Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
a person in a white hazmat suit and black mesh face covering reaching into a trunk of a tree for honeybees.

Relocating Honeybees – Being Kind

Hello, fellow lover of all things green, While walking Jolee this morning, I admired crocuses on the side of the road. A white one sits solo with purple lines on the petals, almost like runways, leading pollinators to the yellow puffy pollen. I stood above it, watching the dance of tw
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Close-up of winter berries in snow

Berries for Winter Beauty and Wildlife

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, One of my joys is meeting and working with others who relish our dear earth’s gifts, often leading to sharing life stories. There’s something about being in a garden and amongst nature that releases the tension of day-to-day living
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Looking up at the shaggy bark of a shagbark hickory trunk.

Shagbark Hickories – Nutty Mast Years

Hello, Fellow Readers, These are nutty times. Far nuttier than usual in my neck of the woods. The Shagbark Hickory nuts are overabundant and golf ball and size, so much so that walking amongst them is risky for ankle stability. It’s called masting when there’s an excess of
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view of a lake in the fall wiht assorted gold brown and orange leaves

Inconsistency over Pond vs. Lake

Hello, fellow readers, It never occurred to me that there is an inconsistency of what defines a pond versus a lake; if I may share a walk in the woods, that leads to the curious question. After our weekly volunteer sing at the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice on Friday, I enjoyed a
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a dark grey quarter-sized baby snapping turtle in a stream next to native aster blooms

Saving Snapping Turtles Lifts Spirits

Hello, fellow readers, Saving snapping turtles lifts spirits. While walking Jolee, I saw a baby snapping turtle on the side of the road and a momma snapper a week later. I hope you enjoy the story. I walked a quarter of a mile with the quarter-sized baby snapper to a feeder stream, mu
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Women & Their Woods with Native Plants

Hello, fellow readers; I was honored to participate in the Women and Their Woods retreat hosted by the Ridge and Valley Conservancy in Newton, NJ, to help landowners care for their woods –filled with tips on native plants to help heal our land. Before my talk about Landscaping with Na
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a large yellow sunflower with a honeybee standing in front of a field of sunflowers.

A Sunflower Maze Brings Happiness

Hello, fellow readers, What a joy to visit Liberty Farm’s Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Sandyston, NJ, who invited us for a special day bringing happiness. It’s their 14th year of growing the maze. Raj Sinha started growing sunflowers when the New Jersey Audubon Society
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a moss-green fuzzy moth with transparent wings that resembles a hummingbird

Moths and Bats are Beautiful, Too

Hello, fellow readers, We’ve chatted about how moths are like butterflies that party at night, a sentiment shared by Randi Eckel of Toadshade Wildflower Farm (link to the story below). Since then, I’ve grown far fonder of them; like butterflies, moths are beautiful too. A
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evening landscape lighting below a pergola next to a neige hosue

Keeping Lighting Pollinator-Friendly

Hello, fellow readers. A while back, Kay wrote in response to a column titled Antics of Meadow Wildlife featuring my birder buddy Dennis Briede’s meadow just up the road a piece. Dennis shared there has been a notable decline in butterflies in recent years due to habitat reducti
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beige moth with a black cross on its back called a Clymene moth

A Magical Blessing Moth

Hello fellow readers; I just returned from Lago Vista, Texas, to be by the side of Gene, a dear friend, as he graduated from this earth. He is the life partner of Elsa, whom we’ve spoken about in a previous story titled, Fall is not Goodbye (link below). They’ve been famil
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