slate article go check out Susan…

I haven’t made it out into the garden much lately other than to gather the occasional item for the kitchen but I did manage to grab the camera and head into the yard this afternoon for a few minutes. Here’s a little of what I found! This is a ‘Golden Globe’ arborvitae.  It has a nice rounded habit with golden…