A Walk Around Tiger Way Gardens Part II

Continuing on with our walk around part of Tiger Way Gardens we find ourselves in the orchard. Here is where most of the daylilies, the fruit trees, hydrangeas, small fruit, and the chickens are in relative safety from marauding wildlife because they are behind a seven strand electrical fence (noted in the background behind these daylilies). I don't always need to turn on the electric fence for it to be a good deterrent but Mr. Fix-it and I recently found some peaches that had been devoured. That caused me to turn on the electric fence and guess what? It worked!

Outside of the chicken coop we find some bee balm, Gloriosa daisies and pink knockout roses. There are also a bunch of lilies and other plantings here. I am trying very hard to at least mask the smell from the girls (and the Boss) and if I can't do that then making the area pretty is a consoling fact.

The chickens! We now have six hens and one rooster. Two of hens are golden comets, one is the original Rhode Island Red, the rooster (named The Boss) is a Rhode Island Red, and just this February I purchased three baby Australorpe chicks. The new chicks are now full grown and are the black ones. I did a lot of research on chickens and think the Australorpes will be a good fit for us. I do really enjoy chickens but some days I don't get any eggs between the hens eating their own eggs and them just not laying regularly as they age. It is frustrating. Now that I have been successful with chicks I may add one or two yearly just to keep up the flock. We really love fresh eggs in the Ramsey household!

The orchard was planted three years ago come November. I remember it well because it was very cold. I believe this peach tree to be the Early White variety. I can't believe it produced so many peaches after less than three years. We have one other peach tree with peaches too. It's cultivar is Intrepid. We have also harvested some tart cherries and plums from the fruit tree part of the orchard. Right now we are currently picking blueberries and raspberries. The blackberries will be coming on soon.

The grape arbor with its hedge of 'Annabelle' hydrangeas and one lone surviving 'Bella Anna' is looking good. Growing up the arbor we have a 'Concord' grapevine, two muscadine grapevines, and one hardy kiwi vine. All of the grapevines are loaded with grapes. We are pretty excited about them. The hardy kiwi is not yet bearing.

The three daylily beds are in full bloom. This picture really does not do them justice as the flowers and total effect is stunning. I have not weeded these beds at all this year and they really need some attention although the weeds are not too awfully visible in this picture. Thank goodness!

This butterfly garden started life as an 'Orange Garden'. I am transitioning it a bit still focusing it on butterflies. The straight leafed plant on the left is Chinese blackberry and it is about to bloom. The frilly flowered shrub is Abelia 'Raspberry Profusion'. The swallowtails love abelias! This is a popular area this time of the year. Behind the abelias are two 'White Diamond' hydrangeas with a new addition from Proven Winners of 'Blue Diddley' Chaste tree. I am very excited to see how this shrub does because chaste trees have a beautiful blue flower that blooms in the summer and the blooms are beloved by butterflies. This particular cultivar is supposed to stay relatively small so that it can fit into garden easily. This fall I will probably add some sedum and coneflowers or rudebeckia to the front of the garden for some perennial interest.

Right next to the Orange Garden is the Peony Garden. The peonies were spectacular in May but they have all gone by now. The five crepe myrtles I dug up from my old garden are now beginning their bloom period and look great. I find that bees really like crepe myrtle blooms and for me that is an added benefit to the crepes since I try to garden for pollinators.

These lime green daylilies were a gift from my friend Angie of Angie's Gardens.  They look lovely in an island garden right next to our driveway near the house.

Here are a few of the peaches we have been picking. For Mr. Fix-it and I we find the ability to walk outside our door and pick our food to eat right then and there a most amazing thing. I will try to get a vegetable garden post up this month. We've harvested a bunch of potatoes and onions and even one tomato so far and some heads of cabbage. Yum!

One last picture of my koi pond. I simply love this spot on a hot day. The sound of running water helps to cool things down here in Tennessee. Speaking of which, I will be giving a presentation to the Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens on July 19th at 7:00 PM. Be sure to come on out and show me some support! I'll be talking about how to keep cool....

in the summer garden.....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The Franklin Conservatory Part III

One of my favorite parts of the park was the Daylily Garden. This was not just any old daylily garden though. This garden was laid out in beds and the daylilies were planted in those beds by the date the daylilies were introduced. Mr. Fix-it and I explored the beds and daylilies all the way from the 1800s to the present. It was pretty neat seeing just how daylilies have changed over the years. I kept thinking how perhaps one hundred years ago most daylilies were diploid whereas in the past hundred years or so hybridizers have developed daylilies that have triple and even quadruple the amount of chromosomes a normal daylily would have. This increase in chromosomes has enabled all sorts of enhancements to change the face of the daylily. Things like sparkles, frills, multiple colors and other facets have really made the daylily a favorite perennial of all.

I took several pictures of daylilies that caught my eye. It was great all of the daylilies were named and I also took pictures of the tags. Amid all of the daylilies I only recognized one without looking at the tag and that one was 'Primal Scream'; which I also grow in my garden. Coincidentally 'Primal Scream' was the recipient of the highest award a daylily can be given and that award is the Stout Silver Medal Award. If you want a good daylily, picking one that has won an award from the American Hemerocallis Society is a safe bet that you will get a good daylily. I recognized many of the names of the award list as daylilies that are still in vogue today and I even grow several of them in my daylily garden. The daylily above is called 'Bob Faulkner' and while it has not won the Stout Siver Medal, it is the recipient of a couple of awards as noted on the label.



How about this flashy daylily? 'Works For Me' had some nice edging matching the eye of the daylily. Gosh, I could go on all day with the daylilies but I think I'll keep the other pictures for myself. I did take snapshots of several cultivars I'd like to add to my growing collection at some point. When I select daylilies I first and foremost look for bud count. I want a long blooming perennial in my gardens and one that looks nice most of the season. Not all daylilies are created equal so be selective and look not just at colors and patterns, but also at bud count and growth pattern as well as bloom types. Daylilies can open early in the morning and throughout the day (diurnal), or late in the afternoon and stay open all night (nocturnal), or they can bloom for sixteen hours or more (extended). Both diurnal and nocturnal daylilies can be extended. It is important to know which one you have because daylily blooms last just a day-normally twelve hours or so if you are lucky. That is why they are called day-lilies.

It was really tough to leave the daylily gardens but on our way out there were many more gardens to see and enjoy. The park had some elevation changes so to take advantage of that change there were some terraces built into the landscape. Where there is a terrace there is an opportunity to make a garden. Here is a wonderful one I enjoyed.

The walls were beautiful as were the groupings of perennials.

Like all good gardens there was a lot of texture in these gardens and a good combination of evergreens and deciduous plants. In fact, there actually was a conifer collection near the daylily bed. It was pretty neat! Visiting gardens and parks like The Franklin Conservatory can really help a gardener to gain a better perspective on gardening and to increase her knowledge and I can honestly say I learned a lot at The Franklin Conservatory.

This big, fat, squirrel says hello and thanks for visiting....

in the garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Making Some New Garden Beds Using a Tractor, a Box Blade, and a Shovel

Hi everyone! I have some exciting news to share about our farm and my new garden--it is coming along! Above is a picture of the first daylily bed and I can't tell you how excited I am to have it nearly done! The journey was long to get to this point though.

Mr. Fix-it and I do not yet have a tiller or plow for our tractor but we do have a box blade. Box blades work great to level out uneven areas and as they level they tear up the sod and soften the soil. I had an idea the box blade might work as a tiller and I was right! I asked Mr. Fix-it to dig me four trenches (new gardens) with his box blade. Each trench is about four feet wide by about 30-35 feet long. The above picture was the result after Mr. Fix-it finished the box blading. The sod has been torn up and mostly removed and it looks as though there are trenches here.

Now the fun part comes in and it is my favorite part of gardening (besides planting)! I hand turned all of the soil in the new beds using my shovel. Look at the difference it made! The trench closest to you has not been hand turned but the one further way has already been worked and I planted some of my favorite daylilies in this bed. The soil is now nicely raised, tillable, and workable for planting--plus almost all the roots and weeds have been removed!

Here is another view looking north toward the pond. I slightly trenched the edges of this bed to make mowing close a simple thing. The blade simply cuts all of the grass but does not go into the bed due to the trench. Can you see how the bed is now raised up a bit? The soil will settle back down but turning the soil enabled some air to reach down into the soil and made the soil plantable for me. 

After I turned this whole bed (it took me several hours), I added my amendments, planted the daylilies, then mulched with newspapers and wheat straw. Since I am trying very hard to be organic I added Greensand (I like its soil conditioning properties for heavy clay soil and it provides potash), and cottonseed meal (for nitrogen) as my soil amendments. I wish I had a ready source of composted manure as that would be even better but in my past experiences this is a good way to start a garden. Mulching with the paper and straw will, over time, add the necessary organic matter to the garden bed. My soil test told me my soil is fine, though a bit on the acid side (pH 5.3) and low in organic matter. Our field was at one time farmed so it is fertile but in my experience farmers don't use a lot of organic matter so the fact that my garden areas are low in organic matter is not surprising. It won't take me long to get them up to par. My digging told me there are some parts of this field that are  waterlogged. There are many underground streams in the area of our farm so the water is to be expected. Hence the turning of soil and Greensand. Fortunately though our land has perked for septic. Step one done towards building our house.

The next step was to dig all of my daylilies from my current home and garden. Geez, that was a job that took several hours and I was really shocked at just how long it all took. I must have dug over 40 types of daylilies-not even counting clumps. I don't know how they all fit in my garden to be honest with you. I had good intentions to keep the tags with each daylily and to be neat about my move, but as you can see daylilies just wound up piled upon daylilies. Sigh.

Once I got to the land I began downloading all of the daylilies and do you know it started to rain?? Yeah for rain in July!@ Aside from making the work a lot cooler the rain helps the daylilies to settle in sooner. I really thought all of my daylilies would fit into one of the four beds. That was not to be as you can see I had a lot of leftovers. That meant I would have to make another daylily bed--two more to be exact. Which is not a problem but these beds were intended for fruit. Oh well, we'll just move down the field a bit....

in the garden....



I guess when I started this post I thought everyone knew what a box blade was but then was recently asked what was a box blade. I thought I should post a picture of ours. Do you see the 'teeth'? These can be adjusted lower so that they will dig into the soil. The whole thing is dragged across the soil by the tractor and will scrape off some soil while dropping some soil. This tool is really good for leveling areas and also, as I have found out, for preparing new garden beds!


Tomorrow is a GREAT GARDENING EVENT not to be missed. It is the annual University of Tennessee at Jackson Summer Celebration. Don't miss it. See ya there!

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Welcome to Tiger Gardens-Enjoy Your Tour!

It is garden tour weekend and Tiger Gardens is on the tour this year so I thought I'd welcome you all (our virtual friends) with some views some of the live people will see when they visit Tiger Gardens tomorrow. The eagle above was a gift from my dear Uncle when he came to visit me last October. It is close to the road and one of the first things visitors will see upon entry to Tiger Gardens.



We have lots of American flags in the garden. The plants such as native beebalm (Monarda fistulosa) share equal billing with the daylilies this garden tour day.

More daylilies in the Northside Shrub Border.

Hydrangeas and astilbes cavort in the Greenhouse Garden.

More of the Greenhouse Garden, aka Non-Pool Garden.

The potAHger has been cleaned and readied for visitors. I need only dig some garlic (done!) and carrots to show folks just how easy it is to grow your own food.

The Sunny Perennial Border is looking mighty fine. Daylilies, annual rudbeckia (Gloriosa Daisies), veronica, coneflowers, hyssop and a few other plants are blooming for our visitors.

Sunny Perennial Border east end.

Some of the stars of the garden are the daylilies.











The pond with one of the koi looking on at the new floating duck. Can you see the orange colors on the left? There are two koi (Nissan and Datsun) hiding out under the water lily leaves.

View from the front door.



A toad I disturbed while cleaning up some logs in the garden. This was one huge toad who did not mind me working near him at all. 

If you would like tickets for the tour the cost is only $10. Children under 12 are free. Tickets can be purchased at any garden on the tour-including Tiger Gardens. The weather is forecast to be SPLENDID! When have we ever had temperatures  in the 70s for June?? So come on out and enjoy some gardens located in the Clarksville area. I've been working very hard in my garden readying it for you all and you would not believe the issues that get in the way of this job-that's another story. The hours of touring are from 9-3. I hope to see you all....

in the garden....


 There are six gardens on the tour. I have not visited them all but have visited one of my favorite gardens which also happens to be on the tour. My friend Angie's Garden. Previews of her garden from last month (it is now completely different this month because her daylilies are now in bloom) are found on this post. There are several posts on her garden so if you wish to see more just use the search bar to the right and type in Angie's Garden.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Daylilies-Oh those Daylilies!

From In the Garden

Rear West Border Bed ('Hyperion' and Common Daylily)

From In the Garden

'Gay Troubadour' or 'Howdy' (Thanks Jean!)
My Grandmother's Daylily brought all the way from Maine (Thanks Mom!). Does anyone know the cultivar? It would be from before the 80s. This daylily has a place of honor out front in the Roadside Shrub Border.

From In the Garden

'Highland Lord' (Front Foundation, Front Veggie Border)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Crabapple Garden)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Greenhouse Garden)

Unn

Unnamed (Greenhouse Garden)

From In the Garden

Old Fashioned Daylily

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

'Pardon Me' (Thanks Frances~!) (Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden

'Cat's Cradle' (Rear Cutout Garden)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Northside Shrub Border)

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

'Double River Wye' (Thanks Marnie!) (Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden

Name not known. (Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden

Orange Unnamed (Rear Center Garden and Foundation)

From In the Garden

Unnamed Seedling

From In the Garden

'Pandora's Box' (Thanks Darla!)(Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Sunny Perennial Border)

From In the Garden

'Hyperion'

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Northside Shrub Border Roadside Corner)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Foundation Bed) From In the Garden

Pink/Plum Seedling (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unknown. (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

(Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Rear Center Garden)

From In the Garden

Unnamed

From In the Garden

Unknown (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

'Midnight Magic' (Front of Veggie Garden Border)

This is the first year ever that I've really appreciated the daylilies in my garden. This is probably the case because despite all the shade here these daylilies have finally gotten big enough to make a big show-and what a show it is here. I am trying to control the show though as I am slowly getting organized in the garden. My issue is that during each bloom season I am relocating and maneuvering plants around according to how the garden looks at that point. The problem with this method is that I can't possibly take into account how the garden looked two weeks earlier when something that may have gone dormant was blooming in that spot or how the garden will look two weeks later when something new is in bloom. Hence, I have flowers growing everywhere and have no idea what is what. One way I can easily organize my flowers are to post about them. This post is on daylilies. With pictures I can help to remember locations and even names of plants. This is always a good thing for me. Most of my daylilies are seedlings but a few are named varieties. All of the unknowns came from the Tin Barn in Trenton. Not all daylilies are posted here because not all are blooming. Mainly it is the tiny daylilies like 'Stella' and 'Going Bananas' and 'Itsy Bitsy' and a few others. If you perhaps recognize some of the unknowns please let me know what they might be so I can log it. Thanks.

in the garden....

Don't you just love daylilies?

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden