By Claire Jones
As a landscape designer, an increasingly frequent request from clients is getting rid of their lawn and replacing with more natural alternatives, like a pollinator friendly meadow. Water hogging and pesticide laden lawns are being replaced nowadays with different varieties of grasses, flowering plants (weeds!), and other perennials. Rewilding is a term that is being …
Continue reading "Meadow 101 – How to Install and Maintain a Beautiful Meadow"
Have you seen a little yellow flower that you think is very cute blooming on your property??? It forms a ground covering mat of glossy green heart shaped leaves punctuated by buttercup like flowers. You might have looked at it and thought it was the first sign of spring! If your answer is yes, get …
Continue reading "Lesser Celandine is Taking Over the World"
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) is an early blooming, perennial bulb in the Lily Family (Liliaceae) native to southeastern Europe. Not a true Hyacinth, the common name comes from the resemblance of the clusters of the small, bell-shaped, cobalt-blue flowers to upside-down clusters of grapes. Grape hyacinth is hardy in zones 3-9. Many people dismiss these common …
Continue reading "Grape Hyacinth – Animal Resistant, Long Lasting, and Beautiful"
Top 10 Deer Strategies Having observed so many people get frustrated and ready to throw in the towel because of deer and rabbits, gave me the impetus to write this article. Taking all the pleasure out of gardening, animals can be a ongoing annoying and expensive problem, but that doesn't mean it is insurmountable. There …
Continue reading "I Give Up…. Deer Are Eating Everything!"
Ok, drumroll here....I think I can say that Hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus) hybrid Lenten Rose, are my favorite perennial plant. A well-kept secret of garden enthusiasts, Hellebores or commonly known as Lenten roses should be more widely known to serious and not so serious gardeners alike; this is a plant that is worth seeking out. …
Continue reading "A Passion for Hellebores"
There are so many flowers that you can use before cold temps subside in the spring (below 35 degrees Fahrenheit at night), that I make up at least a half dozen containers to cheer me up after a long cold winter, here in the mid-Atlantic region. Having hung up my winter coat and wearing a …
Continue reading "Annuals That Can Take the Cold"
Native plants are so important to all our pollinators, but the most important are the early spring ones-plants that flower in late winter into spring- that will keep the pollinators fed when there is a dearth of nectar. I keep honeybees and observe that when I have a warm sunny day over 45 degrees Fahrenheit, …
Continue reading "Top 10 Early Spring Native Plant Choices"
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from Feb 16-19, 2024, which is an unique opportunity to get the family involved in this popular hobby to record bird sightings. This annual Bird Count unites the world in this one endeavor. An event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a …
Continue reading "Backyard Bird Count 2024"
An heirloom cutting garden - a patch of garden used primarily for cutting old fashioned flowers and arranging in vases - sounds kind of elitist. Like a prim and proper English lady who has a team of gardeners, and ventures out to the garden with a floppy straw hat with her 'secateurs' to cut flowers …
Continue reading "Grow Your Own Bouquet With Heirloom Annuals"
Fresh off the MANTS (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) floor in Baltimore, I made lots of fresh contacts and found many exciting plant introductions that I want to use in my future landscaping projects. I am stoked for the 2024 gardening year and the new plants and ideas that are hitting the nursery and garden center …
Continue reading "Mid-Atlantic Nursery Show 2024 for New Plants and Gardening Trends"
This post has been updated to Seed Starting Made Easy. Everybody is into seed starting this spring because of renewed interest in gardening and there are lots of tips and tricks to this great money saving hobby that I have gathered over the years. New gardeners frequently think that you just throw some seeds from …
Continue reading "Seed Starting Made Easy"
After a hectic year of non-stop landscaping work, I have some time on my hands and discovered 'winter sowing'. I started doing it last winter in a small way with Bells of Ireland and was so successful, that I am winter sowing in a big way this January and February to save my precious time …
Continue reading "Simple Seed Starting Using Winter Sowing"
