Gardening Tips

Lenten roses, Helleborus orientalis, are perennial flowering plants that thrive in shady gardens on the Eastern Shore. They prefer the light shade provided by deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the fall) but can often tolerate a sunny garden spot. Lenten...

February may be cold, but as soon as the temperatures begin to warm up one of the first signs of spring is the early species crocus. They will poke their green-and-white spiked foliage out of the ground first, and even thrive when there is snow on the ground. When the...

The All-America Selections is a non-profit independent organization that tests new varieties of seeds or plants for home gardeners all over the United States. Its mission is “to promote new garden varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials...

Holly branches decked with glossy green leaves and bright red berries brighten up the winter landscape and also homes during the holidays. There are a lot of different holly from around the world that thrive in our Eastern Shore landscapes including our own Native...

Cornus florida is the botanical name of a beautiful flowering dogwood that graces our native woodlands and our landscapes. The best way to keep the dogwoods healthy is to find a place to plant them close to where they like to live in the wild. It is easy because the...

October is the month that the grasses change color from green, blue-green or gold-green to amber, purple or golden yellow and transform tiny flowers to beautiful seed heads. These are not the lawn grasses but the grasses that provide bold accents to the landscape,...

Dawn Redwood is an interesting tree that looks like it should be an evergreen but loses its leaves every fall and grows new foliage every spring. It looks very similar to the native Bald Cypress in the size and shape of the tree and the way the foliage is soft to the...

New York Asters, sometimes called “Michaelmas daisy, ”are native plants that burst into bloom in August filling the late summer gardens with daisy-shaped flowers in blues, purples, pinks and white — and some of them have double blooms. They can grow three to five feet...

Hydrangea paniculata, or the “Panicle Hydrangea,” is one of the most cold hardy of all the hydrangea — and because they bloom on current seasons growth, they are guaranteed to bloom every summer. These beautiful shrubs grow 10-20 feet tall depending on the variety,...

Asclepias tuberosa or the common butterfly weed is one of many native herbaceous perennials that burst into full bloom in June. The plants have very thick roots and form a mounded clump of green foliage in May, then in June the beautiful flowers begin to open, a...