Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This plant of the week resembling a swooping bird is known as Trillium grandiflorum! Trillium is a member of a group of plants called the ephemerals. And no, it is not some sort of new rock band, but a group of flowers that appear in late winter and go through a two month cycle. They flower, seed, and die back…

Have you ever wondered if the chlorine in your garden water harms the beneficial microbes in your garden soil? Chlorine, as you probably know, is a chemical  that is added to our water to kill off the harmful bacterias that might be present in our water supply. Unfortunately chlorine will kill the good things too. Recently I was sent a…

The other day when I went to pick up my bricks for the greenhouse flooring the temperatures were still at or around freezing. I had my camera along for the ride and took a couple shots of the ice structures that were along Highway 840 here in Middle TN. I’ve always found the ice sculptures that appear alongside the cliff…

My addiction to plant propagation has reemerged from it’s winter slumber. It’s Spring which means it is time to get many kinds of cuttings ready for growing. It’s still early and many of the plants I’d like to propagate still don’t have adequate foliage but agastache, catmint, and salvia are ready to root! In my garden I planted two Agastache…

Back in the fall I collected quite few seeds heads from our heucheras for the purposes of growing more heucheras this spring. Heucheras don’t necessarily come true if grown from seed but some do like ‘Palace Purple’. ‘Palace Purple’ is easily reproduced from seed which is probably why it is the cheapest of the heucheras and most easily found throughout…

I picked up this sassafras leaf in our backyard. I was struck by its interesting coloration, red on the outside edges and orange around the main veins of the leaf. We have sassafras trees everywhere around in our yard so their leaves are easily found. They have a very strong lemon scent that can be smelled when you crush the…

It’s January and my garden is a mess.  That’s OK because it’s January!  My garden could be the perfect mixture of evergreen conifers and winter color landscape plantings specifically designed to brighten the gloomiest winter day, but it’s not.  I would love that, but my garden was never put together for the winter color.  I’m gradually adding plants for that…

Here is our house in early spring. We took this picture soon after we bought it. There isn’t much that can be said of the landscaping at this point. It was basically a blank slate to work with. There were two Japanese hollies in front of the garage that died due to the frost and one large Nandina that is…

It’s almost always true that success in an endeavor brings excitement and enthusiasm for more and I’ve always found this true for plant propagation. If you’ve never tried propagating plants because you think it’s difficult or just too much work then think again! There are all sorts of plants out there that are very easy to propagate and barely require…

A couple months ago we finally found and purchased land to build a new home and (of course) new gardens. No matter what property you have there will always be imperfections that need to be addressed in some way. One of the biggest problems with our property is the driveway. It’s a LONG driveway that is approximately 1000′ before you…

The other day I had a surprise. While washing dishes at the kitchen sink I looked over at a small yogurt cup on the counter top to see this: Several small seedlings had appeared from some tomato seeds I was soaking. I’m going to have to admit one of my major failings here to properly tell the story, sometimes…I forget…

I’m sure you’ve always been wondering “Where can I find a light post that can double as a bird feeder station and has a spot for hanging baskets too?”  You’ve come to the right place because I’m going to show you my latest project for Lowe’s Creative Ideas: a garden light post and bird feeder station with hanging baskets. The…

Since fall is approaching at breakneck speed it’s worth taking time to mention one of the most important aspects of fall – the leaves!  Or more specifically what to do with them! First here’s what not to do with your fall leaves: Don’t burn them – the most wasteful thing you can do.  Don’t bag them and put them by the…

There are some plants that are tricky to propagate but stevia isn’t one of them! In fact stevia is very easy to root from cuttings. Read on to learn more about propagating stevia from cuttings! Why Would You Want to Propagate Steve from Cuttings? Stevia rebaudiana is an herb often used as a substitute sweetener for sugar.  It isn’t reliably…

Spring weather is at best fickle. One day it’s warm and sunny with temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s then next day the weather forecasters are bringing up the “S” word – SNOW! We didn’t have any of the white stuff thankfully. Sometimes I suspect that there’s a fair amount of weather sensationalism out there where bringing it up certain…

In one of my last posts I mentioned receiving my free Arbor Day trees. Those trees have now been planted. While planting them I was pleasantly surprised by a couple things.1. The trees were marked very clearly with the color coding system. It was not just a thin little line above the roots indicating which tree they were, but rather…

For 3 years now (it’s hard to believe it’s been that long!) I’ve been selling plants at a local farmers market while also helping to manage the market’s logistical operations and online presence (Social Media and Webpage). Over that time I’ve observed quite a few different merchants with a variety of products at a farmers market and what kind of…