I sadly saw yesterday a weather report that mentioned the “F” word – FROST. It’s coming very soon, most likely Sunday and/or Monday nights. While there are some good feelings about this – like a rest period for the gardener – it’s also a time I dread. Those fresh tomatoes from the garden will soon … Read more
I’ve been so busy that I’ve neglected the blog for a few days. I even had to miss posting the Friday Fives last Friday in order to get everything done! Fortunately the weekend rains and Mother’s Day gave me a bit of a break to catch my breath but I still feel like I have … Read more
I had one of those extremely busy weekends. The kind where you have so much to do you don’t know exactly where to start. When you finally do start you discover that to do one task you have to do another task first. Then when you finally get going you move from one job, to … Read more
The rainy weather and “normal” temperatures seem to be headed back our way, so why not take a look back at some sunny blooms from summer’s past? These flowers all came from the July of 2009 version of my garden, some are annuals and others are perennials and some are somewhere in between! The in … Read more
It’s been warm here in TN. Very warm. So warm that everything thinks it is indeed spring – including this gardener! Essentially it is spring. The weather is identical to a typical March, warm days, heavy rain showers coming through. We’ve even had thunderstorms – in January. It’s been a strange month. But just because … Read more
Wednesday was full of randomness, although it wasn’t all gardening. A little bird watching, a little gardening, and a little bit of house stuff all rolled together to make a Wednesday. The day started with a trip to the home improvement store. Not for gardening stuff this time but for painting materials. A bathroom in … Read more
It’s been while since I showed larger scale pictures of the garden. Mostly because it was such a mess over the summer. Today I’ll share a few photos of the various garden areas. The resiliency of plants is simply amazing. With neglect, wet weather, dry weather, hot weather, and lack of time my plants seem … Read more
This spring I bought this pineapple sage at a garden show fully expecting it to thrive and burst into colorful red blooms. Well I can say one thing, it is thriving! For some reason the blooms are just now beginning to form despite it growing to a size of about three and a half feet … Read more
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 … Read more
As you probably know (or have guessed by now) my dream job/career would be to own my own nursery. I’ve thought about different ways to do this and researched quite a few options. Ideally I would work from home and be able to produce plants for retail nurseries or landscapers. That dream is still a … Read more
Yesterday I spent some time out in the garden with my 3 year old daughter. We dug, we raked, we planted, we played with worms, simply put … we gardened! Here are just a few photos from our time outdoors in the beautiful weather and in the garden. (Oh and just so you know “free … Read more
I wanted to say thank you to Barbara Wise for an excellent container gardening presentation this past weekend at the Spring Hill Garden Club Meeting! The slides and photos of the work you do were fantastic and the garden club appreciated seeing the ideas created by a expert in the field of container gardening. It … Read more
This time of year more than any other when the cold weather is still stuck upon us we look for any signs of spring. We scour the garden for any hints of warmer weather that will hopefully be on its way soon. We have it lucky right now here in Tennessee. While the snows are … Read more
Today I actually found myself in a home improvement store looking for paint for the garden shed. How I found myself or more importantly how I got lost there I’ll never know but I ended up coming home with four gallons of paint. The colors will be revealed at a later date. They aren’t groundbreakingly … Read more
Tonight while mowing I had no fear of the myriad of carpenter/bumblebees that were hovering through the garden. I was on my riding mower and said to the bumbles “my buzz is bigger than yours.”
Please forgive this short ranting post you are about to read. My next post for this afternoon will have a couple videos of the flooding in our backyard then I’ll get back to gardening but I wanted to say a few words about a subject that is really irritating me. The rant is below. It’s … Read more
Magic is something I’ve been fascinated with since I was a kid. Not card tricks, rabbits out of hats, and other birthday party magic. It’s the stories from fairy tales and King Arthur to the myths and legends of various cultures have always caught my attention. I’ll admit it, I’m a science fiction and fantasy … Read more
Surely one of the greatest mysteries to appear in the history of the state of Tennessee. Recently strange shapes have appeared across the landscape. Covered with a cold and white mysterious substance these shapes reportedly have been erected by the mysterious “snowpeople” (the exact gender cannot be known except by manner of dress. Top hats … Read more
…I noticed something odd on the shelves and it was a little disconcerting to see. I went to the big chain bookstore in Franklin to see what kind of garden books they were carrying with the intent on purchasing one with some leftover money I received for my birthday last July. I know it’s been … Read more
I’m a little late with the Halloween post but I hope you had a Happy Halloween! Here’s Little Jack*: Here’s Big Jack: Happy Halloween! *Little Jack was home grown from the vegetable garden. At least there was one pumpkin that was not smooshed!
I’ve been lax on the lists lately. There are always things that need done and projects that need tackled and this weekend is no exception. Here’s a quick list of the fall chores and projects that I hope to start and maybe even complete this weekend! Attend the Spring Hill Country Ham Festival – This … Read more
I was able to get outside this afternoon and do a little potting with some cuttings that had rooted. It’s a constant process right now since as soon as one batch gets rooted I start some more. You never know if you will have enough! Sometimes you give away the plants to friends and family, … Read more
The other day I wrote a post about protecting your plants from a freeze. I followed what I preached and came through with no frost damage on my covered plants. I think Tennessee is now officially in the clear! I came away with these interesting shots. A new kind of pot garden?
Yesterday was a day of many minor accomplishments. The sky was overcast but no rain came down while I worked out in the yard. I managed to attack several nagging chores that needed done. While I work I always try to look around and take some mental notes of things that need done and what’s … Read more
During a break in the rain on Monday I was able to take these shots. The blue of the sky is just starting to peak through the dark rain clouds. It reminded me of one of my favorite newer U2 songs, Window in the Skies (from U218 The Singles). My oldest daughter’s favorite part is … Read more
Over the next several days I’ll be doing some minor changes to the site (emphasis on minor!) to help get better organized. I’ll just be making some posts that will house links to related posts to make things easier to find information. When I starting this blog I didn’t give a whole lot of thought … Read more
I like this picture for both the tree and for the sky in the background. This is a tulip poplar tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) located in our newly discovered territory. It’s a large tree and suffered some branch die back because of the drought of last summer. The branches were knocked down recently in one of … Read more
After the storms last night it feels like we dodged the proverbial bullet. Storms blasted through Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and several other states bringing rain, lightning, hail, and tornadoes. It was not a restful evening by any means but we prepared for it. We used our closet under the stairs for a safety spot … Read more
Here’s a random question for you. If you could plant any plant in your garden that exists outside of your zone what would it be and why? The first and only rule with this question is that the plant must not be hardy in your zone. Other than that any plant you can think of … Read more