Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

February is cause to celebrate for the camellias are starting to bloom, adding a spectacular splash of color to the winter palette at the Baltimore Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.

Camellias are evergreen shrubs native to southern and eastern Asia and prized for their flowers of red, pink, and white.

Traditionally representing longevity and faithfulness in Asian culture, it has also become the official state flower of Alabama.

Continue reading "What's blooming at the Baltimore Conservatory?" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden photography
        

A fun trip with husband Gary Mihoces, sportswriter for USA Today, to Super Bowl 44 (free room, cheap flight home Sunday morning) seemed like a good idea at the time.

Continue reading "Meanwhile, back home in Maryland" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden photography
        

Tropicals, they say, are all the rage among Mid-Atlantic gardeners.

More and more varieties are making their way across the Mason-Dixon Line with the expectation that they will be able to withstand a Mid-Atlantic winter....Well, maybe not a Mid-Atlantic winter like the one we are having.

Anyway, Garden Variety is in Fort Lauderdale for the weekend (try not to hate me) where she witnessed a REAL deadheading job on some tropicals!

These workers were cutting off the browned fronds from palm trees. And as you can see it isn't an easy job.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Continue reading "Deadheading tropicals!" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden photography
        

The weather outside is frightful.

In the Mid-Atlantic, that is.

Garden Variety is in Florida for a couple of days, where this is what passes for a snow drift.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

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Categories: Garden photography
        

With more than a foot of snow on deck for Maryland this weekend, it is possible these garden events will be cancelled or postponed.

Check with the event sites before you go!

Homestead Gardens, Davidsonville

Gene’s tips: Pruning 101 ($5)
Saturday, 10am
Gene Sumi provides an informative demonstration on when and how to prune. Dress warmly as this workshop is outside.

Orchids for Beginners ($35)
Saturday, 12pm
Orchid expert Dr. Clark Riley shares his insights into raising & nurturing these graceful flowers. Includes a take-home orchid.

Orchids for Fanatics ($35)
Saturday, at 2pm
Feed your orchid addiction with this seminar from Dr. Riley that will educate both collectors & fanatics. Includes a take-home orchid.

Herbs for Healthy Living ($5)
Sunday, at 12pm
Annuals Manager Kerry Kelley shows how organic herbs can be used in cooking & to soothe the soul through aromatherapy.

Winter Birding ($5)
Sunday, at 2pm Andy Brown of the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary in Calvert County shares his extensive birding knowledge.

Valley View Farms, Cockeysville

Bonsai: Soils, Fertilizers and Propagation
February 6, 9:00am Learn about soils, fertilizers, air-layering and other forms of propagation from Martha Meehan in today’s class. She’ll also discuss correcting roots through grafting.

Orchid Care and Repotting
February 6, 11:00am Jan Gannon of Valley View will demonstrate repotting an orchid. Bring your orchid and we will help you repot. There will be a small fee for Orchid Potting Mix.

Continue reading "Weekend garden seminars-snow warning" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gardening classes
        

In the latest installment of "vegetable gardening for rookies," in The Baltimore Sun, I talk about growing vegetables in containers - the answer for gardeners with not much sun, not much space or too many critters.

In my garden column, Kerry Michaels, who writes about container gardening on About.com, talks about using just about any container -- including reuseable grocery bags -- to grow her vegetables.

Fern Richardson is the voice behind the Life on the Balcony blog and another expert on container gardening.

Here is her advice:

Photo credit: Kerry Michaels

Continue reading "Vegetable gardening - contained!" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Barbara Haddock Taylor

Continue reading "Wordless Wednesday: Wind" »

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Categories: Wordless Wednesday
        

Groundhogs are no friend to the gardener, and that's certainly true of Punxsutawney Phil, who always manages to see his shadow. Six more weeks of winter is an eternity for the gardener.

German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says, spring will come early.

A group of goundhog keeps called The Inner Circle annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, with lots of pomp, circumstance and media attention.

This year, Phil was supposed to text and Twitter his prediction, but his hands must have been cold because those messages didn't appear until about two hours after he spotted his shadow.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Continue reading "Punxsutawney Still Life" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden news
        

Garden Variety is lucky to have an extra copy of the new book, Grocery Gardening, to share with readers.

The book, a soup-to-nuts guide to growing, cooking and preserving your own fruits, vegetables and herbs, was produced in a social-networking collaboration among four garden and food bloggers who had never met, with contributions from their "friends" and "followers."

Continue reading "Free to a good home" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Garden books