Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Maybe you’ve seen the picture that is floating around the internet.  In the picture there are two peppers. One has three lobes and the other four with captions that claim one is female and the other is male.  It also claims that the male produces fewer seeds than the female.  This completely incorrect information. In other word the pepper gender…

The days have once again become cold and wet. The beautiful spring like days we had in early March have been replaced (temporarily) with winter like cold and drizzle – ugh. It’s definitely disappointing for the gardener but spring is right around the corner. I can’t wait to see the sun but the wet and soggy days are ideal for…

Sometimes certain plants can be tricky to germinate from seed. When germinating Baptisia australis seeds you will find that the seeds have an extremely hard coat that will require some external actions to penetrate the hard outer shell that will allow the embryo to get water.  There are several methods for getting underneath that hard seed shell.  Scarification is one…

Building a new potting bench has been on my mind for at least a year. When we moved here I threw together a makeshift potting bench that cost me nothing in materials out of an old palette and some scrap lumber. It did well for what it was but I decided that this year I would upgrade. I used many…

Recently I ordered plants (which I’ll cover in another post) and while choosing the plants I used a few criteria to guide my selections.  I wouldn’t rule out purchasing plants just because they might miss one or two of these characteristics but I do know that when all five can be found in the same plant I’ve got a winner!…

This time of year the bones of my become very exposed. The deciduous leaves of most of my plants have fallen and blown away on the wind to reveal the stone and structures that lay underneath. It’s a good time to evaluate how the stone in the garden fits. Here is one of my dry creek beds that helps to…

Last year I spotted a little plant coming up in one of my garden beds. I left it alone to grow as I had a suspicion about what it wasn’t but still couldn’t quite remember what seeds I planted in that location. This spring has brought me confirmation – it must be a magnolia! A year ago last fall I…

It’s been a while since I joined in with Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day so I thought I’d share you a little of what is blooming in the gardens around our home.  For our garden this year it’s the usual suspects who are in flowering.  Daffodils, crocuses, and winter jasmine are coming along strong while other early spring/late winter flowers are…

Our second submission for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project comes to us from Anna who put together a really neat slide show of her trip. Anna’s trip to the Shanendoah Valley in Virgina is full of great Autumn photos from the old grist mill along Silver Lake to the mountains of Virginia. She also shows us a visit to…

I just wanted to extend a thank you to the Maury County Master Gardeners for inviting me to speak tonight about plant propagation and cuttings! It’s a fun topic for me and I hope I didn’t ramble too long, apparently I have that tendency (at least Jenny says so!) Thanks again!Dave

While we were away last weekend picking pecans I snapped some photos of the setting sun. Sometimes I think wintertime sunsets are trying to make up for the lack of color in the garden and elsewhere during this season.This picture was taken overlooking one of the fields near my wife’s grandmother’s home.

Among all the beneficial insects one of the most well known and well regarded is the ladybug (or properly called ladybeetle).  Either the ladybug is really good for the garden or it has a great PR person! Of course it could be both since when you do good things people talk about you and we all know that word of…

I’ve talked about Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) before (with propagating) but good things are always worth a second look! Our Russian sage is in full bloom in our front garden and should continue to burst forth with a bounty of purple blooms throughout the summer. These powerful perennials are drought tolerant and have been extremely pest free. Our Varieties of…

Here is the view from one cold January morning in Tennessee. The thermometer read 8.7 degrees Fahrenheit at 7:00 AM this morning. I looked outside and the sky was showing this captivating display. Feathery white clouds are wisping around while the the peaking sun shines through the skeletal trees. Sometimes cold mornings make the best pictures!

It’s always fun to plant new plants in the garden! I’m sure you agree! Caryopteris has been one of my favorite perennials for a couple years now and I’ve gradually developed a hedge of caryopteris along one side of our yard. The hedge row was inspired by a picture I once saw of a caryopteris row at Longview Gardens. This…

I just wanted to take a moment and wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that your list of things to be thankful for far outweighs any other list you might have.  Enjoy the company of family, friends, and food and let Thanksgiving be a celebration for all the joys you have been fortunate enough to have…

Today I took the mower out for a final spin in the balmy 60 degree weather before closing shop over the winter. I’m sure the mower was appreciative of the action as it had rested in my garage for a month gathering dust. It was a good day. It was just the mower and me, man and machine, making the…

Jump on over to Our Little Acre to see the fall colors! Not my acre, Kylee’s! She has viburnums, a gingko, sumacs, and many other plants that are showing some great fall foliage. The bald cypress and the beautyberry are two that I will have to add to our garden! Don’t forget to journey up to Kalamazoo, Michigan and the…