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

Rhubarb Edible vs. Ornamental

Edible rhubarb can be attractive in a garden, but it's the ornamental, not-edible kind that makes a dramatic, almost prehistoric-looking focal point in your garden. Find out about some of the favs.
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design,deer resistant plants

Springfest Lecture : Deer Resistant Plants

Hello fellow readers, There was standing room only for our talk on Deer Resistant Plants You May Not Know About at the Springfest Garden Show. Thanks to all of you for being there. It was a joy meet you! We started our presentation with a rant of antics we do to keep deer at bay. Like
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a tree trunk in a snow woods with holes made by a Pileated Woodpecker

Mischievous Pileated Woodpecker

Hello fellow readers, How much wood can a woodpecker peck when a woodpecker can peck wood? The answer is – lots! It’s true, the jingle is usually about a woodchuck, but it was the first thing that came to mind when I heard from Barbara of Sparta, NJ, who has a mischievous
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Fergus Garrett, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design

Lessons from Great Dixter

Hello Fellow Readers, On a recent frigid afternoon, a light dusting underway and uncertainty when the snow could wreak havoc, I joined a hundred and a half other Fergus Garett fans at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township. Fergus Garett is a gardening rock star of sorts to di
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woman in a maroon sweatshirt pointing to a table of starter plants with grow lights

Green with Envy Seed Starting Tips

Hello Fellow Readers, I learned from Patti of Little Big Farm in Blairstown that she started seeds in early February, which piqued my curiosity; actually, it made me green with envy. Aren’t we all longing for green? The rule of thumb is eight weeks before the last frost date is
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Indoor Plant Care, Garden Dilemmas Ask Mary Stone, Stone Associates, Landscape Design, New Jersey Landscape Designer , Garden Blog, Garden Tips

Indoor Plant Intervention

Hello fellow readers, This time of year my indoor plants start to show signs of distress. Which, frankly, may have to do with over doting; that’s my gardening term for overwatering and maybe overfeeding. Because of the dry heat indoors, watering your indoor plants can be tricky. It’s
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lunar gardening with a full moon in a cloudy night sky

Planting by the Moon

Hello fellow readers, Did you notice the full moon lighting up our nighttime snow-scape last week? No flashlights are needed. It made me think of planting by the moon’s phases, a practice as old as agriculture. True, it’s primarily based on legend, but there are scientific concepts to
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Mary Stone, Garden dilemmas Ask Mary Stone, Gardening Tips, Garden Blog

Blank Wall Dilemma

Hello fellow readers, Kelly from Forks Township shared that she stares at a blank wall.  It’s their detached garage which sits directly behind the house and is covered with asbestos siding.  Having small children, she’d like to protect the wall from damage ‘by sports balls and the lik
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a seed catalog opened to assorted colors of peppers on a wooden table.

Favorite Seed Catalogs

Hello, fellow readers, It’s been fun hearing about your favorite seed catalogs. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is one of my favorites, too. And what a history of the American Dream! At age 3, owner Jere Gettle began growing plants, and in 1998, at 17, he printed his first catalog. S
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Garden Dilemmas Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Landscape Designer, Stone Associates

Seed Fairies

Hello fellow readers, Last week The Press published a wonderful quote by Robert Brault. ‘In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy.’ Turns out the day before it published I happened to speak with the seed fairies at Catherine Dickson Hofman Library in Blairstow
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