Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Two falls ago (Fall of 2008) a lone buck came wandering through our yard. It was a magnificent sight to behold. Nature at its best…and its worst, at least for this gardener. You see this wandering deer was going through its normal fall ritual of rubbing its antlers for the winter. Their favorite target – young trees. That year I…

August isn’t a great month for planting plants here in Tennessee but it is a good time to get other projects done. That is if you can stand the heat! I have several things that I would like to get finished before the beginning of fall and I thought I would write a list to help keep myself organized.Here’s what…

Let’s try this a little differently this week. If you can identify the plant of the week post what you think it is in the comment area of this post!

There are many ways to grow tomatoes. In the past I generally used tomato cages to hold up my plants. One method I’ve been trying lately in my garden is trellising. When you trellis a tomato plant you create a structure that allows the tomato to get good sunlight and airflow around the plant. This get help out immensely if…

While the snow has just started here in Spring Hill, TN I’m thinking about the nice warm days of our growing season and all the neat stuff we get to experience as gardeners growing in the south.  I’ll add to this list every few days with a new thing that I miss about the growing season.  Please share in the…

When it comes to vegetables from the garden sweet potatoes are a family favorite. The delicious sugary sweet baked sweet potato is an amazing side dish! Or we sometimes roast sweet potatoes with other vegetables to make a delicious dish in our favorite iron skillet. The nice thing about sweet potatoes is how easy they are to grow. In 2020…

One of the first things to greet anyone at our house is the mailbox garden. It’s the first thing that people see as they drive by or visit. It’s also about the only thing you can see of our gardens from a distance since our house sits down below the street level in a cul-de-sac that most people probably don’t…

Caryopteris cuttings root very easily from internodal cuttings with greenwood or semi-ripe wood. The best time to take cuttings is the the late spring to early summer to allow time for roots to form and the plant to get established before fall. Caryopteris was one of the new perennials I added to my garden last year. It did very well…

One of the reasons I enjoy gardening so much is the ability to experience nature. Today I was treated to a butterfly I’ve never noticed before. What caught my attention was the blue coloration on its wings but otherwise it looked very similar to a tiger swallowtail. It also had red markings on the underside of the wings and on…

Maybe your garden didn’t turn out so well this year.  Maybe your tomatoes may died out due to disease or other vegetables might not have produced as well as they have in the past.  It happens.  Sometimes it’s the weather that causes it and sometimes insects bring in diseases, but those factors are hard to control.  One factor you can…

Dave, I had a Yoshino Cherry Tree planted in late May and I’m noticing holes in most of the leaves. I am asking you if you know what pest may be attacking it…and if it is under attack, what treatment does it need? The answer to your question is leaf spot disease, not exactly a pest of the insect kind…

Today’s peek into my greenhouse project is just one little picture, but it’s a view from the inside out. The biggest windows have been installed but, as you will see in the picture, need a thorough cleaning and painting. The misty haze on the panes is due to too much time spent outdoors under the effects of the weather.  Dirt…

Our front sidewalk garden has always been a tricky thing. I plant the plants I like there but I’ve rarely given consideration to other people who walk down the sidewalk which is becoming problematic. It’s a problem because of two things: many of the plants I plant attract pollinators (which doesn’t bother me a bit but does bother those who…

With fall almost here it’s time to start thinking about gardening chores and the task that most people have to do in some way is deal with the leaves. What do you do with the leaves is an important question. For way too long many people have burned them which to me is the worst possible way to dispose of…

Everyone loves a good tomato but sometimes there are problems. Take cracking in tomatoes for instance. Cracking in tomatoes might seem concerning but the answer to why this happens is very simple: inconsistent moisture! Often tomato cracking can appear when there has been a dry spell followed by significant rainfall. The fix is also very simple, be more consistent with…

Than a delicious, dark red, juicy sliced tomato? My turkey wrap sandwich was very happy this afternoon with the addition of this red fruit of the garden. Not too juicy and not too meaty, just perfect – the perfect tomato experience. The scent of the tomato after cutting it open was like taking in the fragrance of a honeysuckle flower….

They call it winter blooming jasmine, and last year it really was. I suppose that technically this year it still is but with spring fast approaching it’s almost too late to call it winter, almost. The first bloom happened several days ago but more and more blooms are rapidly opening. Its lateness in flowering is probably due to the extremely…

Illinois is having a fantastic array of autumn colors this year! I’ve highlighted several Illinois bloggers and the fall color near them and now we have another Illinois blogger to add to the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project! Beckie the blogger behind the computer screen of Dragon Fly Corner has put together a great selection of fall foliage. The golden…