Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
Slide titled “Attracting Beneficials with Flowers – Pollen & Nectar” showing a monarch butterfly feeding among yellow and orange wildflowers.

Inviting Beneficial Garden Guests

Do hard winters really curb “bad bugs”? A reader’s question opens the door to a deeper conversation about beneficial insects, plant diversity, and why harmony — not eradication — is the key to resilient gardens and balanced lives.
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Red barns and tall silos reflected in calm winter pond water create a peaceful rural landscape of symmetry, stillness, and quiet seasonal beauty.

Reflections in the Garden of Life

In winter’s stillness, reflections reveal what shadows alone cannot. From mirrored ponds to garden design and the quiet wisdom of roots beneath the soil, this post explores how nature teaches us about healing, self-awareness, and the promise of spring in the garden of life.
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a dark purple blooming clematis climbing on an obelisk

Plants Inspire-Turning Over a New Leaf

Hello fellow readers,  A New Year, just as birthdays, gifts the opportunity to start fresh—maybe to begin new things or improve upon others. A chance for turning over a new leaf, as they say. One new leaf I’d like to turn over is sharing more of how plants inspire our lives. Let
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A taupe colored toad among coral bells in a garden.

Healing in the Garden of Life

Hello fellow readers, While the official start of fall has begun, the heat and humidity return after the late summer cooling spell has Mother Nature confused. I heard spring peepers the other evening while sitting on the screened porch. And, there’s early leaf drop on certain tr
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mike Dooley, Garden of Life, Jonathan Taylor

“It wants to fly”

  “It wants to fly,” explained Jonathan Taylor as we were taking off. I shivering inside surely due to the below freezing temps (not). Jon, I called him then, is long ago friend from my NYC radio days at Kiss-FM. Last Saturday he visited by way of plane. During breakfast at the R
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach and Speaker,Mike Dooley, Garden of Life, Plant Vison Board

Loving your Garden of Life

Hello Fellow Readers, I find inspiration in the wisdom of Mike Dooley, a speaker and author including New York Times bestsellers. I’ve had the privilege of chatting with Mike a few years back in Philadelphia while attending one of his talks. I thought I’d share insights ga
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