Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Happy New Year! It’s that time of the year again when everyone thinks of how they can do things better than last year. What can they improve? What should they never, ever do ever again? People call them RESOLUTIONS (insert dramatic music here). While there are certainly things that I can do better and improve on, most of my goals…

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…

Here’s a topic I’m a huge fan of: PLANT PROPAGATION!  I’ve talked about it repeatedly and those of you who have followed Growing The Home Garden over the years have seen some of my plant propagation experiments.  I thought for today’s Friday Five post I would highlight the various common forms of plant propagation.  I highly encourage those of you…

In between the frequent rains and the Arbor project preparation for Better Homes and Gardens I’ve been able to take a few pictures of the garden to see what is in bloom. Several of our favorite plants like the salvia and catmint are showing their first bloom buds but have no flowers to show. I think they are waiting until…

Featured in today’s photo post are two types of gaillardia, ‘Oranges and Lemons’ as well as offspring of ‘Oranges and Lemons’!  The offspring gaillardia is more of the typical gaillardia (Blanket flower) with the dark red flower petals highlighted with yellow on the tips.  It’s a beautiful flower that starts blooming and doesn’t quit until the frosts come.  Both gaillardias…

I’ve been lax on the lists lately. There are always things that need done and projects that need tackled and this weekend is no exception. Here’s a quick list of the fall chores and projects that I hope to start and maybe even complete this weekend! Attend the Spring Hill Country Ham Festival – This festival benefits the Tennessee Children’s…

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…

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…

Today was one of those days where you just don’t seem to be able to get much done! The weather was unseasonably warm (in the 70’s) and was just great day to be outside with the exception of the high wind. Because of the billowing gusts we didn’t go outside until my youngest daughter (3 months now) went to sleep….

This year I’m determined to grow more out of my vegetable garden than the typical summer tomato!  In the past I’ve managed to sustain herbs like cilantro throughout the winter but haven’t been determined enough to nurture many vegetables other than spinach throughout the cold months. (It’s hard to get psyched up to run out in the cold for garden…

They call it winter blooming jasmine, and last year it really was. I suppose that technically this year it still is but with spring fast approaching it’s almost too late to call it winter, almost. The first bloom happened several days ago but more and more blooms are rapidly opening. Its lateness in flowering is probably due to the extremely…

This time of year people are looking for answers to their gardening questions.  Perhaps the most common gardening questions start with the word when.  As gardeners we realize that time is a very important factor when planting plants because it can greatly effect how a plant grows in the garden. Here are a few gardening whens that people have been…

I came across a video today on Youtube that I thought was a fantastic demonstration of how to build a plant propagation cloner! This is a DIY project I would love to try when I have a bit more time. If you have tried something like this please let us know in the comments on how the project went, any…

Here is Part 5 of Growing The Home Garden’s series of tips on how to garden on a budget. One of the best fertilizers has to be compost. It’s cheap, easy to create, and makes plants grow like crazy. With compost you can replace most of your fertilizer use! Now why don’t more people do it? Maybe because they believe…

Some plants are determined. Something in their genetic make-up decided long ago that nothing would get them down and nothing ever does. Take this river birch (Betula nigra) for instance. I received it from the Arbor Day Foundation but this isn’t one of the 10 “free” trees I received with my donation. I actually purchased this one. It was one…

It’s time for a few herb cuttings!  Surely you didn’t think it would be too long before the plant propagation posts began again?  The warm weather is here – early – but the plants have responded and it’s time to take some stem tip cuttings.  My wife finds these posts boring and floats right by but hopefully you won’t. 😉…

Recently while upsizing my tomato seedlings into larger pots I needed some plant labels. Normally I will use the cut up slats of mini-blinds. I have a few sets I’ve collected over the years just for this purpose but I actually didn’t have them here at our current house. They were back over at the old house waiting to be…

I was tagged by Christopher at Outside Clyde to list eight things that make me happy. Then I get to name 8 other victims to do the same!Here are the rules: When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Post these rules before your list, then list 8 thoughts that make you happy. At the end of…