Hello Fellow Readers, Recently I had the privilege of visiting the New York Botanical Gardens with nurserywoman become friend, Holly from Blairstown NJ. It was her idea to see the gardens featuring Brazilian landscape architect Burle Marx before the exhibit closed last week. Designate

Hello Fellow Readers, Fall is an ideal time to plant peonies. Not to say you can’t install them in the spring. But fall-planted peony will more quickly establish and flower sooner; some say a year before. We adore peonies for their magnificent sweet fragrance and palm-size flowers in

Hello Fellow Readers, I received an inquiry about an invasion amongst a patch of pachysandra from Josephine (Jo) of Phillipsburg, NJ. “How do I best get rid of spider warts?” she asked. We shared a back-and-forth email chat that played out like an investigation. “I never heard of spid

Hello Fellow Readers, We spoke a few weeks back about Sarah’s mile-a-minute weedy dilemma in Hope, NJ. She proudly sent photos of the clear-out of her front foundation garden, poised to be a butterfly garden. Sarah asked if there was a list of native deer-resistant butterfly pla

Hello Fellow Readers, Chris from Morristown, NJ, wrote in, “My small Shasta daisies didn’t survive the winter, so I’ll have to choose another variety.  Also, the holly is on a lifeline right now. I’m upset because it was doing well.” Chris is a hardcore DIYer who did an extraordinary

Hello Fellow Readers, Last week’s chat about Dutch clover (Trifolium repens) as a lawn alternative created quite a buzz. Beyond the buzz of our happy pollinators scurrying from bloom to bloom. It seems the algae bloom on New Jersey’s Lake Hopatcong has brought the devastating di

Hello Fellow Readers, A few weeks back I dug in with Andrew of Sparta NJ who wished to enhance his gardens in time for hosting pre-prom photos for his daughter. He was expecting sixty with friends and parents. I recall how Jessica came home from school eleven years ago when I first wo

Hello Fellow Readers, Planting spring flowering bulbs brings the excitement of the anticipation of their emergence. Showing their little faces as dear Mom used to say, though I have no memory of planting bulbs as her gardening apprentice. Truth is, I’m a bit of a bulb newbie which may

Hello Fellow Readers, I recently heard from John of Sparta NJ. I’ve heard from him periodically over the last eleven years for which I am wholeheartedly grateful. He’s been providing updates on his mother and father-in-law; my former in-laws, who I dearly love. Sadly, he shared that D

Hello Fellow Readers, I am thrilled to report the robin mentioned last week did indeed nest in the Doublefile Viburnum outside our kitchen window. Perhaps the same robin that nested there last year. Both momma and poppa robin are involved in the homemaking and childrearing, though mom