Once upon a time, I found herb gardening a topic of mystique and mystery. Maybe it was the herb gardening books I found, with their illustrations of medieval knot gardens, and the cute little pots of culinary herbs grown on the wide, sunny windowsill of someone’s gourmet kitchen. Or maybe it was learning that many herbs prefer a Mediterranean climate with dry, rocky soil and lots of sunshine. How could I replicate that in Virginia? It may have been...
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...
Growing our own plants from seeds opens up a wide horizon of choices never even imagined by those who depend on the big box stores for their starts each spring. There are many varieties of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and trees that have never been marketed in our area as seedlings. Even within a popular type of vegetable, like tomatoes, there are many delicious named cultivars, many of them heirloom, not in commercial production as seedlings. Malabar spinach, a vining...
Water may be a blessing or a curse. Gardeners usually want abundant rain to nurture their plantings and generally have a back-up irrigation plan for dry spells. Providing the right amount of water for each plant is one of the keys to a gardener’s success. Working With the Water Cycle Just as leaves absorb carbon from the air, so roots absorb water from the soil. The water, and any chemicals or elements dissolved in it, may be stored in...
In late autumn, the Williamsburg area woods light up with evergreen holly trees as the hardwoods lose their leaves. It is their time to sparkle in the winter sunshine. Their broad, prickly leaves are waxy on top, reflecting what light reaches them through the forest canopy. Unobtrusive throughout the summer, hollies are among the few forest trees, along with wax myrtle, pines, cedars, and magnolias, which remain bright green and covered in leaves throughout the year. Holly King Legends...
Cardinals nest in a large evergreen shrub beside my kitchen window. Though the shrub, Ligustrum, is frowned upon by many contemporary gardeners as invasive, the birds don’t know that. They delight in its abundant berries and the insects that visit year-round. We delight in watching the birds come and go, even as they peer in the windows at us. We amuse one another. Cardinals, titmice and other birds also perch in the crape myrtle tree a little further out...
Autumn color and falling leaves turn a gardener’s thoughts to the winter months ahead. While we’re still buying flats of bright pansies, pots of chrysanthemums and a pumpkin or two, let’s take the opportunity to also seek out evergreen ferns at local garden centers and online nurseries. Evergreen ferns brighten the winter landscape as the ‘main event’ in winter container plantings, as ground cover under trees, and in borders and foundation plantings. There are at least four...
At the intersection of myth, fantasy, and living reality stands a towering oak tree, covered in plump acorns. More than 400 species of oaks grow across temperate and tropical regions of North America, Europe and Asia, with 90 species here in the United States and another 160 species growing in Mexico. China has 100 different types of oak. Types of Oaks All oaks, members of the Fagaceae family along with beech and chestnut trees, produce acorns. Some, like our...
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...
The Historic Triangle Learning Garden is one of many projects led by members of the James City County/Williamsburg Master Gardeners. It is located right behind the CDR building and next door to Waller Mill Elementary School, at 312 Waller Mill Road. Originally known as “Incredible Edibles,” the project changed its name to the Historic Triangle Learning Garden in 2021 to reflect a broader range of interests, including growing flowers, supporting pollinators, and practicing other aspects of organic gardening, in...