Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

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…

One of the greatest pleasures of the garden is being able to see wildlife. While there are many kinds of wildlife from birds to bunnies and squirrels to deer that are regulars around us, the most common form of wildlife in our garden are the butterflies. Butterflies belong to the Lepidoptera order of insects and are drawn all the nectar…

Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is an amazing plant with unique characteristics that make it an awesome choice for gardeners. This phlox is an evergreen or semi-evergreen plant that has a creeping habit with needle-like foliage, adding texture and interest to any garden landscape. One of the most noticeable features of Moss Phlox is its mass of star-shaped flowers, which come…

One of our favorite vegetables to grow each year is the yellow summer squash. These are some of the best looking squash plants we’ve managed to grow. It could be due to the increased rain this year or maybe the raised beds, but whatever the reason the plants are looking full and strong. They should provide an abundance of squash…

I put another short shed update on the garden shed page yesterday. It’s short but if you’re interested in seeing what’s coming next for it feel free to take a look!

Not many plants bloom in the dead of winter but you can count on Mediterranean White Heath (Erica x darleyensis) to put on a subtle show.  It blooms with tiny little snow colored blossoms that (at least in my Tennessee garden) emerge during January and February.  I have five of these little winter gems located throughout our front garden and…

Here’s another question for another Sunday! What are the best ornamental grasses in your garden? Ornamental grasses are great plants to use whether as a background or as a feature plant. There are all kinds of ornamental grasses to choose from; some are native and some exotic. In our garden we only have two varieties but I hope to add…

A few weeks ago I planted our fall greens from seed in the vegetable garden.  I planted a mix of kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, pak choi, and Brussels sprouts.  The seedlings are all located in one of my long 10’x3′ beds made from scrap lumber. They were originally meant to be 10’x2′ like in this raised bed layout but I…

Who would have thought? A daffodil (Narcissus) blooming in mid-February! The little sprouts are coming up all over but this one and a couple others like it have decided they like the weather. It could be that they are in a slightly warmer micro-climate near concrete but mostly it’s because of the extremely unseasonably warm weather we’ve been enjoying. It’s…

The past weekend I set out to complete small project with a little help from my gardening assistant. The goal was to put together a small pathway made from cheap concrete stepping stones that would lead up to the front porch area of my garden shed. Prior to this the area was weedy. So weedy that regular mowings were necessary…

If you happen to be wondering what my project is for the 48 Hour Blog Challenge I have a few hints for you.  I’ve included three pictures of a few materials we plan to utilize.  If you want to see what the project is you’ll have to check the BHG.com 48 Hour Blog Challenge Website on Friday! Now for the…

Who is this hiding among the Bradford Pear Blossoms?I didn’t notice the lady beetle before I took the picture. It was only after I was perusing pictures from today’s beautiful weather that I noticed the little orange and black insect hiding among the blossoms.

Fall color is one of the main reasons I garden. If you followed this website for a while you may remember the Fall Color project I hosted where Garden Bloggers from all over posted about their fall color and we shared our autumn experiences. For me few trees have more outstanding fall color than the maple. Red maples and Sugar…

Along one side of our property there is a narrow strip of land between the house and our neighbors’ properties.  There isn’t much room to do a whole lot of gardening (or so I originally thought) and this side of the house felt exposed when we bought our home in 2007.  This is how it looked a couple years ago…

I’ve made no secret about it but maples are without a doubt my favorite shade tree. Maples offer shade in the summer, feed wildlife with their samaras, and are a feast for the eyes in the fall. Reds, yellows, and oranges tend to be the predominate colors and they set the fall landscape on fire! All the gold colored maple…

This July has been very strange for us here in Tennessee.  We ended June with intense heat and dryness which continued into July then the weather changed.  Rains came back and with them came the hope of producing a quality crop from the vegetable garden.  To achieve the best results from the vegetable garden there are a few things that…

You can feel fall in the air here in Tennessee. It’s in the wind and the air. The temperatures are cooler, the nights are coming sooner, and the shadows are longer. Fall is here. The days still are warm, in the 80’s, but the nights are getting cold. My early mornings are not necessarily spent in the garden, anytime during…

For this post I really don’t need any words, the pictures will explain why you should plant echinacea (coneflowers) in your landscape. But since this is a blog I have to tell you why I like echinacea in the garden and where I’ve planted it! Echincea is one of the easiest plants I’ve found to grow. Once it’s established there…