Sydney Eddison has written the book no gardener wants to read, but every gardener should: "Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older."

A gardener for 40 years in Connecticut, the author suffered the loss of her husband and her own declining health. These factors forced Eddison to re-evaluate her life as a gardener and make some painful, and practical, changes.

She writes in this book about the decisions and adaptations she has made, and her prose is illustrated with the delicate pen and ink illustrations of Kimberly Day Proctor.

The answer to gardening older? Sometimes it is as simple as hiring someone for a few hours each week. Other times it is as tough as downsizing your garden.

The jacket calls this book "gentle, personable and practical." It certainly is.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Garden books
        

Each month, a group of garden designers, who formed the Garden Designer's Roundtable,  blog about a single issue related to gardens and garden design, and this month's topic is container gardening.

Links to the posts are collected in one place on the Roundtable web page, so it is easy to see what all the experts have to say on the topic and to see their photos.

The added advantage? We hobby gardeners have access to ideas from some of the best in the business. And it is free!

The designers have posted a list of their monthly topics through the end of the year, and you can read about previous topics, too.

As one reader commented, after reading all the posts, she felt like she had taken a master class!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Container gardening
        

We've all seen those books of daily devotions, designed to get us through the day with a good thought or a greater purpose.

Like "Chicken Soup for the Soul," there is a daily devotional for every demographic, from teens to men, from tree-huggers to C.S. Lewis fans.

Now there is a daily dose for the gardener, too.

Britt Conley is the photographer behind The Daily Flower, a feature on her blog, The Photo Garden Bee.

When she was laid off by USA Today in December 2009, she decided to follow her passion and photograph the "most magical, intimate, majestic, romantic and historic" gardens she could find, and share those photos with the world in hopes that more people would visit these gardens.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Lloyd Fox

On her blog, she posts her travel schedule and asks for suggestions for gardens she should visit.

But she says she is always shooting with The Daily Flower in mind, and those images are powerfully rendered in black and white as Conley called on her days in the darkroom.

A recent surgery and the sudden death of her mother put Britt behind, but she is back behind the camera again, trying to make up for lost time. She has posted a montage of "daily flowers" that did not run during her recouperation.

So, gardeners, if you need a daily dose of flower power, Britt is there for you!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden photography
        

Volunteers and city workers harvested a dozen crates of spring greens from the vegetable gardens planted around War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall, and then hurried to deliver them before they faded in the hot sun.

It is the second year of the program, which delivered more than 1,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to Our Daily Bread last year.

But it is in danger because proposed city budget cuts would eliminate the Univerity of Maryland's Extension Service in the cityand, with it, the Master Gardeners program whose volunteers manage the massive garden.

"We've made a commitment to always maintain the City Hall and War Memorial gardens," said Bill Vondrasek, chief horticulturalist for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.

Facing massive budget cuts himself, he has had to rank all the gardens he maintains in order of importance. Many gardens didn't make the final cut, but City Hall is a priority.

"It will be harder to do," he said of continuing to plant the City Hall beds with vegetables. With the harvesting and the replanting of seasonal crops, these beds are much more labor intensive. "But it will happen."

Even with their program on the chopping block, the Master Gardeners were there to harvest in the heat, and they promised to return when it is time to plant the summer crops of tomatoes and peppers.

"They want to fire us and we work for free," said Larry Kloze, a Master Gardener for 20 years.

He said he will continue to work in the City Hall garden. "I really like the idea of growing food for the hungry in a public place."

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore's City Hall Garden
        

The 23rd annual Baltimore Herb Festival is Saturday in Leakin Park. You, and your wagon, are welcome!

What sets this event apart from similiar festivals, ones that sell jewelry, clothing and just about anything else,  this festival is about herbs and only herbs!

Lectures include: 11 a.m. on edible plants; noon on dill, named "herb of the year;"  1 p.m. on medicinal herbs and 2 p.m. on the Sacred Hopi Labyrinth.

Admission is $5. The festival runs form 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or sine.

There will be music, train rides, an herbal lunch, vendors and demonstrations.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Garden events
        

The story of a garden is a story told best with words and pictures.

That's what makes Susan Morrison's video story of Rebecca Sweet's garden so touching and so compellingly beautiful.

Rebecca tells of returning to her family home during a painful divorce and of her mother's patient encouragement to go back out into the garden to revive herself and to heal.

Susan choose her friend as a subject for her first video garden story after taking a video class. Certainly, this video is not beginner's luck.

Rebecca's design company is Harmony in the Garden and she blogs at Gossip in the Garden. Susan is also a garden designer and blogs at Blue Planet Garden Blog. Sadly for those of us gardening in the mid-Atlantic region, both women live in California.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden video tours
        

Why are they so profuse this season? Possibly because there was no late frost to kill off the buds. Maybe the winter snow provided the moisture they like so much. Not sure, but I'll take it!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Flowers
        

The Royal Horticultural Society Spring Flower Show is underway in London this week on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and it is arguably the most famous flower show in the world and  as much a part of the London social season as the races at Ascot.

Queen Elizabeth was there to visit the show gardens, and you can have one, too, by visiting the RHS Chelsea web site for a copy of the plans.

Garden Variety has put together a slideshow of photos from Chelsea, so you can visit the show without a plane ticket.

Streptocarpus 'Harlequin Blue' was judged Plant of the Year at the show. In second place was 'Ruby Ruby' and in third was the Cypripedium flavum, an orchid variety.

You can see a slideshow of the "short list" of 20 plants considered for the honors here.

The RHS presented its first spring flower show in 1862 and moved to the grounds of Chelsea hospital in 1905. 

It is attended by 157,000 visitors each year (a number limited by the capacity of the 11-acre grounds), and in 2005 was increased from four days to five.

The area of land devoted to show gardens has increased steadily since 1970, and the show has become an important venue for watching trends. New plants are often launched at the show and the popularity of older varieties often revives.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Flower Shows
        

Photo credit: Margaret Roach

Margaret Roach used to work for Martha Stewart. Now she works for all of us.

The wise and witty writer behind the blog A Way to Garden has always been there for us with lists of chores and tomato-growing tips and just about anything else you need to know about gardening.

Today she is opening up her own garden for us with an on-line slide show. Take a minute, click on the photo above of her garden and take the tour. It is quite wonderful.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

My container gardening guru Kerry Michaels claims to have made every mistake possible in planting her containers, some of them more than once.

So she has swallowed her pride and listed the top 10 errors gardeners make so the rest of us can avoid them. 

We've been talking a lot about container gardening here on Garden Variety -- it makes sense because this is the time of year when we are putting containers together -- so it makes sense to take a minute and read Kerry's list of do's and don't's

My favorite tip? When planting a large container, have at least one plant that is as tall as the container so it doesn't look stunted.

What I am guilty of? I don't feed my containers regularly, and I should.

Mistake I only made once? Planting a large container on my potting table and then trying to carry it to its spot.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Container gardening
        

The Baltimore Sun runs a photo contest for readers each week call Reader SunShots, and this week's topic has Garden Variety all over it!

The photo subject is gardening!

The winning photo will appear on line and in print in The Sun with a critique by Sun head of photography Robert Hamilton (who is actually a very nice guy!)

The photos do not have to be from this garden season, so send us your best shot. The photos must be uploaded by May 30 and the winning photo will appear June 7. (Just click on the photo above.)

All appropriate photos will appear on line. There are already some beauties up on the site.

All right, people. I am expecting a Garden Variety reader to be the winner!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden photography
        

My DH has often referred to himself as Chamberlain and me as Hitler: I keep demanding more land, and he just gives it up.

In this case, more of his lawns for more of my gardens. The man actually enjoys lawn care and is quite proud of the results, and, in fact, his lawns can get as much attention from passersby as my perennial beds do.

But there is a growing anti-lawn sentiment in this country as the impact of weed-killing and heavy feeding on the environment, especially on waterways, is made known. And, face it, lawns don't do much but take up space.

If you have ever thought about giving your entire yard over to your gardens, I'd advise you to read Susan Harris' account of that transformation in her yard. She didn't have much grass, but she dug it all up and planted it with Stepables, which are small, treadable perennials.

The good news? It is beautiful, as Susan's pictures show. The bad news? Weeding, weeding and more weeding. Plus, it takes some of these plants a long time to fill in.

My husband and I have reached a peace accord in the yard, and his grass is staying. But it is worth a look at what Susan, a founding member of the Lawn Reform Coalition, has accomplished.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Lawn care
        

Ananas comosus

Ever wonder how a pineapple flowers?

One of the many fascinating things at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park is getting a glimpse of how fruit actually grows.

The Ananas cosmosus, or pineapple, is one of the many fruits now blooming in the Tropical Room.

This exotic plant is part of the Bromeliad family and native to Central and South America. 

Pineapples have a small stem that forms a rosette of 30 to 40 long sword-like leaves that can grow to 70 inches in length.

The plant will grow a stalk from its center and produce small purple and red flowers.

These flowers develop into berries that fuse together and form a syncarp, a multiple fleshy fruit similar to a raspberry.

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

Another way is to get the advice of someone you trust. I have asked my friend and gardening guru Durant to visit for a garden "intervention," and I am hoping she will have some advice for me.

If you don't have a Durant in your life, check out Susan Harris' on her blog for Homestead Gardens. She is writing in her role as "garden coach," and making plant suggestions for May.

And in this post, she is writing about five shrubs that will give fullness to your garden.

I am happy to say that I have spiderwort, epidemedians, lamb's ear and salvia "May Night, " and I am planning to add some ansonia.

And I was pleased to learn that I can just hack the spiderwort back when it starts to look scraggly.

That's what we all need. A garden coach.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

The 15th day of every month is "Bloom Day" among garden bloggers, and they post photographs of what is blooming in their gardens on that day.

It is pretty slim pickin's in winter, except for the West Coast and warm weather bloggers who get to garden 12 months of the year. But at this time of year, Bloom Day is an explosion of color and diversity.

Right now, there are Siberian Iris, salmon colored poppies, goat's beard, spiderwort, Soloman's staff, clematis, roses and peonies blooming in Garden Variety's garden.

But it is the exceptional photography that makes Bloom Day such a joy on the Internet, and I've gathered some blogs for you to visit. It is almost as good as a visit to their gardens.

Enjoy.

Photo credit: Judah Kelber

Phillip Oliver of Dirt Therapy in Alabama.

Carol in Indiana who writes May Dreams Gardens and who created Bloom Day.

Rebecca at Gossip in the Garden and Barbara at Weeding Wild Suburbia, who both garden in California

Outside Clyde from North Carolina and Debbie at Garden Thyme with the Creative Gardener in the Midwest.

Maryland's own 2 Green Acres from Baltimore County.

Susan Harris, who blogs all over the place but gardens in suburban D.C.

Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings in Oklahoma.

And the extraordinary photography of Laura Livengood Shaub at Interleafings

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden photography
        

Photo credit: KRT

I am experimenting with NOT mulching this season, and so far it has all the earmarks of just that - an experiment. With unexpected results and really bad smells.

I have been mulching with shredded pine bark for more years than I like to remember. Mostly because those memories are painful. That's me, in pain, after gently spreading 3 or 4 cubic yards of mulch.

I thought perhaps I would give my gardens, and my back, a rest this season. I know mulch is good for holding down weeds and keeping the ground temperature and moisture levels even.

But I had been hearing things about arsenic or other carcinogens in mulch and about how mulch might actually draw nutrients out of the soil. Unable to come to a decision, I decided not to decide to mulch.

Then I noticed the mountain of grass clippings my husband was generating.

He'd fed the grass this spring and the result was predictable. The lawn now required two cuttings a week, even though DH cuts it pretty high.

I thought perhaps I would use the clippings to mulch. Seemed like a good use of nature's resources, right? So I asked my husband to collect the grass clippings in a garbage can, and I would spread them as soon as I could.

Having mulched a small bed with those grass clippings, I have to say this might be where the experiment ends.

Grass clippings decompose very quickly and when I shoved my GLOVED hands into the garbage can to pull up a handful of clippings, I could feel the heat in my palms and it was uncomfortably hot!

I was putting the clippings around tender new plants and, though it was early spring and the ground was cold, I immediately worried that I was cooking those little babies.

Grass clippings smell terrible as they decompose. The stench was so bad from that little spot by the front porch that my daughter wouldn't let me open windows.

There are other issues with grass mulch, too. Though there were no harmful chemicals in the grass, I was probably transferring weed seeds, if not grass seed, to my bed.

The grass mulch is an unattractive yellow-brown. And though all that nitrogen is a good thing, flowering plants need other nutrients.

So much for the idea of using all those grass clippings as mulch. 

But composting those grass clippings can be tricky, too. They tend to form an impenetrable mat in the compost pile and have to be worked in carefully. It is almost like making an oil and vinegar emulsion.

The growth spurt in the lawn is nearly over for this season and my DH can return to leaving the clippings on the ground, where they will do no harm and plenty of good.

The plants in my gardens have grown, too, and they cover much of the same ground that mulch would mask.

But if I can find a few bags of mulch on sale, I might buy them for those bald spots.

And next year, it will be back to mulching.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden humor
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

Baltimore Sun photographers have a fashion field day at the Preakness.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Gene Sweeney Jr.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Wordless Wednesday
        

The final tallies are in and, sadly, Garden Variety was not among the winners in this year's Mouse & Trowel Awards for garden blogs.

But you are!

With 548 nominees and more than 5,000 individual votes cast, this is certainly affirmation that blogging is here to stay as a way to get solid garden information out there, as well as a way for gardeners to share the beauty and passion of gardening.

And for you, the garden blog reader, there is more good news. Visit the Mouse & Trowel Awards website, see the list of winners and runners up and get on board!

Subscribe to newsletters or sign up for Facebook fan pages or email alerts or RSS feeds or follow the bloggers on Twitter, whatever your technological comfort zone, and the best and most entertaining gardening information will easily come your way.

Congratulations to all the nominees and all the winners and a special thank you to all who voted for Garden Variety. I think we ALL won!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial starting line for summer and, of course, planting tomatoes.

But tomato blight, which devastated home gardens and community gardeners last year on the East Coast, has been spotted again this season in a greenhouse in St. Mary's County, Maryland, and the alarm has been sounded.

It is difficult to save a tomato plant once it has been infected with the blight - even if you spot it early and remove the infected leaves. And one infected plant is all it takes to ruin your whole crop of tomatoes (and potatoes), so here is some advice, courtesy of the University of Maryland's Home and Garden Information Center and Cornell University's horticulture department.

Blight winters over on living host material, such as the potatoes that might still be in the ground in your garden. Remove them and dispose of them in plastic garbage bags.

Remove any volunteer potato plants in your garden or compost pile. They can carry the virus.

Buy healthy plants from local growers. Learn what blight loots like and examine the plants for any signs. If you see something suspicious, alert the seller and the state extension service.

If you are planting potatoes, don't use leftovers from last year's garden or anything from a grocery store.

Blight loves cool, damp conditions and cloudy days. (UV rays kill the spores carried by the wind.) So water your plants in the morning and do it at ground level, not from above.

Inspect your plants at least once a week. More often if the weather is cool and wet.

If you find late blight in your garden, let the local extension service and your neighborhood gardeners know. Act quickly.

If you are forced to remove your plants, do it on a bright sunny day to kill of the spores that may blow around.

Late blight shows up on other plants, almost unnoticed: hairy nightshade, bittersweet nightshad, tomatillos and petunias!

If you wait until late blight shows up to use a fungicide, it will be too late. It has to be done as a preventative measure and the University of Maryland isn't recommending that just yet since fungicides can actually lead to other diseases.

Once you begin spraying, the treatments must be regular thorough. Use chlorathalonil or copper-based products and follow the directions carefully.

Consider planting potato and tomato varieties that have shown some resistence to late blight, such as such as ‘Allegany', ‘Elba' or ‘Kennebec' potatoes and 'Black Plum,' 'Matt's Wild Cherry,' 'Yellow Currant' and 'Yellow Pear' tomatoes.

"Moutain Magic' and 'Plum Regal' have also shown disease resistence and their seeds should be widely available in 2011.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Garden diseases
        

Today is the final day for voting in the Mouse & Trowel Awards, given to the best garden blogs, and Garden Variety wants your vote!

We survived the first round of voting to make it as a finalist in "best blog by a company."

Follow this link and put us over the top!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

Late blight, the fungus that devastated tomato crops on the East Coast last summer, has been found on tomato plants in Maryland in a St. Mary's County greenhouse.

The University of Maryland's Extension service has sent representatives to gather plant material and determine whether this is the strain of blight that hit Maryland last year, or a more virulent strain that can winter-over. They will also check to see if the blight has spread beyond the greenhouse where the tomato plants were grown from seed.

Jon Traunfeld, head of the Home and Garden Information Center for the Maryland Extension service, said the late blight that hit Maryland last year can only survive on plant material and cannot endure our winter cold. So if gardeners and farmers did a good job of cleaning up their gardens last fall, they should be able to start the season disease-free. Our cold snowy winter, helped, too, he said.

However, if there were potatoes left in the ground over winter, the blight, which infects both tomatoes and potatoes, can survive on them.

Organic gardeners were especially hard hit last year because there is no effective organic fungicide to combat late blight. "Spray copper just doesn't do it," Traunfeld said.

Commercial farms, which used non-organic fungicides, did not suffer as much damage.

Traunfeld also advises gardeners to purchase their tomato plants, and other garden plants, from Maryland farmers in order to support those farmers. 

It is possible that plants imported from southern states, where tomato plants can survive outdoors all winter, may carry infection.

Traunfeld is also advising Maryland gardeners to examine their tomato plants carefully and send photographs of any suspicious plant material -- or send the plant material itself --  to the Home and Garden Information Center. Or call 1-800-342-2507.

You can find photos and videos and more answers about late blight on the Grow It, Eat It website.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden diseases
        

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Cereus

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

Garden Variety has been asked to list her favorite gardening books!

It is a good thing she wasn't asked to list her favorite plants, because the list would have been much too long!

Anyway, No. 1 on the list has to be Anna Pavord's "Bulb."

Check out the rest of Garden Variety's favorite garden books!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden books
        

Dena Cameron creates the container gardens for sale at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, and she creates custom container gardens and hanging baskets for customers, too.

She created a dish garden with minatures for me, and I asked her advice. After all, she probably puts together 15 ro 20 container gardens a day.

Here's what she has to say:

Make sure all of the plants you choose for your container like the same conditions: lots of water, or not so much. Full sun, or part shade.

Are you disciplined enough to water regularly? Or not so much? What is the sun exposure? North, south, east or west?

Is this container for a weekend home? Then you need drought tolerant plants.

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Not all your plants have to flower. You can choose plants with leaves that have interesting textures or shapes.

If you are a beginner, stick with the tried-and-true formula of three plant levels: something tall, something full and something that will spill over the side.

Consider where the container is going to be. Front porch, deck, by the pool?

Dena said poolside containers present the biggest challenge because the reflected heat from the pool and a cement pool deck - and the lack of shade - mean the plants in the container will "never get a break." Palms and tropicals make the most sense here.

Consider mixing perennials and annuals in your containers. You can switch out the annuals with the seasons and the perennials are likely to winter-over, giving you a ready-made structure for next year.

Remember to mix a time-release fertilizer into the potting soil before you plant.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Container gardening
        

I am as vulnerable as the next gardener to that other green thing: jealousy.

So, when I saw these ornate cement birdbaths planted with small plants to resemble a garden in miniature, I had to have one.

But those birthbath planters are located indoors at Homestead Gardens, and they have someone to look after them.

Mine would have to survive outdoors, and without drainage in the bottom of the birdbath, the miniature garden would be sure to wash away in the first summer storm.

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

So I did the next best thing. This inexpensive clay bowl, shallow and with plenty of drainage, would have to do.

I asked Dena Cameron, who does custom-made container gardens for Homestead, if she could put together some Stepables and other miniature perennials, for me, and this is the result.

She chose miniature versions of cranesbill, sweet woodruff, creeping wire vine, New Zealand brass buttons and minimus aureus.

A few pretty marbles, a rock and a miniature frog, and I was all set.

This container garden should winter over, she said, if I bring into the garage and make sure it gets some window sun.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Container gardening
        

Photos courtesy of Angela Treadwell-Palmer

Baltimore City's Master Gardeners, whose program is threatened by proposed city budget cuts, turned out Thursday  to harvest the first of the spring crops in the City Hall vegetable garden -- 17 crates of fresh greens.

This is the second year for the garden, which is planted in the cement planters around Baltimore's War Memorial Plaza.

It produced more than a ton of food last year for Our Daily Bread, which feeds the city's poor and homeless.

The Master Gardeners volunteer their time to plant, weed and harvest the City Hall vegetable garden, but their wide-ranging programs are funded by the city.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Baltimore's City Hall Garden
        

It looks like it is going to be a wonderful year for hydrangeas.

More flower buds than I have ever seen on my mophead. And my oakleaf, too.

Anybody need me to do flowers for a wedding?

(If you have questions about your hydrangeas, one of the best websites I've found is All About Hydrangeas, with pruning and fertlizing and drying infomation and lots more.)

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flowers in the Garden
        

No rest for the wicked gardener. Here are some tasks for the month of May:

If you mulched, consider spreading some citrus peels among the chips to discourage cats, who like to use mulch as a giant litter box.

Garlic or mint planted around your rose bushes will keep aphids away.

Scrape your fingernails over a bar of soap before you go into the garden. That soap will wash away much easier than dirt will.

You can deadhead your bulbs, but leave the foliage until it turns yellow/brown. The bulb is storing food right now.

While you still have foliage to mark the spots where you have planted those bulbs, divide large clumps and move them into bare spots. Daffodils and narcissus can suffer from over-crowding.

The danger of frost should be past (although the weather has been very uneven), so it is probably safe to transplant warm weather vegetables and herbs into the garden. Although it is a good rule of thumb to wait until Memorial Day to put your tomatoes in the ground. Don't worry, they will catch up.

Check your clematis. It has probably had a growth spurt and needs tying up or guiding on its trellis or fence.

Remember to transplant or divide plants after the sun goes down or on cooler, gray days anbd water well. The plants won't suffer from so much stress as a result.

And, if you haven't yet this season, harvest the finished compost and turn the rest. Make sure it is wet enough to do its work.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

If you are trying to plan your garden so that it is always in bloom, make time to visit your local garden center every week or so and see what is blooming there.

Choose something from among the perennials or annuals that are looking particularly splendid and take it home.

That way, your garden won't look like Afghanistan in August.

Carrie Engel of Valley View Farms in Cockeysville is saving us a step.

Her blog, which is linked to the Valley View Farms website, has a "plant of the week." There is a beautiful picture of the plant in bloom and a discussion of its strengths and weaknesses and some advice on where to plant it.

Her most recent post is about clematis, which is easier to grow than newby gardeners imagine -- and it is dramatic, too.

Stick with Carrie's blog this summer, especially in August, make a few purchases from among her favorites and you will end up with a more well-rounded garden.

And speaking of blogs, Susan Harris, who blogs for Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, has a post about her favorite spring perennials.

The great thing about advice from Carrie and Susan is that they live and garden in our Maryland micro climate and their suggestions are likely to work for most of us.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flowers in the Garden
        

At Valley View Farms in Cockeysville:

Saturday, 11 a.m.: David Culp’s Favorite Perennials 2010. David Culp of Sunny Border Nursery returns to share his passion and knowledge about perennials he has grown both in his own extensive gardens and at the nursery. Seating will be limited to 50 for the seminar. Please call the store to reserve a seat (410) 527-0700.

And...

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Azalea sale. Brookeside Gardens, Wheaton. 301-788-3298.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

My friend Jean tells the story of her garden and it's recovery from a record-breaking winter.

"What a difference three months makes.

"I took the first picture during the February snowpocalypse, and the others just last week.

"I was sure my two raised beds would emerge as sodden swampland. But instead, the rose bush -- it's somewhere under that downed tree branch -- has sprouted two new bud-laden branches. The Russian sage is back. And the daisies seem to have made like bunnies under that sheet of snow -- they've gone forth and multiplied.

"This is even more amazing given that I'm coming off several years of utter garden failure. Last year, I tried for a sort of a wildflower field in miniature, my garden being your typical Federal Hill postage-stamp size: Oriental poppies (never bloomed), cosmos (grew too leggy and fell over), sunflowers (ditto). Only the nasturtiums, which I grew from seed, flourished. Toward the end of summer I desperately threw a couple of coreopsis plants in there, but they apparently were too depressed by their surroundings to bloom.

"When I went out to survey the winter damage in March, I didn't have very high hopes: It looked like only the ground cover survived and was threatening to take over. The coreopsis and Russian sage were dead sticks. I ripped out most of the ground cover, except for a tidy row around the edges, and planted this year's garden fantasy: sweeps of perennials in the blue-purple spectrum (pincushion flowers, salvia), with splashes of yellow-orangey hues (new coreopsis, more nasturtiums).

"I almost pulled out the old coreopsis and the Russian sage, but gave them another chance -- which they took.

"Ah spring: when even a .200 career hitter like me gets another chance."

Send your garden's story, and pictures, to susan.reimer@baltsun.com. The best thing about gardening is getting a look at other people's gardens!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Your garden
        

With apologies to The Commodores, photos by The Baltimore Sun's Sarah Kickler Kelber

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

The welcome sign to "Mr. Leroy's" city garden still stands.

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

"Mr. Leroy," as he was known, was a gardening inspiration in the Baltimore neighborhood of Reservoir Hill.

He chiseled a patch of dirt out of the cement parking pad behind his house and planted vegetables there. And there were sunflowers and morning glories around the edges of what passed for his backyard.

He was Eleanor Justice's neighbor, and her inspiration, too. If he could grow his own food in the cement world of the city, she could, too.

"I live just a couple of skinny Baltimore rowhouses down from Mr. Leroy's garden. As I stand at my window, looking from his garden onto the cement below my window, I'm inspired. I could grow our groceries in that little patch of sun, and I dream of raised beds brimming with herbs and vegetables, and of sharing the bounty with our neighbors. I could turn that wasted space into something productive, and raise our quality of life more than I know how to articulate." 

This was part of an award-winning essay Eleanor Justice composed and her reward arrived Tuesday: a planter vegetable garden installed on the parking pad behind her house by Burpee Seed. Co. The "dream garden" essay contest was run in Baltimore only last summer, and drew about 80 responses, the company said.

"This little patch of cement is about to be turned into a little garden oasis," Eleanor said Tuesday morning as she excitedly waited for the containers, soil and plants to arrive.

"I offered the jack-hammer the cement out of here, but they said it would be fine," she said.

While Jessica Atchison and Brenda Connolly of Burpee filled the cedar planters with potting soil and lobster compost and with about 30 vegetable seedlings, Eleanor took visiting media to the community garden across the alley from her new garden.

She had written in her essay about Mr. Leroy's passing last year, and the resurgence of the community garden that mysteriously followed. After years of languishing, it is returning to life and gardeners were working there even while the Burpee gardeners were working in Eleanor's yard.

"While Mr. Leroy was alive, the community garden was largely abandoned; vandalism and disuse had taken it's toll. Maybe it's Mr. Leroy's spirit looking over it that's helped to make such a big difference, but for the first time in god knows how long, every plot is taken and many people have been turned away."

Eleanor Justice's "dream garden" was installed Tuesday.

Eleanor knows the risks of urban gardening. An heirloom tomato plant she was growing last summer disappeared -- along with its enormous and very heavy planter.

"I grew it from seed," she said. "I try to be positive and think that maybe if they took that much trouble to take the whole planter, they took the trouble to take care of the tomato plant and maybe its seeds are growing this year."

Burpee also gave Eleanor a $100 gift card to Home Depot, about a dozen packets of flower seeds, and an extra bunch of plants to plant in the community garden across the alley.

"I specifically asked for cherry tomatoes," said the freelance graphic designer. "That way the kids can eat them when they pass by. Just like candy."

Here's the list of herbs and vegetables planted for Eleanor Justice:

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden contests
        

I was at my favorite farmers' market this weekend on Riva Road in Annapolis buying spring greens -- spinach to saute and lettuces for salads -- when news broke that once again our greens may be contaminated with the deadly E coli.

This time, it is romaine. And it is lettuce that has been sold to restaurants and food service fascilities, which may explain the baby arugula salad I had during my Mother's Day dinner out.

The outbreak of contamination has sickened 19 people in Michigan, Ohio and New York. The shredded romaine was grown in Arizona and was sold to wholesalers, and it may show up in salad bars and delis.

Maryland is among the states to which the company, Freshway Foods, said it sold bags of lettuce. And we are supposed to avoid those "salad in a bag" products.

There is no guarantee that lettuce sold by the farmers at my market is not or will not be contaminated in some way. 

But somehow I feel better knowing it came from the farm in Anne Arundel County owned by the same farmer who's been selling me lettuce at the same farmers' market for a decade.

And if there was ever a problem with locally grown produce, it would be easy to trace.

I never liked the idea of salad in a bag anyway.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

Loyal Garden Variety reader "Dahlink" shares these pictures of her garden from the first week in May. I am not sure there is a better moment in the garden than early May.

I have been looking for a Zephirine Drouhin rose, and today I found one at the garden center (see the pink blossom above).  It's an antique climber, very hardy, and also fragrant. This one is going to climb up a rose tower in the bed next to the garage.

The hostas in this bed near the pond have really taken off this spring, almost visibly growing day by day. The light green plant to the left of the photo is a native hydrangea--fingers crossed for some flowers this year. That is more columbine in back, near the ferns--a darker pink here.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Your garden
        

Photo credit: Gary Mihoces

My friend Nan tells the story of taking peonies to her teachers as a schoolgirl.

Not because she was especially fond of her teachers. But because ants are particularly fond of peonies.

 

 

The intoxicating fragrance of these flowers makes them irresistible.

Nan was counting on that...and on her teacher sniffing all sorts of ants up into her nose.

Sure beats tacks on the teacher's seat in the realm of practical jokes.

 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Flowers in the Garden
        

Jacobinia Carnea

Commonly known as the “Brazilian Plume” this exotic shrub is native to South America and prefers light shade.

It is blooming now in Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park and it has large, dark green leaves and bright flowers of a tubular plume shape in clusters of purple, orange, red, pink or yellow.

They are perfect for adding a splash of color to any garden. The Jacobinia does well in USDA zones 9-10.

For other areas they grow very well in containers and don’t tolerate cold winters.

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

 

 

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Bright sun and cool breezes were the honored guests as Bryn Mawr third-graders took up the ribbons of the Maypole and danced open Baltimore’s Flowermart Friday.

True devotees do not admit to there ever having been bad weather in the 93 years of the festival in Mount Vernon Square. But the first day of this year’s two-day event was particularly auspicious.

“Everybody is so happy,” gushed Josie Fraley from underneath a straw hat covered with flowers and the Flowermart’s signature treat: lemons with peppermint sticks.

She and friend Mary Sheppard, who was wearing an equally elaborately decorated hat, were stopped often by camera carriers asking to take a picture. “I feel like a celebrity,” said Sheppard.

The women were headed to the crab cake vendor for lunch. “That’s the other reason you come to Flowermart,” said Fraley, who’d already made her flower purchases.

Eartha Harrison’s towering bonnet executed the Flowermart theme – sunflowers – to the nines. And the brim was painted with a black band that represented Charles Street.

“Somebody made, but it is my job to wear it,” she said from her booth representing Chimes and selling craft items made by its adult clients.

That kind of sums up the pleasures of Flowermart, where your only job is to wear a hat.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flower Shows
        

The New York Times sorts through the hundreds of applications, or "apps" available for your phone that can help you with your home and garden projects and comes up with a list of 20 good ones.

Among those for the garden are Eden Garden Designer, which supplies plant photographs to help you decide what to plant where; Garden Buddy, which calculates how much soil, mulch fertilizer and seed you need for your garden; The Plant Doctor for diagnosing what ails your house plants; the Vegetable Gardening Guide, with tons of information for the beginner and the veteran gardener, and Garden Insects, with home remedies for controlling garden pests.   

So far, no app for weeding.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gardening technology
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jed Kirschbaum

It's lemonsticks for Garden Variety today.

I will be at Flowermart at Mount Vernon Square in the city, visiting all the school kids' booths and flower sales. Not to mention the food vendors.

My colleague Jacques Kelly has a wonderful story in The Sun about the 93 years of Flowermart and how it has evolved into a multi-generational event for city dwellers.

And there is a photo gallery of Flowermart through the years.

The fun begins with a Maypole dance at about 11 a.m. How could it begin with anything else?

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flower Shows
        

Take a video tour of the Baltimore Symphony Associates designer show house, Woodholme, in Pikesville and listen to the designers talk about the challenges they faced - and their advice to us regular homeowners. The house opens to the public on Saturday and will be open for three weeks.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Show house gardens
        

This weekend's garden events:

The Baltimore Symphony Associates Designer Show House opens Saturday. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Check out the four gardens as well as the 22 rooms in the house.

Two groups that use Baltimore County’s Cromwell Valley Park as their base – the Cromwell Valley CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) and Therapeutic Alternatives of Maryland (TALMAR) will hold a plant sale on Saturday and Sunday. CVCSA will be offering a selection of organic vegetable seedlings, while TALMAR will have annuals and perennials, as well as some unusual herbs (including chocolate basil). The sale is set for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. both days at the park’s Sherwood Barn. The park entrance is at 2002 Cromwell Bridge Rd. Information:  410-887-2503 or cromwellvalleypark.org.

Cylburn Arboretum celebrates its 42nd annual Cylburn Market day Saturday. A host of garden clubs, nurseries and other green thumbs will be selling all manner of plants,  including some native tree species cultivated by the Baltimore City Forestry Board. While you’re there, be sure to check out the new 10,000-square-foot visitor’s center, the most visible of the $6 million in improvements that were unveiled at Cylburn’s grand re-opening last week. The arboretum is at 4915 Greenspring Ave. Hours are 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Information: 410-367-2217 or cylburnassociation.org.

The Baltimore African Violet Club will hold a show and sale at The Shops at Kenilworth in Towson Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hundreds of African violets and other exotic house plants will be offered for sale. Experienced growers will be there to answer questions. Free. Call 301-854-2021 for more information.

The William Paca Garden plant sale will take place on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12-4 p.m. at the historic home in Annapolis. Volunteers raise hundreds of perennials, annuals, woody plants, and vines in the garden, both heirlooms and brand new introductions. Staff and volunteers are on hand to help you select the right plant for every corner of your garden. Enter at 1 Martin Street. To see the Plant Sale Catalogue, click here. Free admission.

The Brookside Gardens Chapter of the Azalea Society will hold an azalea sale Saturday from 1 .m. to noon at Tilden Middle School in Rockville. Free. Experts will be on hand to answer your questions.

It is National Public Gardens Day on Friday and the U.S. Botanic Gardens has an exhibit celebrating public gardens and their role in environmental stewardship. There will be free sunflower seed packets for visitors and a sneak peak at the Garden's new summer exhibit on potatoes: "Spuds Unearthed." Free, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Learn to plant a strawberry jar with fresh herbs at the U.S. National Arboretum Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. An excellent Mother's Day gift! Fee is $69 and covers plants and materials. Registration required. Call 202-245-4521.

Also at the Arboretum Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., learn how to plant a drought tolerant container garden, choosing from a wide mix of succulents. Fee of $45 includes plants and materials. egistration required. Call 202-245-4521.

And Sunday at the Arboretum from 10 a.m. to noon, take mom on a curator-led tour of the Azalea Collection. Fee is $12. Registration is required. Call 202-245-4521.

 

 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Colby Ware

In today's Baltimore Sun, I preview the Baltimore Symphony Associates Designer Show House, Woodholme, in Pikesville, which opens Saturday for three weeks.

The design challenge for Katherine Adams of Honey Bee Hollow was to create a garden around a patio that drops a step down with no notice.

That’s not safe when you are expecting thousands of guests, as they are at the show house over the next three weeks.

So the landscape architect created an outdoor room by surrounding the patio with planters that would keep guests from wandering over the six-inch ledge.

“I didn’t just want to protect people from falling over the edge,” she said. “I wanted to define this amorphous area and make it intimate.”

The garden plants are immature at this time of year, so Adams pumped up the garden’s profile with a trio of glass balls on shepherd’s rooks.

The arty fixture had the added advantage of letting visitors know where to exit the garden.

“It (garden art) can solve some problems, but it can also be about the person who gardens here. About you.”

Her take-home tip? Add an art object to the garden. “It doesn’t have to be expensive,” she said. “And it can give a garden a sense of whimsy. It makes the garden very personal as well.”

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Show house gardens
        

Noted garden writer Susan Harris, who blogs for Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, writes of her recent visit to Ladew Gardens and how she was "wow'ed" by all the gardens in Monkton, not just the famous topiary garden.

There are some wonderful pictures on the blog, and Susan also recounts her conversation with head gardener Tyler Diehl about how he keeps his lawns so perfect without polluting the entire watershed.

There is excellent information there for all you lawn nuts out there.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Public gardens
        

The Baltimore Sun's Amy Davis captured these images at the Baltimore City Farmers' Market Sunday.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Wordless Wednesday
        

Gardener's Supply, the Vermont catalog people, asked its staff members to come up with a video answer to the question: Why do you garden?

The company considers this video among the best. We agree.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden video tours
        

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for Garden Variety in the Mouse & Trowel Awards.

We are a finalist in the "best garden blog by a company!"

Please take a moment to vote again among the finalists in all the awards categories. Here's hoping you'll vote for us in ours!

http://mouseandtrowel.org/2010-final-vote/

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden contests
        

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Adenium

The Adenium or “Desert Rose” is a succulent that is found in the tropical regions of Africa. Part of the Apocynaceae family it grows like a shrub and can get up to 5 feet tall. 

The spectacular flowers, now blooming at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park, arrive in shades of red, pink, white, and yellow.

It does extremely well in direct sunlight and loves hot summers. It will not tolerate cold winters and prefers a dormant period when it will drop all flowers and leaves.

Adeniums do well in containers and are perfect for bonsai. The plant is related to the Oleander and is also poisonous.

Recommended for USDA zones 11-12.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Some of the May baskets were wilting in the 80-plus degree heat of downtown Annapolis -- and so was the valiant Garden Variety -- but I have pictures from the 55th annual May basket competition in Annapolis.

Visit my Flickr slideshow of the baskets.

You will also be able to see a photo gallery with captions at baltimoresun.com.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flower Shows
        

If Emily Dickinson's neighbors saw her gardening at her Amherst, Mass., home in the moonlight, they might have thought her eccentric.

She was that. But the poet was also troubled by very sensitive eyes, and the sunlight hurt them.

But she did love her gardens, and the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx celebrates the poet and gardener with a new exhibition that opens this weekend and continues until June 13.

It is part of a series of exhibitions that demonstrate the role and influence of their gardens on major literary figures. The New York Times describes the thinking behind the exhibition and provides a slideshow of its elements.

The display not only recreates Dickinson's gardens, but the facade of her home and the home of her brother, who lived next door.

This You Tube video, and two more like it that can be accessed on the NYBG website, show the progress of designing and building her gardens.

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Categories: Public gardens