Tagged: Garden Design

Birds / Conservation / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Native Trees / Spring Flowering Trees / Tree Care / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Flowering Dogwood

  Dogwood trees explode into a profusion of flowers each spring.  They grow wild along the forest edge, in clearings and along highways throughout Virginia, transforming from grey woody skeletons into graceful clouds of pink or white flowers as winter melts into spring each April.   The State Tree of Virginia Flowering dogwood trees are cultivated in neighborhoods, around schools, in old church yards, and in private and public gardens, wherever they can shelter in the afternoon shade of taller...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Edible Plants / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Native Plants / Perennial Care / Permaculture / Propagation / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Featured Plants for 2025

  Let’s celebrate some of our more unusual and lesser-known native wildflowers in 2025.  The Virginia Native Plant Society has chosen the Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, as its 2025 Wildflower of the Year.  The Perennial Plant Association has also chosen a native wildflower, indigenous to Virginia, as its pick for 2025. Perennial Plant of the Year for 2025 The 2025 Perennial Plant of the Year is clustered mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum, a native wildflower in the mint, or Lamiaceae family.  It attracts...

Food Forest / Foraging / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Ornamental Shrubs / Planting Trees / Spring Flowering Trees / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Burst Into Spring with Eastern Redbud

  A Beacon of Spring A blooming redbud tree grabs my attention like no other spring flowering tree.  It just suddenly lights up like a neon beacon glowing brightly in the edge of the wintery forest; transforming from non-descript to gorgeous in the space of a day. Unlike other spring blooming trees which show visibly swelling buds for weeks, while they wait for winter’s cold to pass; clusters of redbud blossoms simply break directly out of its bark, anywhere and...

Bulb Gardening / Container Gardens / Deer / Edible Plants / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Herbs / Vegetable Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Protect Your Garden with Alliums, Gingers, and Herbs

Have You Eaten? Animals engage in the business of eating;  there is no common ground between our desire for a beautiful and productive garden and a deer or rabbit’s need for lunch.   While we may garden in harmony with birds harvesting berries from our shrubs and bees harvesting  nectar and pollen from our flowers, it is mainly because they can assist us with our gardening tasks and feed themselves without destroying our plants. Birds and spiders eat mostly insects, helping...

Conservation / Deer / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Hedgerow / Ornamental Shrubs / Poisonous Plants / Resource Protection / Sustainable Gardening / Tree Care / Trees / Wildlife Gardening / Winter Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Oh Deer!

  Fallen leaves carpet the ravine behind our home, broken only by thick green stems of bamboo, taller than most of our trees; a few young pawpaw and scarlet buckeye trees; and the thick trunks of century old beech trees.  There are also a few fallen, decaying trunks of trees lost to storms, but none of the undergrowth you might expect to find in a wild ravine bordering a small lake.  The soil is rich and deep.  Dappled sunlight illuminates...

Edible Plants / Evergreen Perennials / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Herbs / Hummingbird Gardening / Plant Literacy / Summer Color Plants

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Herbs Every Master Gardener Should Know

Evergreen Herbs Lavandula spp. and hybrids, Lavender L. angustifolia (L. officinalis), English Lavender L. stoechas, Spanish lavender, which withstands humidity and blooms in late spring L. x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’, Hybrid ‘Phenomenal’ Lavender that withstands high humidity and heat Mentha spicata, Spearmint Mentha x piperita, Peppermint Petroselinum crispum, Parsley (Biennial) Salvia officinalis, Culinary Sage Salvia rosmarinus , Rosemary Santolina spp. Santolina, Cotton Lavendar Thymus spp., Thyme Teucrium chamaedrys, Germander   Landscaping with Herbs in Williamsburg:  Part I Evergreen Herbs    ...

Citizen Science / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Tree Identification

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Plant Literacy: Common Landscape Plants to Know and Love

Plant Literacy Many people assume that Master Gardeners know a lot about plants.  When neighbors request a home visit from the Landscape Love or Tree Call team, they often have three questions about certain plants in their yard:  First, “What is it?” Some will follow up with, “Is it a native plant?”  And then finally, “Will deer eat it?”  If the homeowner already knows that deer will eat certain plants, then they may ask for advice about how to either...

Conifers Every Master Gardener Should Know

Evergreen trees / Garden Design / Native Trees / Plant Literacy / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Trees / Trees in Winter

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Conifers Every Master Gardener Should Know

Conifers Pinus taeda, Loblolly Pine Pinus virginiana, Virginia Pine Pinus palustris, Longleaf Pine Picea abies, Common Spruce Abies fraseri, Frasier Fir Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress Juniperus virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar x Hesperotropsis leylandii, Leyland Cypress The Beauty and Promise of Trees in Winter Planting Trees and Other Hacks to Manage Wet Soils Identifying Local Trees in Winter Native Trees Back to Plant Literacy Main Page  

Birds / Conservation / Evergreen Shrubs / Evergreen trees / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Plant Literacy / Tree Identification / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Broadleaf Evergreen Trees & Shrubs Every Master Gardener Should Know

Broadleaf Evergreen Trees & Shrubs   Buxus microphylla, Littleleaf Boxwood Buxus sempervirens, Common Boxwood Ilex opaca, American Holly Ilex vomitoria, Yaupon holly Ilex aquifolium, English Holly Ilex cornuta, Chinese Holly Myrica cerifera, Southern Wax Myrtle Myrica pensylvanica, Bayberry Osmanthus heterophyllus, Holly Tea-olive Pyracantha coccinea, Scarlet Firethorn Quercus virginiana, Live Oak   Broadleaf Evergreen Trees & Shrubs with Showy Flowers   Camellia japonica, Japanese Camellia Camellia sasanqua, Sasanqua Camellia Kalmia latifolia, Mountain Laurel Magnolia grandiflora, Southern Magnolia Rhododendron spp. Azaleas and...

Carbon Garden / Flowering Shrubs / Food Forest / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Plant Literacy / Tree Identification / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs Every Master Gardener Should Know

Deciduous Shade Trees Quercus spp., Oak Acer spp., Maple Betula spp., Birch Corylus americana, American Hazelnut Fagus grandifolia, American Beach Juglans nigra, Black Walnut Platanus occidentalis, American Sycamore Liquidambar styraciflua, American Sweetgum Carya illinoinensis, Pecan Carya spp., Hickory Salix spp., Willows   Flowering Deciduous Trees   Aesculus pavia, Scarlet Buckeye Amelanchier laevis, Allegheny Serviceberry Cercis canadensis, Redbud Cornus spp. Other Dogwood species Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood Lagerstroemia indica, Crape Myrtle Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplar Magnolia virginiana, Sweetbay Magnolia Magnolia spp....