Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Yellow is a color that just seems to brighten things up. It’s like bringing  a little sunshine to the earth and into the garden. Most of my yellow plants love soaking up the sun which is great since shade in my garden is extremely limited. Today I’m showing you 3 of the yellow perennials from my garden (achillea, coreopsis, and…

It won’t be long now until we get to pick our first crop of strawberries from the garden. These were all transplants from the “L” shaped raised bed layout from last year and have flourished in their new bed. The foliage is growing strong and tall and runners are starting to come out all over place, but what is exciting…

Fall is fast approaching us here in Tennessee whether it feels like it or not (to me it feels like September) and I’ve started thinking about what to plant. Perennials are perfect for fall plantings since their roots grow slowly over the winter to become established root systems by spring. Then in spring the root systems are ready to go…

This past Saturday I went to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show.  The weather outside was a snowy overcast mess so what better way could there be to spend the day than to go somewhere with gardens and plants?  We brought the whole family up and had a great time perusing the garden displays, playing with ducks and chickens, and…

Frost on the lawn This weekend brought forth a significant event, the first mowing of 2012.  It’s a momentous event that means the active growing season is moving ever closer!  I know many of you probably don’t enjoy mowing the lawn like I do.  It’s probably a little crazy, I’ll admit it, but when I’m out there mowing I get…

Maybe you can help us figure something out. Jaime sent me this picture of a plant growing where she wanted to plant zinnias. If the plant growing there is something good then she’d like to see it grow to flower but if it’s a weed well, you know what she’ll do to that weed! I’ve checked out several weed pictures…

I needed to get a few things done in the garden today but I had a limited amount of time to do it. The oldest girl (2 years) went down for her nap just when the youngest one (just over 5 months) woke up from her nap. When their naps overlap is when I can get something done, but that…

During these gray overcast days of a winter almost past, seeing the first daffodils of spring bloom in our yard is like watching the sun sprout from the earth. Our garden is behind most at this point but that’s OK because it means that there will be more blooms overlapping each other than usual! When did your first daffodil bloom…

I really have to admit that despite the cold temperatures, snowfall, and generally crummy weather I’ve had a good week in the garden. Not my real garden, my virtual one. The garden that sits inside this black box next to my desk. Gail mentioned it too in her recent post. Times like these garden bloggers resort to old photos of…

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!…

Today is the 15th of the month which means that it is also Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Stop by to see a bounty of blooms from across the blogosphere.  Today here are a few things that are blooming in my Tennessee Garden. The irises are taking the stage. ‘Loop the Loop’ Unkown variety…

When I was out and about in the yard with my daughter on Monday I made a small discovery. It was lurking beneath the overgrown ivy topiary in a planter we have had for several years. From time to time we have planted different things in the planter. Once we had ornamental grasses and another time we had bulbs. I…

This week finally brought us some nice temperatures, or at least nicer temperatures. We’re still a little under the normal highs for February and will most likely drop down again next week but the warmer weather is definitely something to brighten the spirits. Not only that it also improves the frequency of garden activities! Sunday February 14th Valentines Day Found…

This week I put together another project in the vegetable garden. It was a little one that was another step toward designing my vegetable garden as a parterre style garden layout.  The idea for this project was to create something that was both edible and ornamental! I decided that working in the vegetable garden was the way to go.  Vegetables…

Seed starting time is just around the corner!  OK it may be a little more than around the corner for some gardeners but while we are planning our holiday gatherings those seed catalogs are coming in, enticing us to get started!  Today lets look at several seed starting techniques and methods that you can use to effectively get good germination and get…

I certainly enjoy my coffee every morning (in fact you don’t want me not to!) but that’s not even close to what is inside these two cups. Can you guess to what purpose I’m reusing these two former fast food containers for? It’s not a hard guess and I suspect you already know exactly what I’m doing with them. Rather…

It seems that the fall colors are slow to fade from one plant in particular in our front garden: spirea. This little shrub was transplanted from a previous location further down the sidewalk. It was little, just a small sprig that emerged in the spring after we bought the house. The previous residents allowed the landscape to grow out of…

If you read my title you may have noticed an unusual looking word. The study of blotany is not something restricted to any one area. Many regions around the world have studied this craft.You may never have heard of Blotany but it bears some resemblance to other words you may be familiar with. Blotany looks very similar to the word…