Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Sweat Pea, Lathyrus latifolius , Perennial Sweat Pea

Hello Sweet Pea

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
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Choosing Produce

Produce Abuse

Hello fellow readers, Can you believe we’ve been chatting for 165 weeks? I am so grateful for all we have learned from each other.  I hope you don’t mind that I revisited one of our early columns from 2012. Let’s just say, I’m concerned about produce abuse and thought we could help by
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Ruth Ratcliff, Bumble Bee, Bee Balm, Monarda

Ruth’s Attraction

My dear friend Ruth shared this photo and Happy Bumble Bee Video of her newly acquired Monarda commonly called Bee Balm and for good reason; it’s a Bee Magnet! By the way, Ruth is incredibly attractive too. And, her gardening fortitude and talents tends to make the rest of us lo
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Hardening Off, Annuals

Annual Softies

Hello fellow readers, Nancy of Fredon wrote, ‘Hi there gardening guru, I have a problem that seems to be an issue every year. My annual flowers do not do well in my perennial beds. They grow slowly or not at all and turn yellow. The same plants in a planter do just fine and my perenni
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the sun below a cloud in a golden yellow sky

The How-to of Soil Solarization

Hello fellow readers, Last week, we spoke about George’s weedy invasion resulting in the need for a garden do-over. Thankfully, he opted for a more organic approach, including a non-chemical remedy called soil solarization. Here’s how. Preparing your garden for planting is
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a white nest of Eastern Tent Caterpillars in the crotch of a tree.

Diehard Campers -Tent Caterpillars

Hello fellow readers, It’s the unofficial start to summer which brings on outdoor activities and vacations including tent camping for diehards. Ben from Bangor asked what to do about the wormy things building tents in the crevices of his cherry tree right above his grill. Easter
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Daffodils

A daffy sunset

Curt snagged this shot of the rock garden with his phone on Saturday. If I recall the plant I planted in front of the daffodils is Spiraea japonica ‘Golden Elf’ / Golden Elf Japanese Spirea Hardy in zones 4-9. This yellow leaved cutie only grows to 6-8 inches high and has
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, overwinter parsley

Parsley Surprise

I finally finished my Fall cleanup. I know, it’s Spring. But you know how things get away from you; then the snow came and covered the evidence of my garden neglect. Look what I uncovered – my Parsley made a comeback! I’m tickled pink. (Not sure why tickling makes you pink… or w
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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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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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