Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
a large trunk of a cut hemlock tree showing 200 years of rings.

Talking to Trees on Arbor Day

Hello, Fellow Readers, Arbor Day occurs worldwide at different times of year, depending on the growing season. In the United States, it’s celebrated on the last Friday in April. The origin of Arbor Day here dates back to 1872, when J. Sterling Morton, President Cleveland’s
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Preparing your winter garden, Butterfly Bush Invasive, fall garden cleanup

Preparing for Winter Gardens

Hello fellow readers, It’s the time of year for tending to leaves and tidying our gardens for a long winter’s rest. The truth is, though, our gardens don’t rest. The fallen leaves and decaying plant material provide nourishment for next year’s growth by decompo
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Goldenrod Invasive

Is Goldenrod Invasive?

Hello fellow readers. We chatted about Late-Season Bloomers (link below). An old friend, naturalist, and bird photographer, Mike Niven of Coatesville, PA, wrote that his Joe-Pye weed, one of the fall beauties, grew unusually tall this year, likely due to plentiful rains. He then asked
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Bright yellow daisy-like flowers of Swamp Sunflower near a lake.

Sexy Native Plants

Hello Fellow Readers, I didn’t realize until Bruce Crawford, Director of Rutgers Gardens, emailed the plant list for his recent lecture titled Sexy Native Plants. In the NJ Plants tradeshow held in Edison, NJ, the G-rated version was Native Plants for Native Pollinators. And these bab
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