Touring a botanical garden with children in tow can be a challenge. But this is not so with Beech Creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. This delightful garden center seems tailor made for kids and is the perfect way to introduce them to flowers and nature! My husband and I enjoy touring Botanical Gardens. In…
Our summer vacation this year was a mainly tour of Historic Homes and Botanical Gardens in 7 Eastern and Midwest States. But while we were in Ohio, we stopped into the Cleveland Zoo and spent a few hours admiring the animals. This big zoo houses 3,000 animals of over 600 species on abut 180 acres…
There is nothing quite like the sight of hummingbirds around a feeder, fluttering their wings the way only hummingbirds seem to do. For me, it is sort of a sign that summer is really in full steam. If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden, there are a few things that you should keep in mind…
Nothing makes me smile more than going out into my garden and seeing Swallowtail butterflies fluttering around. Did you know that planting certain plants will make sure that you have these pretty visitors to your yard? These swallowtail nectar plants will attract the butterflies to your garden. They just can’t resist them! Swallowtail butterflies are very…
Vinegar is a versatile and effective household product that is more useful than just for making salad dressing. There are dozens of vinegar uses in the home. From soaking your sponges to keeping your counters free of ants, this product is a must have. I recently had to deal with ants in my kitchen and tested some…
Do you have a problem with ants in your home as soon as the warm weather arrives? I know that I do and I don’t like it at all. I decided to test 5 different Borax Ant Killers against the more toxic retail version of Terro to see which one works the best for me.…
With all the talk of GMOs, pesticides and large scale farming, one has to ask the question “How important are bees to our Food Supply and to nature in general?” I, for one, and many of my gardening friends have noted the declining bee population. And those that do visit our yards are the bumble bees, rather…
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The opinions and text are all mine. It is time for some tips for dealing with invasive pests. Anyone who spends time in the garden knows how disheartening it can be…
With summer comes lots of outdoor living. Sadly, that can mean lots of mosquitoes. I don’t like to use chemical products but, thankfully, Mother Nature has the perfect answer – Mosquito Repelling Plants! We can grow annuals and perennials that will keep the bugs away naturally. With all the hype about West Nile Virus, it…
It is ant season again! As soon as the weather starts to heat up, and particularly after a warm rainy day, ants decide that indoors is a good place to be. Sure, you can kill ants with various home remedies, but are there are lots of other things that you can do to keep ants…
The first Saturday in May is marked as the day to Start Seeing Monarchs. What an appropriate national day for this time of the year! Have you seen any monarch butterflies in your yard this year? I’ve been seeing them in my garden for a few weeks This day was chosen to raise people’s awareness…
Growing Sunflowers is one of the really fun parts of summer time gardening. These big annuals are very easy to grow, which makes them a very popular plant to introduce children to gardening. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are a member of the Aster family. The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas. It is native to…
I am so looking forward to the return of warm weather. With the sunny days come flowers, gardening and time spent outdoors. Unfortunately, with the warm weather also come ants! These natural ant killer remedies will help to control the ants in your home in a non toxic way. It is fun for kids to…
The weather outside does not lend itself to gardening right now. We recently had a snow storm that dumped about three inches here in North Carolina. Looking over my snow soaked garden gave me the idea to have a share day on my Facebook page. I asked my Facebook fans to share their Winter Garden Views and…
Many areas of the country are still under a blanket of snow, but it won’t be long for most of us to do things to get your garden ready for spring. Here in NC, depending on how late our winter lasts, that time is almost here! It is time to start thinking about ways to…
I know that in most parts of the country, the ground is still covered with snow, but as any good gardener will tell you, “it’s never to early to start thinking about spring gardening!” There are lots of things that you can do to get ready. These early spring garden projects will get a jump…
Enjoy Wildlife with an Acrylic Window Bird Feeder One of the things I often do as part of writing for my blog is to review products from various sponsors of mine. I especially love it when I am offered the chance to review a product that really fits into the gardening aspect of my blog. …
Why Have Bird Houses? The birds that visit your backyard are a part of the whole ecosystem. Having a home for your feathered friends adds some interest to your yard and makes sure they will keep visiting. If you attract them to your yard by having bird friendly bird houses, and adding fresh clean water…
It’s been a long spring with a ton of work put into my gardens. So many of them were overgrown, and neglected last year when I spent most of my energy on my vegetable garden. Months of tilling, planting and transplanting have gone into my garden beds this year. I enlarged my test garden by…
Facebook has so many great pages devoted to gardening, but the way the site now shows the content of pages, it is sometimes hard for them to get seen on news feeds. I thought it would be fun for the Garden Charmers (a GREAT Facebook page) to each share their own favorite Gardening page on…
Some of you may remember that I made a dogwood wreath for the first time in December last year for Christmas. I’ve long since removed the Christmas decorations but left it hanging and it has started to dry out. I decided to re-purpose it into a bird feeder for my backyard test garden. My husband…
Gardening Cook Fan Tamara Martin’s Photos The fans of my Facebook page are always submitting photos of their gardens and projects for me to consider for this website and The Facebook page – The Gardening Cook. Normally, I include a photo or two in specific articles, such as vegetable harvests, or garden flowers. But every…
There is nothing like wandering around in my garden and seeing the wildlife in the form of insects buzzing around. We all know that gardens need bees for pollination but so many other garden insects will find their way into a garden too. Just provide them with flowers and leaves, and they will seem to…
Keep your Bird Baths Clean to Encourage the Birds in your Garden. I admit it. I am not the best housekeeper in the world. I’d rather spend time in my garden. But even normal gardening chores have piled up on me this summer. My only child made a move across the country and there have…
The tobacco hornworm is a voracious eater that can do a great deal of damage in a flower or vegetable garden. I decided to prune the dead flowers from my Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) the other day. It is attracting butterflies like crazy, but most of the flowers were long dead. I thought pruning it would…
Victoria crowned-pigeon – Goura victoria We had visitors from the UK recently and spent a day at the North Carolina Zoo, in Ashville, NC. The zoo is divided into two parts – North America and African animals. We spent our time at the African animal exhibits since we all wanted to see the large wild…
