Gardenig in state Virginia. Tips & Guides

In springtime, the deciduous woodlands around us are beginning to awaken as the delicate flowers of spring ephemerals pierce the blanket of leaf litter. Most of these woodland plants are found in areas with rich, humusy soil and layer of deep leaf litter; they flower when the leaves are off the trees and light reaches the forest floor in spring. These diminutive plants are beautiful, but beyond this, they provide critical support for newly emerging spring bees. As temperatures warm, native solitary bees visit bloodroot, trout lily, spring beauty, Virginia bluebells, and other spring flowers to collect pollen or sip nectar. Some of these bees have a close or exclusive relationship with specific flowers, a fact recognized in their names: trout lily bee (Andrena erythronii) or the spring beauty bee(Andrena erigeniae). Trout lily bees visit more than just trout lily, but the latter relies exclusively on the pink pollen provided by spring beauty to provision their nests. However, many other bees visit this spring beauty too. In fact, 58 species of bees have been reported as visitors to this tiny pink flower. Similarly, bloodroot, trout lilies, and Virginia bluebells are visited by a diversity of bees, including bumblebees (Bombus spp.), little carpenter bees (Ceratina spp.), halictid bees (Halictus spp., Lasioglossum spp.), and mason bees (Osmia spp.). Clearly, these spring ephemerals are of considerable importance to the survival of many spring bee species, a fact we rarely consider when we admire their flowers.

Whenever I encounter an introverted gardener, I engage them in conversation with this question: What wisteria do you recommend for my backyard?

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) (SLF) is the latest non-native species to take hold in the U.S. This planthopper is large (about a half-inch long) and originally from several countries in the Far East. It was first found in Pennsylvania in 2014, and active infestations are now established in Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and as of just last week, North Carolina. SLF has not been detected in South Carolina, but it is an insect for which we need to be on the lookout.

One of my earliest horticultural memories was watching my grandmother arrange purple berried branches of American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) in a vase and place it in the center of her dining room table. These beautiful, native shrubs grew wild in the woods surrounding her home, full of clusters of purple berries in the fall.

I must be selective in the kinds of shrubs and trees I add to my landscape. Very simply: I don’t have the room. Like the village matchmaker, Yente, in Fiddler on the Roof, I match the plant with my landscape, paying particular attention to sun exposure, drainage, and room to grow. I also consider its maintenance requirements, particularly water, fertilizer, pruning, and pests. As a tough-love gardener, I have no tolerance for needy, wimpy plants.

This is a cluster of parasitic wasp pupae. The adult wasp would have laid eggs into a caterpillar to provide food for the developing larvae.

WHO VISITED: We met Twitter friends like @GardenGuyKenn (all the way from Michigan) and other blog-commenters like Bobster (all the way from Rhode Island) and Leslie (from Connecticut) and Ailsa and Patti, from Ottawa, Ontario.We met Joyce from Iowa and Michelle from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania (31 miles from Wilkes-Barre, apparently) and Sandra from Clarks Summit (also Pennsylvania, 8 miles from Scranton) and Julie from Reston, Virginia, and Stephanie from Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Stephanie from Seattle (both Stephanies, both from prime garden country…a coincidence?). Someone signed in as being from Scotland, but can that be so? And all of you, thank you, whether from a mile down the road or a country or ocean away…or whether you just visited our virtual tour yesterday.Some of t

Such expressions by Church and other artists in the Hudson River School marked the start of the American environmental movement, many experts believe today. Standing in my neighbor friend’s garden recently and looking out at the same landscape they did, I was reminded how few of us get to witness that kind of majesty very often, and how precious a resource such viewsheds are. No wonder they inspired an entire movement.Today a number of historic sites like Church’s astonishing home near here called Olana are working to protect their viewsheds, in part thanks to work by groups like Scenic Hudson, and to unique events like the one coming up Nov. 1 for Olana’s benefit (see details of their ‘Viewshed Tour’ below).Nearer to New York City, the dramatic stretch of Palisades acr

IN OUR CHAT on my public-radio program, I learned why not to till when prepping a planting; how to help a desired species outpace an unwanted one by learning to manage and influence natural processes; and what the word “naturalistic” means today.what’s ‘naturalistic,’ anyway?Q. How did the native and natural become your specialty, Larry—did the education in landscape design come first, or the nature and science?A. My first experience in the landscape world was working in traditional horticulture—first a job, and then going to school for it. However my interest in it always came from the naturalistic end.As a kid, I grew up in the urban Philadelphia and I don’t think I even knew there was such as thing as a garden designer, until I got a job with a landscape firm, in the summer between high school and college.But the thing that always interested me was na

YES, YES, I KNOW: I have already told you I love hellebores. While waiting for mine to reach full bloom, I took an online tour this very cold morning of other hellebore plantings that are enviably farther along.

Most seed will last a couple to several years—but there are disclaimers to even that general a statement. As living things, seeds are perishable, particularly if not kept cool and dry (such as in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator or freezer). Humidity, in particular, is death to seeds.Treated and pelletized seed will also have a different shelf life from seed in its natural state. The condition of the original crop the seed was harvested from will also, of course, affect its perishability.The years of viability in my chart above, then (citing Fedco and Johnny’s Selected Seed catalogs, and the Iowa State and Virginia Tech extensions) are averages, not guarantees—and all presume responsible storage tactics (not that you

For a moment I thought I’d have to start shipping you divisions myself (KIDDING), but then ‘Will’s Wonderful’ got a proper new home, thanks to a chain of emails, and Ellen, and the good people at Lazy S’s Farm in Virginia, who propagated mine and then carried it for years. Update 2019: Lazy S’s is closed, but my friend Kathy Tracey at Avant Gardens sells it, thankfully.Also thankfully, my favorite mum, like all his cousins, is a prolific type, so these will be the first of many next-generation ‘Wills,’ I hope, who’ll find their raucous ways into more fall gardens.I mean, I’ve since learned to like ‘Sheffield Pink,’ for example, but there will always be only one ‘Will.’ Glad he’s staying in circulation.Categoriesannuals & perennials

Thankfully, for the latter areas, I have old clumps of lower-light plants to divide, including those in this new slideshow of my top 54 shade subjects. I included some woodland-garden shrubs and trees for those seeking to manufacture some shade of their own—or wanting to add more understory structure to what nature has provided.a mostly alphabetical tour of 54 favorites for shadeplant profiles of shade subjectsPerennialsAstilboides tabularis Aralia cordata and Aralia racemosa Cimicifuga, or Actaea, racemosa Dicentra ‘Gold Heart’ Epimedium Ferns:Japanese painted, and Autumn fern plus a wider range

MY GARDEN, LIKE MOST (and like the assortment at the garden center), is a jumble of non-native and native plants. But at the moment of early spring, a half-dozen Eastern wildflowers take my breath away. In a slideshow, six easy, captivating natives for the woodland or shade garden.Follow each plant’s name (the green links) to a full plant portrait, with all the details.Twinleaf, Jeffersonia diphylla: Delicate and fleeting white flowers, but I love this plant from the moment it emerges from the ground, all purple-bronze (thanks to pigments called anthocyanins—read about why plants disguise themselves with non-green pigments in early spring).

Not long ago, we swapped  pet peeves (like made-up plant names applied by marketers in the guise of trademarks) and also plants we’re crazy about—including overlooked ones, ones Tony calls “plants that need a good p.r. person.” He’d certainly be the publicist I’d hire if I were a shrinking violet with chlorophyll in my veins. Meet some of these overlooked creatures.Yes, Tony Avent allows the occasional common name—provided it’s a valid one, like catmint for Nepeta, for example, or elephant ear for Colocasia. But under the headline Peltoboykinia watanabei in his latest catalog, above the description including the Tony-isms “tall, bold and bodacious,” and a “fabulous member o

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center says Mertensia is native from southern Ontario to eastern Minnesota, down to North Carolina, Arkansas and eastern Kansas, and “naturalized northeastward.” I have never seen it in the wild, but even a grouping of five or so plants can be dramatic in the early spring home garden.Virginia bluebells (Zones 4-7, maybe warmer) is summer-dormant, but before its long late-June-to-April nap, it shows off bigtime. A beautiful clump of foliage comes first—tender looking, with a blue-green cast. Then come the flower stems (temporarily making the plant not just a foot tall but almost tw

Our guide is Virginia Tech associate professor of horticulture Dr. Holly Scoggins, a herbaceous plant specialist and educator, who also teaches greenhouse management and ornamental plant production and marketing. She conducts research to help commercial growers of container plants get it right, optimizing inputs like water and fertilizer, for instance, or different kinds of growing media.In other words: Holly Scoggins knows a well-grown plant when she sees one.Because she apparently can’t get enough plants, Holly also operates a U-pick blueberry farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, blogs at The Garden Professors blog at extension.org, and contributes to the Professors’ popular Facebook page.On my public-radio show and podcast I learned a whole new style of plant-shopping etiquette, and got over my sti

Q. Since all gardening starts with the soil, Ira, one that really caught my eye was the DIY soil test with dishwashing powder and water in the glass jar. A. I first came across the test back in the 70s, when I was a 4-H and Girl Scout leader. The area in North Carolina where I was living at the time had red clay (just like we do here in Virginia).You can sort of tell what kind of soil you have by making a ball of it in your hand, but to be more clear about your soil texture—so you can have a better idea of moisture-holding capacity and how much organic material in the form of compost you need—this test is great.You take a quart Mason jar, fill it one-third to half full with soil. Make sure you’re just getting soil, and not big clumps of grass; go below that, to sample the first 6 inches.A trowel you use for planting bulbs is great for getting a soil profile.Then add water until the jar is about t

Ira is a board member of the Organic Seed Alliance, and also the author of the brand-new “Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast” (affiliate link). Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, situated in central Virginia, between Richmond and Charlottesville, offers 700-plus varieties of open-pollinated seed, including many heirlooms, many mid-Atlantic and Southeast focused.Which brings up the topic of regionality—a potential factor in how a particular variety of tomato or cuke or another crop will perform for you.  Notations in catalogs such as days to maturity or how a variety holds up to heat or handles diseases common in your area may have influenced whether you chose one type of seed over another. Lately I’ve been learning how regionally sourced seed–seed that was grown on a seed farm with relatively similar conditio

Carol, a former longtime educator at the New York Botanical Garden who also worked for the Nature Conservancy, says her own intense curiosity about plants such as Dutchman’s breeches (top photo) is what fuels her endless explorations.Enter to win a copy of “Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast” from Princeton University Press (Amazon affiliate link) at the bottom of the page—and get the link to the podcast of the radio segment from my weekly show that this interview comes from, and how to subscribe.my wildflower q&a with carol gracieQ. The subheadline of the book is “A Natural History,” and I’d like explain what that means–because as you have reminded me your first connection to the plants is not as a

All growing season, I get questions asking how to prevent, or cure, one vegetable garden disease or pest or another–especially on Cucurbits.  My answers are mostly not perfect ones, because almost faster than we figure out some effective tactic, plant diseases can outsmart us by mutating, or getting an edge from dramatically changing weather patterns–or by moving into regions where they were not previously known.So what can be done, longterm, beyond trying to “fix” the one outbreak in just your, or my, backyard, and especially: What’s the bigger answer without turning to chemicals?The answer hopefully lies in research: research that identifies the best current varieties, and often leads to breeding of more disease-resistant and regionally adapted var

Working primarily as an independent researcher, Art Evans is a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, Virginia Natural History Museum, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He is also an adjunct professor at VCU, University of Richmond, and Randolph-Macon College, and creates a weekly radio spot called “What’s Bugging You” on Richmond Public Radio, along with a popular Facebook page about–you guessed it–insects!Though a massive guide to beetles like “Beetles of Eastern North America” might sound like it’s not for you, it is.“Even though I hope my colleagues will enjoy and appreciate the book,” says Art Evans, “they were not my primary audience. My primary audience were people like yourself, who may appreciate nature but may not have taken the time to look and see what beetles are living amongst them.”On his recent return from a trip working on the next volume—a Western edition—Art Evans was the guest on my Augus

It’s a staggering number. That would be a lot of holes to dig, or drill, as the Garden begins to enhance and expand its historic Daffodil Hill display first planted in 1920.What didn’t surprise me was the involvement of Brent Heath, a longtime bulb merchant and daffodil hybridizer himself, who’s acting as an adviser in the ambitious undertaking. Brent, whose grandfather began the family bulb business in 1900, joined me on my public-radio show and podcast from his B

Coauthor Joan Maloof is founder of the Old Growth Forest Network, aimed to preserve, protect and promote the country’s few remaining stands of old growth forest, and she’s a professor emeritus at Salisbury University in Maryland. She joined me to talk about complex the organism that is the forest, and I learned how almost half of all our rain is dependent on the forest’s “exhale” of water, how the trees with all their light-detecting cells can “see” different colors and intensities of light and respond accordingly, and much more.Read along as you listen to the Nov. 27, 2017 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here). Plus: Enter to win a copy of the new book by commenting at the very bottom of the page. (Below, co-authors Llewel

You may recall previous confessionals from Joseph, about his “issues,” shall we say, with gladiolus and hollyhocks. He is the author of books on backyard plant breeding and also rock gardening, among his many botanical interests—and you can enter to win a copy of “Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener” in the comments box at the very bottom of the page.Our interview is another episode of the A Way to Garden annual winter seed series, when I virtually shop the catalogs with various expert friends and get growing advice, too. Browse all the past episodes in the multi-year series.Read along as you listen to the Jan. 15, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Carol Gracie, a former longtime educator at the New York Botanical Garden who also worked for The Nature Conservancy, has followed her own intense curiosity to become a leading expert on wildflowers. Now her second book, “Summer Wildflowers of the Northeast: a Natural History” from Princeton University Press (Amazon affiliate link), forms the companion to her earlier spring volume.We talked together about all the insects–not just monarchs–who use the milkweed plant in some way (and what they have in common); about a flowering plant with no chlorophyll at all; and even how experts have trouble keeping track of all the asters and goldenrods.Plus: Enter to win a copy of her book by commenting in the box at the very bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the June 9, 2

“Hey, let’s make it another edition of our Desert Island Plants series on the radio show and podcast,” we decided. And so favorite natives of spring are the topic this week.Talking about our most-loved spring native woodland perennials—from blue cohosh (just emerging one April, above) and merrybells, to various trilliums and Virginia bluebells and more—is a perfect fit for Ken Druse. His books “The Natural Shade Garden” in 1992 and “The New Shade

When Dick and Judith had reached out to ask about advertising on the website, my first question was: “Didn’t you write the book on hellebores?” And yes, Judith was co-author of “Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide,” from Timber Press.Asking questions you often ask me, and adding some of my own, here’s how the conversation with Judith went:a hellebore q&a with pine knot farmsQ. I think it’s safe to say that you have long been passionate about (obsessed with?) hellebores. What about these plants was the draw factor–since you discovered them before many of us did?A. We fell in love with hellebores at first probably because of the time they bloom. Both of us enjoyed being outside during the winter. We moved to Virginia from British Columbia, where peop

Marianne Willburn, author of the new book, “Tropical Plants and How to Love Them” (affiliate link) is a regular contributor to “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine, and to the popular multi-author garden website, Garden Rant dot com. She gardens in Northern Virginia and yes, a lot of the non-hardy things we call tropicals are among her faithful garden companions. She recommended some favorites, and shared how she cares for them, too.Plus: enter to win a copy of her new book by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the July 19, 2021 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 podcast

We’re visiting Kristen Rembold’s beautiful garden today.

Echinaceas are real dazzlers in the late-summer border: sturdy daisies standing erect with flowers that resemble sets of spinning saucers. The colourful sun-ray petals surround bronzed, almost metallic cones. These prickly centres also give echinacea its name, for Ekhînos is Greek for hedgehog.

Echinaceas are real dazzlers in the late-summer border: sturdy daisies standing erect with flowers that resemble sets of spinning saucers. The colourful sun-ray petals surround bronzed, almost metallic cones. These prickly centres also give echinacea its name, for Ekhînos is Greek for hedgehog.

Fast-growing vines are a great way to add greenery and privacy to your outdoor space. Whether you’re looking to cover a fence or a wall, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Whether you're aware of it or not, there are almost certainly a few items in your house that you could be repurposing and making better use of. Not only is repurposing (like recycling) eco-friendly and good for the environment, but it’ll save you money in the long run. Here are eight common items in your house you should always repurpose.

You never forget your first. Homegrown heirloom tomato plant, that is.Well, I haven’t, at least. It was a ‘Yellow Pear,’ purchased during one of th

Marianne Willburn, a longtime garden writer who gardens in Virginia, is a contributing editor to the collaborative blog called Garden Rant. And she’s also author of the 2021 book “Tropical Plants and How to Love Them” (affiliate link). She offered guidance on which of these tempting tropicals at the garden center to indulge in for the combination of visual and culinary enjoyment, like ‘Snowdrift’ turmeric in her garden, above.Plus: Enter to win a copy of the book by commenting in the box at the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the March 27, 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)