Mark’s Blog

Home/Mark’s Blog/

Look Ahead to Fall : Day 4

Get off Your Aster!  This week, GardenWise continues to  look forward with our five favorite  Garden Delights, in no particular order, for Fall 2011.  Last week we heated things up with the Dwarf Burning Bush, and earlier marveled at both the Toad Lily and Pink Muhly Grass.  Today is day four of our series, and we’re showing off Asters! There are so [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:11-04:00September 4th, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on Look Ahead to Fall : Day 4

September Gardening List : Day 3

 This weekend it’s all about September Gardening.  There are so many things to do this month that we’ve decided to make it a three day event.  Today, it’s all about water and your garden spaces.  WATER  Maintain the water level in your water garden. Keep fountains and water features properly maintained.  As we approach winter, be sure your [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:14-04:00September 3rd, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on September Gardening List : Day 3

September Gardening List : Day 2

This weekend it's all about September Gardening.  There are so many things to do this month that we've decided to make it a three day event.  Today, it's all about pruning, soil testing and fertilizer!  FERTILIZE · Take soil test for new planting areas.  DO NOT pay others to do this for you; Ph soil test kits [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:17-04:00September 2nd, 2013|Gardening Tips, Gardenwise Master Class|Comments Off on September Gardening List : Day 2

September Gardening List : Day 1

This week and weekend it's all about September Gardening.  There are so many things to do this month that we've decided to make it a three day event.  Today, it's all about planting.  · Fall is a good time to select and plant trees and shrubs. Fall planting encourages good root development, allowing the plants [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:30-04:00September 1st, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on September Gardening List : Day 1

A Hinged Trellis is GardenWise

A Foldaway Trellis! It's hard to clean  behind latticework, so a great alternative that allows you to get behind this wonderful garden accent  is to make a hinged trellis that swings open! Start by fastening a strip of 3/4-by-1-inch wood to the wall about one and a half feet from the ground.  Screw hinge plates [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:32-04:00August 25th, 2013|Garden Structures|Comments Off on A Hinged Trellis is GardenWise

Toad Lily in the Shade

One of my all time favorites, and a recent top choice by  GardenWise as a "must-have" Fall 2011 garden favorite, is Toad Lily (Tricyrtis.)   As I earlier wrote, Toad Lily, with its  beautiful orchid-like white flowers, purple flecks and graceful arching growth habit, compels anyone who gazes upon it to stop and take a closer look. Better Homes & Gardens lists Toad Lily [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:35-04:00August 22nd, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on Toad Lily in the Shade

They’ll Knock You Off Your Aster

It's Aster Time! The word aster has a Greek  origin and means "star", which is what the flowers resemble. There are many varieties to choose from -- I planted the  Monch Aster in my garden a couple of years ago, but for this post, I'm going with the New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) for its striking and contrasting colors of purple and [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:36-04:00August 18th, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on They’ll Knock You Off Your Aster

Break a Sweat and Get Garden Fit

Buff Gardeners are GardenWise Many who have a passion for gardening know that working with plants can be  good for us both physically and mentally.  Gardening can be a  moderate,  and sometimes strenuous form of exercise that incorporates many important elements of accepted exercise regimes, such as stretching,  repetition and movement, and even resistance principles similar to weight training, while burning [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:40-04:00August 16th, 2013|GardenWise Health|Comments Off on Break a Sweat and Get Garden Fit

Edible Petals for All

We started to follow @DCLadies on twitter last year and soon we were visiting their fabulous site each week. They're a "Forty something mom and her twenty something daughter" who team up to give their users an eclectic mix of what's fun, fashionable, and just plain fabulous from the D.C. area for women. Well, Shelley [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:43-04:00August 12th, 2013|Gardening Tips, GardenWise Press|Comments Off on Edible Petals for All

Fall is Tulip Time!

Mid-October through Mid-November is the peak time to plant Tulip bulbs.  I always think of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Betty Ramsey compete for the best tulip garden in CT, and wax flowers play into the plot.  But there's no need to fake it!  Plant your bulbs now for tulips that will make your garden guests [...]

By |2017-10-11T11:34:47-04:00August 7th, 2013|Gardening Tips|Comments Off on Fall is Tulip Time!