Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

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 saw this story online at the Tennessean Newspaper’s website. Apparently a women was stealing decorations from grave sites and adding them to her landscape! How desperate must your landscape be to take fake flowers from the graves of the deceased then add them to your garden. The story also says that she took solar lights and benches. Maybe she…

A couple years ago I bought a fantastic native plant at a local native plant nursery. It was a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and is great for attracting everyone’s favorite tiny garden visitor, the hummingbird. The flower clusters are red (you probably expected that from the name: red buckeye), tubular, and bloom in early spring. Red buckeye trees grow best…

Every gardener likes a hydrangea in the garden. Likewise every gardener likes having more hydrangeas in the garden! So why not propagate a few more hydrangeas for your garden? Of course you have to have a suitable spot for one but if you have a garden location with dappled morning sun and afternoon shade you have the perfect home to…

Last week I put together a couple flats of shade garden plants that I’m attempting to grow from seed.  I’ve had pretty good success before with my heucheras and thought I would give a few other shade plants a try!  A couple years ago I intended (but never got around to) to begin sowing shade garden plants and began saving…

Recently the folks at Lowe’s Creative Ideas asked me if I could put together a once a month project using products I found at Lowe’s that fit a specific theme.  Of course since I enjoy doing these types of projects around the garden I jumped at the chance!  This month they wanted a project centered around the theme:”Pots and Plants”. …

Can you ever have too many sunset pictures? Here a picture of a sunset I took from Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies, taken about 3 years ago.

It’s been a while since my last garden shed update and I’ve done a few more things. Not directly on the shed itself but around the shed. You’ll see in the pictures below that there are two distinct garden areas near the shed. One directly in front of the shed and the other to the left (eastern) side. In between…

The peak fall color this year is on its way and Tina has a great post for us with lots of Autumn color to share!  Tina writes the blog In the Garden and lives in Woodlawn, TN which is north of Nashville and just south of Kentucky. What fall color does her garden have to offer?  How about a Korean…

As old man winter starts to blow what will hopefully be his last breath this weekend I can look out my window at my yard and see the first mowing coming soon. Perhaps I should have already done the first mowing. Our unkempt clumps of grass are reminders of the upcoming work to be done in the season ahead. From…

I know what this little seedling is, do you?See if you can guess what it is.This perennial does well in almost any setting and is sought after for its foliage, not necessarily its flowers. Although I find the flowers very interesting in a light and airy way. This particular seedling was collected from one of our gardens. If you need…

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…

On Monday while all three of my children were napping at the same time (that is a major feat!) I spent some time preparing some cuttings. Until Monday I really haven’t had many opportunities to get outside and garden. The weather has been too cold and with my youngest, who doesn’t seem to like taking naps during the day, I…

I found these little insects today resting and munching on our Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed). They are known as milkweed bugs or Oncopeltus fasciatus. According to the University of Arizona Extension the milkweed bugs feed on: Seeds and tissue of the milkweed plant (Asclepias spp.). In captivity, the bugs feed on shelled sunflower seeds. I’m trying to figure out the…

So many plants and trees are emerging now from their winter dormant period. Spring’s arrival brings so many good things to enjoy from the garden. In the video below you can see our garden as it is this March. Featuring Yoshino Cherry Trees, Phlox in the mailbox garden, viburnum and hydrangea cuttings, and a variety of other things emerging in…

Coming up on April 25, 2008 is Arbor Day. It’s a day to celebrate a unique feature of our planet the trees. The trees are so important to us. They serve as the planet’s lungs filtering the air we breathe, they provide us fruit and nuts to eat, paper to read and write with, drugs like aspirin and shade to…

Drought tolerant Purple Coneflower It’s June and already we’re suffering drought conditions. The weather around us is more like late July and August than June with temperatures ten degrees higher than normal and no rain. We are dry as a bone. Last night I watched as a huge rain cloud dissipated into nothing before it made it to our garden…

Over the weekend our family visited Bountiful Blessings Farm here in Middle TN.  Bountiful Blessings is in the Williamsport area about 30-40 minutes away from where we live here in Spring Hill. The big draw for us was the strawberries.  My mom gave us a couple pints of strawberries from their farm about 2 weeks ago and they were so…