Mid-South Gardening Advice Blog

Hydrangea planting

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:23:13 GMT

Hydrangea planting is a must if you love to craft from your garden. Several varieties of hydrangea can be grown for cut or dried flowers. Learn how to plant, care, harvest, and dry you hydrangeas.

Soap Making and other Garden Crafts

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:33:25 GMT

Soap making is a way to use herbs in culinary,cosmetic, scented, and decorative products, as well as gifts for teachers, parents, grandparents, and for fundraisers for local clubs.

Organic herb gardening

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:21:14 GMT

organic herb gardening, learn about herb gardening, beginning herb gardening

Best Perennials For The South

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:58:01 GMT

Learn the secrets of growing great perennials, soil prep, fertilizing, watering, staking, buy perennials online

Wreath Making

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:08:40 GMT

Wreathmaking is one of the most rewarding experiences for both the wreath maker and all those that have the pleasure of seeing the results. Gathering material for your wreath is part of the fun. A wa

Mimosa Trees - To Have or Not to Have Not

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:54:29 GMT

Mimosa trees can grow up to 25 feet very rapidly. They have a tropical look, are very hardy, and drought tolerant. Should you have them in your yard?

Trees For Wet Sites

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:05:01 GMT

Trees for wet sites are usually native trees and thrive on river banks or near other sources of water.

Dwarf Fruit Trees

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:43:25 GMT

Dwarf fruit trees are gaining in popularity for gift-giving and for use in your own landscape or home decor.

Chives

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:24:32 GMT

Chives are one of the most popular culinary herbs. The leaves of this plant can be used in a variety of ways. The flowers are edible, and can be used to garnish salads.

Raised Flower Beds

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:58:02 GMT

If you enjoy gardening, you will eventually be faced with the task of making a new bed. Raised flower beds are great if you have drainage problems or very bad soil.

Insect Identification Guide

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:16:35 GMT

Here you will find an insect identification guide of a variety of insects including fall web worms.

Napa and Sonoma Wineries

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:12:25 GMT

Napa and Sonoma in California offer much more than just vineyards in the landscape. Many wineries have gardens planted around their entrances or

Our Backyard Paradise

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:38:21 GMT

Here's a lovely area in Gwen's backyard. I love the sundial and the large cement mushroom. It's so much fun to decorate a garden with items like

Bringing Life to a Dead Tree

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:11:54 GMT

A couple years ago we had a dead tree in our yard but didn't want to just cut it down and have to deal with an ugly tree stump. We cut the tree down

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:20:38 GMT

This is beautiful, inside the mansion and all over the grounds. The winery is a blast (definitely take some tours...and land in the free tasting

Local Garden Clubs

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:01:18 GMT

Local garden clubs are a great way to make new friends and help the . If yours needs a web site. Have one for free here.

Kids Gardening

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:59:46 GMT

Kids gardening is a wonderful and exciting activity for children of all ages.Learn about projects and gardening skills for each age group

Squash Bugs

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:08:06 GMT

The squash bug can be one of the most annoying bugs in the garden. Problems are particularly hard on winter types of squash like summer squash, melons, and cucumbers.

Our Garden Travels

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:12:14 GMT

Our garden travels are documented here. We love to visit gardens while on vacation. Here are some of our favorite gardens.

Our Garden

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:07:26 GMT

Pictures of our garden. You will see annuals, perennials, and herbs

Dividing Perennials

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:25:57 GMT

In the recent Garden Gate magazine, I noticed some helpful information on knowing when to divide perennials. There advice is what we do in our garden during the year. They say that you will be able to tell when to divide your perennials when the plants are crowded and the center starts to die out. Common plants that we commonly notice with this problem are asters, sedum, and siberian iris. Most can be divided at any time of the year, except the heat of summer. A good rule of thumb that they suggest using is: Divide spring-flowering plants in early fall, and summer-and-fall-bloomers in early spring. This gives your plants time to settle before they bloom. For more information on perennials visit our web site at http://www.flowers-plants-gardening-advice.com/perennials.html

If your sedums have powdery mildew, this is why

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:54:00 GMT

The current newsletter for the UT Extension Office has this advice on helping your plants to be more resistant to powdery mildew. They say that it all has to do with how light intensity plays a direct role in disease severity. Especially with powdery mildew diseases, some fungal leaf spot diseases and at least one fungal blight. Sedums are rarely affected by powdery mildew when planted in full sun. However, if they are planted in the full to partial shade, then the disease can wreck havoc. On sedums, the mildew appears as scab-like or corky in appearance. The same thing can happen to trees such as flowering dogwoods that generally like sun to partial shade. If planted in shade, they will produce powdery mildew within a few weeks. Be sure to consider light intensity/exposure before planting . This can save you time and money and give you happier, healthier plants.

What is That Sticky Stuff All Over My Car?

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:35:47 GMT

Crape Myrtle Aphids and Asian Woolly Hackberry Aphids produce a sticky honeydew that settles under the trees. Once there, it starts to mildew and turns black. That's why you see black residue on your cars and under trees. For more information on this go to University of Tennessee's recent newsletter at http://soilplantandpest.utk.edu/publications/ornamentalnwsltr.html

Yarrow

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:30:07 GMT

Yarrow is a herbaceous perennial plant. It's an easy, drought tolerant perennial to add to any garden. Learn to grow, harvest and craft with this herb.

Drying Flowers

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:05:22 GMT

An overview on drying flowers, including harvesting flowers, preserving flowers and storing dried flowers.

Scarecrows Were Live Boys and Girls?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:58:29 GMT

Did you know scarecrows used to be live boys and girls? I certainly didn't. Farmers have used scarecrows to keep birds out of their crops for over 3,000 years. In Britian, they are called mommets, tattie bogies and hodmedods. Apparently, in Medieval Britain, they used live girls and boys instead of the human-like stuffed version we use today. These children were known as bird scarers or bird shooers. They would patrol the wheat fields carrying bags of stones and if the crows landed in the fields, they would chase them off by waving their arms and throwing the stones. Can you imagine our kids doing that today? In Japan, the farmers hung old rags, meat, and fish bones from bamboo poles in their fields and set them on fire. The smell got so bad that no self-respecting bird would come any where near it. Mission accomplished! If you would like to be a part of this ancient tradition and if you live in the Nashville area, you may want to participate in the event that Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum is hosting. During September 27 - November 9th Cheekwood will provide the framework for making scarecrows as part of their "Scarecrows!" fall event. For more information about scarecrows and to register for this event, visit their website at www.cheekwood.org Register by August 8th Free summer Saturdays May 31 - August 30 for children 17 and under, limit 6 children per adult. For a video of some of the gardens at Cheekwood, be sure and visit my web site at www.mid-south-gardening-advice.com Keep up- to- date on the latest happenings in our garden and gardens in the Mid-South by signing up for our newsletter at Stewart's Gardening Newsletter Don't miss out, sign up today!