Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

As strange as it may sound there are things still growing in the vegetable garden in November and it’s not because of our unusually warm weather. Unfortunately there is only one vegetable growing but there are several kinds of herbs that are doing great. All the vegetable garden pictures were taken this morning while a light frost was still covering…

Oak leaf hydrangeas are an awesome landscape shrub to add to the garden. They get big and need room and enjoy part shade/part sun locations but if you have the right spot for one by all means add one! I’m always trying to propagate a few more but they tend to be rather tricky to propagate from cuttings. Layering is…

Salvia is a excellent plant to put in a garden. They are drought tolerant (which is important in Tennessee) and look great. They also come in many colors including red, pink, white, orange, blue, and purple. Depending on where you live and the variety you choose it may be a perennial or an annual. According to the website Floridata, there…

It’s taken a long time for our moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba) to finally become mature enough to produce a flower. I planted two moonflower vines from seed at the base of the arbor I built for Better Homes and Gardens soon after its construction. The first couple weeks of their life was difficult due to the rabbits and their taste…

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…

One of the reasons so many people enjoy gardening as a hobby is to attract wildlife. All sorts of wildlife can enjoy you gardening from the butterflies and bees to the deer, but few kinds of wildlife are easier to attract than the birds. One of our most frequent fliers is the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor).This mouse gray bird with…

Fall has always been one of my favorite times of the year. The fall color was especially nice this year all over Middle TN. For a while I really wondered how great it would be due to the dry conditions we had in the summer and early fall. The rains eventually came and our fall color was spectacular! Today I…

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to test out products from Troy-Bilt. Overall I’ve been very impressed with the quality and the power that they have produced for lawn equipment. Five years later years I still zip around and mow my 1.5 acre yard with the RZT (0 Turn Mower) and have really enjoyed that fact that I never…

On Monday Tennessee had near record temperatures in the upper 60’s.On Tuesday it got warmer.According to the local television broadcast Nashville hit 71 degrees Fahrenheit which ties a record set in the 1800’s. The warmth has left us now but we took advantage of it while it was here! Here’s what we did:Monday Morning:I ran around the yard chasing my…

Today we have three more submissions for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project! Nancy in Canada, TC in Pennsylvania and Liisa in Vermont.Take a road north to visit the wonderful fall colors in Nova Scotia with Nancy of Soliloquy. Canada is where the fall colors start their colorful journey to the south and we are lucky to have Nancy to…

Coneflowers (Echinacea), with their vibrant blooms and pollinator appeal, are a staple in many home gardens. In this post, I’ll share my approach to pruning coneflowers to encourage healthy blooms, support pollinators, and provide food for birds later in the season. I’ll also cover a serious plant disease—aster yellows—that can affect coneflowers and other members of the aster family, and…

A plant holding bed is a luxury that anyone who propagates plants might find very useful. (I know I will!) A plant holding bed can function as a coldframe or just as an out of the way spot set aside for plants to rest in while they grow. For me I just have too many propagated plants to continue storing…

This post is the first in an ongoing series of posts about how to garden as cheaply as possible. In this day and time when a gallon of gas costs as much as a gallon perennial (or almost) gardening on the cheap side is extremely important. After all who wants to spend more money than they really have to? These…

Here’s just a quick update on the greenhouse-shed project. More work will ensue later in the week but several time consuming things have been done. The roof windows on the south-western side are somewhat framed, the plywood is attached and the shingles are up. The roof is one of the more shed-like aspects of this project. Since the south western…

Fall colors are certainly on their way. Here in Tennessee the trees are beginning the process but many people are worried that the colors will not be what they could be without the rain. Whatever the case we will be happy with whatever colors we do have and will enjoy watching all the colors around the continent as the color…

Tonight the weather people are expecting our first hard freeze in Tennessee. It will then officially end the growing season! This is not entirely true though. The plants are still growing roots. Plants planted now will grow strong root systems though the winter and should have great foliar growth in the spring. Here are some tips on what to do…

And now here comes my favorite part of the patio project so far. No project feels quite as complete as when you finally plant something. OK I suppose that only holds true for gardening projects but it really is the exciting part! Welcome to the Japanese Maple Garden! It’s a small raised bed made from the edging stones that I…

This summer there will be another wedding in the family. My wife’s brother will be getting married to his longtime girlfriend on July 12th. What does this have to do with gardening? The ceremony is going to be help at my in-laws house in their backyard and I will need to help plan the landscaping for the area surrounding the…