Hello Fellow Readers, (Excuse the late posting of this week’s column. I’ve been hobbling along without internet since last Tuesday’s Wizard of Oz storm. Humbling!) We have the green light for annuals based on the wisdom to wait until after the last frost date, typica

Hello Fellow Readers, “Plant more plants” was music to my ears shared by Claudia West at the recent NJ Plants tradeshow held in Edison NJ. Claudia is the Ecological Sales Representative of North Creek Nurseries; my go-to wholesale propagation nursery in Landenberg PA. Her presentation

Hello fellow readers, Recently Katie of Piscataway NJ shared her ‘horrible backyard dilemma.’ Her home was once her Dad’s which peaked my curiosity. How could her Dad’s backyard be so horrible? It turns out the neighbor’s bamboo has taken over. At first glance bamboo seems appealing.

Hello fellow readers, Last week I shared the desperate measure of hacking back viburnums plagued with aphids. Ironically, Betsy from Stone Church PA asked about using castor beans in her garden which is what I planted to camouflage the ‘uglies’ of the leafless sticks while the viburnu

Hello fellow readers, I love when folks send pictures of their gardens especially when their plants make new babies. Kathy of Andover sent a picture of her baby yarrows. The dilemma though, is she has more babies than she can handle. Yarrow are indeed ambitious plants native to most o

Hello fellow readers, I had the privilege of visiting the in-process plants for the upcoming 20th Anniversary of the Springfest Garden Show. Meadowbrook Farms of Jenkintown PA is major player in propagating plants for the Philadelphia Flower Show as well. My colleague Marty Carson of

Hello fellow readers, Greetings from Cape May where I am enjoying a fall respite. Cape May is at the very end of New Jersey and has attracted vacationers since the mid-18th century designating it as the country’s oldest seaside resort. In 1878 a fire destroyed much of the town c

Hello fellow readers, Last week we spoke about how fall is a great time for planting most trees and shrubs. What about perennials asked Dorothy of Bangor? By and large I prefer spring for planting most new perennials. But if you can’t resist a bargain, fall can work just fine. In fact

Hello fellow readers, Last week Queen Anne created quite a buzz and this week we have the Bachelor to talk about – Bachelor Buttons, Centaurea cyanus, also known as cornflower. They’re an old fashioned flower that have beautified gardens for centuries, first in Europe just

Hello Fellow readers, I met with Melanie of Newton who asked if the perennial sweet peas covering her pool fence are edible. They sure look so; dead ringers to peas in your veggie garden. Some say you can as long as you don’t eat too many of them. Turns out it’s the flowers not the se