GARDEN DILEMMAS? ASK MARY!

Hello fellow readers, Snowdrops and Winter Aconite are in bloom leading me to the folklore of the winter flowers. And how Snowdrops, known as Candlemas Bells, are featured on Candlemas Day, representing hope. You likely know the most famous legend for March – In like a lion, out like

Hello fellow readers, What a delight to help a lifelong friend plan a more sustainable backyard by removing turf and putting in a lawn alternative and native plants to nurture nature. Part of the criteria for a grant, which will fund some of the project’s expenses, is to include

Hello fellow readers, A fence installed by upset neighbors leads to a story about forcing Forsythia to bloom indoors while propagating new plants in hopes of mending fences. Over the weekend, we took a stroll instead of our usual vigorous walk. I let Jolee sniff, roll in the dry grass

Hello fellow readers, Color in our gardens and containers impacts our lives. Then there are the other elements of the design—one of the most miraculous elements of nature, gardens, and ourselves is unseen. What fun to attend the annual conference hosted by the NJ Landscape & Nurse

Hello fellow readers; Sara from Oxford, NJ, asked how to prepare a plot for starting an organic garden. She suspects the previous owners used chemicals, as when they moved in, the lawn “looked like a golf course.” Kudos Sara. It’s wise to consider the prior use of ch

Hello fellow readers, The seasons of gardening relate to the cycles in our garden of life. In the early season of life, we don’t have choices. Like seeds, we live with what we were handed and where we landed. We are born into a family, a culture, and a country where we will grow

Hello fellow readers, We ventured to Blue Mountain Lake, part of the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area, on Sunday, having not visited since last May when I shared the Flora & Reflections. In winter, evergreens take center stage, and it was fun to see all the young white pines a

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 was feeding on the f

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