Are You Ready For Spring Gardening?

I don't know about you but I'm ready for spring. Notice I said spring not spring gardening. I haven't done everything I need to do to get ready for the new gardening season but I'm already lamenting the cold temperatures that we are destined to have for the next two months (January and February). When March comes we usually have some nice days mixed in with the cool ones but until then we'll just have to bear the frigid temperatures, cold winds, and snow. Oh did I say snow? We'll see about that one! But now it's time to start thinking about getting ready for spring gardening. There's always something to think about while the garden and gardener is dormant during the winter.

Tulips (Negrita) Front Garden

Here are three things I do to get ready for spring gardening:

1) Analyze. I don't make any formal analysis of anything but I take note of the things that worked and the things that didn't. It would be very helpful to write these things down so I can avoid them but I usually don't. Even if I did I would probably forget where I wrote them down! Generally I can keep the major things in my head. I take note of strange ideas like never plant more than 2 cherry tomato plants or never allow a tomato plant volunteer to grow where it wants!

2) Plan, plan, plan, and plan. I scheme and I plot. Sometimes my planning evolves around point one (Analyze) and other times my planning is based off of ideas I've seen on garden blogs, magazines or just out of some crazy notion in my head. I try to think about what I want, where I want it, and how to get there. I try to think about my vegetable garden and what raised beds to add each year. I make quite a few lists when planning in one of my notebooks. My project list for 2009  is one example of a list I made.  I'll review it later in the month to sum up the 2009 gardening season.

3) Decide on my seeds! This is the biggest task and probably the most fun. I check each seed catalog multiple times trying to see what I like, what I need, and what I want. It's mostly vegetables that I look for but all seeds are fair game. This year I'll be targeting heirlooms for many reasons but mostly so that I can save the seed each year and reduce my future gardening expenses.

I know this post is early but I couldn't resist. I was looking back at pictures from this spring and suddenly all I could think of was spring...and winter isn't even here yet!

Have you started planning for Gardening in 2010 yet?

An Early May Garden Update (Grapes, Irises, Dappled Willow, and More)

I went out to water plants in the garden this morning and thought it was time to show you how the garden was growing this morning.  So far the first week of May have been warm and sunny and the garden is responding accordingly.  Here is what you can see in our zone 6b garden this spring:

Our Concord grape vine is putting on fruit!  This is the first time it has started to produce anything and looks like it could be loaded with grapes if everything goes well.  I planted it next to the arbor in the side garden so that it could be used to trellis the grapes.

Our 'Hiroku Nishiki' dappled willow shrubs are growing like you would expect.  Fast and beautiful!  The dappled foliage makes for a very unique deciduous hedge line along our property.  All of these started from just a few cuttings taken from this dappled willow.  (Or you may like this post on How to Propagate dappled willows from cuttings).

The kids love it too.  I've pruned the underside and it creates a play area under the shade where they make their forts.  Dappled willows aren't for every garden though, each one has thw potential to be large.  To give you a little perspective, the top of the swingset to the right stands at 8 feet tall.

The irises have started their bloom period.  Here's Clarence.  I added him last year in the self-sowing garden.

We have quite a few purple irises with a grape fragrance.  The whole garden smells like grapes right now!

The white Dutch irises are in bloom too.

Self sowing lyre-leaf sage makes a good ground cover if allowed to spread.  

Columbine and Golden Ragwort

Snowball viburnum is a favorite of many gardeners.  Ours has never looked better!  It's planted in a part-sun/part-shade spot on one corner of our house.

There's the quick update on the May garden.  The vegetable garden is still in progress.  The potatoes, asparagus, and strawberries are performing perfectly but one of the downsides of running a mini-nursery business is the time I would spend in my garden is spent growing plants for other gardens.  Hopefully I'll have a few minutes each day this week to get our tomatoes and peppers going!

How is your May garden growing?

Spring Around the Garden

It is full fledged spring around our Middle Tennessee garden.  There is no shortage of work that needs to be done in the form of weeding and mulching on top of a myriad of miscellaneous projects.  For now though let's just take a few pictures of the garden and we'll think of that monster spring to-do list a little later.

This Japanese maple is called 'Beni Schichihenge'.  I have to confess that I have to look up how to spell that almost every time! I may have finally gotten it though...  The new foliage is rimmed in pink which eventually changes to a creamy white variegation.

My 'Walker's Low' catmint is always a standout performer.  It smells great and is easily manageable.  Once it starts to bloom it won't quit! (also it is very easy to propagate catmint!)

I haven't gotten an avocado from my potted avocado tree yet so for now I'll just have to enjoy this 'Guacamole' hosta.  No it's not for eating, unless you are a deer...

Other hostas are coming up.  These garden beds are a prime example of the weeding that needs done!  Can someone please add a few more hours to each day?  Please?

Oak leaf hydrangeas are good performers here in our Tennessee garden.  I like watching the new foliage transform.  They almost appear to be little hands stretching up in prayer.

I planted some strawberries as a ground cover underneath some trees in the front yard.  Hopefully we'll get them before the critters do!  Laying out some bird netting may be on my spring agenda.

A tall garden phlox.  I believe this one is 'Franz Shubert'.  It was necessary to have something musical in my garden.

The 'Yoshino' cherries are still impressive!

And of course I'm thrilled with my organically grown lawn.  I need to run around with the spreader and some compost over some areas to improve the soil but I really can't complain with how the lawn looks right now.

What does spring look like where you are?

Bees in the 'Yoshino' Cherry Trees

What is my favorite tree?  That's a hard question to answer, since there are so many trees that I enjoy.  Some trees provide fruit, other trees, shade, and others flowers which makes them hard to pick a single favorite.  I have to categorize.  In the spring for the flowering trees I would have to say my favorites are the cherry trees.  I love seeing the massive canopies of blooms each year.  Our garden is home to several 'Yoshino' cherry trees which never fail to impress me!

This 'Yoshino' was the second one I planted in our yard and has grown fast and strong.  It's been planted for about 4 years.  The bees enjoy it immensely.  I was out working in the yard yesterday and every time I passed by the cherry tree I heard hundreds of individual buzzes that made it sound as if the tree had an engine.  I love the fact that I can provide the bees with something to enjoy.

I think spring has finally arrived.  The warmer weather is here for the foreseeable forecast, the trees are pumping out the blooms, and the bees are trying to catch up on time lost to cooler weather.

And you know what spring means...lots to do in the garden!

April in a Tennessee Garden

It's another beautiful spring morning here in Tennessee and I thought I would share a little of the garden with you so you could see what is growing.  Yesterday was in the 70's and the rest of the week is predicted to be the same which is simply perfect springtime weather.  We all deserve a little bit of perfect spring weather after this winter!  

First here are the daffodils!  Daffodils are very easy to grow and deer resistant.  They're one of the first flowers in spring that we get to enjoy.  

The flowering spring trees are beginning to break their buds.  Here is a 'Yoshino' cherry which is probably my favorite flowering tree of all flowering trees!

Dogwoods are beautiful trees too.  It looks like this dogwood will be blooming for use for the first time this year. This dogwood is one called 'Constellation'.  It's a hybrid of a Cornus kousa and Cornus florida that I planted in 2010 as a balled and burlap tree.  Normally I buy trees and plants in pots but we wanted something a little larger to start with in this location.

Of course some trees are already blooming, like this 'Bonfire' peach situated right off the patio.

The cilantro is finally starting to come back.  It's a cool weather herb but really did not enjoy the cold winter we had this year.  Usually in the winter I can harvest cilantro anytime I need it.  This year it was scarce. We love to use cilantro in guacamole.  You can find a recipe for my guacamole if you follow the previous link!

The catmint never fails to grow beautifully!  

This penstemon is coming along nicely.  It won't take long for it to produce some beautiful bell shaped flowers. Penstemon is a great perennial for the bees and hummingbirds, they love the flowers!

And lastly the lawn is looking greener and more full each day.  It is a natural lawn with no unnatural pesticides or fertilizers.  If you would like to see how I grow my lawn you can read this post about growing a natural lawn.  I don't believe the chemicals are necessary!

What's happening in your garden?

A Yoshino Cherry Tree in Full Bloom!

I know that you know that I like Yoshino Cherry trees. I thought I would highlight the Yoshino cherry tree that is flowering in our front yard so that you can enjoy its blooms too! Here's why the Yoshino makes a great garden tree: they grow relatively fast, they look great when in bloom and when covered in leaves, and I've noticed very few pest problems (the deer rubbed it once). Here are a few more good reasons to plant a Yoshino cherry in your garden:

Are you ready to plant one yet?

A Few Flower Photos

The signs of spring are showing themselves all over the garden. It's not just in the flowers the bees and bugs are all coming out of their winter nesting places to sip on nectar and gain strength for another growing season. Here are a few pictures of the flowers I've seen over the week.

The daffodils are coming up everywhere. Here are a few in the birdbath garden.

Strangely the daffodils beat out the crocuses for the title of The First Bloomer*.

The hyacinths are sending their frangrance on the wind all over the garden.

The creeping phlox is coming along and soon they will all be covering the ground with color.

While not officially a flower yet these redbud buds from a 'Forest Pansy' redbud I planted last year as part of the arbor project are beginning to emerge!

What has been your favorite sign of spring so far?

*The title of the First Bloomer only applies to planted flowers - weeds are not eligible. My apologies to the dandelions.

The First Daffodils of 2011

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 and posted on February 12th! Very early while the first daffodil of 2010 didn't shine until March 17th. It looks like we're right in the middle this year with February 25th!

This year the daffodils in the birdbath garden are the first ones to appear in full bloom.  You'll notice that the birdbath is actually that copper piece of metal resting beside the daffodils. Looks like it's time to solder. 

These daffodils are planted among some daylilies. You can see the fans emerging in nearly every garden.

Also appearing in the birdbath garden are the hyacinths. These were from Valentine's Day of 2008 and were transplanted in the fall to the birdbath garden. Originally they were three but the bulbs multiplied of the the years into more than 12.  Some are planted here and others are planted on the other side of the garden.

The stone edges of the birdbath garden bed needs cleaned up before the chickweed invades! At least it's an easy weed to pull, you can even eat it, or so I've been told!

Are your daffodils up yet?

Spring Is Here!

Yesterday brought in that first official day of spring but it sure seems that spring beat the calendar to the punch.  The warm weather has brought many of our plants and trees much further along at this time of year than they should be.  It has me concerned.  I love the warm weather and the sights of blooming flowers but in some cases it's just too early. 

Yesterday I visited the big orange box store and stopped to tell a shopper not to go all out on her tomato plant purchase.  I'm not sure she understood that there is still the possibility of a frost that could kill those tomato plants until April 15th.  I have a feeling many people are doing the same thing, taking advantage of the warm weather but it's just too early for some plants! My mini-nursery is delivering the plants at the right time which hopefully will help new gardeners to learn when to plant which plants in the garden.

One example of an early growing plant is this crape myrtle.  It's already leafing out which really should be happening a few weeks later.  Crape myrtles aren't native to the U.S. and aren't as well adapted as other trees to withstand our climate.  If we have a big frost it's highly likely that it will suffer some major damage.  The root system will probably be fine but branches and trunks could freeze, crack, and die back.

Japanese maples are in the same boat as the crape myrtles.  I'm really hoping that frosts don't come at this point and we don't suffer large losses of ornamentals like we did here in TN back in 2007. 

Despite the chance of frosts between now and April 15th the early spring weather is bringing a lot of beauty to the landscape.  The Yoshino Cherry in our front yard is one spectacular example!  We have three Yoshinos planted which gives us our own cherry blossom festival each spring.

This Yoshino is in the backyard.  You can also see the garden shed and part of our vegetable garden in the picture.

One favorite flower just beginning to bloom is the creeping phlox.  It blooms juts for a little while in spring but when it does it creates a carpet of color when it is planted enmass.

How is Spring progressing where you are?