Tag Archives: backyard

End of Month View-August 2014

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Benjamin

August ended the way it usually does for us in this part of the Ohio River Valley–Hot, humid, a thunderstorm or two. The days are noticeably shorter now, and the plants have noticed. A burst of productivity in the vegetable … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, black krim, bugs, cleome, Cleome hassleriana, compost, coneflower, daisies, daisy, farming, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, landscape, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, pepper, propagate, romanian pepper, rudbeckia, summer, tomato, vegetable, vegetable garden | 43 Comments

August and Everything After

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Benjamin

August surprised us this year in our part of the Ohio River Valley. Mild temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s (F) are unusual during what we usually refer to as the “dog days of summer.” Felt much like late September. … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged backyard, bugs, climate, compost, farming, flower garden, flower gardening, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, peonies, peony, snakes, summer, tomato, vegetable, vegetable garden, weather | 38 Comments

Wordless Wednesday-Monarch

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Benjamin

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, beneficial insect, bugs, butterfly, caterpillars, flower, gardening, monarch, summer | 18 Comments

Wordless Wednesday-Our Backyard Owl and His Brave Neighbor

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Benjamin

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, birding, birdwatching, farming, gardening, great horned owl, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, owl | 10 Comments

The Nostalgia of Cleome

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Benjamin

A friend gave me a few seeds from her Cleome hassleriana several years ago. We planted the seeds, enjoyed the flowers, saved the seeds and continued burying them in the soil at a couple of different homesteads, spreading the joy … Continue reading →

Posted in Flower Gardening, Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, cleome, Cleome hassleriana, compost, farming, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, Kentucky, nostalgia, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, propagate, seed, seed saving | 32 Comments

Our Accidental Hanging Dahlia Experiment

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Benjamin

It started with a couple of seed heads, lying forgotten on top of the soil in a flower pot in the garage. I’d brought the pot into the garage before a hard freeze last winter, placed it in a corner … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, dahlia, farming, flower, flower garden, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, Kentucky, Ohio, organic gardening, propagate, serendipity | 12 Comments

We Seek the Black Krim

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Benjamin

It’s our first year planting the heirloom variety tomato, Black Krim. We’re excited! The one pictured is just starting to ripen and we’re curious how long it will be before it develops that lovely deep, dark crimson. We’ve had a … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged backyard, black krim, farming, flower garden, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, propagate, tomato, vegetable, vegetable garden | 12 Comments

Daisy, the Poet’s Darling

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Benjamin

We love our Shasta daisies. Some may think them a little too “Mary Ann” and not enough “Ginger”, but we like their cheerful little faces and carefree abundance. And they need almost no maintenance except for a little fertilizer and occasional deadheading and division. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Flower Gardening, Gardening | Tagged backyard, daisies, daisy, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, gardening tips, Kentucky, landscaping, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, perennial, propagate | 4 Comments

Daisies, Coneflowers & Bees (Oh, My)

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Benjamin

July means the Purple Coneflowers and Daisies are competing for the lavish attention of the bees in our neighborhood. So far it seems the coneflowers are winning. There’s a symphony of bees constantly hovering on and around our stand of Echinacea … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, bees, Carpenter Bees, coneflower, daisies, daisy, Echinacea purpurea, farming, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, gardening tips, june beetle, june bug, Kentucky, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, summer | Leave a comment

Clematis-Garden Fireworks

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Benjamin

Is it strange that I try to think of new places to build garden walls and fences just so I can cover them with clematis? When these beauties are going full tilt they’re as spectacular as a fireworks display. Currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, Clematis, fireworks, flower garden, flowers, garden, gardening, Independence Day, organic gardening, propagate | 6 Comments