Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

I’m finding that this year has by far been the most challenging year for the garden. At least so far. It’s not just because of the sweltering heat that is sitting on us like some big ole bear on a circus ball. And it’s not just the complete lack of rain over the last couple week (wait I did feel…

Back in the fall I collected quite few seeds heads from our heucheras for the purposes of growing more heucheras this spring. Heucheras don’t necessarily come true if grown from seed but some do like ‘Palace Purple’. ‘Palace Purple’ is easily reproduced from seed which is probably why it is the cheapest of the heucheras and most easily found throughout…

Where do I find the seeds for my gardening activities? Lot’s of places! The most obvious location is in a store, either online or one of the old fashioned brick and mortar stores. The local Co-op always has seed to find as do the box stores (they have already begun putting out seeds for spring. You had better hurry they’ll…

I’ll admit the title is a bit misleading. You would think that the first tomatoes I would be talking about would be the first ripe tomatoes, I’m sorry to say that it isn’t so! I would love to be able to tell you about how wonderfully tasty those ripe red Roma tomatoes are, how full and rich flavored the Brandywines…

Today lots of people are becoming more conscious of how their activities can change the environment.  One of the things you often hear about is getting rid of the lawn.  I’m not one of those people who advocates getting rid of the lawn but rather being more responsible for lawn care.  Here are a few ways to do that! First…

One of my goals this year is to add more herbs to the gardens (not just the vegetable garden). Herbs have many different characteristics that can make the attractive as well as useful.Basil (Ocimum basilicum)Last year I became painfully aware that after making a delicious batch of pesto that we were out of fresh basil and it was the end…

Yesterday in the garden I finally got around to adding more evergreen plants. When the deciduous trees drop their leaves every fall the garden is left bare with very few spots of color. The blank slate of yard we inherited over four years ago has grown and matured every year but there has always been the notable lack of evergreen…

It really seems that spring has sprung already. The warm temperatures have brought everything to life, I only hope that the plants aren’t doomed by the next freeze happens to come along. It’s reminiscent of the spring of 2007. Back then we had an early warm-up followed by a hard freeze that damaged a significant number of Japanese maples and…

I have a goal in mind for my vegetable garden this year.  I have a similar goal every year but this year I think it’s especially important.  I want to make our garden into our grocery store.  I’m being realistic with this and in no way think I can completely eliminate the grocery store trips but I would really like…

Here’s just a quick list of what needs done with the rain garden in chronological order. 1) Finish excavation: I need to expand the “Big Dig” to its final size. I’m not 100% sure how much bigger I’ll make it but I want to shape into more of a curve. I also need to finish excavating the channel parallel to…

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…

Stopping to smell the daylilies may get you a mild to severe case of nasal pollenitis. Symptoms include a dusty yellow-orange substance that can be found on the surfaces of the nose, possible sneezing and runny eyes, as well as a possible case of severe giggles.

Do you want to know where you can find tons of awesome photos of amazing fall color? Right here in these posts listed below! Over the last couple months we’ve been treated to fall color all over the northern hemisphere courtesy of bloggers all over the world. In many places the weather of 2010 was very difficult for folks to…

Jan at Thanks For Today is sponsoring a meme in support of Earth Day (April 22, 2010). I have to admit I’ve had trouble with this. It’s not that I have any problem with Earth Day or writing a post full of great tips for saving the world but when coming from a personal perspective to share something new my…

I’ve propagated many plants over the years and one of my favorite plants to propagate is Russian sage. Yesterday I was able to transplant several Russian sage cuttings (Perovskia atriplicifolia*) into pots to grow for a little while until I can plant them in the garden. In this post I’ll describe how I propagate Russian sage from cuttings. *Plant taxonomists…

As part of Gardening Gone Wild’s Front Garden Workshop I’ll show you the tulips that are in our front sidewalk garden bed, which is a work in progress. There are only two kinds of tulips in the front garden, a purple one called ‘Negrita’ and a mixed purple and white one called ‘Shirley’. The tulips are blooming in a small…

Kara in West Virginia, who blogs on the blog Garden Vines, posted a very nice shot of the West Virginia countryside in autumn. While we all know that fall colors can be hit or miss, Kara was able to capture a gorgeous view of the landscape despite the fall colors not being at their best. Often lack of rain and…

Almost sounds like a Christmas song but White Nose is the name of a squirrel that frequents our yard and our back deck. He’s a pretty big little guy with a furry white nose, hence his name. He feels quite comfortable partaking of our bird buffet. I really don’t mind the squirrels visiting the bird feeders. The only bad thing…