beginner gardening basics
Phlox is one of my most favorite spring time flowers. Where I live the people love their creeping phlox and it covers flower beds and rock walls like a blanket of flowers. I remember seeing it for the first time by our neighborhood mailbox and taking a picture of it and googling what it was…
Raise your hand if you’ve ever bought flowers to put on your front porch together in pots, only to get home and be underwhelmed by what you have. It’s happened to me….a lot! Front porch flower pots are actually pretty simple once you have a few tips to follow. Choosing the Right Pot Your pot…
Sweet peas are one of the sweetest flowers (see what I did there). They have a beautiful fragrance and are delicate and fresh. I first decided to grow some when I watched a series on Floret Flowers website about how some varieties are in jeopardy of becoming extinct. Erin advocates for preserving some of these…
I have always dreamed of having beautiful grass. Because my family tends to move houses every few years, this dream has never been a reality. We built the house we currently live in a few years ago and this will be our third spring and summer with grass. So far its been a struggle to…
I am currently adding new raised beds to my garden and want something pretty and timeless to support my peas and beans. Pinterest and Instagram are my inspo places and obelisks, tuteurs and trellis’ are what I am drawn to. The Internet is full of DIY options with cattle panels, wires and hooks, and wooden…
Being from the Pacific Northwest where shade is everywhere from the dense trees, I have fallen in love with hostas. They are so versatile and lush and their different shades of green are seemingly endless. I have wanted a shade garden for years and years now and still don’t have the perfect spot for one,…
I love shade gardens. Love them! I lived in the Seattle areas for many years and the climate there is very friendly to shade gardens because of the dense trees and greenery around. There is shade everywhere! I came to really appreciate shade loving perennials when I lived there and definitely miss having a large…
Seed starting can be fun and exciting. There’s the anticipation of all the yummy and beautiful plants you will soon have, plus you saved a bunch of money using seeds instead of buying actual plants. THEN…they get leggy, moldy, die off or don’t even germinate at all. It’s a lot! That’s why I track my…
Tulips 101:all you need to know. I absolutely love tulips mostly because I love spring. It’s my favorite season and tulips are a big part of that. They come in thousands (3000 registered!) of varieties and have so many different colors and petal shapes. Fun fact; tulips will follow the sun even after they are…
Spring is just around the corner….Finally! White is one of my favorite colors to use in my garden. In fact in my front yard, I try to have mostly white flowers with green hedges as accent. It’s such a clean and classy look. These white spring flowers would be a great addition to any landscape…
One of the basic necessities of having house plants, is having and learning to read a moisture meter. Sure, you can stick your finger in the soil but how accurate is that? Plus you’ll have to dig the dirt out from under your fingernails and my way is a lot easier. Most moisture meters can…
Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. I’ve loved them for years and years, even before I started gardening. They are one of the most popular cut flowers for a reason. They’re gorgeous! Peonies have big fluffy petals and come in a wide variety of colors. They’re relatively easy to grow and are perennials so they…
The January garden checklist is just as important as the other months, even in the dead of winter. The nice thing is that we’re a bit closer to spring and the days are starting to slowly get longer. When it’s cold however, it’s easy to forget (or avoid) the things we can still do as…
Tuber Tubers, corms, and rhizomes are kind of like bulbs. (Look back to these blog posts HERE and HERE to learn more about bulbs). They are the life source and nutrient storage for plants, each with different characteristics. They also provide ways to mulitply the plant into new plants. The best way to describe a…
Raised garden beds are both beautiful and functional. Winter is the best time to gather inspiration and plan for the spring growing season. Here are some ideas to get you started on your raised beds next season. Wood This is probably the most common type of raised garden bed. The kind of wood you use…
I started out this blog to help those who want to begin gardening but don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed with all the information out there. I was exactly that same way and had a hard time sifting through websites, book, and Pinterest to find what I wanted to know in a way…
Believe it or not, there are dozens of types of gardens. Each one has a different purpose and aesthetic. As I was working on the landscaping for our home, I started to study the types of gardens to get a better idea of what I wanted my yard and garden to look and feel like….
Weekly House Plant Checklist Keeping up on this weekly house plant checklist has been huge for the health of my house plants. Everyone gets watered when they need it and I’m able to stay on top of pests and bugs. Check out my watering post HERE if you have questions.
Along with sun and water, soil is one of the most important pieces of gardening. This blog post is going to cover the soil basics, how to tell what kind you have, and how to make it better to grow the garden you want. Soil Types Soil PH How to know what you have One…
Compost is one of the most valuable pieces of gardening. So what is it and why do you need it? Compost is sometimes called black gold. Good compost can change your garden. It’s something you can buy at the store or make at home. It can take your garden from meh to amazing. What is…
Remember how I said I believe anyone can be a gardener? Well it’s true! These favorite fall perennials (they come back year after year) are a great place to start if you’re new to gardening. They are favorites because they are hardy, beautiful, and easy to grow in most growing zones. Asters Asters are some…
One of the first lessons to know in gardening is learning how to read a plant tag. This little piece of plastic attached to your plant will tell you the very basics of what that plant needs to grow. If you do not follow the advice of the plant tag, your plant could struggle to…
Fall is one of the busiest times for the gardener. October is kind of when it all peaks for me. I feel a rush to hurry and get everything done before it’s too cold for me to want to be outside. The plants love the cool weather and it’s the perfect time to get the…
One of the very first things my mom thought me about gardening was that there are some plants that will come back year after year and then there are some that will only live for one growing season. These are annuals and perennials. Annuals Annuals are the showstoppers in the garden most of the time….
Bulb Basics Bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, and corms. What does all that mean? Basically they’re the parts of some plants/flowers that store energy and make the plant grow. This section is about bulbs. Bulbs aren’t seeds but produce a flower as the end result similar to a seed. We plant them in the fall, they sit…
Did you love school as a kid? I totally did. I did well taking tests and those things always came fairly easy to me, which I’m sure helped. Well were going back friends. To Garden School. If you hated school don’t worry. This is easy and fun and I’ll walk you through everything. Let’s get…
Welcome to my internet garden! I believe that gardening is for everyone.My goal with this site is to give beginner gardeners a place to start. For years and years I have been planting and growing things but still get overwhelmed all the time. I can’t wait to share all the things I have learned with…
It’s been 50+ degrees for about a week here where I live and it has me so excited for spring. We’re almost there! March in the garden is like nature’s grand opening act. As winter bows out, our green spaces come alive with the promise of new beginnings. Grab your gardening gear because it’s time…
Zinnias are such a fun flower because they have so many fun traits for gardeners. They are a great cut flower, they can be grown almost anywhere, and they are easy and fun to grow. Zinnias are also popular among pollinators, making them a great flower to have in your vegetable garden. My favorite thing…
