A while back, I enjoyed a pre-spring theatre outing with my design colleague and dear friend, Marty Carson. Our jaunt allowed me to brain-pick her favorite summer flowering bulbs to plant in the spring. How fun to learn that one of her favorites is technically a corm.

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. The perennial rock garden is full of dry perennials remaining. It has nothing to do with being lazy or too busy tending to others’ gardens. Leaving seed heads on your dormant perennials over winter will encourage many plants to spread. P

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Last week, I shared A Butterfly Garden of Growth and added suggestions for annual lovelies to enhance the environment and provide food for our beloved butterflies. Marigolds are one of them, a plant I once was weary of. Learning the magnificen

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Recently, I designed a low-maintenance garden filled with perennials, shrubs, and trees for year-round interest in Bergen County, NJ, not far from New York City. Around it, we planted a pollinator-friendly lawn alternative: a combination of No

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

Hello fellow readers, Recently, while on the porch, I heard a plop in the pond and looked over to find the Red-shouldered Hawk flying out of it frog-less. He perched himself on the rail of our covered footbridge, looking quite regal –  maybe he is she. I’ve learned they ma

Hello fellow readers, Over the almost eleven years of our column chats, I’ve often accessed the wisdom of Dennis Briede from Blairstown, NJ, who I refer to as my birder buddy, although he’s knowledgeable (I’d say expert, but he never boasts) on plants and wildlife an

Hello, fellow readers. Snow geese and Canadian geese are glorious to many but pests to some, bringing a lesson of acceptance I hope you’ll enjoy. As I drove to the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice for my weekly volunteer sing, an enormous flock of snow geese fed on the farm fi

Hello fellow readers, Colorful birds against the leafless trees indeed pop. And the healing sounds of nature improve health and well-being, even in the winter. We celebrated ringing in the New Year with dear friends who are both musical. Jim Ratcliff teaches piano, and Ruth is a voice

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