By Claire Jones
Decorating the historic Manor House at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland has been a cherished tradition for more than forty years, with local designers and Garden Clubs transforming its rooms into festive holiday splendor. This December, I was honored to be invited to decorate one of the rooms and selected the elegant Dining Room—a …
Continue reading "Christmas Meadow: Bringing Ladew’s Gardens Indoors"
Repurposing a fresh-cut Christmas tree into a winter wildlife buffet is the ultimate form of recycling. Instead of hauling your tree to the curb, set it up outdoors as a bird feeding station and enjoy weeks of entertainment. I placed mine beside my existing feeder last year and spent hours watching birds feeding, chirping—and the …
Continue reading "Turn Your Christmas Tree into a Bird Buffet"
As the gardening season winds down and the first hard frosts darken the dahlia foliage, the real work begins. Dahlias won’t survive a mid-Atlantic winter in the ground, but with just a bit of care they can be saved, multiplied, and brought back into bloom next summer even stronger than before. I always think of …
Continue reading "Digging and Storing Dahlias — A Fall Ritual Worth Doing Well"
There’s nothing quite like lilies for drama in the summer garden. Towering stems topped with exotic blooms perfume the air and stop visitors in their tracks. This spring, I was lucky enough to receive a gorgeous selection of Oriental and Species lily bulbs from Longfield Gardens — and I couldn’t wait to get them into …
Continue reading "Lilies for Summer Splendor"
Floating above the border on long, willowy stems, Japanese Anemones (Anemone hupehensis) are stalwart perennials that bring elegance and longevity to the garden. Unlike many perennials that fade after only a few seasons, Japanese Anemones are dependable performers—I’ve had clumps blooming faithfully for over 30 years. Reliable and deer resistant (not deer proof!), they spread …
Continue reading "Windflowers in Fall: The Enduring Beauty of Japanese Anemones"
Few plants spark as much debate as the butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). Garden centers sell it for its showy blooms and its promise to draw in butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. On the surface, it feels like the ultimate win-win: beauty for us, deer proof, and nectar for pollinators. But dig a little deeper, and the …
Continue reading "Should You Plant a Butterfly Bush? The Benefits and the Drawbacks"
It happens every summer - honey extraction. After babying the bees, feeding, monitoring, re-queening, splitting, and just plain worrying about them, now is the moment of truth. How much honey did they deposit in the combs for me to rob from them? I won't leave you in suspense - I extracted 120-130 pounds from two …
Continue reading "Spinning Honey – Honey Extraction Start to Finish"
Introduced in 1919 in packing material from China and starting in Tennessee, Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, has rapidly spread across the eastern United States and as far west as Texas, and become a menace to native plants. Spreading from seeds that can remain viable for 5- 7 years, stiltgrass can appear in lawns, ground covers, …
Continue reading "Japanese Stiltgrass Strategies"
Once in a while, a new plant comes along that I fall in love with—for its ease of growing, beauty, and all-around usefulness. This time, it's the annual Monarch Magic Ageratum. Commonly known as Floss Flower, it gets its name from the fine, thread-like texture of its tiny, fluffy petals, which resemble embroidery floss. The …
Continue reading "Ageratum Monarch Magic – Butterfly Magnet"
Gardening here in the mid-Atlantic the past couple of summers has been more challenging than previous years because of our increased and prolonged heat 'domes' where we have hit the triple digits for multiple days in a row. Excessive heat can affect all the plants in your garden adversely and can negatively impact growth, development, …
Continue reading "Strategies for Gardening in Extreme Heat"
Gardeners with perennial flower gardens might already have a go-to method for readying their beds for fall and winter, but there are new ecological friendly ways to clean up your plot that are more in tune with nature. Chop and Drop is exactly what it sounds like. You chop (or cut) dead plant material, then …
Continue reading "Save Time and Money with Chop and Drop"
Bird House Gourds, Lagenaria siceraria, a type of tropical squash native to northern Africa, have been on my radar for a few years and finally I decided to bite the bullet and grow them last season. Using my large cattle fence arbor, which usually supports cucs, cherry tomatoes, and beans, I knew I would have …
Continue reading "Seed to House – Growing Bird House Gourds"
In the Mid-Atlantic region where I live, we have had quite a bit of rain and the resulting emergence of weeds overnight has been overwhelming. I see the weeds pop up in open mulched areas as well as close to the base of established plants (hard to get to) and between pavers. Weeding can be …
Continue reading "Tackling Weeds and Saving Your Back"
After just returning home from a trip to England that included the world's greatest floral experience - Chelsea - I wanted to pass on my favorites and highlights. Many consider attending to be an experience of a lifetime, and I totally agree, and even though I have been there four times, it never gets old. …
Continue reading "Experiencing the Chelsea Flower Show"
For a hearty vegetable casserole that makes awesome leftovers, try this Primavera Casserole. I am getting lots of fresh spinach, asparagus, and herbs from the garden this spring and was looking for a way to combine them. Primavera simply means spring time and I use a lot of spring ready vegetables. The vegetables are interchangeable …
Continue reading "Hearty Primavera Casserole"
The Chelsea Chop is not a knife technique, ax throw, or dance move. A gardener term, the Chelsea Chop is a pruning technique used on herbaceous perennials where you trim back the actively growing plant growth by 1/3 to 1/2 of its height, typically done in late spring, when the Chelsea Flower show is held. …
Continue reading "Chelsea Chop: How and When to Use It"
Using several types of raised beds over my gardening career- all wood- I was excited to discover and start using the new modular metal ones available at Vego Garden. Wooden raised beds work fine for a while, but will ultimately deteriorate over time. So, I was interested in trying something more lasting with these food-safe …
Continue reading "Gardening with Vego Garden Raised Beds – Transforming Your Backyard Oasis"
With over 1000 varieties, Salvia is a huge genus in the mint family, and comes in a dizzying variety of colors, sizes, and hardiness. Annual, perennial, temp perennial, or small shrubs, most of the varieties have stunning and colorful flowers paired with fragrant foliage. Tolerating a wide variety of soils and conditions, Salvias need minimal …
Continue reading "In Celebration of Salvias – King of Deer Proof Plants"
Spring renewal is in the air and I love using my foraged curly willow in floral arrangements and structures for the garden. The unseasonable cold has kept my stock of curly willow supple and ready to turn into projects. The first tiny leaves have appeared but are easy to pull off. Most of my curly …
Continue reading "Curly Willow Easter Nest Centerpiece"
Honeywort has been on my radar for years as a bee flower power-house. I have grown it for about 10 years and people who see it in my garden are intrigued as they have never seen it before. I have only ever seen it grown in the UK, but it is quite easy to …
Continue reading "Honeywort is the Star of the Pollinator Garden"
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. Common Bulbs Many people dismiss …
Continue reading "Growing the Blues with Grape Hyacinths"
Do you want to mow your lawn less, plus provide nectar sources for pollinators and reduce your environmental imprint? Then, change your lawn to a 'flawn'! Reducing or Eliminating Your Lawn Turf grass lawns are an American tradition. Everyone who has any kind of yard or property aspires to having a perfect green manicured carpet. …
Continue reading "Converting a Lawn to Flawn- A Flowering Lawn"
Who says you have to wait and plant your containers in May after a final frost? I have plants in my containers all year long and start my season in early to mid March after pulling out Christmas greens, using a long list of early spring flowers (see below) that can tolerate and flourish in …
Continue reading "Continuous Containers With Cool Season Flowers"
Ok, drumroll here....I think I can say that Hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus) hybrid Lenten Rose, are my favorite perennial plant. A plant that is becoming known by non-gardeners as well as garden enthusiasts, Hellebores or commonly known as Lenten roses, is a plant that is worth seeking out. What other plant resists deer, neglect, likes shade-even …
Continue reading "Hello to Hellebores!"
Sunny yellow blooms fringed with a fringed ruff poking through snow is my first sign that spring has sprung. Eranthis hyamalis, or Winter Aconite, in the buttercup family, is a spring ephemeral, which means that it is a short-lived plant above ground with a burst of blooms, then disappears, remaining under ground until next winter. …
Continue reading "First Bulb of Spring – Winter Aconites"
The Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from Feb 14-17, 2025, which is an unique opportunity to get the family involved in this popular hobby to record bird sightings. This international annual Bird Count unites the world in connecting to birds and has expanded every year involving more and more people across the globe. …
Continue reading "Great Backyard Bird Count 2025"
Who wouldn't want to grow a flower that smells like chocolate cake? Chocolate Cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus, has velvety, burgundy-maroon flowers so named because of their sweet, cocoa-like fragrance. The fragrance is due to vanillin, an organic compound also found in cocoa and is most noticeable on warm and sunny days. The flowers are similar to …
Continue reading "Chocolate Cosmos Growing Guide"
ReWilding is a big buzz word in the horticultural world right now. But what does it mean for you and your garden? According to the Oxford Dictionary, ReWilding is to restore an area of land to its natural uncultivated state, used especially with reference to the reintroduction of species of wild animal that have been driven …
Continue reading "Top 10 Ways to ReWild Your Garden"
Neonics, or neonicotinoids, the nation's most widely used insecticides, have been around since 1994, and the evidence on human health risks, especially infants continue to mount. Chronic neonic exposure may be linked to autism spectrum disorder and other adverse developmental and neurological outcomes, according to the American Bird Conservancy and the NIH. According to Cornell …
Continue reading "Updated: Pesticide Free Nurseries and Seed Suppliers"
Originally posted in 2019, this article on seed starting has been viewed over 2 million times in 5 years! Updated and refreshed since then, seed starting is always uppermost in everyone's mind starting in January as we start planning our gardens for the upcoming season. Why Seed Start? Varieties of seeds greatly exceed transplant …
Continue reading "Seed Starting Made Easy"
Fresh off the MANTS (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) floor in snow-covered 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 2025 gardening year and the new plants and ideas that are hitting the nursery and garden …
Continue reading "Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show – 2025"
I had the opportunity to visit the legendary gardens, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in the Spring of 2023, located near St. Austell, Cornwall. One of Europe's largest garden restoration projects, and on the bucket list for any adventurous gardener, Heligan (means willow tree) is one of the most fascinating estates in England. Also named …
Continue reading "The Lost Gardens of Heligan"
After the final hard frost of the season, sometime in mid-November here in USDA zone 7 Maryland, I am starved for winter color. Much of my winter interest is present with pealing bark, stem colors, and berries, but I am especially interested in flowers that bloom in the coldest of weather. Flowers in December, January, …
Continue reading "Favorite Top 10 Blooms for the Winter Garden"
Christmas wreaths are one of my favorite decorations because there are endless variations that you can use to make them unique. I have tons of dried flowers that I have harvested from my meadows and like to use them to decorate for Christmas as a reminder of my overflowing flower beds of summer. Bringing them …
Continue reading "10 Unique Christmas Wreaths"
About the only time I have people sit down for a full dinner at a dining table at my house is Christmas and I need a knock-out centerpiece. It must have a low silhouette so people can converse across it and also have a small footprint so it doesn't take up a lot of room. …
Continue reading "Elegant and Easy Christmas Centerpiece Ideas"
Decorating with succulents at Christmas makes the perfect topiary tree centerpiece needing much less care than a floral arrangement and looks good for months. I started my tree last February so the succulents would have plenty of time to grow in, but you can create a stunning tree by using rosettes of succulents from full …
Continue reading "A Succulent Christmas Tree Centerpiece"
Decorating the historic Manor House at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland, in festive holiday splendor has been going on for 42 years by local designers and Garden Clubs. I was honored to be asked to decorate a room this December and chose the Butler's Pantry, adjacent to the kitchen, where normally food would be …
Continue reading "Decorating for Christmas at Ladew Topiary Gardens"
An easy centerpiece to whip up for your fall themed table, using a fake or live pumpkins, these come together quickly with only a few ingredients. Integrating dried flowers, pods, and juicy succulents, your centerpiece will last for weeks, if not months. And don't be afraid to use a good quality fake pumpkin. Some of …
Continue reading "How to Make Succulent Pumpkin Creations for Fall"
Late summer is Basil time around my house. After growing all summer in my veggie garden, it is full and bushy, even though I am harvesting it regularly. Heat and sun loving, this summer has been both, and the Basil this year is loving it! The hydroponic stuff you buy in the grocery store doesn't compare …
Continue reading "For the Love of Basil"
Maryland is tomato central right now. The ripe orbs are rolling in and I am inundated with a river of them from only 14 plants. Started in early March in my greenhouse, the spring was so warm that I planted them in the ground the third week of April. Our traditional last frost free …
Continue reading "Bonanza Tomato Bumper Crop: What To Do With All Those Tomatoes!"
"Foraging" is a big trend in gardening circles these days. To forage means "to search widely for food or provisions", according to the Oxford dictionary. I would also add: "to harvest from your garden for flowers and foliage to enjoy nature's beauty". Think of a forage garden as a beautiful marriage of your garden and …
Continue reading "Embracing Weeds : Found Floral Design and Edibles"
I have two Garden travel adventures coming up in 2025 - One to Spain and Portugal and another to the Cotswolds and Wales to experience the Chelsea Flower Show. I hope you can join me on one of these! For full itineraries, go to Trips. Spain and Portugal Cotswolds, Wales, and the Chelsea Flower Show
Many concerned gardeners want to transition their home garden dominated by non-natives to a more pollinator friendly native garden once they realize the benefits to the environment. Native gardens increase biodiversity, connect to natural ecosystems, and provide habitat for native wildlife. The goal for planting natives in your garden is to contain at least 70% …
Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic, and Aromatic Ah....The fragrance of lavender! Evoking many memories, like wandering through blooming fields of lavender on a hot summer day buzzing with bees. This is one herb that if I were on a desert island, I would want to grow! Growing lavender in my garden every year is essential and I …
Continue reading "Lavender – The Queen of Herbs"
Recently, I had the opportunity to test drive a battery-powered weed whacker and blower on my property. Having used a battery-powered blower in the past that was cordless, I was very skeptical about using this one because my experience was not good. Underpowered and short lasting, I always was frustrated and went back to using …
Continue reading "Eco-Friendly Equipment for a Eco-Friendly Garden – ENHULK Cordless Tools"
Keeping honey bee hives means you will likely encounter swarms, honeybees that split off from a mother colony. A natural reproduction process, swarming can happen to any beekeeper, so you should be prepared when it occurs. It is a sight to behold when the swarm is in full flight. The season of swarms is typically …
Continue reading "Honeybee Swarm Bonanza"
Lilies are my favorite flower. They last a long time in the garden, are usually fragrant, make great cut flowers, and pollinators flock to them. Oh, and they are so easy to grow! All these attributes make lilies my go-to flower to plant every year to increase my varieties. But some lilies just increase …
Continue reading "Stunning Black Beauty Lily"
In my garden travels around the world, I am always looking for new and different plants. After a recent visit to Sissinghurst, I observed a plant that I really wanted to try at home, having never seen it before. Beautiful in flower, the foliage is quite attractive too. Cerinthe major atropurpurea , featured at …
Continue reading "How to Plant and Grow Honeywort, a Pollinator Favorite"
Native vines are a totally underused plant in Mid-Atlantic gardens. Filling gaps, covering walls and fences, and a great vertical element in any garden, vines can be used to attract native butterflies and insects to your garden. Vines are useful if you don't have a ton of vertical room and usually grow quickly and form …
Continue reading "Growing Vertical with the Top Five Native Vines for Pollinators"
As earth stewards of our amazing planet, we can appreciate the potential importance of all species to the continued existence of a complex ecosystem. But there are some that stand out and do the heavy lifting. Specific integral species are more important than others to the sustainability of an ecosystem and are called ‘Keystone Species’ …
Continue reading "The Benefits of Planting Native Keystone Plants"
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"
It's that time of year when all of our fresh garden flowers are gone and we turn to those that we dried or preserved for the long winter season. For my post on the rebirth of dried flowers which were very popular in the 70's and 80's, go to Dried Flowers Back From the Dead. …
Continue reading "Dried Flower Christmas"
Going to Longwood Gardens in the Brandywine Valley at Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has been a long-standing tradition with my family for many years. Each year that I visit, I am wowed by the different decorating themes and this year is no exception with "A Very Retro Christmas". Reminisce and imagine Christmas of years past with …
Continue reading "A Very Retro Christmas at Longwood Gardens"
About the only time I have people sit down for a full dinner at a dining table at my house is Christmas and I need a knock-out centerpiece. It must have a low silhouette so people can converse across it and also have a small footprint so it doesn't take up a lot of …
Continue reading "Holiday Centerpiece Made Easy"
An easy centerpiece to whip up for your fall themed table, using a handsome pumpkin, can be done in half an hour. Integrating dried flowers, pods, and juicy succulents, your centerpiece will last for weeks. Drying flowers all summer long from my garden gave me ample stock to pick from, and I had a bumper …
Continue reading "Pumpkin Succulent Centerpiece Made Easy"
Tasting like a blend of bananas and mango, Pawpaws have a tropical taste, totally unexpected where it is indigenous - the Mid-Atlantic, the South, and the Mid-West of the United States. Growing in a temperate deciduous forest, this native tropical-like fruit is unique to the US and is the largest edible fruit native to …
Continue reading "PawPaws: America’s Best Kept Secret"
Celebrate the fall season by these top 10 ways of pumpkin decorating. From mini chalk-painted pumpkins to gorgeous hand-painted marble creations, step up your style this year with these no-carve painted pumpkin ideas. These creative painted pumpkins think outside the box with modern metallics, fresh florals, and gold studs. Get inspired to take your pumpkin …
Continue reading "Pumpkin Decorating 10 Ways"
Sweet Annie, Artemisia annua, is an herb I remember from the seventies and eighties. Intensely fragrant smelling green herb wreaths were made up in the fall from the cut branches and I would see them everywhere for sale at craft fairs and outdoor festivals. I kind of forgot about Sweet Annie for a long time …
Continue reading "Sweet Annie – Versatile Aromatic Everlasting"
Spring perennial bloomers are easy. There are so many great spring performers that you always have something blooming all spring long with little effort. Fall can be a little trickier to have a constant parade of colorful bloomers, and I always am looking for new candidates and old favorites. Mums and asters are the usual …
Continue reading "Top 10 Seasonal Stars of the Fall Garden"
Native container gardens are much easier to put together than full sized gardens. If you are new to gardening or have limited space, natives in pots are a gateway to sustainable gardening on a larger scale. Placed alone or in groups, containers are versatile little packages that can be moved around at will and easy …
Continue reading "Native All Star Containers"
Liking to cook, garden and design, when I noticed these beautiful focaccia breads all over the internet, I had to make some. It makes sense to decorate focaccias, as they are a blank canvas waiting to be adorned with art- edible art! Focaccias have always been my favorite easy-to-make bread in my bread machine and …
Continue reading "Garden Art Focaccia Bread"
With just over 1000 varieties, Salvia is a huge genus in the mint family, and comes in a dizzying variety of colors, sizes, and hardiness. Annual, perennial, biennial, or shrubs, most of the varieties have stunning and colorful flowers and fragrant foliage. Tolerating a wide variety of soils and conditions, Salvias need minimal water to …
Continue reading "Favorite Salvias of a Garden Designer"
Accolades from people in the know – mostly horticulturalists and native plant people – extolling the perennial Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica, are everywhere online and in print. Flying under the radar for many people, Indian Pink is coming into its own - finally. A long-lived perennial that brings stunning colors to the summer garden, hummingbirds …
Continue reading "Indian Pink- A Native Hummingbird Delight"
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 "Buttercup Bully – Beware!"
Hardy annual flowers have become known as “cool flowers” in the flower farming industry, where these types of plants will withstand cold and actually prefer cooler temperatures. In fact, when warmer weather begins in the early summer, these annuals will fizzle out from the heat. I have plants in my containers all year long and …
Continue reading "Welcome Spring With These Cool Season Flowers"
Road Trip!! Do you want a plant buying road trip to a run-of-the-mill big box store with the same old, same old? Or do you want personal attention in picking out that perfect plant? Do you have shady areas in your garden that need TLC and want the ideal plant for that perfect spot? Look …
Continue reading "Happy Hollow Nursery – Shade Plant Nirvana"
Gardeners and Hellebores Ok, drumroll here....I think I can say that Hellebores are my favorite perennial plant. A well-kept secret of garden enthusiasts, Hellebores should be more widely known to serious and not so serious gardeners alike; this is a plant that is worth seeking out. What other plant resists deer, neglect, likes shade-even deep shade, is …
Continue reading "Hellebores: Curing the Late Winter Blues"
There is no such thing as a 100% deer resistant plant, since deer change their dietary habits constantly according to changes in the weather and conditions. It all depends on what is available at that moment in time and from late summer to spring, deer will eat most anything. Set up your garden for success …
Continue reading "Tips for Living in Harmony With Deer"
Native container gardens are much easier to put together than full sized gardens. If you are new to gardening or have limited space, natives in pots are a gateway to sustainable gardening on a larger scale. Placed alone or in groups, containers are versatile little packages that can be moved around at will and easy …
Continue reading "Native Plants in Containers"
As a landscape designer, I am presented with lots of problems - planting on hillsides, dry shade under trees, screen and hedge choices, ground covers, deer browsed areas, replacing old landscaping with natives, and lawn makeovers - and I thought a post about what I have done will help you make better choices. More and …
Continue reading "Native Plants as Problem Solvers"
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 2023 gardening year and the new plants and ideas that are hitting the nursery and garden center …
Continue reading "New Plants and Garden Trends at Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show"
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 "Secrets of Great Seed Starting"
Everyone is decking the halls, by cutting boughs of greens from their property and using them for decorating. Foraging is the trendy way of describing the time honored tradition of using what you already have. I even have picked up piled up tree trimmings at my local store that is selling fresh Christmas trees. When …
Continue reading "Foraged Seasonal Christmas Arrangements"
Crossing out several names on my Christmas list this year, I was left with a bird lover/watcher who I knew would appreciate homemade bird treat ornaments. Feeding hungry songbirds in winter is a great way for people to interact with nature and help birds get through the tough months of winter. Studies show that bird …
Continue reading "Homemade Gifts for Bird Lovers"
McLean Nursery is gearing up for a big Christmas holly decorating season! Hundreds of fluffy festive bows are hanging from the workshop ceiling and the 'elves' are busily making the many wreaths and boxwood trees that are destined to deck the halls of some lucky customers. And those customers come back year after year as …
Continue reading "Handcrafted Fresh To Your Home at McLean Nursery"
Christmas porch pots are the easiest method to decorate your outside entrance or deck inexpensively and quickly. If you need some pizzazz to greet visitors, create a live green arrangement with evergreens and twigs cut from your property. Jazz it up with something sparkly and you can leave it in place for weeks without any …
Continue reading "Top 10 Tips for Creating Outdoor Christmas Arrangements"
Thanksgiving dinners require a WOW centerpiece to go with the cornucopia of food. I recently attended a floral design class with Jane Godshalk at Longwood Gardens and created a centerpiece that was a fitting accent at the table. Low enough to talk over and interesting and creative enough to grace any dining room table, I learned …
Continue reading "Thanksgiving Centerpiece of Gourds and Pumpkins"
Having decorated for Christmas at the White House for several years, my fondest memories of the time spent there is the official unveiling of the intricately detailed candy-adorned gingerbread house. Gingerbread Construction & Placement The annual tradition occurs around the last day that we are feverishly decorating, when the enormous and very heavy piece of …
Continue reading "Gingerbread at the White House"
An easy centerpiece to whip up for your fall themed table, using a handsome pumpkin, can be done in half an hour. Integrating dried flowers, pods, and juicy succulents, your centerpiece will last for weeks. Drying flowers all summer long from my garden gave me ample stock to pick from, and I had a bumper …
Continue reading "How to Make a Succulent Pumpkin for Fall"
September means ordering bulbs and getting ready to plant in October and November. I plant bulbs in my garden every year to increase my varieties and numbers as I like to bring fresh cuts in to enjoy. The average vase life for tulips is a good 10 days! But many people ask what varieties I …
Continue reading "Bulb 101-Tips for Growing and Deer Strategies"
In the landscape business for over 25 years, I have seen it all. I have worked for large landscape businesses and now run my own landscape design/build service. Meeting with many clients over the years, working on large estates to small courtyard jobs, I feel that I have observed every mistake in the book before …
Continue reading "Crimes Against Horticulture – Landscaping Mistakes to Avoid"
When you have oodles of tomatoes coming in every day, I had to do something with them besides sauce. There is only so much sauce I can use throughout the year. So, I tried 2 recipes, one for heirloom tomatoes, mostly red, and the other for yellow grape tomatoes which had a banner year in …
Continue reading "Sweet and Savory Easy Jam Recipes"
Liking to cook, garden and design, when I noticed these beautiful focaccia breads all over the internet, I had to make some. It makes sense to decorate focaccias, as they are a blank canvas waiting to be adorned with art- edible art! Focaccias have always been my favorite easy-to-make bread in my bread machine and …
Continue reading "Bread Art with Botanicals"
Elderflowers are reaching a new level of popularity because they are easy to grow and use in recipes, and have many health benefits. The sweet umbels of creamy colored flowers that can reach 12" across are so fragrant and have a unique smell - kind of like floral, creamy, and summery all in one …
Continue reading "Elderflower/Elderberry Ultimate Guide"
Edible flowers are frequently for sale at farmer's markets but most people are hesitant to take the plunge and actually eat them. Garnishes - yes, but actually eating flowers??? For most people that is a different story. But flowers can add a lot to the flavor as well as appeal of a dish. Go to …
Continue reading "The Edible Flower Garden – Petal to Plate"
Gardener's Dictionary Hypertufa (n.): An artificial and lightweight stone that gardeners can create from a recipe and mold into plant containers, troughs and any other shape. If you mention hypertufa to a non-gardener, you would probably get a blank look. But in the gardening world, it is very trendy and a sign of a serious …
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Giverny, designed by artist Claude Monet, looks good in any season, but spring time visits are glorious! Bulbs, early spring flowers, blooming shrubs and trees, make it a impressionistic painting of flowers. Visually striking from the moment you step foot in the garden, most people upon entering, pause and let it all soak in before …
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I am traveling to Scotland in July and am very excited about seeing parts of Scotland that I haven't seen before and visiting favorites that I want to go back and see. I will be leading a small group of intrepid travelers, some new and many repeats of my previous tours. My garden tours are …
Continue reading "Scotland’s Gardens, Islands, and Castles"
Deer resistance is a huge buzz world in the gardening world and for good reason. Many of us battle these animals daily and too many just throw up their hands and give up. All it takes is to educate yourself on the many possibilities that are available - both native and non-native - and throw …
Continue reading "Deer Resistant Landscaping"
This post has been updated to Converting a Lawn to a Flawn- Flowering Lawn. Turf grass lawns are an American tradition. Everyone who has any kind of yard or property aspires to having a perfect green manicured carpet. But as we now know, grass can be a dead zone for native insects and birds, …
Continue reading "Planting a Pollinator Friendly Bee Lawn"
Gardeners and Hellebores Ok, drumroll here....I think I can say that Hellebores are my favorite perennial plant. A well-kept secret of garden enthusiasts, Hellebores should be more widely known to serious and not so serious gardeners alike; this is a plant that is worth seeking out. What other plant resists deer, neglect, likes shade-even deep shade, is …
Continue reading "Hellebores-Deer Resistant, Low Maintenance, Shade Perennial"
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from Feb 18-22, 2022, which is an unique opportunity to get the family involved in this popular hobby to record bird sightings. An event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations, the GBBC is a great …
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David Austin Roses evokes trusses of fragrant many petalled blooms hanging on an arbor in the quintessential English garden. I have seen many of these examples over the years in my travels in the UK and also the western part of the country, but in the Mid-Atlantic region, this effect is harder to get, but …
Continue reading "Stars of the Garden – David Austin Roses"
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 tips and tricks to this great money saving hobby. New gardeners frequently think that you just throw some seeds from a seed packet into potting soil and place them …
Continue reading "Secrets of Great Seed Starting for Experts and Beginners"
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 "Now is the Time to Winter Sow"
Recycling a fresh cut Christmas tree into a bird feeding station is the ultimate repurposing of your Christmas decorations. Setting up my old tree next to my bird feeders gave me hours of enjoyment watching birds feeding, chirping, and feasting - not to mention the squirrels pigging out! Just watching the squirrel antics kept us …
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If you haven't had a chance to get to Longwood Gardens this year for the 'Fire & Ice' Christmas decorations, you still have time. Scheduled to be open until January 9, 2022, the decorations were over the top. Each year I think they can't outshine the previous years, but 'Fire & Ice' was fantastic! Opposites …
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Everyone is decking the halls, by cutting boughs of greens from their property and using them for decorating. Foraging is the trendy way of describing the time honored tradition of using what you already have. When spruce cones start to form on trees, I venture out with my long reach pruners and snip them off …
Continue reading "Deck the Halls With Foraged Christmas Arrangements"
Crossing out several names on my Christmas list this year, I was left with a bird lover/watcher who I knew would appreciate homemade bird treat ornaments. Feeding hungry songbirds in winter is a great way for people to interact with nature and help birds get through the tough months of winter. Studies show that bird …
Continue reading "Bird Lover’s Homemade Gifts for Christmas"
It's that time of year when all of our fresh garden flowers are gone and we turn to those that we dried or preserved for the long winter season. For my post on the rebirth of dried flowers which were very popular in the 70's and 80's, go to Dried Flowers Back From the Dead. …
Continue reading "Christmas in Dried Flowers"
Christmas at The White House is magical - both for volunteer decorators and visitors. And I got to be a decorator again for the fourth time this past Thanksgiving week and never tire of doing it. People from all over the country converge on The White House on Thanksgiving week to decorate the People's House …
Continue reading "White House Christmas – Gifts From The Heart"
Christmas porch pots are the easiest method to decorate your outside entrance inexpensively and quickly. If you need some pizzazz to greet visitors, create a live green arrangement with evergreens and twigs cut from your property. Jazz it up with something sparkly and you can leave it in place for weeks without any care. Long …
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McLean Nursery is gearing up for a big Christmas holly decorating season! Hundreds of fluffy festive bows are hanging from the workshop ceiling and the 'elves' are busily making the many wreaths and boxwood trees that are destined to deck the halls of some lucky customers. And those customers come back year after year as …
Continue reading "Christmas Decorating with Holly at McLean Nursery"
Porch pots are an old fashioned way to decorate a deck, porch, or other entrance to and give you instant fall color. Burning bush, dogwood, viburnums, hydrangea flowers, and other fall colored branches are available for the taking along road sides or your property. Foraging in the Wild Burning bush has escaped to the wild …
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"Should I leave the leaves? " is a question I am getting more and more frequently. With all the recent information flowing out about "re-wilding" and keeping things "natural", I wanted to address the dilemma of raking or not raking your leaves. You certainly don't want to bag them up and add to a landfill! …
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Celebrate the fall season by these top 10 ways of pumpkin decorating. From mini chalk-painted pumpkins to gorgeous hand-painted marble creations, step up your style this year with these no-carve painted pumpkin ideas. These creative painted pumpkins think outside the box with modern metallics, fresh florals, and gold studs. Get inspired to take your pumpkin …
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Garden mums should be in every garden for that last blast of color before the first freeze withers everything. One of the last plants to bloom before frost, I savor the blowsy colorful flowers that come in a range of reds, oranges, and pinks. Attracting many pollinators as they are the few things that are …
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Bottle Brush Buckeyes are blooming everywhere and if you are in the know, you are planting more of them. Attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and other native pollinators by the dozens, this native is a great understory plant for shady woodland areas. Deer and rabbit resistant, it forms a dense, mounded, suckering, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub which typically …
Continue reading "Buckeyes Are Blooming – Summer Garden Queen!"
When COVID reared its ugly head in March, I started to spend a lot more time at home as my garden travel schedule was cancelled. Trained as a floral designer, and also an avid gardener, I decided to grow more plants that I can use in floral arrangements using my preferred method "garden style". Arranging …
Continue reading "Home Grown Bouquets at #BouquetoftheDay"
As a designer, I create many containers for people and try to do something different each time. There isn't a formula that I use over and over because each situation is different, and the plant I want might not be available. That means I might try something a bit different that I don't normally use …
Continue reading "Containers With Pizzazz…!!"
Amaryllis bulbs are a popular Christmas gift and with the proper care, you can have a beautiful winter/early spring blooming bulb for many years.
Try crossing two staples of the perennial border -black-eyed susans and coneflowers, and you come up with Echibeckias for a totally new flavor that combines the best qualities of each.
