Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

They call it winter blooming jasmine, and last year it really was. I suppose that technically this year it still is but with spring fast approaching it’s almost too late to call it winter, almost. The first bloom happened several days ago but more and more blooms are rapidly opening. Its lateness in flowering is probably due to the extremely…

It’s that time of year again!  The end of the old and the beginning of the new.  It’s at this time of year that I like to review my project list to see how well I accomplished my goals.  Every year I come up with a list of projects I hope to complete in my garden then review it at the…

The gardener gone A.W.O.L. was me of course, but for good reasons I assure you! No doubt you are familiar with the saying “make hay while the sun shines.” Well…the sun has been shining in our Tennessee home garden. The past couple days I have been busy in the yard trying to turn this place into a fantastic garden this…

Like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie they came. Our house and community were surrounded. Hundreds or thousands, I could not possibly count them all. These small black birds flew in mass formations like blackened thunderclouds about to burst.(Use the player to hear the actual birds. It’s a little soft so you may have to turn your volume up.)They…

The last frost date is one of the most important dates for gardeners.  The last frost date determines when to plant the vegetables and ornamentals at the best possible time for maximum growth over the season.  Some plants like being planted before the frost date while others have to be planted afterward. Last year Spring and warm weather came early…

Recently I started a few nasturtium seeds as a part of the Grow Project hosted by Mr. Brownthumb. Renee’s Seeds offered to send seeds for several volunteer garden bloggers to try. Each month throughout the season I’ll update you on the progress of the nasturtium seeds as they grow. Seed Starting Mix on left, Potting Mix on the right Today’s…

Another year comes and guess what – I make more changes to my vegetable garden layout! I haven’t done anything yet but below you’ll see what I intend to change from last year’s vegetable garden design. This is step one in altering my garden into what will eventually become an awesome parterre layout. I can envision it now – brick…

This are warming up again around our Tennessee garden this February.  While I’m writing this post spring-like storms are pouring down outside.  February again seems more like March than February!  But that’s how it is sometimes with our weather patterns in TN.  We get some crazy stuff sometimes.  The unseasonable warmth has given rise to many things that would normally…

 Hi there!  I’m taking over dad’s blog today and giving you a bit of a tour of the garden. Or at least of the things I like about the garden! I’m not quite sure what he’s trying to do out there.  He digs a lot, sticks funny plants in the ground, and dumps water out everywhere.  But I get to…

Great garden books are an awesome resource for any gardener. They become a reference that gardeners can go back to over and a over again to fill in the blanks or come up with new ideas. The New Southern Living Garden Book is just that, a great resource book for southern gardeners. I was sent a copy for review recently…

It’s time to show you a few pictures of the plants around my garden!  The gardens themselves are in need of weeding, mulch, and assorted other chores I haven’t had time to get to yet but that doesn’t stop the plants from looking impressive.  Our weather lately has been wetter than normal for August and July.  That’s a blessing since…

Yesterday I spent some time out in the garden with my 3 year old daughter. We dug, we raked, we planted, we played with worms, simply put … we gardened! Here are just a few photos from our time outdoors in the beautiful weather and in the garden. (Oh and just so you know “free for all” doesn’t mean you…

It may not be obvious, or maybe it is, but I think in 2013 vegetable gardening will be more important than ever.  There are a myriad of reasons why I believe this and you can pretty much observe it everywhere you go, some sign that points to the importance of gardening.  Let’s examine a few of signs of the growing…

I am a self-professed plant propagation nut and therefore I find plant propagation in all it’s forms very interesting. It was inevitable that I’d try my hand at hybridizing and what better place to start than daylilies? Daylilies have easy to find and manipulate reproductive parts (stamens and pistols). The stamen is the male part that contains the pollen and…

Rosemary is one of my favorite plants in the garden. This amazing evergreen herb is well known for fragrant aroma and culinary uses. Rosemary grows very will in a variety of conditions including pots, in gardens, in raised beds, or even indoors! You might be wondering “Can you propagate more rosemary from your garden?” Yes you can! In fact it’s…

This week had a couple of nice days that showed a hint of spring starting to emerge. It’s not there yet, in fact we’re far from it but officially and we’re 10 degrees below normal still (I feel like a broken record). The good news is that the sun has been out and the rains and snows have subsided somewhat…

One of the more unusual vegetables I am growing this years is the ‘Trombetta’ climbing squash. Its name is derived from the Italian word for bugle or trumpet which is the shape it resembles. ‘Trombetta’ is a climbing squash that when ideally placed has the strong support of an arbor or trellis on which to grow.  The squash itself gets…

A couple weeks ago I redid our self-sowing garden.  It was getting messy and too many weeds incorporated themselves into the garden.  I suppose they thought they could pass themselves off as desirable plants but their plans were foiled by May’s Lowe’s Creative Ideas Project!  The theme for this month was bulb plants.  Being one to never turn away from…