Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Unfortunately this week my garden blog surfing was cut back severely. I just didn’t get the time to go and visit some of my favorite bloggers and as a consequence I’ve only marked one post for today – but it’s a good one! You might be thinking “he’s on a path kick” when you read this next post and remember…

This little chickadee was seen on my back deck going after some birdseed.  It’s always fun to watch the chickadees fly around. They seem fearless and will often just land a few feet way while I’m working in the garden. I didn’t participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend but I think next year I’ll jump in and…

This time of year all of us gardeners are probably thankful for a little break. Winter can be a time to regenerate, rest, and plan for next year. While it isn’t technically winter yet the weather we have received in Tennessee certainly feels like it. (We had 18 degree F temperatures this morning!) This is early for that kind of…

A chance of freezing precipitation was in the forecast for today, but knowing how Tennessee forecasts work I did not put much faith in it. The forecasters begin talking about frosty weather several days in advance and there it remains, several days in advance. It just never seems to arrive. Tonight it did! Above you can see the wet snow…

Sometimes everything is grand and the garden grows so well that the gardener efforts are minimal but other times the garden seems to want to thwart the will of the gardener. The latter case is true at least so far for my nasturtiums. When I last mentioned our rising protagonists they were planted surrounding the garden obelisk near my side…

Recently you may have noticed an unusual lack of posts, there’s a good reason for it! We’ve been a little busy around here since last Thursday when we welcomed Samuel David to the world! He was 7 lbs. and 10 oz. and 20 inches. Sam also arrived in record time as labor was under 1 hour and 30 minutes! Mommy…

Due to mowing last evening a more detailed post about plant propagation was not possible – coming soon though! For now enjoy the poppy! For more poppy pictures look here: Performance of the Poppies! And check out Nell Jean’s Poppy post at Secrets of a seed Scatterer!

Here is a picture of our new territory that I didn’t quite know I had until a couple weeks ago. It is covered in a variety of weeds including notable family favorites like ragweed, goldenrod and Queen Anne’s lace. Now if it were just the latter two weeds I would be OK with the area as a natural wild field…

Irises! when you think of springtime, do you think of irises? Of course I’m sure you think of all kinds of flowering plants, bulbs, and trees but irises are distinct. They offer a variety of colors, of shapes, and sizes to decorate the spring garden. The irises in my garden have recently begun to color our gardens with their displays…

Today is a great day for fall color here in Tennessee. I went outside a few minutes ago and took some pictures for my Garden Blogger Fall Color Project Post which will come later this week. We also have a hat trick of fall color from several Tennessee bloggers!Peaceful and tranquil beauty grace the grounds of Gail’s Garden, the blogger…

We’re in full fledged spring garden mode here in Tennessee. What does that mean you ask? Everything is blooming or budding. While allergy sufferers dread this time of year it still remains my favorite. I love the bright green colored grass as it comes up fresh from the earth. I love the play of the colors in my yard. My…

The 20-Minute Gardener on Amazon A couple weeks ago I was sent a review copy of the 20-Minute Gardener from Sunset Books.  The idea behind the book is very intriguing: 20 minutes of gardening each day for a great garden.  You may have heard this concept before.  The idea is simple.  If you do a little bit in your garden each…

Raised beds are one of the absolute BEST ways to grow a garden but there can be challenges to growing in raised beds. Often gardeners have questions about the best methods to grow in a raised bed. In this post I’ve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on my experience. I’ve grown in…

One of the first plants I began planting here in our garden/landscape was the Japanese dappled willow ‘Hakuro Nishiki’ (Salix integra). It’s a beautiful shrub willow with dappled foliage that is said to grow from 10-12 feet tall. I planted it for several reasons. First of all I liked it! The dappled foliage gives three seasons of interest which in…

I can proudly say that on today, June 28, 2010, I have found the first ripe tomatoes of the year! The tomato on the left is a Viva Italia but I forget the name of the one on the right (I really need to label the tomatoes I plant in the garden, my memory just does do everything I want…

Spring weather is at best fickle. One day it’s warm and sunny with temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s then next day the weather forecasters are bringing up the “S” word – SNOW! We didn’t have any of the white stuff thankfully. Sometimes I suspect that there’s a fair amount of weather sensationalism out there where bringing it up certain…

I’ve been a fan of oak leaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) for a long time. The large oak shaped leaves and white flowering panicles are two of its best traits but in the fall its color changes are very nice too. The leaves change through a range of colors from the year round greens to the autumn golds and reds. Our…

The forecast is warming up and it’s about time! The cold days might be past us and full time gardening could be about to begin. At least it will for me this weekend as I intend to get more than a few chores done, including some work on my greenhouse-shed, some pine-needle spreading, planting of more cool season vegetables, and…