Sally grew up playing in the Maryland woods, and would still do it often if life allowed! Graduate of University of Maryland, her degree is in Agriculture. Gardens and natural areas give her endless opportunity for learning and wonder. Naturally (pun intended) her garden style leans towards the casual, and her cultural methods towards organic. She likes to try new plants, and have "some of everything" in her indoor and outdoor gardens. Thanks go to her parents for passing along their love of gardening and nature, and her husband and kids for being patient when she gets lost in the garden. Follow her on Google.
Yes, you can have bright perennial bloom in woodland shade. Read More
Is your lawn looking a little thin and pale these days? Summer is hard on the fescue and bluegrass blend lawns that cover most yards in the relatively cooler, more humid zones of the United States. Cool-season grasses need some help recuperating this fall to reach full potential next spring. Read More
Yellowroot is rare in the nursery trade but this small shrub is native across eastern North America and featured at renowned arboreta such as Arnold in Massachusetts and JC Raulston in North Carolina. Read More
If you can grow anything, in pots or in the ground, you can grow the beginner herbs: basil, parsley, and chives. Read More
There you are wandering the aisles of the big box store or huge nursery. The helpful sales person stumps you with his first question-"Are you looking for annuals or perennials?" Well, what are annuals anyway? Read More
I slowly turned the catalog pages, feeling a certain ennui. One more seed packet between me and the limit on minimum shipping, one more 95 cents in the budget to add that "je ne sais quoi" to my garden this year. I chose chervil, a delicate "French" herb, to add to the lovely tangle of my garden, and inspire my cuisine as well. Read More
New human cases of Lyme disease number 20,000 to 30,000 each year in the US. Read More
Many of us struggle to grow potted plants in a home or office. We'd be in for some surprises if we saw the same plants growing in their preferred conditions. Read More
If you love forsythia, stop reading. If you are devoted to North American native shrubs, please avert your eyes. This is about a group of ornamental shrubs, native to Asia, which bear charming yellow flowers in late winter- genus Corylopsis, the winterhazels. Read More
North of the Catskills and west of Vermont, in northeastern New York State, lie the Adirondack Mountains. Their rugged forests and sparkling lakes have a special wilderness beauty. This was a popular vacation spot and health retreat in the early nineteenth century. Home region of Lake Placid and the headwaters of the Hudson River, this are was also the birthplace of an American classic, the Adirondack chair. Read More
Are you chomping at the bit, (er, hoe?) in early spring? Get started early by planting onion sets for green onions, or take scallions to the next level with seeds for bunching onion varieties. Either way, you'll soon enjoy crisp tangy scallions from the garden. Read More
For most of my American lifetime, the term cider meant "a fresh apple drink you buy in fall as an homage to harvest." In other times and places, cider has always meant "an apple drink which ferments, with or without human help, into a tangy alcoholic beverage and agricultural commodity." Read More
The cooler weather of autumn inspires many to harvest a few more glorious hours in the home garden. And why not, when there is so much gardening still to do? Read More
A new way to grow pumpkins? Cute little “pumpkins on a stick” may be showing up at a farm stand near you this harvest season. But what are they? Read More
Getting rainwater into a barrel is not too tricky. The challenges lie in avoiding drainage problems and getting the water out of the barrel to your garden. Hence rain barrel accessories. Read More
With gorgeous fall color, Fothergilla (witch-alder) should be more well known to gardeners. This native shrub deserves the spotlight for its fall foliage show. Spring flowers, ease of care, and versatility round out a profile of an excellent candidate for many landscapes. (Did I mention the gorgeous fall color?) Read More
The curse of the green thumb: you grow more plants than you can possibly make room for. Read More
Rain chains are hundreds of years old, and one of the newest trends in jazzing up the home landscape. Pretty and practical combined, they can be purchased or crafted at home from a variety of materials. Read More
One of our most familiar insects, whether you garden or not, is the field cricket. Read More
So simple: one big flower on a stem. So complex: each flower holds hundreds of seeds and each seed holds countless genes. Within the simple North American sunflower lay the genetic material that allowed humans to develop the species into a worldwide crop. Read More
