Every tiny seed holds a bit of life, stored efficiently enough that it can spring into growth in some future time when conditions permit. The saying goes that every acorn holds the potential for a future forest of oaks. Although that acorn will grow into only a single tree, each tree can produce millions of acorns during its lifespan. A ripened seed, the DNA for a new plant, contains stored proteins, carbohydrates and minerals in its cotyledon, and a...
A friend showed me a video she had taken in her backyard of hummingbirds swarming around one of her feeders. She loves hummingbirds and works hard to attract and care for them. She plants containers filled with flowers she knows they like, and maintains multiple feeders kept stocked with sugar water. She told me that she has several tiny feeders on stakes that she places among the flowers in her containers. There were so many tiny birds flying about...
Autumn is like a second spring in our coastal Virginia climate. We will enjoy another 90-100 frost-free days from August 1 until the end of our active growing season in early November. Even then, there is still plenty to enjoy in our gardens and plenty to do during the colder months. We can plant seeds, plugs, and bulbs in August that will continue producing flowers, root crops, herbs, and leafy greens in the months ahead. With so much time...
Enthusiastic gardeners begin planning, planting, and preparing for the season to come at the first hint of spring. Some of us may still be planting daffodils in December or January and watch for the first snowdrops to appear as the last bulbs go into the ground. There is very little break during winter. We are always watching the progress of our gardens and exploring sustainable gardening practices. And our hearts remain filled with hope for the seasons to come....
Maybe it will rain, and maybe it won’t. It has been unusually dry in our area for the past several months. Some of the little starts I planted with high hopes in March and April have been struggling to take hold. I need to water large areas of our garden several times a week, as though it were July already. And regular irrigation just isn’t an option for many gardeners. We are relatively fortunate in coastal Virginia because we...
The Historic Red, White and Blue Red, White and Blue is the iconic color scheme of an American summer. These colors each have deep meanings and various interpretations. American revolutionaries adopted these colors for our colonial flags beginning in 1776. Yet red, white and blue were also the colors of the British flag, and the British Red Ensign Flag, a field of red with a Union Jack in the upper left corner, which flew over Colonial and British ships from...
Memorial Day is more than just another Federal Holiday. This is the day we set aside to honor all who have lost their lives while protecting and fighting for our country. Since 1868, when it was originally called Decoration Day (officially becoming Memorial Day in 1938) this was the time for our nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Each year flowers and wreaths are placed in front of veterans’ headstones in ceremonies across our Nation. Magnificent...
The sweet fragrance of Magnolia flowers on a warm breeze announces summer in Virginia. But that wasn’t the case 400 years ago, before European colonists began exploring for interesting tree species, transplanting them to new areas, and exporting them back to Europe. The original native range of Magnolia grandiflora is only from the Carolinas south to Florida and westwards towards Texas along the Gulf Coast. Our iconic Southern Magnolia trees aren’t indigenous in this region, but they have since...
When you’re planning a new garden, do you look for a sunny spot or for a bit of shade? That used to be an easy decision. We all know that plants need good light to grow well. Gardening books used to advise anyone planting a small vegetable garden or flower bed to watch how the sun moves across the sky and how the shadows fall across their yard to select a good sunny spot to break ground. Traditional gardeners...
I love finding mountain laurel growing in large, lovely masses in the wild. Its creamy pink flowers glow softly in the forest. Wild mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, sometimes grows along the undeveloped banks of creeks and rivers in Eastern Virginia. It grows as an understory shrub in our oak, beach and pine forests. These evergreen shrubs, almost small trees, simply blend into the fabric of the woods through much of the year before bursting into bloom, suddenly elegant and...