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

Burle Marx – NY Botanical Garden

Hello Fellow Readers, Recently I had the privilege of visiting the New York Botanical Gardens with nurserywoman become friend, Holly from Blairstown NJ. It was her idea to see the gardens featuring Brazilian landscape architect Burle Marx before the exhibit closed last week. Designate
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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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Green-Roof-Lancaster-Tellus-Pub

Living Green Roofs

Hello Fellow Readers, I’ve just returned from the HippoCamp writer’s conference held in downtown Lancaster, PA, hosted by Hippocampus Magazine. The genre of the magazine, named after the part of the brain (hippocampus) that manages learning, emotions, and new memories, is creative non
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Outcomes of a DIYer

Hello Fellow Readers, Chris from Morristown, NJ, wrote in, “My small Shasta daisies didn’t survive the winter, so I’ll have to choose another variety.  Also, the holly is on a lifeline right now. I’m upset because it was doing well.” Chris is a hardcore DIYer who did an extraordinary
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Female-Zuchinni-Flower-Photo-Rimi-Studios

Birds & Bees of Zucchini Flowers

Hello Fellow Readers, I am the new owner of a big girl camera—a digital Nikon SLR. Previously, I relied on a point-and-shoot camera, “which is getting long in the tooth,” per my dear Curt. The funny saying “long in the tooth” stems from how horses’ teeth
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Hakonechloa-Hanoke-Grass-Mountsier-Garden-Lawn-Alternative

Lawn Alternatives Part 2

Hello Fellow Readers, Last week’s chat about Dutch clover (Trifolium repens) as a lawn alternative created quite a buzz. Beyond the buzz of our happy pollinators scurrying from bloom to bloom. It seems the algae bloom on New Jersey’s Lake Hopatcong has brought the devastating di
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Pink flowering Rosa-Dr.-Van-Fleet -Climbing-Roses on a stone hose

The Beauty and Beast of Roses

Hello Fellow Readers, Roses can be fussy. But when roses are in their glory, they surely are glorious. Lessons shared in the Beauty and the Beast… One should never judge another based on appearances – a lesson shared in the Beauty and the Beast enjoyed at the Papermill Theatre i
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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, Palace Purple Coral Bells, Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'

Doublefile Viburnum Angels

Hello Fellow Readers, I am thrilled to report the robin mentioned last week did indeed nest in the Doublefile Viburnum outside our kitchen window. Perhaps the same robin that nested there last year. Both momma and poppa robin are involved in the homemaking and childrearing, though mom
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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, Carpenter Bee Damage

Carpenter Bees: Friend & Foe

Hello Fellow Readers, How about all the carpenters buzzing about – eastern carpenter bees, that is. Xylocopa virginica, the most common species, is wreaking havoc on my neighbor’s deck, not because of their yen to eat wood. Rather, they’re nesting. Please don’t hold their carpen
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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, Lichen on trees, Moss on trees

Liking Lichen & Moss

Hello Fellow Readers, Last week’s column about removing moss from retaining walls (an idea I don’t favor as stark walls softened by mossy volunteers is magnificent) inspired questions about removing moss and lichen from tree trunks. But there’s no reason to remove it
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