With care, fall mums can be part of springtime planting next year
After the smiles on Jack O’ Lanterns start to droop to the side, most folks are tempted to toss their whole fall setup and move on to the next holiday. While those pumpkins can enjoy a second life as compost, taking a little care of the mums in your fall display can...
Sweet potatoes step up to plate
The local farmstands and farmers’ markets that are still open may not have the summer favorites anymore, but sweet potatoes are in stock as its rise in popularity continues. During World War II, sweet potatoes had a heyday, with about 3 billion pounds produced...
Become a basket case in the winter
As winter approaches, hanging baskets and planter boxes aren’t necessarily something you need to store away with the lawn furniture. Spruced up correctly, they can “hang out” and look festive through the winter months without looking like leftover Halloween décor. The...
Extend that growing season
With temperate weather lasting well into October this year, did it seem a shame to put the vegetable garden to bed? Were you tempted to keep right on growing, even as the air got crisper and the leaves continued to fall? Can you imagine serving freshly picked tomatoes...
Delaware Botanic Garden opens
It takes your breath away. The two-acre Meadow Garden at the newly-opened Delaware Botanic Garden in Sussex County was designed by world-renowned landscape designer Piet Oudulf. It is probably why you made the trip, but until you see it in person, you are not prepared...
Need sleep? Houseplants can help
Do you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting enough sleep? If you do, you’ve got lots of company. You’ve also got a slew of experts studying the problem, plus plenty of wellness prophets hoping to sell you on their solutions. If you’re too...
Artful pumpkins are a touch of glass
Fall is forever pumpkin season. But handcrafting, instead of planting, creates some of today’s hottest varietals, harvested from molten glass, plush velvet and sparkling Swarovski crystals. From the Corning Museum of Glass in New York to the Morton Arboretum in...
Espalier fruit trees definitely worth the fruits of the labor
When apple season arrives, the dream of enjoying one’s very own apple orchard often beckons. That dream may seem out of reach to those with downsized yards, but it doesn’t have to be. With recent talk of food scaping, it’s worth exploring a vintage version of edible...
There’s no shortage of ghost walk tours in Shore’s older towns
Leading up to Halloween, houses, meeting halls, corn mazes and woodland trails get converted to fright-filled fall events with plastic masks, fake blood and any other manner of deceptive gore. But the creepy histories of some of the oldest towns on the Eastern Shore...
The Joy of Sedum
The succulents known as sedums are renowned for bringing joy to even the least practiced gardener. Available in about 500 varieties, they’re among the most fuss-free florae to grow and care for, easy-going about soil type and water required (as succulents, they carry...
Critters have ways of finding survival mode for cold weather
When you hear the word hibernation do you automatically envision a bear gorging himself on salmon in preparation for the long winter months ahead? Afterwards, he will retreat into his warm cave to sleep away the season and emerge much thinner and simply famished as...
Learn how you can can fall’s bounty
With Labor Day coming relatively early this year, thoughts have quickly moved from care-free summer fun to back-to-school nights, pumpkin spice lattes, and fall harvest festivals. For some, Labor Day may even signal the imminent closing of your local farmers’ market —...
‘It’s perfect:’ Lister running on wings of her two passions
At the end of last year, Jessica Lister was searching for a race. An avid runner and obstacle course racer, Lister wanted to find a race she could zero in on with a singular focus. When she came across an article announcing the Monarch Ultra Run, it was as if she had...
Get to the root of the matter
Summer is a time of good intentions — but it’s also just too good a time to be either busy exploring or busy being lazy. If you are headed back from (finally) putting your kids on the bus and notice the sad, root-bound plants left in your mudroom, don’t worry — you...
Allergens: Blame it on the boys
Autumn will be strutting herself soon in breath-taking splendor. Along with those colors however, for many people, comes the sneezing, wheezing, coughing and spitting caused by allergies. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, up to 40...
Yard Sale Confidential: Cambridge edition
t’s 8 a.m., another sultry summer Saturday in Cambridge. But the blazing sun’s no problem for the yard sale faithful, eager to scavenge for “fresh stuff.” Most have been at it since 7 a.m. for first crack at the “best stuff.” On this particular morning I rejoined...
Tilghman Islanders have pick of crop
Enthusiasm does not begin to describe what Kathy Pearson exudes while talking about the community gardens she tends at Phillips Wharf Environmental Center on Tilghman Island. “This is the first time I’ve actually done box gardening,” she says. “And I am now looking...
Make that beach vibe last forever
At the end of the summer, chances are, there are sandy seashells stuck in your beach bag, cubbies of your car and other inconspicuous places little hands may drop them. Instead of setting your treasures aside, spend those last sweet days of summer making them into a...
Conservation goes to the dogs
Police and the military have long deployed dogs’ enhanced sense of smell to locate people, cadavers, drugs, weapons and explosives. Health care professionals, too, have brought canine olfactory capabilities into service while sniffing out diseases. Now, dog noses are...
Seeking shade from the sun
With the sweltering, record-setting heat of the summer, homeowners are seeking an effective and essential solution. According to James Curdts of Chesapeake Awnings in Easton “business is going through the roof.” Awnings are in fashion again. The most used material is...
Lavender as useful as its loveliness
Lavender is one of the most popular of all herbs for the fragrance of its dried flowers and the oil distilled from them. It is used most often in sachets, perfumes, and baking as its aroma is touted for its relaxing powers over the senses and the body. As summer...
