Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
A Meadow Katydid on a white petal

Nighttime Chorus of Garden Insects

Hello, fellow lover of all things green. While we don’t often see the nighttime chorus of insects from mid-to-late summer into fall, we indeed hear them, and some continue to sing by day, joining the daytime ruckus of the cicadas we spoke about last week. What a choir! They don&
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Cicada

Cicadas Sing Back to School

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. In recent weeks, while recording the podcast, I’ve apologetically mentioned the ruckus of cicadas in the trees. The sounds remind me of a cicada encounter during a garden installation and a reminiscence of how the late summer sounds of c
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a course green leafed Munchkin Oakleaf Hydrangea with pinkish flowers spotted with freckles.

Oakleaf Hydrangea for All Seasons

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Bonnie of Stillwater, NJ, has a Burning Bush planted by her parents, who once lived in the home. She is attached to it and continues to prune it to keep it from rising above her bay window, which may help prevent its invasiveness. But I sugges
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a Mother Earth Face pot with a maroon leaf tall perennial and hakone grass bangs

Overwintering Potted Perennials

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, Typically, my garden ghost routine of covering pots with sheets to keep them from freezing begins in late October. Then, I grow weary of the ritual. Besides, one must accept endings. Now, after migrating from annuals in pots to perennials, the
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a blonde woman, Mary Stone, in sunglasses and a denim shirt hugging a three foot wide water oak trunk.

Giving Thanks for Nature’s Gifts

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, I just returned from being with family in Tennessee and Virginia for Thanksgiving, a treasured time. I hope you enjoyed the holiday too. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, which is timeless and universal. We give thanks for the gifts of life
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a dish towel with green and some ripening tomatoes indoors.

Ripening Fall Tomato Hand-me-Downs

Hello, Fellow Readers, Before the first frost, I harvested the green tomatoes, leaving some for the critters to feed. A lesson I learned from Ed of Bridgewater, NJ, who gave me hand-me-down tomatoes, leading to a refresher on ripening indoors and an easy-peasy way to freeze the overab
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Looking up at the shaggy bark of a shagbark hickory trunk.

Shagbark Hickories – Nutty Mast Years

Hello, Fellow Readers, These are nutty times. Far nuttier than usual in my neck of the woods. The Shagbark Hickory nuts are overabundant and golf ball and size, so much so that walking amongst them is risky for ankle stability. It’s called masting when there’s an excess of
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a dark grey quarter-sized baby snapping turtle in a stream next to native aster blooms

Saving Snapping Turtles Lifts Spirits

Hello, fellow readers, Saving snapping turtles lifts spirits. While walking Jolee, I saw a baby snapping turtle on the side of the road and a momma snapper a week later. I hope you enjoy the story. I walked a quarter of a mile with the quarter-sized baby snapper to a feeder stream, mu
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a lake surrounded by evergreen trees and deciduous trees in their orange and gold fall colors.

Why Some Trees Remain Evergreen

Hello, fellow readers, I always enjoy hiking along the Appalachian Trail with a longtime friend from Boonton, NJ. While meandering the rocky terrain peppered with hemlock and Spruce, Barbara asked why some trees remain evergreen and others don’t. Good question. Let’s ask t
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a large yellow sunflower with a honeybee standing in front of a field of sunflowers.

A Sunflower Maze Brings Happiness

Hello, fellow readers, What a joy to visit Liberty Farm’s Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Sandyston, NJ, who invited us for a special day bringing happiness. It’s their 14th year of growing the maze. Raj Sinha started growing sunflowers when the New Jersey Audubon Society
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