Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

I’d like to say some great things right now about my nasturtiums. I’d like to tell you that they are taking off and look fantastic but about the best I can do is say that we’re hanging in there. It’s just been too darn hot to get anything to grow happily from seed. June was excruciatingly hot, well over 10…

Is this a wildflower or a weed? Of course the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” always applies to wildflowers. What one person appreciates another might find invasive and vise versa. Then again someone might appreciate it and find it invasive…what do you think? This wildflower is very common in the southeast and much of the United…

Welcome to Worst Weed Wednesday! Today is the day that you can rant all you want about weeds, how much you despise them, how you would like to eradicate them (and do), and what kinds of things you say to them (please keep it PG or PG13!). I’ll update this post as more folks rant on the worst weeds in…

The past weekend I set out to complete small project with a little help from my gardening assistant. The goal was to put together a small pathway made from cheap concrete stepping stones that would lead up to the front porch area of my garden shed. Prior to this the area was weedy. So weedy that regular mowings were necessary…

Forgive the slightly blurry picture of this zebra swallowtail butterfly. It refused to hold still for it’s photo! Recently while out exploring I noticed a butterfly floating about. It was a zebra swallowtail butterfly which is the Tennessee state butterfly. I’ve seen them before and so I knew a little about them including one fact in particular, their favorite host…

It seems that we are not the only one’s enjoying our side garden entry arbor. This little ruby throated hummingbird seems quite fond of our nifty native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) climbing up the side of the project. Honeysuckle is one of my favorite vines to attract hummingbirds. The arbor was part of a Better Homes & Gardens Challenge where we…

Today the major player in Bloomsday action is the tulip! Some of these pictures were taken a couple days ago so you can see the blooming process better but all of the flowers you see in this post are currently in bloom.Here is the bed in the front garden. This picture was taken from behind the tulips toward the sidewalk….

In my last post about the irises of May in my garden I showed you several of my irises. Today a new one opened up that we just planted this spring. It’s also a hand me down and has no real identity but it’s nifty to look at! I planted it with several others in front of the garden shed….

The fan shaped leaves of the ginkgo are one of my favorite trees to watch in the fall. The leaves turn a bright gold that really is quite magical to see! You know what though? The summer leaves look pretty awesome too! Ginkgo biloba backlit with the sun.

The cold temps are keeping you indoors and you are going stir crazy.  You need to do something in the garden, with the garden, or for the garden and the seed catalogs showing up in your mailbox just aren’t good enough to get your gardening fix.  Then do this – plant an indoor garden!  Recently I put together a small…

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 mentioned earlier today in a post on Facebook about using homemade seed packets as a gift idea for stocking stuffers. You can read more about that type of seed packet in this post: using wrapping paper for homemade seed packets.  If you want a more typical style of seed packet that you can customize I put together a simple…

The first step to recovery is recognizing that you have a problem. We sure do, its our drainage! We sit below the road in our cul-de-sac and while drainage is generally good for our house, our driveway pools water near the garage. It’s mostly just an annoyance. When its rained heavily you have to step through a mud puddle to…

The fall season is a busy one.  We’re all busy cleaning up the outside areas of our homes and gardens to prepare for colder days ahead.  The list of things to do this fall isn’t a short one but if you can fit a few more items to your list you will save yourself some time in the spring!  Let’s…

Every now and then I’ll be writing a post about the common weeds that we find in our yard and garden.  I’ll save these posts for Wednesdays so we can have a bit of a creative alliterative effect by calling it “Weedy Wednesday”!  I won’t be writing about weeds every Wednesday but I feel that it’s an important aspect of…

Spring time is always interesting for hostas. They emerge from the soil with tight leaf buds designed to drill their way up to the surface and finally open up to become the foliage plants we all know and love.Our hostas are springing up all over our corner shade garden. Along with the heucheras, heucherellas, oak leaf hydrangea, and Soloman’s seal…

Very soon (July) a wedding will take place in the backyard at my in-laws home. A while back I was asked to help spruce up the area around where the ceremony will be to help improve its aesthetics for the wedding. The property itself is roughly 6 acres of mostly wooded land with a cleared area near the house for…

Here you are, up close and personal with a purple bearded iris.This is just one of many irises we we’re given by my parents. They had quite a few that they divided last year and didn’t have places for them all. They are definitely dressing up the landscape!