What do you consider when choosing plants for your home and yard? We all have a checklist of criteria in the back of our minds. Our criteria are very personal to our own needs and situation. You may not purchase and plant as many plants as I do each year, but I’m sure that you enjoy the choosing and the planting just as much. We gardeners have been encouraged to plant more native plants for quite a...
You’re invited to a free lecture by renowned author and ornithologist, Dr. Colin Rees, compliments of the James City County Williamsburg Master Gardener Association. It will be held at the Williamsburg Regional Library Auditorium on Thursday, August 11, 9-10 am. and also on Zoom; dial-in information follows. Our speaker, Dr. Colin Rees, was with the World Bank as a biodiversity specialist and a professor of Zoology at the University of Maryland. He is one of the developers and founders of...
A family of rabbits gathers each evening at dusk to nibble their way through the clover and creeping Charlie that populate our front ‘lawn.’ They prefer to nibble plants that we don’t cultivate and won’t miss. A motley mix of volunteer species, interspersed with a few grasses, grow in the open space between the patio and hedge. While we call it a ‘bee lawn,’ others might say our lawn is infested with weeds. What is a Weed? Any plant growing...
The Water-Wise Demonstration Project is located in front of the Human Services Center (HSC) at 5249 Olde Towne Road (shown here). About 10,500 people walk through this garden each year. They are generally families, often bilingual, seeking social services and affordable health services. Our water-wise garden provides a peaceful setting for them, showcasing a variety of drought-tolerant perennial plants in a low-maintenance, low-water setting. This year we’re reaching out in English and Spanish by posting what is blooming on a...
A friend was excited to buy milkweed plants at a WBG plant sale several years ago. They aren’t easy to find commercially, and few people raise them from seed. When I saw her again a few weeks later, I inquired about how her plants were doing. “Oh, I must have done something wrong. They’re not looking so good. Most of the leaves have disappeared,” she replied. I quickly reassured her that it was unlikely she had done...
How do you deal with a patch of bare ground in your yard? That is the existential challenge of gardening, isn’t it? The first, most logical choice for many is to plant a lawn. We see lawns everywhere in our neighborhoods and public spaces. Grasses may be the default ground cover for many people. But a grassy lawn gets expensive. It costs time to maintain. It requires ongoing investments in grass seed, fertilizers and other chemicals to feed it...
Colorful and enticing plants fill every table and rack at garden centers in May. Even the most experienced gardener may feel a little overwhelmed with so many interesting choices. Annual or perennial? How big will this get? Will deer and bunnies eat it? How long will it last? Sun or shade? Will it grow in a pot? Will it stand the heat? How much care will it require? And most importantly, will it go the distance and survive all season?...
Trees enrich our lives in countless ways. Yet we may not pay them much attention, until they are gone. A Million Trees in a Single Day Pioneers in the Nebraska Territory missed the trees they left behind back East. They needed trees for shade from the summer sun, for windbreaks to hold the soil, for fuel and for building materials. They needed trees so much, that Nebraska’s Board of Agriculture planned the first American Arbor Day celebration on April...
In the fall of 2021, the JCCW Master Gardeners were invited by the Jamestown Settlement to design and install a native plant demonstration and herb garden just outside the visitors’ center cafe. After meeting with Jamestown management, touring the site, and developing a project proposal, a team was formed to get the project going. In January 2022, team leads Angela Cingale and Judy Kinshaw-Ellis met with Bain Schultz, the grounds department supervisor for both Jamestown and Yorktown, to get an...
The bright flash of a butterfly’s wing brings instant joy. My mind clears for a moment of rapt attention to see what sort of butterfly it is. Where is it flying? Where is it feeding? Will it stay in our yard? Whatever had been churning through my mind evaporates in that moment of pure beauty. Birdsong in the morning gently pulls me back from dreams, and we hear birds chattering and calling throughout the day, flying from shrub to tree. ...