A guest post by author Michael Nolan

I am honored to be the very first guest to share the writing stage on BGgarden with my good friend Bren and because of that, I took a great deal of time to think about the topic I wanted to discuss here.  I only hope that you will all find this helpful.

As a “garden authority” I get asked to talk a lot about what to do to make your garden a success.  Recently I started wondering why more people don’t ask me what happens when things aren’t going so well.  Not everyone can have a picture perfect garden like they do in television commercials, but when that is the standard by which we judge ourselves, how do we handle the failure we set ourselves up to be?

If you’ll notice, I didn’t title this article “what happens IF you fail” and there was a good reason for that.  You’re going to fail.  You’re going to fail colossally and you’re going to fail more than once.  Now that you realize that, you have taken the first step toward long term success in the garden and beyond.

Any number of things can cause you to fail in the garden.  Bad seed stock may mean that the seeds don’t germinate, but improper temperature can do that as well.  So can too much – or too little – moisture.  There are a host of reasons for seeds to not germinate, but through the miracle that is nature, more often than not they do.

By pure chance, a peach pit tossed into the yard can sometimes find itself wedged into the dirt just enough to break through the hull and show off a proud green sapling without another bit of intervention on your part.  Many times though, that same peach pit tossed into the same yard will do nothing.  The lesson here is the answer to that big question: The only thing that happens when you fail in the garden is nothing.

Garden failure means no produce.  It means you have to look elsewhere for your fresh tomatoes, beans, cukes and zucchini.  It isn’t the end of the world but if you are a proud and devoted gardener, it may feel like it.  I lost more than two dozen heirloom tomato seedlings this year at no one’s fault but my own and it felt as though my best friend moved away without a forwarding address.

Now that you know what happens WHEN you fail, you need to know the answer to an even more important question:

What happens AFTER you fail?

You learn.  You try again with more knowledge than before.  Perhaps that leads to another failure, perhaps not.  Either way you will have another piece of the puzzle that helps you to ultimately fail less and succeed greater than before.

I think the first thing I tweeted from this location was ‘BRILLIANT’!

Last Friday my husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.   Staying close to home and enjoying some dream time visiting a garden center and a relaxing walk through a wildlife garden in Michigan made it the perfect Friday afternoon.   The perfect date with my partner is taking in a garden walk or checking out whats blooming at a garden center any day!  What I love about my husband most is he is supportive of all the growing I have going on in our gardens and online.   I owe a good portion of my greenhouse growing year-round success to the electrical engineering he has added to that project.   Before our dinner date and afternoon in the amazing Botanical Garden we  made a sporadic visit to this adorable garden center we basically happen to be driving past in Ida, Michigan.

A short drive over the Michigan  /  Ohio state line you will find this family owned and operated garden center.   This is a great location out in the country with plenty of parking and carts to load up with their wide selection and extremely healthy plants.    The prices are truly something to TWEET about!  Flats  of veggies or annuals retail at $8.99,  $12 for a flat of perennials and $3.25 for a 3 1/2 ” container of proven winner 2011 picks!    And be sure to bring the kids because they have an adorable play area to keep them occupied while mom & dad shop!

Parran’s Greenhouse & Farm in Ida, Michigan

Come enjoy a short visit to Parran’s Greenhouse with me via these images I took this past Friday.   In this video I share a many roses from this garden centers beautiful collection.  I have been fascinated with the art of growing and showing  roses after connecting with Chris VanCleave ( @redneckrosarian) who was our guest host on #gardenchat this past Monday.

More information at  the transcript at #gardenchat Transcript

I would love to hear about your favorite garden center so be sure to leave a comment below with a link to your site! Until the next garden center share be sure to check out what local growers are  growing in your neck of the woods .

Capturing the rain in my Flat Tire Pot by Flat Tire Decor

It has been my mission to keep it green and as natural as possible in my home and garden and proud to say I’ve been completely green in my year-round  greenhouse for over a year.   Every  day is a learning experience with information I collect mostly online via Social Networking on Twitter / Facebook.  Like most gardeners active online  I rely on my garden writers who share information about products and how they use them in their home & garden.   It really doesn’t matter to me if the product is from a HUGE company or from a small mom & pop business, as long as the writer is being honest with their shares and actually using the items they are promoting  on their site.

I was honored to get a message from MrBrownThumb asking if I’d be interested in reviewing a recycled product on my BGgarden webpage.

Capturing The Rain : Eco-Friendly Way

I’ve had this decorative bucket by Flat Tire Decor for a few weeks now and I will be honest with you I’m in love with it.  It has had everything from rain, weeds to bunny poop in it while at my place.  It is rugged and yet very stylish not to mention it is made from recycled tires!

Eco-Friendly Is #1 On My Potting Table

Tonight on my potting table as the rain continues to fall in my neck of the woods, you will find this bucket collecting more water to be used in the greenhouse tomorrow morning.    I love what this company is all about so much that I’ve negotiated with Mr. Brown Thumb of Chicago NOW to give one away via #gardenchat.

If you would like to be entered in the drawing that will take place on Wednesday afternoon please comment on this post what you are doing that is ECO-Friendly in your Home & Garden.   Drawing will take place via LIVE FEED on #gardenchat Wednesday afternoon.

These girls are my kind of ladies – they just just wanna have fun!   I love seeing fellow garden friends getting on the hashtag (#) movement and sharing some of the most wonderful things about growing your own garden.  The Seed Keeper Company girls are living out their dreams as they travel across Ohio, Michigan and Indian sharing with their love for making it easy to organizing and grow seeds.

I THINK the happy dance is because my pond is all natural! I’ve been working double time the past week trying to get the landscape/ gardens around the entertaining area of our home ready for a very important visit.  Thrilled when I received  a DM on Twitter from my @seedkeeperco girls asking if they could swing by during their #seedkeeperpalooza tour.   We’ve been so wet in Ohio and I’ve been unable to get out in the garden early May  as much as I would have liked.  One of the major spring chores in our garden is to clean the kidney shaped 1/4 acre natural pond.  I always feel self conscious about the pond after living in town for so many years.  This time of year the water is slowly warming up after a long winter freeze and it is just getting to be the time to rake the pond from all the leaves that had fallen the weeks before the pond froze.   I will have to share with you all in detail all the interesting things you can do to keep your pond healthy the natural way after learning ourselves by trial and error the past 7 years.   Carol and Kerrie shared with me that they were ‘camping’ kind of girls and the pond reminded them of camping trips at the Lake.   The cool water on their heavy #seedkeeperco boots was totally refreshing on their feet!

OFF WE GO … on a garden cart ( AKA golf cart ) tour of my spring gardens.

These two make a great team – Carol drives while Kerrie tweets out the adventure.

While in the wooded area of our property we were reminded of the beautiful things in a natural garden and the way nature works.  This was one of the first trips with the cart back to the wooded trails for the year because it has been so wet in my ‘neck of the woods’. This property is part of what use to known as the Black Swamp Region of Northwest Ohio.   Many large split Ash trees are down this spring on the trail as their devastation from the Ash Borer bug start to become more evident.  It looks like we are going to have a few extra weeks in the woods cleaning up from natures mess as they Ash trees are now splitting half way down the tree .  Each spring we spend many hours back in the woods on our property cleaning up trash that has washed down the river that runs through this area of our yard.  The trails are mowed once a year so the cart can be driven back to little campsite /fishing spots. Carol found a great stick to help find our way!  ( photo on the left)

NO… that isn’t where Santa Claus is hiding for the summer.  Carol found my sons tree fort tucked back in the woods.

What a great spot to be a kid again!

On the Road Again….

And they are off after a fun afternoon of hanging with me in the BGgarden. (image above) I can’t wait to see what garden centers they will visit during this trip.  Be sure to follow Carol and Kerrie on their website at SeedkeeperCo.com

I love taking photos and sharing them on Twitter!  The collage above shows some of the images I shared while the #seedkeeperpalooza were visiting my garden here in Ohio.  Friends from across the country were able to communicate with us via those images during the visit.   Our friends on the west coast like @4bratz2luv @greensoil and @RedneckRosarian from Texas shared thoughts via tweets live stream!  Curious to how the HASHTAG works on Twitter and how you can communicate with 1,ooo’s of gardeners online?  Check out #gardenchat each week to see the #hashtag in action!  You can also contact me and I will try and answer any questions you may have.

CHECK OUT WHAT SEEDKEEPER COMPANY CAN do for you in the garden

I first started using the Seed Keeper kit back in Spring 2010.  It was part of my adventures to learn how to grow everything in my veggie garden from seed.  In the past year it has been wonderful watching my seeds grow easier and healthier by using this kit.  It not only keeps my seed collection organized it is a great tool to learn more about how to make my garden better.   I strongly recommend this kit to ANYONE who wants to dabble in the world of seeds.  Thank you Carol & Kerrie for providing such a wonderful tool for today’s gardener!

My First Potato / July 2010

Last year was the first year to experiment with growing  a garden in raised bed structures.  One of the hot topics on #gardenchat / Twitter was planting potatoes.  With a little help from my friends online I was educated about how easy it was to grow all types of potatoes.   After a successful season of growing my own Irish and Idaho spuds I must say it was super easy and as exciting as a surprise party!  When I googled for information about planting potatoes I didn’t find one mention of how rustic and rich with flavor those spuds would be. The flavor in some of my family recipes were just amazing and I can’t wait to try more dishes and ways of preserving potatoes this year.

My girlfriend Rhonda stopped over the other day while I was attempting to plant potatoes again this year.   I had some questions about planting the entire potato rather then cutting them in pieces and if I could reuse the potatoes that were  coming up from last years harvest.   It was a split vote when I asked on the social networks if I should leave those old potatoes in the raised bed to grow this year so I took all I could find out and planted them in a corner of the raised bed.      Rhonda shared some tips with me on what her Father had taught her about growing potatoes and you can read that information by clicking on the image above.

More information about my soil by clicking on the image collage above

An important tip is to be sure that you plant your potatoes eye UP and use loose soil in your container or structure you are planting the spuds in.   Last year we had a blast harvesting these potatoes finding more potatoes then I ever imagined could come from one location!

The greenhouse and landscape project is coming together quit nicely this spring.  It is on our to-do list to get the left side of the landscape filled with another split rail fence featuring a trellis.    I hope to have that in by early June.   My hubby and I celebrate our 18th Wedding Anniversary this next weekend maybe I can some how tie that into our special day?!

Last Night on #gardenchat we welcomed Katie and Justin from Better Homes & Garden.  I got to meet Justin in person this past March on my trip to Costa Farms for the Social Summit in Miami.  I had a blast talking with him about his garden projects, the greenhouse / garden center he owns and operates in Iowa and all the fun things going on at Better Homes  & Garden.    IF you missed last night #gardenchat which was all about the latest plants for 2011, the transcript is located at#gardenchat transcript web page.   Sometime today Better Homes & Garden will be announcing a winner from last nights #gardenchat.  I can’t wait to see who will win the fabulous book collection  featuring : Garden Doctor: Advice from the Experts,Yard & Garden Projects, Better Homes and Gardens New Garden Book,  Gardening Made Easy,Yard & Garden Owner’s Manual I will share more when the winner is announced.

WOULD LOVE TO HEAR from you if you clicked over to this link : share a comment or suggestion below!

I first fell in love with the Bradford Pear tree when we lived inour first home located in Perrysburg, Ohio.The in town charm of Perryburg is something I discribe often as a ‘Norman Rockwell’ painting.  You will find American Flags and flower baskets on almost every front porch in the old village part of town.   The Bradford Pear is a delightful early spring bloomer that line many streets in  the Midwest despite their repetition for splitting easy as they grow older.

When we moved to the country 8 years ago one of the first trees added to my landscape was this favorite of mine.    Today this beautiful ornamental tree can be found throughout our landscaped area of our property.  I’m hoping the woods surrounding this area  will help protect this admired tree so they never hold to that repetition of splitting.

I highly recommend the beautiful Bradford pear tree not only because they provide beautiful color in the Autumn but because they have the most grand welcome to early spring!  YOUR THOUGHTS?