Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

In my last post about the irises of May in my garden I showed you several of my irises. Today a new one opened up that we just planted this spring. It’s also a hand me down and has no real identity but it’s nifty to look at! I planted it with several others in front of the garden shed….

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 and pipes tend to indicate…

December brings us to the end of another year. As a gardener you know that just because the calendar year may be ending our work (fun) is just beginning. It’s time to plan your 2019 Vegetable Garden. To me planning is the fun part. During the planning process I get to look for new varieties of seeds to try, think…

I figured since you’ve been waiting in anticipation for the winner of the $50 Lowe’s Gift Card from Lowe’s Creative Ideas that I would share with you a picture of something I’m waiting on – ‘Clara Curtis’ mums to bloom.  These beautiful daisy flowered mum that I received at a plant swap several years ago have grown and spread into…

Melinda over at Elements in Time has issued a challenge to bloggers to grow one more thing than they did last year and talk about it each week! I’d probably talk about it anyway but this seemed like a good idea to see what others are doing in their gardens. Go over and check out what it’s all about!

The weather has turn hot and humid, of course this is normal for summers in Tennessee.  We are blessed with a very long growing season but our summers can be extremely warm.  Last year on a record setting June day we reached over 110 degrees.  Which also happened to be the day our air conditioner decided to quit!  We spent…

Fall colors are certainly on their way. Here in Tennessee the trees are beginning the process but many people are worried that the colors will not be what they could be without the rain. Whatever the case we will be happy with whatever colors we do have and will enjoy watching all the colors around the continent as the color…

Is this a wildflower or a weed? Of course the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” always applies to wildflowers. What one person appreciates another might find invasive and vise versa. Then again someone might appreciate it and find it invasive…what do you think? This wildflower is very common in the southeast and much of the United…

Here are a couple videos that I pieced together of our backyard during the recent flooding rains. I do want to reiterate from my post yesterday that my experience was insignificant compared to how this flood has changed the lives of many fellow Tennesseans. We are doing fine with very few problems in our yard but please keep those people…

Grape vines area great edible plant to add to the garden. Grape vines can be used in many ways and have the attributes of an ornamental plant with high value as an edible plant. As an edible plant grapes can be used to make wine, juice, and their leaves are edible making them an interesting choice for wrapping food inside…

Perennials are the work horse of just about every garden.  Trees and shrubs provide structure, but perennials provide a consistent impact.  Annuals are great for an instant punch but perennials give you a repeat performance year after year.  Some perennials bloom consistently through the season while others give a nice show for a short period of time.  Narrowing down the…

I was on the radio yesterday to talk about gardening on Spotlight on Spring Hill (WAKM 950 AM) and had several fall gardening topics prepared to share. Then the first guest to talk, our City Codes Inspector, began mentioning some upcoming projects and I nearly got completely sidetracked. You see I meant to talk about leaves, not to burn them,…

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…

My garden is made up of a series of island garden beds. Each one is “designed” (I say that very loosely) to create the pathways that appear in between the gardens. To me a pathway is what really makes garden. A good path let’s you see everything there is to see, leads you down unexpected turns, and really enhances a…

Everything has it’s own time, even seeds. They just don’t last forever! Fortunately though many seeds do last a long period of time and you can use seed from previous years to grow your garden. I’ve had tomato seeds germinate that were over 10 years old. Best of all they produced healthy tasty tomatoes! I’ve had echinacea seed as well…

As I’m sure you are aware by now (especially if you’re in Tennessee) that we have experienced record levels of rainfall with subsequent flooding this past weekend. Unfortunately our internet connection has been down until now and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to post since Friday. Things could have been worse – much worse. I want to say…

Don’t forget that Friday is the last day to enter the compost tumbler giveaway sponsored by Clean Air Gardening. At the time of my writing this reminder there are 95 entries and the competition is fierce! It just shows that gardeners know how important composting is for our gardens. I do want to thank Clean Air Gardening for offering the…

Rudbeckia is a great perennial for the garden. Low in pests problems and high in visual interest it never fails to provide an impressive display in the late summer. It reseeds easy and is especially good for problem areas and wildflower gardens. It’s seeds nourish the birds in the fall while it’s petals nourish the eyes of the gardener in…