Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

The gardener returned to the garden today from his voyage across Tennessee.  From his home, to the lands of the cedar glades, and to the western lowlands he crossed the miles in only trio of days.  Friends from long ago were coming to visit from the northern winterlands and he had to return in time to see to their hospitality. …

If you haven’t already looked you should. The work is done, the pictures have been taken, and the post is up at BHG.com.  The voting won’t begin until next Friday but now you can see the results of the project! Head on over and take a look at the 48 hour Blog Challenge and see my new Arbor! I’ll post…

Did you ever realize that you could go to Florida and see Tennessee fall colors? Well you can today, since Meems brought fall colors from Tennessee to her blog Hoe and Shovel! She recently came here to TN to visit her sister and went to visit the beautiful gardens of Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. She put the pictures together in a…

For the last part of my Winter Garden series I have a special treat planned. I arranged for snow to fall upon Middle Tennessee so I could illustrate how great a winter garden looks! OK, of course I’m joking but snow is very cool to look at on the garden (please forgive the pun). The weather forecast called for chances…

We all know we should compost. Most of use know the things we can compost. So here’s a couple ideas to help you compost! 1. We have a compost bucket outside our back door. The 5 gallon bucket stands ready to collect the compost until we can take it to the big bin in back. There are compost buckets you…

July can be a tricky month.  The weather is normally hot and very dry which brings with it challenges for irrigating the garden and keep plants alive to produce well throughout the fall.  This July in TN has bee a lot different.  Out hottest days so far this year were like normal days in previous years and our normal days…

Here are the flowers I gave my wife for Valentine’s Day. I like to give flowers that you can plant in the garden when they are done blooming. It seems wasteful to just buy a bouquet and let them fade away. Once the weather is warm enough I’ll but them outside where we can enjoy them next spring.Here are the…

Sometimes there comes along a plant that is just a gardener’s dream. Beautiful during the growing season, native, great for pollinators, great for birds, useful in the landscape, and overall easy to care for. I’ve got you hooked already don’t I? This plant would be a member of one of my favorite groups of plants: the viburnums. Viburnum dentatum aka…

One of my goals this year is to add more herbs to the gardens (not just the vegetable garden). Herbs have many different characteristics that can make the attractive as well as useful.Basil (Ocimum basilicum)Last year I became painfully aware that after making a delicious batch of pesto that we were out of fresh basil and it was the end…

Welcome to Tennessee where spring comes early, leaves again, comes back, leaves again and repeats that process until April! We really have about 4-8 different “Winters.” Somewhere along the way to springtime we are blessed with a bounty of blooms that brighten moods while the long awaited anticipation of the start of the gardening season is almost at it’s end….

If you’re looking for a plant that provides fall color in the form of berries as well as late season nourishment for the birds than look no further than the beautyberry (Callicarpa). Our beautyberry that we purchased in the spring is turning a deep purple that will last into the winter. While it may never be listed as the birds…

Gardeners experience many challenges when starting gardens. One frequent challenge is usually how to get good germination in your seeds. Achieving good seed germination isn’t a difficult task if you consider one very important aspect of growing seeds: moisture. The secret to good seed germination any garden is to keep the moisture levels consistent. Once a seedling is planted the…

One of my favorite flowers to enjoy each year is coreopsis! It has an unfortunate nickname that may make you wary, but just because coreopsis is also called tickseed does not mean it will bring ticks! More on that later, but for now here is why coreopsis should be a plant in your garden. Why Coreopsis Is Great in the…

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…

While I can assure you that my back is perfectly fine (at the moment!) I do need to have some work done on the back of the greenhouse shed. A few more things have been accomplished since my last greenhouse update but there are always more tasks to tackle (it seems like I’ve said that before). Since last time I’ve fitted a…

How Would You like to Win a Free Shed? If you live in the UK you just might be able to! Walton Garden Buildings, a company based in the United Kingdom, is sponsoring a design your own shed contest. The idea is for people to come up with an interesting shed design then send it in to them. They will…

It’s raining. Again. No one can control the weather and even though sometimes it can’t be predicted accurately, today they got it right. The rain is good, don’t get me wrong but I really want to plant some vegetable plants and seeds in the raised bed garden.  I’m not late in planting at all, just not as early as I…

Our family would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!