Carter's Water Garden


Sunday Reflection’s…

Spring is elusive. It tease’s us a bit. My Saucer Magnolias are in full bloom, my big Weeping Willow is leafing out. The ground is very wet, muddy in fact with more rain forecast all week… Then a cold snap is expected that will nip all these early plants and trees back. This time of year it’s always 2 steps forward & then – 2 to 3 steps back… But that is also part of the magic that Spring brings us 😊 Resurrection, renewal, regrowth… ❤️

My Grandma planted this flowering Almond many years ago. When it blooms, like it is doing now, it brings back so many memories of her and my granddad ❤️

It was a cool, muddy morning, but we got the chores done in record time. I fixed coffee ☕️ Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee to be exact (so good!). Had a simple quick breakfast (bagels & eggs 🥚) and then I got a pot of soup going for dinner (homemade potato 🥔)! No football 🏈 to tie me down this afternoon… Who knows what might happen! 😇

“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.”

~ Gertrude S. Wister

Have a great afternoon!

Mark C.



Sunday Reflection’s…

Good Morning! ☀️ What a storm we had last night! ⛈ ⚡️ 💥 Here we are changing seasons… Bye bye Summer, Hello Fall 🍁🍂 We have literally been on a West TN weather seesaw… It was 100 degrees on the last day of summer, So Hot 🥵 Then the next day a 51 degree morning… Then back up close to 90 today, but guess what – down into the 40’s tonight😮

I recently saw a few Wooly Bear’s… Could be looking at a bad Winter ❄️

Oh well, again the old saying holds true, “If you don’t like the weather, just you wait”…

Now it’s on to breakfast and then a little work in the Garden! I Love ❤️ Fall!

“In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.  
And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb color effects as from August to November.”

~ Rose G. Kingsley

Watch this short for the cutest puppy ever 👇🏻

Have a great Sunday!

~ Mark C.



The Zen of Spring Frost

If you are like many Gardeners and live by the ”Last Frost Date” given in the Almanac or in your local paper, you may be very disappointed this morning… I’m getting ready to go out and uncover the hundreds of plants that I have under blankets, sheets and in a big cold frame greenhouse.

Late frost caught many off guard last night.

Why does it ’sneak up’ on us so often?

With me its all about staying in tune with the particular season. Spring here in West TN fluctuates from sweaty 80’s weather to 60 mile an hour winds with frost and snow ❄️ BUT, that relationship you form with the seasons and the changes is where the Zen lies…
But, its tough to wait! As soon as the forsythia and the daffodil 🌼 blooms I’m already setting up my planters and pots 🪴 And, I try to be ready for people coming in to my Nursery early, which means we spend a month or more moving plants in and out of the greenhouse… 😊

All these things we do, hoping to solve the ‘Riddle of Spring’! 😊

Finding balance and Zen within ourselves is found within our own Gardens…

PS: The good news is, I think we are past Frost now for real!

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”

~ Henry Van Dyke


Have a great Tuesday!

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

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Sunday Reflections…

I had to put my jacket on this morning when I walked outside with my 1st cup of coffee 🥶 It was a little chilly… BUT, it’s supposed to get up to 78 degrees this afternoon 🌞 Great news! A little more great news, we have ‘probably’ gotten passed our last frost! Can you say Spring Planting Time!

One of my New Years Resolutions was to grow more Tomato’s 🍅 Game on!💥

I’m heading back inside to make another pot of coffee and fix some breakfast… Then its on!

Creamy grits with a fried egg 🍳 One of my ’go-to’s’…
Its Sunday! Don’t forget the 🥞

My advice is to get out and enjoy this beautiful day! 🌞

“The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You’re one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you’re two months back in the middle of March.”
~ Robert Frost


Have a great Sunday!

Mark C.



Spring has Sprung! NOT SO FAST… Jack Frost Hasn’t Left For The Season Yet! | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN

I’m the worst about planting to early before the “Last Frost Date”… Depending on who’s frost chart you use, our last frost date is somewhere between March 31st. and April 15th.

Frost Advisory TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING!

I normally wait until April 15th before planting my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, melons, etc… But as a Nurseryman, I have to be ready with plants in stock! So we have moved plants back inside – tender growth shrubs, flowers, hanging baskets, flats of sedum, roses, and so much more! AND, I still have to get the rest of our houseplants back inside… UGH!!!

I hate to do it, but it beats all my plants getting frost-burnt or even worse – Dead… Gotta move em back in…

This isn’t a ”Late Frost” by any means… It has just been so warm that this is a Surprise! So I thought I would share the news, just in case you havent heard 🥶

📢 Spring is Here! Cover your Plants! 😊

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”

~ Henry Van Dyke

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

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Monday Morning Moment of Zen | Carters Nursery Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN

Well its official, we have Sprung Forward! Welcome to the foothills of Spring! Heres a little ‘Zen’ glimpse of things to come…

Grasses, ferns, flowers and flowing water… Ahhhh! Monday morning Zen… Spring is almost here!

Enjoy the day!

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

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Sunday Reflections…

We are 2 weeks from the time change. We “Spring forward” Sunday March the 13th at 2am! Then only a week after that BOOM 💥 1st day of Spring! Rain and more rain 🌧 Wind 💨 Ice 🧊 Snow ❄️ – But still, Spring is Coming! This lingering winter weather and slow build up and transition is always what causes my Spring Fever 🌼 🤒 🌼

Spring Fever is real! Heres a quote from a few years back – ”Back when the phrase first appeared in the U.S. in the 1850s, spring fever meant “the listless feeling caused by the first sudden increase of temperature in spring,” according to one dictionary.”

If nothing else, this energy for Spring gets me up and moving! Its Sunday and I’ve already done a full days work! 😊 The week ahead looks promising! I have a LOT of work to catch up on!

Even the Psalmist writes of a yearning in the scriptures – “I yearn for the Lord, more than watchmen do for the morning, yes, more than watchmen do for the morning.” ~ Psalm 130:6

Spring is Coming!

“Is the Spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine”…

~ Frances Hodgson Burnett


Have a great Sunday!

Mark C.



We May ALL Get Frosted on 4/20 💨

Hot, then cold, then windy then SNOW ❄️ Then FROST… WHAT? Yes, you heard me right! Gardeners prepare! Your about to get FROSTED on 4/20!

Break out the sheets and burlap! 4/20 is here and its bringing a CLOUD of COLD weather!

Things we can do –

  •  Bring in potted plants 
  • Cover tender plants with sheets and/or plastic!
  • Cover veggies 🍅 🌶  🌽
  • IF you have an irrigation system, time it to come on before sunrise and run till after. The thermal properties of water are amazing.
  • We can’t change the weather, but we can be prepared! 

We have to move all tender plants back in the cold frames and cover all sorts of things… I even cover my Japanese Maples!  Lots to do, but it’s worth the effort! This has been an eventful weather year, but fret not! We will get past this & see smooth sailing soon 🌞

Even if 4/20 is a holiday for you, you need to be ready! Cold temps, snow and possible frost are in your forecast, starting tonight😳

It always pays to be ready when you live in West Tennessee! Crazy weather… But hey, it’s Springtime in Tennessee! So we got that goin for us!

Have a great day & be ready! You have been warned…

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd. 
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
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Are You Ready For Frost & Freezing Cold Thursday, Friday & Saturday Morning?

This is just a friendly warning to be ready… We have 2 nights of below freezing temperatures coming and 3 mornings of probable frost! Be prepared!

Bring houseplants back inside. Cover tender plants with row covers, sheets or whatever you have available to protect them. Unhook and drain your hoses… It’s a lot of work, but worth it in my opinion.

Many peoples ornamental trees have started to emerge (Japanese Maples) as well as perennials and have even set out peppers and tender annual crops…

Things we can do –

  •  Bring in potted plants 
  • Cover tender plants with sheets and/or plastic!
  • Cover veggies 🍅 🌶  🌽
  • IF you have an irrigation system, time it to come on before sunrise and run till after. Waters thermal properties are amazing.
  • We can’t change the weather, but we can be prepared! 

I even cover my Japanese Maples!  Lots to do, but it’s worth the effort! This has been an eventful weather year, but fret not! We will get past this soon. Don’t you just LOVE Tennessee Weather 😊

Have a great day & be ready! You have been warned…

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd. 
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
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The Koi Whispered A Message Today | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, Tennessee

If you don’t like the weather in Tennessee, just wait a few minutes, it will change… Scary sky’s and 70 degrees in January = Tornado weather in Tennessee!

The Koi were moving around today. All that warm rain turned them on… You have to listen closely to hear 👂🏻 their message…

Spring is Coming!

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com