Gardenig in state New Jersey. Tips & Guides

I’VE BEEN SCOUTING around in my garden for orphaned plants, ones that used to be in visually pleasing clumps or masses, but because of expanding shade or a naughty vole or who knows what, aren’t looking as good as they used to. Over in New Jersey, Ken Druse has been digging and dividing some perennials, too, but for different reasons.

But then I thought a moment longer and looked around and realized there were mint family relatives all over the garden, even unintentionally among the lawn weeds. So the many faces of mints is our topic today. Including some real surprises, like that the shrub called beautyberry or Callicarpa is a mint (those are the flowers, above, of the native species; photo by Bob Peterson via Wikimedia Commons).As many as we managed to remember in our chat, we forgot loads, like Caryopteris, and mountain mint, or Pycnanthemum. So many mints, so little time!You all know Ken Druse, a regular visitor to the show and author of 20 garden books and

From 2005 to 2020, Bruce was the director of Rutgers Gardens, the botanical garden for Rutgers University. He’s currently the State Program Leader for Home and Public Horticulture with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, and a longtime instructor in the landscape architecture program at Rutgers.We covered natives from shad and sourwood to pawpaw and even Franklinia, plus imports, all with a wide range of qualities to recommend them (that’s the Rutgers-bred kousa dogwood ‘Scarlet Fire,’ above).Read along as you listen to the June 7, 2021 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTu

“What holds the garden together in such a moment?” he asked as we chatted, and as he looked out the window at the scene above.Texture, primarily we agreed. And at Ken’s, especially some refreshing splashes of variegation and definitely the freshness of some white flowers. Using all of those effectively is our topic today, along with some favorite plants (like his Hiba arborvitae or Thujopsis dolobrata, below, a conifer with great texture a

AUTHOR MARTA MCDOWELL, a gardener and landscape designer in contemporary New Jersey, has an enduring passion for digging into history, particularly into noted authors and their gardens—what she calls the “connection between the pen and the trowel.” She’s written books from that vantage point on Emily Dickinson, Beatrix Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and now her latest is on the prolific author Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of the century-old children’s classic “The Secret Garden” that’s still in print.

You all know my old friend, Ken Druse, author of 20 garden books. So rather than repeat the rest of his bio, I’ll share some news: Ken’s being honored the evening of June 17th, 2021 by Rutgers Gardens, the botanical garden of Rutgers University in New Jersey.Of course I would not miss that virtual event (ticket information is here). The celebratory evening includes a video tour of his garden at peak bloom, and also a live Q&A session.Read along as you listen to the June 14, 2021 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe

James Golden has been guided by a more nuanced version of that idea in creating a much-praised garden, a wildish, unexpected landscape in New Jersey called Federal Twist. It was even featured on Monty Don’s “American Gardens” series for BBC Two. I’ve been reading James’s new book about Federal Twist, and just like that old garden adage, a lot of his philosophy of garden making is about acceptance, about letting the place tell you what it wants to be.James Golden came to garden making later in life, when he was preparing to retire from a writing j

You all know Ken Druse, author and photographer of 20 garden books and a daring gardener and plant propagator. He spoke to me from his garden among the trees in New Jersey to talk about oh-so-carefully tucking small things in among tree roots, about creating a bit more light with artful pruning, some favorite plants and more.Plus: Enter to win a copy of his 2015 book “The New Shade Garden” (affiliate link) by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the January 17, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).shade-garden tips with ken druse

Ken, who gardens in New Jersey, is the author and photographer behind 20 garden books, and a longtime friend who grows lots of plants that definitely surprise me. We discussed plants that in one way or another weren’t quite what we expected, as in: surprise!Read along as you listen to the Oct. 17, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).surprising plants, with ken druseMargaret Roach: Hello, Ken. How are you?Ken Druse: Hi Margaret. Well, I’m waking up.

Ken is a familiar voice here at A Way to Garden, one of my longest gardening friendships and the author of 20 garden books, including “The New Shade Garden: Creating A Lush Oasis In The Age Of Climate Change” (affiliate link). He gardens in New Jersey, mostly in the shade, which is our subject today.Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ken’s shade book by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the Aug. 1, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTune

Ken Druse encourages us to extend our season of scentual gardening. That’s S-C-E-N-T—scentual, as in fragrance, and as in the title of his book, “The Scentual Garden.” He urges us to include extra-late and extra-early garden producers and especially some indoor stars for a full year of fragrance.Longtime friend Ken Druse, who gardens in New Jersey, is the author of 20 garden books, about the many fragrances the plant world can offer, which is our topic today. (Above, one of Ken’s

“It’s time to expand our vision past supporting birds, butterflies, and bees, and fully integrate the most challenging animal of all, the human being, into our native plant gardens,” he writes.So what all would that mean, and how do we do that?Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist and restoration ecologist, and he’s also co-owne

There are losses every year, no matter how expert you are, but some of them really stand out in memory, indelible.Plants we have loved and lost, but never forgotten (like my Aesculus pavia or red buckeye, above): That’s our topic this time, with my friend, Ken Druse. You all know Ken, who gardens in New Jersey and is the autho

If you are looking for Bushes and Shrubs with Small White Fragrant Flowers, then we have the most exclusive collection of specimens for you!

I am happy that spring has finally arrived here in New Jersey! I am loving all the daffodils that are blooming in my front yard. I adore the warmer temperatures. I was feeling crafty recently, so I did a quick and easy craft for my backyard – wind chimes!

Today we’re visiting with Judith.

As I was ranting, my text buzzed to alert me there was a message, and there was a photo from Ken of a flat of his just-emerged primula seedlings—hundreds of them, that he’d successfully winter-sown outdoors. All for the price of a couple of seed packets. I asked him how he did it, and about other things you can sow that way.Ken, who gardens in New Jersey (those are some of his Primula japonica in his canal garden, above), is the author of 20 garden books and also my co-host of the Virtual Garden Club that we put on a few times each year. He’s a master propagator who loves to crack the code of how to make more plants of any kind. He shared the how-to’s of his success with primula seed

But there’s always more to do in other parts of the garden, too.On the list are some strategic summer pruning tasks, and a likewise strategic plan for deadheading or otherwise reducing self-sowers (like celandine poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum, above) so there’s not too much of a good thing, for instance. Plus there are perennials in need of haircuts.My friend Ken Druse, autho

Ken is author and photographer of 20 garden books, including one on plant propagation, and is a daring plant propagator himself. Together since 2021, we’ve co-hosted the Virtual Garden Club, a series of online classes about our favorite subject: plants. Ken gardens in New Jersey, mostly in the shade.Read along as you listen to the March 20, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).making more plants, with ken druseMargaret Roach: Hello Ken, over there in the shade

My name is Allison Pond, and I’m the owner of Primo Pots and Planters in Moorestown, New Jersey. This is a chapter 2 career for me after 20 years in sales ranging from Xerox copiers to pharmaceuticals. After surviving countless layoffs, I left the industry to pursue a job that didn’t destroy my soul. I started this business in 2016 and received my Master Gardener certification in 2019. These are some of the containers I get to make for my clients.

Homegrown blueberries are one of my favorite summertime snacks, with a sweet-tart flavor that’s perfect for enjoying out of hand, blended into a pancake batter, baked in a pie, or cooked down and made into jam.Though growing blueberries at home

It just isn’t summer in the northeast without Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) tearing through raspberries, roses, and other plants gardeners tend to hold near and dear.Their voracious appetite is matched in intensity with an innate difficulty to e

If the thought of summer squash brings to mind images of yellow crooknecks and little else, get ready to make a new discovery – there are so many different types!These include straightnecks, zucchini, pattypans, ro

If you are a fan of palms but live in an area that witnesses low temperatures, then don’t worry. We have some beautiful, Most Cold Tolerant Palm Trees for you!