Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog

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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Designing Garden Layers

Hello Fellow Readers, “Plant more plants” was music to my ears shared by Claudia West at a NJ Plants tradeshow held in Edison, NJ, a while back. Claudia is the Ecological Sales Representative of North Creek Nurseries, my go-to wholesale propagation nursery in Landenberg, P
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a small butterfly with ornate green, taupe with white streak details

Gift of Meadows & Mountain Mint

Hello fellow readers, An invitation to a pool party inspired gathering flowers from the garden to bring to the hosts. One of the lovelies, Mountain Mint, reminds me of a walk in the meadow with my birder buddy and naturalist I look forward to sharing with you. Voluptuous Hydrangea Flo
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two woman opening a wood and screen cage with monarch butterflies

Hospice Butterfly Release

Hello Fellow Readers, What a privilege to participate in a Butterfly Release Celebration hosted by Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice. It’s their 20th year of the celebration and the 40th year of serving our community. Previously they’ve held the event live in the counties they ser
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Purple-Cone-Flower-Echinacea

Deer Resistant Butterfly Plants

Hello Fellow Readers, We spoke a few weeks back about Sarah’s mile-a-minute weedy dilemma in Hope, NJ. She proudly sent photos of the clear-out of her front foundation garden, poised to be a butterfly garden. Sarah asked if there was a list of native deer-resistant butterfly pla
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Johnsonburg-Camp-Retreat Center-butterfly- garden

A Butterfly Garden of Growth

Hello Fellow Readers, Admiration fills my heart for the children’s courage and young adults who attended last weekend’s Comfort Zone Camp. It was in partnership with A Little Hope Foundation to support those who have lost a loved one to suicide. In the center of the camp i
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a meadow filled with purple, yellow, and white wildflowers below a bright blue sky.

A Walk in the Meadow

Hello fellow readers, A walk in the meadow with my friend and go-to mystery solver of all things in nature is always a treat. While Dennis Briede’s day responsibility is Stewardship Manager for The Land Conservancy of New Jersey (http://tlc-nj.org/), his true passion is living among n
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Late-summer Butterfly Magnets

Hello fellow readers, Many of you like to dance!  Jane from Mt. Bethel, PA, emailed me about the fun of watching butterflies in her garden and asked how to attract more. Ben from Belvidere, NJ, wondered if he planted butterfly loving plants, would he be inviting deer to the party. It
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