Category Archives: Shrubs and Trees

It’s Azalea-Pruning Time

May 20, 2013 0
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Got azaleas?  Of course you do!  (It’s for good reason that some call our region the “Azalea Belt.”)  And are your azaleas the size or shape that you want them to be?  All of them?  …

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Try a New Shrub this Season

April 8, 2013 0
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Homestead’s shrubs buyer, Lolly Bonomi, has these new and very promising shrubs in stock – check ‘em out!
Acuba Hosoba Hoshifu Variegata
That’s a long name for what looks to be a shorter …

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Rick Darke’s Favorite Native Plants

March 13, 2013 2
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Writer/garden designer Rick Darke, famous for his knowledge of native plants and advocacy for sustainable gardening, grows a mix of native and well-adapted nonnatives in his own garden.  In an earlier post I …

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A Few of Rick Darke’s Favorite Nonnative Plants

March 4, 2013 0
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Last weekend I attended Rick Darke’s wonderful talk about “Balancing Natives and Exotics in the Garden” and promised to report back from this special fund-raising event for Annapolis’s Unity Gardens.  So here are …

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My Picks for Easiest Natives and Nonnatives

February 25, 2013 0
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With author/native plant expert Rick Darke’s talk coming up this Saturday at Key School in Annapolis on the topic of “Balancing Natives and Exotics in the Garden”, I got to thinking.  What’s the balance …

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The 4-1-1 on Knockout Roses

February 13, 2013 3
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 This month’s meeting of the Golden Spades covered a topic that Homestead Education Coordinator Gene Sumi gets questions about all the time, he says, so often that he decided they needed their own meeting to …

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Fall Color Comes in Many Forms

September 16, 2012 0
Fall Comes In Many Colors

How to have a knock-out garden in the fall?  Let’s count the ways.
1.  Foliage colors – it’s not just trees that are strutting their stuff in the fall

2. Fading flowers can be …

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Illustrated Guide to Shrubs on Super-Sale

August 28, 2012 0

We don’t call this a “blow-out” sale for nothing – the prices are irresistible, especially if, like me, you’re a big fan of shrubs for low-maintneance, high-mpact gardens.  I just wish I had the …

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New-Garden Challenges Part 3: Screening

August 22, 2012 1

In reporting my progress in beginning a brand new garden, I’ve covered the challenge of having so much empty space to fill, the challenge of poor soil, and now we come to the …

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A whole lotta plant for 12 to 15 bucks

July 11, 2012 0

You may have read that we’re having a “blow-out” sale on a whole bunch of shrubs for “unbeatable prices” – 3-gallon plants for $12 or $15.  Well, it’s one thing to read that and another …

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We Live in Hydrangea Heaven

June 6, 2012 0

It’s June and in our region it’s Hydrangea Heaven, with these heavenly shrubs blooming themselves crazy.   And suddenly I’m noticing that the most spectacular gardens all seem to have lots of hydrangeas, more than ever.   …

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Time to Prune Your Rhododendrons, and Maybe Plant Some More

May 22, 2012 0
Time to Prune

Rhododendron bloom time came early this year, like everything else after our crazy-warm winter, and the blooms are mostly gone.  That means it’s time to get out your hand pruners and give your rhodies the …

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Roses at the Franciscan Monastery

May 9, 2012 0
Roses at Monastery

The Franciscan Monastery in Northeast D.C. is rightly touted as a great local garden to visit – especially in the spring.  Last month the display of tulips made it a must-see destination but now …

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How to Grow Fruit In Our Region & Some Great Performers To Choose From

March 28, 2012 0
How to Grow Fruit

This month’s Golden Spades event was all about fruits, the growing of them and just a bit about cooking and eating them, because that’s the whole point, right?  Gene Sumi, Homestead’s education director (also known …

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What to Prune Now, and How

February 22, 2012 0

It’s pruning time, y’all! At least for roses and shrubs that bloom mid-summer or later.  And pruning is the most important gardening task that most people never do.  Or if they do prune, they do …

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This is the perfect time for these gardening tasks

January 9, 2012 0

Recordkeeping
Who has time during the gardening season to carefully record everything for posterity?  But now you probably DO have time, and boy, will you be glad you spent some of it updating your …

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Appreciating Hollies in Winter

January 4, 2012 0

Hollies, the evergreen trees and shrubs that serve as backdrop or foundation planting and are seldom noticed in the spring and summer, are reeeeealy earning their real estate in January.   So let’s give ‘em some …

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Great Garden and Nature Apps to Give or Ask For

December 12, 2011 0

Dirr’s Tree and Shrub Finder .

Probably the most popular American gardening app that isn’t free is Michael Dirr’s Tree and Shrub Finder, totally worth it at just $15. …

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Best free gardening app? Maryland’s own Leafsnap!

December 7, 2011 0
Leaf Snap

The hottest gardening smart-phone application of 2011 is one that’s making Marylanders proud.  It’s Leafsnap, a tree-identification and databank app, and it’s the work of the University of Maryland, in collaboration with the …

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For Late Fall and Late Winter Color, Grow Hellebores, Camellias and Pansies

November 7, 2011 0

For our Golden Spades event this month, Homestead’s education coordinator Gene Sumi  recommended his favorite plants for those difficult times of the year in the garden – just before winter and then late …

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