Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Things are really starting to show their colors here in our Tennessee gardens. The spring flowering plants have displayed their petals and are preparing for next season. The daffodils and tulips are long gone. The salvia has given its first performance and is ready for dead-heading to prepare for the next show. Many of the plants in our gardens flower…

Heavy rains are coming through Tennessee today and tomorrow so not much work will get done out in the garden. Yesterday I picked up some bagged dirt to add a little more soil to the vegetable garden to make up for what the rains had settled down. While getting the dirt at the big blue box store I noticed that…

Meet Prunus caroliniana, better known as a cherry laurel. This evergreen tree makes an excellent privacy screen and is great for attracting birds. It’s a native to the eastern United States from Florida on up to North Carolina. It very low maintanence as my parents can attest. Just plant it and water it then let it grow. They planted cherry…

We did our shopping trip at The Home Depot recently in preparation for the construction of our new arbor for the 48 Hour Blog Challenge. Today I thought I’d tell you a few of the materials that are being used. Pressure treated pine lumber of varying dimensions, natural cedar stain, screws, two solar lights, 16″ retaining wall stone, retaining wall…

First let me apologize for not getting these posts up sooner.  This weekend has been a fun filled hectic one with carpet cleaning and a surprise leak that required a new kitchen faucet replacement.  The two events were not related unless you count the fact that they took time away from the computer! Skeeter is at it again at In…

The other day I mentioned that the Winter Jasmine would be the first thing to bloom… I was wrong! It’s the Witch hazel! It’s the first time it has bloomed in our garden. So what’s blooming in your February Garden?

Next week I’ll be starting my seed sowing and I wanted to invite all other bloggers to join in to share their experiences. Each Saturday we’ll post about what we’ve done with our seeds, what we’ve selected, what we’ve planted, and how it’s doing. From sowing to growing it’s all fair-game! What can we talk about? seed selection how you…

On my trip to the Vizcaya gardens in Miami I saw this salvia (Salvia leucantha/Mexican Bush sage) and thought it was a perfect way to display it – against a red backdrop.  This salvia was located in front of a large patio area made from limestone blocks facing Biscayne Bay.  The faded red from the side of the patio is…

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.

I wanted to put together a quick post to thank all those garden bloggers who have taken the effort to post the Fall Color Project Banner somewhere on their blog. It definitely is not required to participate but I wanted to pass on my appreciation for the extra visibility. So … thank you! Here are those who added the banner…

As always I’m excited to get new plants through plant propagation and I’m pretty excited to add 5 new dwarf arborvitae to the collection!  I bought the ‘Little Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja occindentalis) last fall on the discount rack and planted two of them in the birdbath garden on either side of the pathway to the bench spot.  The idea was…

Yesterday I traveled up to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens to listen to Tina from In the Garden. She was doing a talk on Winter Gardening and all that it entails so we thought it would be a great opportunity for us to visit with her and check out the gardens while we were there. We also visited with Gail from…

The battle has just begun. The lines have been drawn and the enemy has been sighted.I began scouting the territory in an attempt to locate the the wily villain and took these pictures. It was a difficult mission.I crept closer and closer to the encampment of the enemy, stopping often to cautiously take reconnaissance pictures. I was afraid of discovery….

A few years ago I wrote post about propagating rosemary from cuttings placed in water. That method for propagating rosemary is a viable method for sure but you probably will have more success if you take your rosemary cuttings and stick them in soil instead. Recently I posted a video on the YouTube channel that explains both propagation methods for…

The vegetable garden is growing “like a weed”, in fact its growing a few of them too! I’m really pleased with the progress of most of the garden so far. There are a couple beds that need some attention but I have almost all the beds mulched with a hardwood mulch to keep most of the weeds at bay and…

Dogwood leaves turning a deep red for fall in Tennessee! Last year when we bought our land I knew there would be challenges. There always are when building a home. I’ve helped a number of people over the last several years get homes built and I’ve seen all sorts of issues from the construction side of…

The other day strong winds blew through Tennessee.  They were not just your normal winter winds, these were March winds – in February.  The kinds of winds we normally get in spring when the weather changes more frequently between warm and cold fronts.  Unfortunately I wasn’t prepared for the high impact of the winds.  Two glass shower doors were propped…

The daffodils are officially in bloom here in my Tennessee Garden! Every year I like to mark the beginning of the daffodil blooms as it is one of the many signs of spring. (Coming very soon: Forsythia) It’s hard not to get excited about spring’s arrival after such a cold winter isn’t it? The first daffodil of 2009 was photographed…