Summer, Finally!

It's been a gloomy, rainy, June however we are being rewarded with plenty of sunshine and flower blooms the past few days. June is perennial gardening month, (according to the Perennial Plant Association ) and driving around visiting several of my clients gardens I can see why! The PPA is a valuable online resource for perennial plants. If you are a beginner gardener the perennial plant of the year list is great selection to start with.

Photo to the right is from 1 year old garden in West Chester, PA. The purple flowering perennial is the 2007 plant of the year, Nepeta 'Walker's Low'. A constant plant in my garden design, nepeta, or catmint, is fantastic when used in a sunny location, preferably at the border of the garden. They are drought tolerant once established and after the first wave of flowering occurs, trim back to 6" and watch them perform again! Oh did I mention they are deer resistant and the bees and butterflies love them! Combine with spiraea and ornamental grasses for a winning trio. Other plants in this photo include 'Gold Star' junipers, 'Bailhalo' red stem dogwood shrub, 'Gateway' Joe-Pye weed (not really a weed but a terrific native late summer flowering butterfly magnet), and the large evergreen is 'Yoshino' Japanese cryptomeria, which also is deer resistant.

Visit the PPA for additional perennial plant information and their plant of the year list at http://www.perennialplant.org/index.asp

Brake for the Turtles

While stopping by one of my clients last week I noticed a large object in the road up ahead. As I approached I slowed down and was surprised to see this snapping turtle. The turtles mate from April through November, with their peak egg laying season in June and July. So be careful out there on our roadways and remember to slow down a give a turtle a break!

guerrilla gardening???

A few nights ago I caught the tail end of the evening national news. I was delighted to see a report on a British gardeners efforts to beautiful the world around him. It is catching on all around the globe. Check it out! http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html

Stop and enjoy the flowering trees!

This week is a peak time to drive around and enjoy the flowering trees. Our native redbuds and dogwoods are in full bloom. I was at a prospective clients property on Tuesday and walked by this pink dogwood in full bloom. I had to take a photo. If you are unfamiliar with the legend of the dogwood take a minute and google it. My grandmother told me about the legend as a child and whenever someone asks me for a tree to memorialize a loved one I usually recommend a dogwood.

Earth Day! Arbor Day! Springfest! What a week!

Well despite the cool temperatures and soaking rains we are coming up on one of my most favorite weeks of the year.

My earliest memory of Earth Day was in elementary school, many moons ago, cleaning up the wood line adjacent to our playground. We picked up debris that had flown in from the winter winds. Our Rotary club sponsors a highway roadside cleanup twice a year, in fact they did so this past weekend. It sounds simple but if everyone took the time this week to go out and clean-up their yard, neighborhood, town the world and you would be all the better for it.

Arbor day has always had a special place in my being. I strive to plant at least one tree a year as a remembrance of someone or event. In years past I have planted a tree to memorialize a loved one, celebrate a new life, repair or beautify the environment. I can recount planting each one with clarity and enjoy passing by and noting their growth. As the saying goes 'plant a tree for tomorrow, not today'.

Not even the weather will keep me from enjoying this great week of the year!



W.D. Wells fellow designers and myself will be selling trees, shrubs and perennials at the second annual Anson B. Nixon spring fest in Kennett Square. Please join us! For more info please visit http://www.springfestinthepark.org/Services.html

Trimming Ornamental Grasses

It's that time of year when we get out into the garden and clean-up for another season in the garden. I always get the question of when to cut back ornamental grasses, to which I always say now. I prefer to leave the golden foliage up through the winter as opposed to cutting the grasses back in the fall. Either time you will not harm the grasses, it's just a gardeners personal preference. I love their contrast against a new fallen snow or in front of some evergreens.

This spring I have noticed incorrect horticultural practices when cutting grasses back. I have seen grasses not cut back far enough to the ground. I have seen grasses sheared like shrubs. The photo shows the correct way to to trim them back to the ground. Easiest way to trim is a sharp pair of hand pruners or shears. If you have numerous and larger clumps in the garden then electric or gas powered hedge shears make quick work of it.

Spring is in the house!

Last Tuesday afternoon while playing at the neighborhood play set with my son I noticed the 50' long forsythia hedge budding up nicely. Desperate for spring to arrive I took some cuttings from the hedge. They went straight into the vase with water and the past few days I am enjoying the blooms! You can also cut those early flowering daffodils and enjoy inside. It only take a few minutes, saves a trip to the florist, saves you money, does not harm the plants, and will definitely cheer you up. Why wouldn't you do it!