I'll jump in! I'm Stacy, I live in Davidson County, Middle, Tennessee. We have 2 1/2 acres. Tons of trees...most of them I've never even taken the time to identify. Lots of native trees i.e. dogwood, redbud, tulip poplar, hemlock and cedar. And a few crape myrtles thrown in for a splash of color.

We had an inground pool put in about 4 years ago. It all began when my husband innocently asked... "If you could plant something anywhere in the back yard - where would you plant it?" I said, "By the pool". He said, "What pool?" And the rest is history! :) Sometimes all it takes is a suggestion.

Everything I know about gardening I have learned by trial and error. Before moving here I had a condo and most of my gardening was in full shade. Here, we have a mix of everything, full sun, full shade, and anything in between. I suspect that many things that were planted by the homes previous owners was planted in full sun - but are now shaded by the growth of the trees.

My gardens are far from formal with a great deal of variety. Lots of wild flowers grace our yard and I think they are among my husband's favorites. He wasn't raised with an appreciation for flowers/trees/birds, etc... but has grown to love/admire all of these things almost as much as me. I tell him if he is going to buy me flowers, don't by long stemmed roses... I want something that reminds him of how much he loves me each time he has to mow around it! :) Seriously, he is the love of my life and a great gardening companion!

This year I am trying my hand at composting and we've planted our first Knock Out Roses (Sunny, yellow). This was also the first year for our Wisteria vines to bloom! Breathtaking! I am also designing a garden journal with notes and photos about my flowers. In one way it is just another creative outlet...but it also serves as a great resource for when/how to prune certain clematis or important dates and weather information. I highly recommend this project to everyone!

I look forward to getting to know my fellow gardeners here a gardenweb! Now get out there and play in the dirt! :)

Hey Red Bird, I know how you can really get to know a lot of the other people on here...come to the East Tennessee Plant Swap! You can check out the specifics at the link below. I don't think I've ever heard anyone not absolutely LOVE the great times they had at the swap, not to mention the great plants they get.

I'm not sure what else to say about me except that I have a farm just east of Knoxville that I am gradually turning into an arboretum and botanical garden. Oh, and I help coordinate the East Tennessee Plant Swap. Anything else you want to know...just ask.

Brandon

Here is a link that might be useful: East Tennessee Plant Swap

I saw this roll call and immediately thought it might be a good time to do this anyway to make sure everyone is okay from last Wednesday's tornadoes. Thanks for starting it Red Bird.

I'm in the vicinity of Chattanooga and living on my elderly parent's property so I can care for my mother. They have a little bit of land so I am not constricted by space like some folks. However, since I have a couple of horses I find I have to be more careful of what I plant and where. I guess I am constricted by horses. Oh, well. You just can't have everything in life.

By the way, Red Bud, you share two of my arch enemies - privet and burmuda grass. They are a never ending battle.

Welcome! I wanted to mention that I am also interested in old roses, red bird. I have been working on rooting some cuttings.
I was at the middle TN plant swap last year, but I am not sure if I will be able to go this year. It is a wonderful place to exchange plants and gardening info.

Hello everybody! My name is Rhonda and I live in Lewisburg. I am currently the director for the mid TN plant swap group. I am crazy for color and texture, be it on plants, paper, fabric or any other surface. I am a proud Navy mom and fortunate to have a beutiful family. If you can make it my way I would love to meet you at the Henry Horton state park at one of our plant swaps. I love to get my gab on! If you cant make it to ours, I highly recommend you get to the east or west side swaps and meet some great people.

Redbird and Rootygirl...we gotta talk roses! I got interested in propagating them about 3 years ago and I have lots of knowledge to share. I usually have quite a few roses to share at the fall swap since I propagate them in summer and have leftovers if more than one cutting roots. I do a blog (link below for anyone interested). I love reading other blogs and learning what grows well in Tennessee. My garden is VERY informal with lots of daylilies, roses, irises, peonies, clematis and a hodgepodge of anything else I find interesting. You can tell by my "handle" I am into cottage style gardening, garden junk, antiques, shabby chic. I love to prowl yard sales & curbs and drag home things to decorate the garden with. I conspire with my husband, Glen and malti-poo Pixie to accomplish my gardening tasks. We've been digging up this landscape since 2006 when we built our house. Been busily potting up things for the swap. Can't wait!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

Thanks to all who introduced themselves! Anyone else?

Hello! I'm Angela and I'm in northwest TN. When I moved here, I had no idea we would be here 10 years later, so we bought a home in town. I got tired of not being able to garden, so this year I converted my entire back yard (except about 6 feet of grass around my patio) into garden space - about 1/2 acre. It's been a little struggle, and still is some days, but things are growing!
I have an obsession with day lilies, and most bloomy things. There hasn't been much in my yard because until I had trees cut, it was all full shade. So, I'm slowly building perennials in addition to gardening veggies.
I have 3 children from 8 to 19 years old and 2 small dogs.

Yep, Hello Everyone

I live with my sweetheart Fate in Rogersville. His family has owned this property for 200 some-odd years and have eaten off of it nearly as long so that says a lot for the land and soil I'd say.

But, alas, lol, we've never gardenened before. This is our first year here. We've loved the idea since we started planning this a year ago. He wants an orchard of edible trees planted next year and I want to carry on the art and heritage of saving and trading seeds...got all heirloom seeds to hopefully hit the ground running with this.

This year it's mostly just getting a few vegetables going and canning, lol, also for the first time.

I'm growing for the hummingbirds (Sunset Hyssop) since they already fly past the kitchen window and some things for the butterflies and birds. Caring for the beneficial insects is a big thing since we want to garden organically. So too will be companion planting.

We were told that that's "Fire on the Mountain" over there and that's it's rare so...that's cool. I also want to try and grow some of the endangered native wildflowers eventually.

Did I mention chickens and goats? We'll see how we do with gardening first!

And....there's a plant called a Compass Plant....it draws me...such a special seeming little (not) thing.

I'm already nearly 50 and my back says 80, literally, so I'll be doing my fair share on the computer and such while he weeds (aww shucks)

Nice to meet everyone! I could go on and on. Very excited to be gardening and to have found this forum. I've read alot here already and you are all very garden wise.

We're new to TN and in Polk county (southeast corner). We have about 8 acres with 4 clear. As a travel nurse, I haven't been home much since we moved. I've started the planning for an edible landscape. So you'll probably see questions on fruits, nuts and vegetables for TN. My husband was career Navy and we've always lived on the coast of something. This starts a new land-locked life. So far, I can say we have many nut trees, one with a scuppernog vine that is growing in the tree. I think we have a persimmon, pecan, and black walnut (for sure) with the others being some other kind of nut. This is our dream house (kinda). We're doing renovations on the house. The outside will be a way to bring my dreams to life. I've so many things that I want to try to grow. We were never really anyplace long enough to do much. Sorry I missed the plant swap last weekend. Thanks for the thread

Hi Red Bird. I don't get on her as often as I like, but have been participating by asking questions for several years. We originally lived in a surburb of Memphis and now live in a surburb of Chattanooga on a large hill with a rather small yard and very small garden. But we still love to landscape our yard and try to enjoy as many fresh veggies as we can coax out of the ground. It's nice to read all of these posts from everyone and I hope to be able to read some more.
Karen

Greetings! I'm a complete newbie here, just joined the website today but never one to be shy about plant talk I'm jumping right into the mix. I'm a little north of Memphis between Covington and Mason, Tennessee on 2 acres. We moved here in 2005 and I was extremely pleased that we're not on a flat, bare, lot as a lot of land in this area was flat farm land. I have a few oak trees, one elm, dogwoods, plenty of cedars, a tulip poplar, and some kind of maple but not sure the type. I also have a few sweet gums that are the bane of my existence. I planted a peach tree but am going to lose it due to damage and rot at the base. I've planted grape vines that did poorly in the beginning but seem to be grabbing hold this year. I've been working slowly on getting flowers established but have several that were starts from my own maternal grandmother's yard. I find that quite fitting as she is the one that gave me my love of plants. We've done a lot of trial and error trying to get a vegetable garden growing in poor soil. I tell everyone I grow the best plagues and pestilence in Tipton County. Glad to meet everyone. Lori

Hello. I thought I'd jump in here too. I just joined this site today. I live in Wilson County (Middle Tennessee) and have been gardening for years. All my life, really. Mostly vegetables and herbs but I've always had a few house plants here and there. Since moving to my current house 3 years ago, I haven't done as much vegetable gardening because I have lots and lots of shade in my backyard. I knew what I was getting into, of course. I love trees. I have a few tomato plants out in what little sunny spot I have and I have my herbs in pots all over my very sunny patio. I didn't do it this year but last year I grew peppers in my landscaping at the back of the house. Because I have a great sunroom (that is nice and bright), I have been working on growing things inside. I recently "rescued" a few African violets from a clearance shelf at Lowe's. The poor things looked pitiful and seem to be much happier in their new sunroom home. Anyway, hello from another Tennessean!