“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other word would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet v. Q2 1599 What is in a name? How does naming a thing affect its destiny and how later generations will view it? The story of how a popular native holly came by its name, and how that name destroyed a promising Colonial American industry, demonstrates that names have incredible power to shape the future....
“I use only native plants, native to the planet Earth. I am using indigenous plants; they are indigenous to this part of the universe.” Bill Mollison, Founder and Director of The Permaculture Institute In the Beginning… Let’s begin with the obvious: we live within an ever-changing ecosystem. Europeans came to North America more than four centuries ago, cutting trees, planting fields, building homes and roads. Native Americans also cut trees, built homes, planted fields, hunted, and lived...
A Mystery and A Memory We found several large evergreen shrubs in our new yard that we couldn’t immediately identify, when we moved here over a decade ago. We could pick out the boxwood and Camellias, but we were especially curious about the very tall, open shrubs that the birds loved the most. It was August, and tiny bluish gray drupes were ripening along this shrub’s woody stems. Its leaves were fragrant. Birds gathered in its dense and twiggy...
We can consider winter as the ‘weekend’ of the gardening year, both the last month and the first months of the year when we can enjoy a much-needed rest from the regular routine. A period of rest and renewal restores energy to both the garden and the gardener. It allows us time for reflection on the successes and challenges of seasons past and an opportunity to plan and prepare for the seasons to come. If winter is the weekend,...
There is a special beauty in the form and structure of a bare tree after it has dropped its annual crop of leaves. Like the beauty of a classical statue, one can see the truth of its bones. Leaves, for all of their movement and color, veil the beauty of branches and buds. Looking at a bare tree is a study in pure potential. All of the tree’s life draws inwards to the wood and roots as...
If fragrance is the gate of memory, the spicy aroma of Eastern red cedar takes me back to childhood holidays. My parents would load us in the car, about a week before Christmas, for a drive out to a friend’s farm where we could walk through the meadows in search of our Christmas tree. After a lively debate about the trees we found, Dad would pull out an old handsaw and begin cutting the tree. We would all help...
Vines of all types love our Coastal Virginia climate. Many different species thrive in summer’s heat and humidity, growing by inches each day. They creep across the ground until they encounter something to climb. Their tender, flexible tips reach up and out in search of a support, and then they climb. Benefits of Vines All vines in our area produce flowers and seeds. While some flowers are bright and showy, like the bright orange trumpet creeper, others are nearly...
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...
Container gardening is a great way to garden if you have limited space. Have you ever considered growing native plants in your containers? And what might be even better than this, you ask? Why container gardening with native keystone perennials, of course! Why Keystone Plants? Keystone plants are the “powerhouses” of native plants. While all native plants are beneficial, keystone plants are the linchpins for entire ecosystems, providing crucial resources for the greatest number of insect species. These keystone plants...
How do you fertilize your garden without buying any fertilizer? That is a key question for gardeners and farmers throughout the world today, as it was a key concern for our ancestors who couldn’t purchase commercial fertilizers for their fields. Soil must be fed to remain productive. Many popular crops, like corn and cotton, deplete the soil after just a few years. Our ancestors learned to use many natural fertilizers to keep their soil productive. The Importance of...