Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
A light brown bottlebrush buckeye seed with tough leather-like capsules

Sowing the Treasures of Buckeye Seeds

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, Once again, I was late tending to my garden, scurrying about just before the first snow. You’ve likely heard the phrase “a shoemaker without shoes.” It’s ironic how folks who provide a service often neglect to provide i
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a yellow swallowtail butterfly on a long white Bottlebrush Buckeye Bloom

Bottlebrush Buckeye Hide Tree Knees

Hello fellow readers, We went from a drought spring where we were behind in rainfall to a summer unfolding with too much rain. Trees came down after last week’s storms and flooding, wreaking havoc. Many of them, the Ash trees now dead from the Emerald Ash borer. After the skies
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Bright yellow daisy-like flowers of Swamp Sunflower near a lake.

Native Plants for Native Pollinators

Hello fellow readers, About a year ago, I enjoyed a visit to a free public garden managed by the Morris County Park Commission tucked away in Far Hills, NJ, which became a column topic titled Wandering Willowwood Arboretum. Bruce Crawford, formerly the Director of Rutgers Gardens, joi
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two yellow flowering sunflower heads

Delights in my Dry Summer Garden

Hello fellow readers, As I write, it is Labor Day, a day of rest for many, and thankfully soft rain has begun. Countless plants in our gardens and trees and shrubs are tired from the dry summer we endured. But there is magnificence too. This morning I invite you to walk with me to fin
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Bright yellow daisy-like flowers of Swamp Sunflower near a lake.

Sexy Native Plants

Hello Fellow Readers, I didn’t realize until Bruce Crawford, Director of Rutgers Gardens, emailed the plant list for his recent lecture titled Sexy Native Plants. In the NJ Plants tradeshow held in Edison, NJ, the G-rated version was Native Plants for Native Pollinators. And these bab
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, Green and White Gardens, Gardens Glow, Oak leaf Hydrangea, Bottle brush buckeye, Horse Chestnut, Variegated ornamental grass

Gardens Glow

Hello fellow readers, If I may share a remarkable garden design story for Morristown Airport and lessons gained from how white gardens glow. Do you recall waiting until the last minute to finish your homework as a kid? As adults, it’s not about waiting but more about not having
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Fall To-do’s

Hello Fellow Readers, A faithful Blairstown reader, dear friend, and fellow fan of Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculous parviflora) suggested I write about what to do in the garden each time of year. Roger Roger here goes. You’ve likely noticed the squirrels and other critters are foraging
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a swath of Bottlebrush Buckeye in with long white fluffy blooms

Lawn to Woodland Shrubs

Hello fellow readers; a beautiful assortment of plants can serve as transition shrubs from the lawn to woodland that can help hide unsightly views. Weeds are misplaced plants. Diane of Knowlton asked for tips to “tame her jungle,” which sounds like weeds could be her dilem
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