Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

We’re still in the middle of winter and the weather outside is bitter cold as I’m writing this post but that doesn’t mean gardening should be out of your mind. Now is the perfect time to get your garden plan together for 2016 so that you can maximize your yields and minimize your workload! Today I’ll walk you through my…

For this post I really don’t need any words, the pictures will explain why you should plant echinacea (coneflowers) in your landscape. But since this is a blog I have to tell you why I like echinacea in the garden and where I’ve planted it! Echincea is one of the easiest plants I’ve found to grow. Once it’s established there…

When creating any kind of garden plan one of the most important considerations is the amount of light the garden receives. Vegetable gardens and ornamental gardens are both affected significantly by the amount of light in the garden. Light changes two major aspects to your garden design: first the amount of light in the garden changes the plant selections and…

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…

The warm fall temperatures aren’t destined to be here much longer. The days grow shorter and shorter and this weekend is threatening to be a much colder climate than we’ve had previously. With the day time temps predicted to be in the 50’s it is a far cry from the nearly 80 degree temperatures we had today. I took advantage…

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,…

This Saturday is the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap at Henry Horton Park. This is a fantastic opportunity to talk to other gardeners and exchange those extra plants you don’t need for some you do! If you haven’t already gotten your plants ready you should do that ASAP to give them time to recover from any potential plant shock. Exchanges aren’t…

Fall is definitely at its peak here in Middle Tennessee! Rhonda at Adventures in My Garden has some great fall color in her own backyard. The view from her back porch is spectacular and would be envied by anyone who likes autumn leaves. Is there really anyone who doesn’t? And the quote she picked out by George Eliot to start…

Layering is a fantastic way to make more free plants with very little risk. Propagating a plant through layering usually involves pinning down a branch to make contact with the soil so that the branch can begin forming roots.  I’ve used layering to propagate more difficult to root plants like oak leaf hydrangeas.   Below you will find a short…

Here is Part 7 of The Home Garden’s weekly series of posts about gardening on a budget.Last week I talked about making lists for your garden. I mentioned lists for plants you want, plants that did well and didn’t, project lists, and the consolidated list, but another good way to save money while gardening is to know your landscape. This…

I went out to water plants in the garden this morning and thought it was a good time to show you how the garden was growing this morning.  So far the first week of May have been warm and sunny and the garden is responding accordingly.  Here is what you can see in our zone 6b garden this spring: Our…

If you’re reading this now you may be wondering why it’s been so long since my last post. Well, today I thought I’d use this post to give you an update on why my posting has diminished over the last year and where I see it going over the long term. For many years gardening has been my obsession, my…

I always enjoying seeing spider webs in the garden. It means there is some natural pest control happening! Anything interesting come out of your garden lately?

Birch tree cutting from a cutting taken in summer Have you ever wanted to try propagating birch trees from cuttings? The river birch is definitely worth propagating for your garden for many reasons. First of all birch trees can be rooted! While I’ve tried propagating several kinds trees unsuccessfully (like maples ~ seeds: no problem ~ cuttings: not so good…

OK so you’ve gotten your big seed order in the mail, now what?  What do you use to actually start the seeds in?  What kind of pots?  What kind of soil?  After deciding what seeds to order you need to know what medium to plant your future garden in.  There are a lot of variables out there to choose from,…

Within a mile of our home lies a beautiful pastureland divided by an old country road. The pastures are separated in a way that doesn’t diminish their beauty but rather enhances the quaint rural scene. This is my preferred route to take to and from our neighborhood when I can. In every season it has something breathtaking to observe. Whether…

Rooted Basil It’s no secret that I love to propagate plants. I especially love to propagate the easy plants. The ones where success is almost 100% assured! Believe it or not there are a few of those. Basil is one that I almost always can get to root, and it’s SOOO simple! Just by using a jar of water. In…

As always plant propagation is a major event around my garden. Ever since I started playing with rooting plant material several years ago (with the dappled willows) I haven’t been able to help myself. Even when I’m not able to propagate new plants I still like to add to the number of plants in the garden by propagating more of…