By Claire Jones
 5 Bizarre Plant Favorites You know the saying "a face only a mother would love"? Keep that in mind when you gaze on some of these unusual and sometimes scary plants. As a confirmed 'plant geek', I love to discover the more interesting plant varieties out there, kind of like A Little Shop of Horrors! Here …
Continue reading "Plant Geek Alert"
PowWow Wild Berry Echinacea Yes, That is exactly what I said when I heard about "PowWow Wild Berry" Echinacea a couple of years ago! I have tried dozens of Echinaceas that the garden hybridizers have churned out in the last couple of years and was not impressed. They flopped, fizzled, or just faded away, never to be seen …
Continue reading "Not Another Echinacea!!!"
Proven Winners' Goji Berries- The Next Super Food I checked out the Proven Winners' introductions at Spring Meadow Nursery at the latest MANTS show, to see what is the latest and greatest in shrubbery! Goji Berries are the new berry bush that is being promoted as a healthy and tasty berry addition to the landscape. I …
Continue reading "MANTS Show – Part 2"
Everything New (and Old!) in the Gardening World Every year right after New Year's parties have wound down and the confetti is a recent memory, I make my annual pilgrimage to the MANTS Show (Mid-Atlantic Nurseryman's Show) at the Baltimore Convention Center. I look forward with anticipation to see old friends, new ideas or old re-packaged ones, …
Continue reading "MANTS Show – The Mid-Atlantic Nurseryman’s Show- Part 1"
I love handmade soap, preferring it to the commercially overly scented variety, picking it up at local craft fairs and boutique stores.  The cost was adding up, plunking down $5 or $6 for a small bar, and I looked into making it at home. I have always hesitated to make soap due to the use of caustic lye …
If you need some last-minute pizzazz for your outside entrance to greet visitors, create a live green arrangement with evergreens and twigs cut from your property. Once I empty my large pots and window boxes at the end of November, I can dress them up again with greenery which will last most of the winter. I keep the …
Continue reading "Stand Out From the Crowd – Fresh Green Entrance Accents"
Now that the White House has been decorated for Christmas for 2012, I thought that I would repost my experiences decorating there in 2011. I looked at the pictures for this year and one caught my eye, the 'Rainbow Tree'! I thought that this interpretation of a Christmas tree was outstanding. Here is my experience …
Continue reading "Decorating the White House for Christmas-Part 1"
Make your own honey body butter in the kitchen with readily available ingredients and tools for a fraction of the cost of commercially bought cream.
I opened my hive the other day to check on things -removing my last super, and to button everything up for the winter. When I took off the inner cover, I noticed some small black beetles scurrying around on the top bars of the hive and my heart sank. I knew right away that these were …
Continue reading "The Dreaded ‘Hive Beetle’ Attacks"
Cranberries and honey- two great things for your health!
It doesn't seem possible to be able to use the words 'chainsaw' and 'art' in the same sentence. The chainsaw is such a workmanlike and crude tool that it is always surprising to me what beautiful carvings can be made within a couple of hours with the right kind of wood and a noisy, sawdust spitting, dangerous …
Continue reading "A Cut Above – Creating Sculptures from Wood"
Color in the Fall Golden Rod A succession of color and flowers is easy to produce in the spring and early summer, but once September hits, the show of blooms peeters out and it gets harder and harder for the garden to be colorful. That is why I am sure to plant some stellar standouts, that …
Continue reading "Fabulous Fall Performers- The Best of the Best"
