Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Ahh, watermelon! The pure and sweet taste of summer. What summer in the south would be complete without this large juicy fruit in its predominant role as the picnic desert of choice?So here today I will show you the wonderful watermelon I have grown.The vine rests in our raised bed vegetable garden.In fact the watermelon vine is the only thing…

While out of town this past weekend at my in-laws home I took the opportunity to take more cuttings from their pyracantha (Pyracantha augustifolia). It is a favorite of shrub for birds due to its bright orange berries and is has an appropriately named common name: Firethorn. Firethorn’s thorns are quite sharp and offer the plant good protection from would…

For a couple years now I’ve watched and waited for our hellebore to bloom. Every year I jealously read the posts of other gardener bloggers who are happily displaying their hellebore blooms but alas, I had no flowers to share! But now the single Lenten rose I have has grown into an 18″ little bush with glossy green leaves and…

The cutting bug is back, being spring and all. Everywhere I look I see another propagation project awaiting me. Some projects I’ve done before like the chrysanthemums and others are new experiments like the crape myrtles. Here’s what I did this Wednesday!Cut the grass! OK you may not have expected that one, but technically it IS a cutting.Butterfly Bush cuttings….

Over Thanksgiving we spent some time in Mt. Juliet at my in-laws home. I always enjoy traipsing around the woods near their house just to explore. I did that often as a kid at my grandfather’s house and I’ve always been fond of spending time in the great outdoors. Often I come home with rocks for my garden borders but…

I’ve been fascinated (as have many people lately) with the green roofs that are quickly become very popular. Originally when I wanted to build my shed I wanted to cover the all of the non-transparent roof surfaces with plants. I realized that to build a green roof over the whole structure would be both time and labor intensive. I would…

This weeks plant of the week is another one native to the Smokey Mountains. It may be an easy guess but its a plant worth talking about. It likes the shade and gets plenty of what it likes in the mountains!Take a guess and tell me what you think!

The recent snowstorm here in Tennessee has given us some very nice images.  I showed some of the images from some ornamental grasses and other plants a couple days ago but here are a few from around my still incomplete greenhouse shed project. The trees behind the greenhouse are covered in ice making them appear made of crystal.    Icicles…

As autumn’s colors have wrapped us in a cloth of color we have peeked into the foliage around the gardening blogosphere. Participants from Canada to Florida and Illinois to England have offered up wonderful illustrations of fall’s foremost feature. It’s time to take a look back and see where all that fall color came from and where it went! I’ve…

It’s been a while since I’ve recapped any of the older posts here at Growing The Home Garden.  Since today I’ll be at the Bloom N’ Garden Expo I thought I would put together a quick recap post for the Friday Fives.  The posts listed in this post have been around for a while and continue to be some of…

Before Christmas we managed one more work day on the greenhouse shed. It was the last work day since the recent temperatures have been unbearably cold for working. It’s not predicted to be above freezing at all in the forecast. Snow is even being mentioned but I’ll believe it when I see it!We managed to haul in 6000 lbs. of…

This Garden Blogger fall Color Project Post is all about New Autumn, that is Autumn in New England and New York! If you travel to upstate New York to visit Kerri’s Garden at Colors of the Garden (a very appropriate name, don’t you think?) you will get a grand tour of the New York Countryside in October. Peak colors of…

One of the keys to attracting pollinators is to plant what they like. That means providing plants that give the pollinators food and shelter for all stages of development. Monarch butterflies one pollinator that can benefit from planting milkweed but there are many other insects and creatures that can benefit from the perennial. Also please keep in mind that milkweed…

I’ve always been a big fan of solar lighting.  I like the convenience of adding light where I want it in the garden without having to wire in electrical lines.  I also like how solar energy is collected during the day and distributed later when it is needed without using resources from the power grid.  Solar energy is a very…

A few weeks ago I happened to be in an antique store (I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming!) when I stumbled across this rusted old candle holder. It was only 5 dollars and I thought that it had some potential. If I cleaned it up and repainted it I could put it on our front porch during the growing…

OK I’ll have to admit when I was sent Sustainable Landscaping For Dummies for a review I had some mixed thoughts with the title. I’m a fan of sustainability, I think it’s of the utmost importance as we remodel our landscapes and improve our homes, but something about the dummy part of the title got me. I mean, I don’t…

Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing for the ‘Woodle Orange’ Heirloom tomato seeds. You WILL enjoy these next year or I’ll give you your money back! (Oh wait you didn’t pay anything – oh well ;)) The winners as randomly selected by Random.org are can be seen below in the picture. Just count down the commenters until you…

I would like to thank all those who posted an entry for the EcoSmart bug killer giveaway!  All the names were dropped in a hat (actually a Halloween candy bag), mixed, and one name was drawn by my oldest daughter.  The name that was chosen was Stacyjo! Congratulations to Stacy.  All you need to do is go to the EcoSmart…