Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Corner Trim on Garden ShedEvery day that I get a few minutes to work on the garden shed I get a little closer to finished. Of course I’m still not close enough for my tastes but I’ll keep plugging away at it and eventually it will get completed. A couple weeks ago I managed to add the trim to the…

Here are a few pictures of the bees in my garden.  I hope you enjoy the beeutiful photos! Bee on a coneflower Purple Coneflower Bee on a sunflower Sunflower Bee on a cosmos flower Cosmos Bee on verbena Verbena bonariensis  Bee on ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia Two Bees on coneflower ‘Sunset’ Coneflower My garden “bee” friendly,…

This week marks seven years since I began this blog, Growing The Home Garden. It’s amazing to see how many changes have taken place in the garden and in my life since that late October day. When I started this blog our backyard was vacant of trees, plants, and anything resembling a garden. It’s grown and so has our family….

One of the precursors to fall is the beautyberry. Much like the forsythias harken the arrival of spring the beautyberries are always reliably beautiful beginning this time of year. The blooms of summer gradually have transformed from small white blossoms into clusters of tiny purple gems.  Our beautyberry is now in its third year in the ground and has reached…

Despite recent events at the White House the security of my greenhouse shed just won’t ever be as good as that of the Secret service. Since it is also a shed and will be housing my lawnmowers, weedeater, various garden tools, hoses, and all the plants I hope to propagate I need something to keep people out. Tools don’t walk…

Among all the beneficial insects one of the most well known and well regarded is the ladybug (or properly called ladybeetle).  Either the ladybug is really good for the garden or it has a great PR person! Of course it could be both since when you do good things people talk about you and we all know that word of…

Today was the day of the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap at Henry Horton State Park. If you missed it I really can’t blame you. The weather was cold, wet, and pretty miserable. It reminded me of early December Christmas parades back when I was a band director, and I sure don’t miss standing around in that weather! My wife and…

If you’re reading this now you may be wondering why it’s been so long since my last post. Well, today I thought I’d use this post to give you an update on why my posting has diminished over the last year and where I see it going over the long term. For many years gardening has been my obsession, my…

I’m not sure how this snowfall counts. Would it be the first one in Middle Tennessee? Would it even be enough to count? I’m not sure, I only know that we did not receive what our northern neighbors have been gifted with this December!I know it disappointed my two year old daughter who asked me several times to make a…

This winter has been cold and nothing if not unpredictable. Here in Tennessee we’re experiencing a warm day every now and then followed by extreme cold. Hopefully now that March has arrived and spring is close things will be shaping up very soon. With that in mind I put together a project that will help me to get a jump…

It’s time for the Fall Color Project to officially begin with our first participant! When the fall colors peak in your area consider it your blogging duty to share the view!Joco was concerned a couple weeks ago that there would be very little fall color in the UK due to the unusual weather but thankfully for us and our leaf…

How cold was it this morning? The wireless thermometer said 15.5 Degrees Fahrenheit at 8:00 AM. That’s pretty cold! The low last night in our little nook on the hillside was somewhere around 3-4 degrees! But really, how cold is that? Cold enough that the bird’s won’t receive any enjoyment out of the birdbath in the birdbath garden for a…

We all make mistakes in the garden on occasion. In fact I do it on a regular basis. Usually my mistakes are those where I forget to do something or I intend to come back and finish something but run out of time to get back to it. My biggest mistake is typically taking on too much for what my…

Last week the idea of genetically modified seeds popped up due to a seed giveaway I was hosting. I mentioned that it would be a good topic for further discussion and recently Susy at Chiot’s Run put together a great post explaining everything that you need to know about GM seeds. It’s frustrating to realize that a large seed conglomerate…

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…

As autumn’s colors have wrapped us in a cloth of color we have peeked into the foliage around the gardening blogosphere. Participants from Canada to Florida and Illinois to England have offered up wonderful illustrations of fall’s foremost feature. It’s time to take a look back and see where all that fall color came from and where it went! I’ve…

Fothergilla is a relatively recent addition to the garden. When I was working on the Fall Color Project last autumn I saw the fantastic fall color of the fothergilla’s foliage and fell for it! (Is that enough F words for you?) The fuzzy springtime flowers are just a bonus since I mainly wanted it for the fall show.  They appear…

Elizabeth over at Gardenrant, a well known writer and garden blogger, has posted some picturesque fall photos for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project. What could epitomize fall more than cobblestone buildings and walls mixed with glorious maples in the rustic farmlands of Route 104 in New York. Farming implements and woodpiles appear in peaceful fall scenes. Just what we…