Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

I’ve always loved shade gardens.  Foliage plants like hostas and heucheras are two of my favorite types of plants and I just don’t have enough space in my yard for them.  The other issue I have is deer.  They’ve eaten many of my plants over the years.  They love sampling a little bit of everything in the garden and there…

This past weekend was a big work weekend for me.  Not only did I tackled the paths on the garden but I had a couple other projects in mind to accomplish.  One of which was our Birdbath Garden expansion.  This project is also a small memorial garden for our cat Amber who passed away in December. This is how the…

This are warming up again around our Tennessee garden this February.  While I’m writing this post spring-like storms are pouring down outside.  February again seems more like March than February!  But that’s how it is sometimes with our weather patterns in TN.  We get some crazy stuff sometimes.  The unseasonable warmth has given rise to many things that would normally…

The holiday season is in full swing and while they say the recession is slowing we all should still be watching our pennies. Why not put together some low cost holiday gifts? If you’re interested check out my post on Low Cost Gifts For Gardeners at Complete Organizing Solutions!

This formerly beautiful coreopsis that I raised from seed last year was nearly completely devoured by leaf beetle larvae.  I don’t know enough about insects to identify which species of leaf beetle it is but I am positive it is a Calligrapha. The damage is pretty devastating. The leaves are spotted with holes and very few leaves have escaped untouched….

I love the spring time with its flush of new flowers and this spring’s flowers have one of the record books. Among those flowering plants one of the coolest is the Fothergilla major. Fothergilla is a small shrub in the Hamamelidaceae family that gets around 6 to 10 feet tall with a spread up to 5 to 9 ft. It’s…

One of our favorite herbs around the house is cilantro. Cilantro seems to be one of those herbs with a flavor that you either like or don’t. From what I hear those who don’t like it think the herb tastes akin to soap, but here in our house that is definitely not the case. Cilantro likes the cooler weather and…

Today we have three more submissions for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project! Nancy in Canada, TC in Pennsylvania and Liisa in Vermont.Take a road north to visit the wonderful fall colors in Nova Scotia with Nancy of Soliloquy. Canada is where the fall colors start their colorful journey to the south and we are lucky to have Nancy to…

Yesterday in a walk around the yard we discovered some signs of the spring to come. Daffodils are sprouting up all over, the verbena is greening up and some sedum sprouts are peaking from their winter slumber. Maybe it’s early, but the temperatures have felt like spring. Historically our worst winter weather tends to happen in February and March but…

Heuchera are one of my favorite plants. I say that phrase a lot though, but really, heuchera, also known as coral bells, are awesome perennials that gardeners just love due to the beautiful foliage and versatility in garden design. Most heucheras you will find are hybrids of species plants of Heuchera sanguinea or Heuchera americana and they are found in…

…meal in my garden this year. Blood meal is one of those organic additives that contribute to the quality of your soil. It has a very important nutrient: Nitrogen. Nitrogen is responsible for growing the green leafy growth on your plants. Since blood meal is made form the dried blood of livestock it is an organic product and releases the…

I am currently away from my garden so I thought I would share some Asiatic lilies from my mother-in-law’s garden. The blooms are spectacular this year! The lilies are mixed together with a variety of other plants in a raised bed garden made from local stone. Enjoy the blooms!For a look at other people’s June Blooms go to Carol’s site:…

This past weekend I jumped headlong into the patio paving construction process. I mentioned this project in my August project post and here’s how it all begins. My first step was laying out the edging stones to figure out the layout of the patio. Now you might ask “wouldn’t it be better to draw a layout of the patio first?”…

Yesterday I brought home two more daylilies to add to our daylily collection.  Please welcome ‘Serena Sunrise’ and ‘Custard Candy’ to the garden! ‘Serena Sunrise’ Daylily Both of these daylilies have already been crossed with each other (yesterday) and with my favorite daylily ‘Primal Scream’ (today)!  I can’t wait to see the results, but wait I must! ‘Candy Custard’ Daylily…

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…

Spring is officially here and it seems like the daffodils were waiting for the memo. They are in full bloom now and their yellow flowers are a bright and happy sign that the cold dreary days of an extra long and extra cold winter are behind us. Sure we’ll have some cold days ahead, but those are little dips in…

It’s the seed starting time of the year! This is probably where I have the most fun gardening. I get to imagine the possibilities! This week I started Oregon Sugar Pod II peas by presoaking. It only took a few days after planting until I had germination from the first two seeds. To see how I started the Sugar Pod…

Sometimes you just never grow up. When I was a kid one of my favorite toys was Legos. My brother and I would build all kinds of contraptions from buildings to vehicles. Even today I still play with toy building blocks with my kids but there is a different sort of block that I like to use in the garden:…