Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s about time I positively identify the Name that Plant. It was a ‘Duke’ Blueberry bush. Our eldest daughter loves blueberries and while I’ll eat them occasionally they were planted for her. I planted two this spring and while we are hopeful that this Northern Highbush blueberry will bear fruit we may have to be patient and expect it next…

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…

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?”…

Seed shortages on our minds saving seeds from your garden is more important than ever. So how do you save tomato seeds? There are a couple of methods that can be successful but one way you can do this is through fermentation of tomato seeds. This is not a hard process so don’t let it intimidate you! I’ve described the…

Another Tennessee sunrise peaks out through the bare trees. A chilly 22.9 degree Fahrenheit began the day but it warmed up to the 60’s in the afternoon.

Our friend TC has his fall color post up and you don’t want to miss it! Pennsylvania fall colors are some of the best I’ve seen (OK I’m a little biased since I grew up there but you have to admit that Western PA is gorgeous in the fall!) TC takes us around with his both his camera phone and…

Among many garden chores that come in spring perhaps the biggest is the trimming of the ornamental grasses. Trimming back perennials can be time consuming but the ornamental grasses can be a bear. It’s not the tiny little hair-like strands of the Nassella tenuissima (Ponytail grass), or the tall and narrow ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grasses. The panicums aren’t a…

Who doesn’t like free seeds? Today I have an opportunity for you to win a variety pack of garden seeds from a new seed retailer: Hometown Seeds! Hometown Seeds is offering to give these seeds to three lucky readers who visit their website and report to me about the most interesting seeds you see. That’s all you have to do!…

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…

‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum seed heads persist through winter. This time of year the flowers are mostly faded and few things have retained enough foliage to be markedly interesting.  But those faded flowers have left something behind – seeds!  Seeds can do a few of very cool things: They sustain the plant species for the coming year as new plants are…

How would you like $100 to use in your garden? If you would then this might be your lucky day! Recently The Home Depot spotted me a little gift card to accomplish a little project in my yard and now they are offering one to you worth $100. I only have one card to give away so to decide who…

Sometimes days in the garden can expose you to elements of nature that are a little more on the unpleasant side, kind of weird, or just plain gross. After our recent deluge of rain (does anyone even remember the word drought?) I made of pair of gross discoveries in my garden. All natural of course, but gross none the less….

But there’s a such thing as too hot! This weekend has been miserably hot. The temperatures have raced each morning to break above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Three days now in a row of triple digit temperatures are doing their best to put an early end to the garden. To make things worse the last rain we had was about a…

OK I’ll have to admit it the arbor part of this post is an attempt to offset some of the misery that my nasturtiums are suffering. The heat of this summer has been way too intense for any of my nasturtium plantings to thrive so I guess I should just be happy that they continue to survive. Before I show…

Being mid-November there isn’t much to show for blooms. We’ve had several light frosts and a couple hard freezes which for the most part silences the perennials and annuals that worked so hard for us during the growing season. But there is always something worth looking at in the garden! Like these pansies in the front garden. The salvia by…

Last week I put together a couple flats of shade garden plants that I’m attempting to grow from seed.  I’ve had pretty good success before with my heucheras and thought I would give a few other shade plants a try!  A couple years ago I intended (but never got around to) to begin sowing shade garden plants and began saving…

This is the first year in our garden that I’m trying corn. Last year we didn’t have the space but since we expanded the garden this year with my newest layout I have an 8’x10′ area for corn. I’m planting it in succession.  The first part is planting a small square of corn. Squares are efficient for corn because corn…

It’s been a good while since I had a couple hours to “maintain” the vegetable garden. Ideally I would take 20 minutes each day to weed, search the garden for problems, weed, prune, weed, and tie up tomatoes. Yes you may have noticed quite a few weeds, let’s just say so did I! Today I did a little bit of…