Living Christmas Trees
Living Christmas trees are container-grown or balled and burlapped Christmas trees that can be planted as landscape trees after the holiday season. This way of enjoying a Christmas tree is practical...
Author: Robert F. Polomski
Spring-Flowering Bulbs
Flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and crocus are some of the earliest flowers to appear in gardens each year, some starting to bloom as early as January. Many will bloom and...
Fertilizing Trees & Shrubs
Trees and shrubs are living investments that grow in value each year. The foundation of their longevity starts with selecting and siting adapted plants and proper planting. After the plants become...
This Month in Your Garden- November 2023
Coastal Region- Christopher Burtt The first frost of the autumn can occur between October 15th – November 15th depending on the location. Winter protection should be done based on specific...
Got Leaves?
In the fall, I saddle up my white steed, which happens to be a 2007 hatchback, toss in several plastic trash bags and a short-handled rake, and become the Leaf Ranger. I drive through subdivisions...
Virginia Sweetspire
This colorful deciduous shrub, Virginia sweetspire or Virginia-willow (Itea virginica), combines beauty with functionality and durability. Fragrant, white flowers adorn this shrub in late spring,...
Make Some Room for Pawpaws in Your Edible Landscape
You’re familiar with peaches, apples, and pears. But have you heard of pawpaws? Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is an under-appreciated native tree that can be found growing wild from northern Florida to...
Italian Stone Pine Likes My Stingy Approach to Watering
Because I value potable water, I prioritize its use. Edibles and newly planted shrubs and trees, which are highly vulnerable to drought stress, earn the right to receive water from my spigot. When...
Bring on the Heat—Bring on the Blooms with Rose-of-Sharon
I can easily spot rose-of-Sharon or shrub althea (Hibiscus syriacus) at this time of year, even when traveling at 55 mph. This deciduous shrub flowers during the torrid months of July, August, and...
Hydrangea Hysteria
Many believe that “hydrangea hysteria” erupted in 2004 with the debut of the reblooming bigleaf hydrangea, ‘Bailmer,’ now known by its trade name of Endless Summer® The Original. Since this mophead...
Nandina
Nandina, also known as heavenly or sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica), is an attractive heat- and drought-tolerant, evergreen shrub native to East Asia and India. While not a bamboo, nandina...
Sweet on Virginia Sweetspire
I must be selective in the kinds of shrubs and trees I add to my landscape. Very simply: I don’t have the room. Like the village matchmaker, Yente, in Fiddler on the Roof, I match the plant with my...