Welcome Back!

After a two year absence, I am once again living in Nashville and working at the Demonstration Garden!  While many things have changed here, one thing is still the same; this is an amazing garden to visit!  These are some photos from a recent work day and I encourage you to visit this page often to see what is happening in the garden!

Chives, the seeds are so fertile that they pop up everywhere and so do the weeds!  This is some speedwell in the herb garden and of course, some chive seedlings.

Daffodils are a sure sign of spring, let's hope it comes quickly.

Hyacinths are so fragrant that you can almost smell them before you spot the blooms!

Over in the shade beds, the Solomon's Seal is thinking it is spring as well.

The Hellebores are in full bloom.

Things are starting to wake up and follow the Daffodil's lead down in the perennial garden.

How can you not love a plant that seems to glow?  Bloody Dock is one of my favorite foliage plants.  When the light shines through it, it glows.  This is proof that you do not need just flowers to add a pop of color to your garden!

The cabbages in the vegetable garden are heading now and before we know it, we will be picking them!  

In the vegetable garden, we also have asparagus.  Ever wonder how they grow white asparagus?  The stalks are blanched by keeping them covered and if you look closely at the tip of this one, you can see it is white.  It grew up with a cluster of leaves and debris on the tip like an umbrella and blanched itself white.  However, as soon as I uncovered it, the plant began the process of greening itself.

And just for fun, some ornamental kale, because everyone needs a hint of color...

st. patrick's day in the garden

 weeds, weeds and more weeds.  every where you look-more weeds.  

 even the raised beds are full of them.  just look at the zombie garden.  okay, maybe this is what a zombie garden should look like.

 but not the asparagus bed!

 or the square foot bed.

fear not fellow gardeners.  in the horticulture world, they call them winter perennial.  that sounds so much nicer than weeds.  so let's take a closer look at the pesky little plants.

 red dead nettle

in my yard, this plant is always welcome as long as it stays out of the beds and in the lawn.  believe it or not, this is an important nectar source for honeybees in late winter and early spring.

 bitter root

a curious little plant.  see those brown stick like things, they are the mature seeds and they will shoot out like rockets when you brush up against the plant.

 chickweed

aren't they the tiniest blooms!  i am not sure if bees like them but i do know the plant is edible.

 hen bit

and lastly, hen bit.  another important nectar source for honey bees.

irish soda bread was the offering for the day.  come on out and join us some time.

sunday, august 12

it was a beautiful morning-no sweating by the gardeners-not sure it is still august because it felt like late september, early october.  it was a semi productive morning, providing that chatting among friends was our list of tasks for the day...

a look at what we saw today

 just in case you didn't get your fill of cicadas last summer, here is one for you to admire.

 i love the markings on this cicada-they almost look as if they were painted on.

 just look at the beard on this one!

 this isn't encouraging news for the tomato trial

 tennessee sweet potato squash

 passion flowers getting ready to put on a show on the arbor.

 black and blue salvia-the hummingbirds were all over this plant.

 bronze fennel in bloom

cannas-bees and hummingbirds were taking turns 

our next big project for the year

 believe it or not, this is our leaf pile.  really, it is and no i am not kidding.  hidden here under a thick carpet of bermuda grass and weeds is a pile of beautiful, fully composted leaves; our own stockpile of black gold!  we need to uncover it and move the contents to an area that will make using it possible.  before we know it, it will be fall and the new pile of leaves (that we hope to acquire) will need a place to rot.  so if anyone is looking for something to do, put on your gloves and start pulling weeds or bring a shovel and start digging out the finished compost.

some of the plants growing around the leaf pile:

 poke weed, it is poisonous-all parts of it.  i know that there are plenty of folks around that will say otherwise but unless you know when to pick it and how to cook it, steer clear of it.

 the next crop of poke-just look at all of those berries...

 deadly nightshade-nothing about this plant is edible

 pretty-anybody know the name for this plant?

 wild tradescantia

oh, and speaking of digging out the compost, it doesn't look much better over in the compost corral either.  looks like we will be digging this out too...

shirley and i dined in style; we had scones with rose hip jam on real plates with fancy napkins...girls will be girls!  join us some time, there is always something good to eat!!!