Hellebores – A Gardener’s Comfort
By Dina Lehmann-Kim, Extension Master Gardener Avid gardeners spend the winter months gazing through plant catalogs, planning for changes and new additions to their gardens while eagerly awaiting the first …
By Dina Lehmann-Kim, Extension Master Gardener Avid gardeners spend the winter months gazing through plant catalogs, planning for changes and new additions to their gardens while eagerly awaiting the first …
Judy Funderburk looks back at the year in the Glencarlyn Library Community Garden
While it is true that deer will eat anything if they are hungry enough, there are many plants that deer usually avoid.
MGNV is on Social Media! - Have you seen our mystery plant posts on Facebook every Tuesday? This series, by Elaine Mills, Certified Extension Master Gardener, is now regularly posted in an expanded format on Instagram. Follow us at mgnvsocialmedia!
Gardens with rich, dense and diverse plantings—not bare land—attract and provide food for these organisms. They, in turn, move through the soil, aerating, enriching and making it more porous and absorbent. Whatever your “crop”—perennials, annuals, vegetables or fruits—you can join the growing movement of “soil gardeners” who care for their soil in order to grow better, more successful gardens.
by Dina Lehmann-Kim, Master Gardener When the Shade Garden held its work party April 16 to pot up plants for the Master Gardeners (MG) of Northern Virginia’s annual plant sale …
Do you want to create or add to a pollinator garden? Do you look at lists of plants that claim to be superior at attracting pollinators, then wonder which ones really perform best?
If you wish to target bees, then consider native Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot).
Every year reveals something different about a garden, as the changing weather patterns or the focus of the gardeners’ work emphasizes or favors some plants over others.
Judy Funderburk, Emeritus Coordinator of the Glencarlyn Library Community Garden, shared her wisdom at the MGNV Membership Meeting, on June 21, 2017. For those who could not attend and those who want to ponder her words again, here is the transcript of her talk.
This low, spreading ground cover forms a star-studded mat of velvety foliage that is as attractive at the front of a formal border as it is in a naturalistic setting. In the Mid-Atlantic Region, it is mostly found in Virginia, where it is common in the Piedmont and lower mountains.
During National Pollinator Week we challenged you to test your pollinator identification skills. Each day we featured a pollinator or two on our Facebook page with clues to the identity. This week we provide answers in three parts. Part 1 focuses on bees, wasps and flies.
One day the tulip magnolia next to my front door is still green – leaves fringed with yellow, spotted with brown here and there, yes, but basically still green, and on waking the next morning I see it still full of leaves as I pick up the paper, though the stoop is littered with yellowing leaves. By afternoon, a rising wind has stripped the upper branches of foliage, leaving just the gray bark of branches and twigs and the furry gray buds that hold next spring’s pink blossoms outlined against the gray sky.
By Mary Free, Extension Master Gardener In early spring, the Quarry/Shade Garden is hardly shady. Before the trees have leafed out, sun streams through bare branches beckoning the ephemerals to emerge and …
We can aid pollinators and other wildlife by creating natural, sustainable and environmentally-friendly habitats on our properties. This means using primarily native plants (and removing invasive species), which are suited to local conditions and are naturally more pest and disease resistant.
Gardens flourish when we choose plants that are suited to existing site conditions (sun exposure, moisture level, and soil type). The Quarry Shade Garden features many plants native to our area and to the eastern U.S., along with well-adapted, non-invasive exotics. The use of native plants provides nourishment and habitat to local wildlife and has the added benefit of being low-maintenance for gardeners.
The Simpson Park Demonstration Garden, at Simpson Park in Alexandria, is an urban garden and haven for people, pollinators, and wildlife. Thirteen garden beds showcase a diverse range of native plants and trees, ornamental perennials, and unusual specimens.