New hardiness map shifts shore half a zone
During gardening’s winter off-season, gardeners stay active looking ahead to spring, eagerly perusing seed catalogs, making notes, and placing orders. Of all the vital pre-planting particulars armchair growers doublecheck first, the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map...
Have yourself some merry little holly
Each holiday season, a bevy of beloved botanicals take center stage. These include the array of fir, spruce, and pine trees serving as the home’s focal point. Picturesque Poinsettias fill up tabletops, adding festive pops of color. But among the most iconic yuletide...
Big Rooster Mall finds its perch
United by a love of antiques and collectibles, a team of artisan enthusiasts has created a new spot in Talbot County for shoppers to crow about. The Big Rooster Mall, part of the Le Hatchery Galleria, opened last month on Kemp Lane in Easton, housing more than two...
Holiday Side Dishes
Milby’s fox and hounds relive history
If you are cruising down Three Bridge Branch Road in Cordova, you might see quite the sight of about 20 hounds running out in the sun coming over the slope of the hill. While I swear it looks like some of the dogs are smiling, they are of course only silhouettes put...
Keith’s artistic passion takes flight
“What better place for birds, than in a Christmas Tree?” asks artist Ashley Evelyn Keith.. To the lifelong bird lover, the sight of sparrows adorning the branches of her front yard tree fill Keith with delight. As an enthusiastic self-taught artist, it also fills her...
Black walnuts: Flavorful, frustrating backyard bounty
Along with the gently welcoming cascade of falling leaves, autumn sometimes arrives with arresting thumps, followed by clumps of greenish tennis ball sized objects. Those are black walnuts, landing amid the softly crunching brown, gold, and scarlet foliage carpet, if...
Ann Strite-Kurz draws from decades of experience to create embroidery, needlework
Ann Strite-Kurz has a standard response for people who look at her extensive embroidery and needlework collection and ask how she has the patience to make each stitch by hand. Borrowing a friend’s response, she tells them, “You only have to have patience for things...
When’s the time to decorate the tree?
You’ve taken down the fake cobwebs (maybe some real ones, too) and your pumpkins have sunken in and been tossed. From here, you can either savor the simplicity of your home for November or you are one of the people who are eager to deck the halls with boughs of holly...
Learn to protect pollinators in the slow season
Even when they look dry and “dead,” our green spaces are full of life. When we think about plants, for example, we can see that herbaceous perennials seem dry but they are actually just retreating underground, while annuals continue their life cycle by spending the...
Corn maze-ing Grace
Farm kids have long been told to stay out of the corn so they don’t get lost. These days, farm kid or otherwise, everyone is encouraged to meander the stalks in the name of fun with the rising popularity of corn mazes. Corn mazes are now a pumpkin patch mainstay, but...
Gardening podcasts worth tuning in for
While “True Crime” and other crime and mystery podcasts get the most limelight, have you discovered the large niche of home and gardening podcast shows? There is so much to learn from them to improve your own gardening skills and practices, without learning how to...
Capt. Bill Collins knows the art of the decoy
Capt. Bill Collins was in the process of painting the feathers on a Mallard Drake decoy as he shared highlights of his journey to becoming one of the most sought-after decoy carvers and painters in the state of Maryland. “There are two different elements of this art,”...
Artists bringing mural magic home
A most welcome recent trend involves gifted artists transforming bare, wasted public spaces into iconic legacy treasures. But a number of these talented decorative gurus have also created mural magic in private homes. Mural artist Michael Rosato, who started out in...
Fallen leaves: Rake, mow or go with the flow?
As fall foliage colors take over the landscape, shifting from deep greens to cozy browns and reds, it’s only a matter of time before those leaves are hitting the ground. When that happens, conscientious gardeners and homeowners have to decide to either let the leaves...
Enjoying the fruits of their labor
Fall temperatures beckon you to come out of the air conditioning and enjoy the crispness of the air. And while pumpkins steal much of the buzz, apples should truly be acknowledged as a permanent symbol in our American history. Apples may be the Marylin Monroe of...
Comfort foods-Maryland style
As the heat of summer subsides, our yearning for lower humidity and cooler temperatures tends to grow stronger. And so, it seems, do our cravings for some good old-fashioned comfort food. Getting through those foreseeable “r” months before catching any signs of spring...
Delmarva’s late, great tomato canneries
Whether picked from your garden or purchased from local produce stands, fresh tomatoes are hot off the vines this time of year across Maryland. At their peak, fresh tomatoes are prepared in a number of ways such as in gazpacho, salsas, sauces and salads, while many...
Hellebores known to be early bloomers
Hellebores, also known as Lenten Rose, can bloom as early as January in some parts of USDA Hardiness Zone 7, even when there’s snow on the ground. In a recent GrowerTalks webinar sponsored by Pacific Plug and Liner, long-time hellebore breeder Bart Noordhuis offered...
Find holistic energy savings for the ‘whole house’
The costs related to home energy use keep rising, both in terms of dollars and environmental impact. Worse yet, on average more than a third of household energy consumption is wasted through so-called “phantom power” use and small inefficiencies that snowball into a...
Let your kitchen cool off, too
Things are always heating up in the summer, but that doesn’t mean your kitchen has to! While winter calls for warm hearty meals, summer calls for light and fresh — not to mention easy. To ease the dinner and meal rush, take advantage of slower days when you have time...
