Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Stink bugs. Stink bugs impact on plants

Compassion for Stink Bugs?

Hello Fellow Readers, During a recent interview with BJ Ward of Warren County Community College in Washington NJ regarding their upcoming visit with Liz Gilbert, he asked if stink bugs are a common garden dilemma question. As a matter of fact, no one yet asked about the annoying littl
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Elizaberth Gilbert Big Magic, Magic Lessons Podcast, BJ Ward, Liz Gilbert visits Waren County Community College, Moss Garden

Garden Magic

I believe all of us can live creatively; however we choose to express it. But along with creativity comes vulnerability. Indeed, there's something intimate about sharing one's creative self. But creativity in the garden offers a safe space—a forgiving place to dabble as we grow and le
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Cardinal, Bird Fodder, Mike Niven, Cedar Waxwings ,Bombycilla cedrorum

Bird Fodder Part 2

Hello Fellow Readers, So much came of last week’s chat with my birder buddies — welcome to more fun bird fodder part 2. One of the most loved and fascinating backyard birds are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, who are migratory. As solitary birds, they don’t migrate in flocks.
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Cardinal, Bird Fodder, Mike Niven, Eastern Bluebird, Blue Jay

Bird Fodder

Hello Fellow Readers, Anita of Blairstown, NJ, shared the story of Squeak, a male Cardinal who squeaks after snagging each sunflower seed. “He’s also a bit of slob,” writes Anita, “dribbling shells back into the dish.” Her other guests, such as “titmouse, nuthatches, juncos and sparro
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A colander of funky vegetables on a wooden table

Funky Vegetables

Hello Fellow Readers, This time of year, what fun it is to peruse seed catalogs. Green beans aren’t only green anymore. And tomatoes come in all sorts of shades and mottled blends of colors. There are even tomatoes that stay green when they’re ripe. Charlotte of Stone Chur
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Emma F. Stone

Emma Stone Preferred Roots

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green.  From time to time, over the years, I’ve shared stories of my dear Mom, who gave me my garden start, and many of you have kindly asked about her. Emma Stone joined the angels last Sunday, and while there’s sadness, there’s re
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, synthetic pyrethroid insecticides,EPA Restrictions on Pyrethroid Use, AmericanHort, pyrethroid, pyrethrins

“Urgent Action Needed”

Hello Fellow Readers, I received an email from AmericanHort that “Urgent Action is Needed”. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is evaluating whether to further restrict uses of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides.” Anything urgent and pertaining to the protection of our environm
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mary Elaine Stone, Garden of Life, Spruce Canker Disease, Canker Disease

Dreaded Canker Disease

Hello Fellow Readers, Hector and Judy of Morristown NJ, longtime clients become friends, have a “Big and Little” vignette of blue spruces that have begun to decline. Their little blue looks as though the needles were stripped from the lower branches. “Did the deer do this to my baby b
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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, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mike Dooley, Garden of Life, Jonathan Taylor

“It wants to fly”

  “It wants to fly,” explained Jonathan Taylor as we were taking off. I shivering inside surely due to the below freezing temps (not). Jon, I called him then, is long ago friend from my NYC radio days at Kiss-FM. Last Saturday he visited by way of plane. During breakfast at the R
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