Helping a small corner planting spot

In my historic neighborhood, there's an old corner store.  It's a simple store, largely catering to the less affluent folks in the housing project down the street.

After mulching

But it's front row and center to one of the main streets through our neighborhood, and right next door to a thriving neighborhood restaurant, so its corner planting spot is quite visible.  And, after recent city stoplight additions, it's even more so.

I volunteered (on behalf of my garden club, but really just me) to help clean it up some months ago, just before the incident of the hands, which had my right (and dominant) hand practically useless, followed by traveling, and then a nasty virus that laid me low for 3+ weeks.

So I was glad to get over there yesterday, pick up a bit of trash, and throw pine mini-nuggets over the square, hoping that they'll break down enough by spring to create a bit of a planting bed, for something that might not be trampled....

Win a hot-off-the-press 2016 Local Gardening Task Calendar

For our December 2015 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, we are giving away a hot-off-the-press 2016 Local Gardening Task Calendar.

   Each month includes a list of what to do in the garden for local DC-MD-VA and Mid-Atlantic gardeners, along with a gorgeous photo of a seasonal flower or scene from a local DC-area public garden’s collection.

   You can order one for yourself and more as gifts for your favorite local gardeners by going to: http://www.cafepress.com/washgardener. or go directly to the item page here: http://www.cafepress.com/washgardener.1436102069 (Note: You can select the calendar to start with whatever month you choose.)

   To enter to win a Local Gardening Task Calendar, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5pm on Wednesday, December 30, with “Local Gardening Task Calendar” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us which was your favorite article in this December 2015 issue of the magazine and why. Please also include your full name and mailing address. The calendar winner will be announced and notified by January 1.

UPDATE: Our Winner is Edward Constable of Washington, DC. If you did not win, you can order your calendar here:  http://www.cafepress.com/washgardener.1436102069
(Be sure to note what month you want it to start on!)

Lovely winter hikes

Even if the unseasonably warm weather seems odd for this time of the year, it made for some lovely winter hikes.

The views along Beaver Lake were fabulous yesterday.

Sycamores at Beaver Lake (along Merrimon Ave) in late afternoon

Today, along the Blue Ridge Parkway (walking a segment of the Mountains-to-Sea trail), the views were equally nice, complete with strange balmy air, more suitable to April than December.

View from the Mountains-to-Sea trail, below the intersection of Town Mountain Road and the BRP

Fungi, moss, and lichens

Woody was happy.  He was cooling off in a muddy spot.

Christmas fern

A piece in the NYT today reminded me how fortunate we are to have native Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides, a fern that's evergreen in a winter landscape.

Polystichum acrostichoides

Various stories about its common name exist; being green at Christmas seems like enough of an explanation for me, although stocking-shaped leaflets sound reasonable, too.

Seasons Greetings from Washington Gardener Magazine

Note that our usual blog/social media posts and the "Garden Tip of the Day" tweets from Washington Gardener Magazine will be on holiday until January 1, 2016. See you in the New Year!

Snow and other thoughts

Five years ago, we were here in Asheville at Christmas.  There was a lot of snow.  It started early, and continued, with snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Quite different than today's early morning thunderstorms, with even more rain after a rainy night, and WARM temperatures.

Mocha and me -- December 12,  2010

We've almost a week more of unusually high temperatures, apparently, before they moderate to something more normal.

Remembering holidays and Christmases past

Thinking about Christmas...

A search of previous post with the label "Christmas" brings up not only travel posts of Christmases away, but remembrances of our last snowy Christmas with Mocha (our 2nd Golden) and our first with our current fellow, Woody, as well as posts that have Christmas fern in the narrative or "Christmas Eve" as a tag.  Go figure. 

A search for "holidays" was equally revealing, although it brought up some of the same posts.

My mother (and my dad, too) believed in giving back at Christmas, even though we were a secular family (my mom, a philosophy major,  took my sister and me to Unitarian fellowship for some time), but my sister (who grew up to be a music teacher and is musical in all ways) and I loved singing carols, and we made Christmas cookies and had Christmas dinner, and gathered folks to the table (foreign students who were far from home).

My sister and I learned about the philosophers of the world (and the founders of the major religions; they were wise people, my mom said).  And I don't have any reason to consider it otherwise, although I'm more or less a humanist, and not a believer of anything much beyond the basic good of people.

Christmas lights in Lecce, Italy

"Home" at Christmas for the first time (since the last ones with Mocha and Woody), after a very many away traveling, seems both welcome and disconcerting.  

What DOES Christmas mean, after all, to two secular folks who grew up with Christmas traditions, but don't practice gift-giving (to friends and relatives), but will go to a Christmas brunch, hosted by friends in the neighborhood, and share dinner with equally secular friends?

We've continued the holiday giving around food, shelter, clothing, and animals, both here and in distant places.  

We'll mark the tradition by going to a Christmas Eve celebration, as we've done in places around the world, from Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Vietnam, Italy, France, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Dominica, and Costa Rica, and other places that I'm not remembering at the moment.  There was a memorable Christmas Eve in Arusha, Tanzania, but that one wasn't celebratory!

Wishing peace for the world at this time of the year and blessings to any of you that read this.

Video Wednesday: Garden of Lights

Enjoy this short video of some highlights from the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. This walk-through holiday light display features 1 million dazzling, colorful lights shaped into hand-crafted, original art forms of flowers, animals and other natural elements. Enjoy nightly musical performances and visit the conservatory to watch G-scale model trains wind through a seasonal landscape. The event will be open nightly through January 3, 2016 (closed December 24 and 25).
   Stroll from garden to garden, enjoying twinkling tree forms, fountains, sparkling snowflakes overhead, and more. The Garden of Lights celebrates its 18th season as a Baltimore/Washington, DC-area family holiday tradition.
   Warm up in the Visitors Center while you sip hot cocoa and listen to one of the nightly musical performances. Find out more at http://www.montgomeryparks.org/brookside/garden_lights.shtm

Curious natural rhythms

The rhythms of the natural world seem a bit askew here so far this fall and early winter, even among our native plants, but especially the Asian ones, many of which are starting to flower now, some months in advance of what they "normally" would in a place far afield from their genetic home (cherries, quinces, forsythia, and Jasminium...) 

Quince buds from spring, in a another year, down in the Piedmont

I'm hearing Carolina Wrens singing loudly, perhaps not unusually, but the frequency this time of year?  And the occasional male cardinal?

Hmm, at least there haven't been any daffodils yet -- they probably need at least a bit of cold before they are triggered to flower.  We'll see what (is now calendar) winter brings.  Normally I think of winter in the Carolinas of the Southern U.S. from mid-November to late February, since we often have warmer days in February, variable weather in March, and by April, we're solidly into spring, depending on any odd vagaries.

A former colleague, at the botanical garden in the Upstate of SC, was an old-timer, now gone -- in my early years there, he wouldn't plant warm-season bedding plants in the front display gardens until after May 1st.  I think those days are probably gone, too (along with planting bedding plants, as well).

The tulips that aren't prechilled, the hours of chilling needed for apples, and peaches -- well, how they fare remains to be seen in the months ahead.

Winter Solstice

I'm glad that today marks the shortest day of the year. 

I'm not particularly happy when the days are shorter, even if the temperatures are mild, as they've been this year.  It's still dark when I get up, and dark before I finish cooking dinner.

Yes, I remember my days in Germany when it was even darker, and the light was for a shorter period of time, and I now imagine my friends elsewhere in Northern Europe (Ireland, the Netherlands, UK) enveloped in the dark, but...  I'm glad the days will be getting longer.

We have often been off to much brighter places by now, having traveling at winter break, as academics for decades, without family obligations around holidays.

Home this year, in the mountains, for the first time, it's interesting to mark the solstice, and the holiday season.  Neither of us are religious at all, now in midlife, but we've grown up with the secular traditions of Christmas, and my gardening companion, with the traditions of Catholic celebrations behind him -- well, we enjoy marking the transition of Christmas and New Year's wherever we've been in the world. And we'll do that here in our mountain town in Western North Carolina.

That's often included Christmas Eve masses in small parish churches in Latin American countries, or a massive one in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, or a freezing one in Rome, up on the hill, on a trip to Italy after 9/11.

Lights in Hoi An

But what I'm remembering this evening is a wonderful Full Moon celebration in Hoi An, Vietnam.

We had wonderful trips there over two travel seasons.

An orchid in winter light

Standing at the sink, and looking left, the buds on a coral-colored orchid reflected a clear yellow in the afternoon light. 

orchid in late afternoon light

The brightness of the buds surprised me, but the late afternoon sun focused their glow, in a way not particularly captured by the iPhone, but something to remember, nevertheless.

Remembering an Irish beach

Poking back through images, actually looking for something else, I came across photos of this beach on the Dingle Peninsula.  Remarkable at the time, and compelling to come across this evening, too.

A Dingle beach, full of geological interest

Just having returned from a lovely neighborhood concert, there is something grounding about these photos. 

a stacked collection

Local First Friday: Valley View Farms

Guest Blog by Joelle Lang

The history behind it:

Valley View Farms has grown from a small roadside produce stand to one of the largest, most complete garden centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Brothers Billy and Punkey Foard opened Valley View Farms on Friday, April 13, 1962, as a produce stand to augment a largest wholesale vegetable growing operation. As the store expanded in size to become the premiere garden center in the Baltimore metro area, several year-round and seasonal departments were added that have provided a continuously dynamic shooing experience for our customers. Today, Valley View Farms is owned and operated by father and son team, Billy and Andy Foard.

What it’s like today:

Valley View Farms is located Cockeysville/Hunt Valley, Maryland, and open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. During the spring season, Valley View Farms offers a complete selection of trees and shrubs, vegetable and flowering annual and perennial plants, and planters, trellis, soil, and other planting accessories necessary to help customers achieve success in their gardens. They also have a patio furniture department. The Water Garden department is stocked with waterlilies, aquatic plants, fish, and accessories. In the fall, Valley View Farms becomes a holiday wonderland, with decorated trees, a huge outdoor lights display, and an international Christmas shop with ornaments and gifts from around the world.   

What makes it special:

Valley View Farms is family-owned and operated, and visiting the farm is a family tradition for a lot of local families. Valley View Farms also provides the largest selection of vegetable and flowering annual and perennial plants in the states and promises a unique garden shopping experience.  

About the Author 

Joelle Lang, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a multi-platform journalism student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. This autumn, she is also an editorial intern for Washington Gardener Magazine.

"Local First Friday" is a weekly blog series profiling independent garden businesses in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic region. Washington Gardener Magazine believes strongly in supporting and sourcing from local businesses first!

Winter light

The rain has blown through, bringing colder air and freezing temperatures back, at last, to the mountains.

evening light to the far side of the ravine

The combination of clear, dry air, pushing out last bits of clouds gave a luminous quality to the evening light. 

towards the ravine

 My iPhone didn't do a great job capturing what I saw (especially in the other direction, at sunset), and I'm realizing that I really need a replacement for my ancient digital Nikon D100 SLR, too, if I really want to keep getting those out-of-the-ordinary images.

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Authentic Haven Brand

Authentic Haven Brand (http://www.manuretea.com/) offers a full line of all-natural, premium soil conditioner teas for the home gardener, landscaper, and farmer. Haven Brand uses only the highest quality manures from livestock that are raised on permanent, native grass pastures at the Haven Family Ranch.

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today. 

Video Wednesday: Wreath Care and Decorating Tips

How to care for and decorate a fresh wreath with a rustic/country holiday theme.

Fun with ceramics

My usual themes of trees and green emerged on a recent excursion with a new friend, met through a watercolor workshop.  With lots in common, we were both interested in checking out a local paint-your-own-ceramic item sort of place (we'd both walked by it for some time without ever checking it out).

So heartened by mutual interest, we set off, and had an excellent afternoon experimenting with fluid ceramic glazes on our bowls, and wondering how they'd come out, while talking about all sorts of things.

Here was my bowl, unfired.

unfired bowl

And then what it looked like, after firing, at least propping it up for a rudimentary photo.

after firing

Some of the green was darker than I thought it would be (more "kelly green" than a natural green), but the bowl is quite nice, really, and the glaze covered it completely (I wasn't sure about that).

December 2015 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine Now Out!

 

The December 2015 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is now out and posted online at: http://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/washingtongardenerdecember15

In this issue:
Wild Tulips for Tough Spots
Your Garden Tasks To-Do List
Showy Shrubs for the Mid-Atlantic
Local Gardening Events Calendar
A Visit to Woodend Nature Sanctuary
Native Yellow Root
7 Beautiful College Arboretums in our Region
Carol and Leon Carrier: Local Cut-Flower Growers
and much more!

Note that any submissions, event listings, and advertisements for the January 2016 issue are due by January 10.

Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly publication sent to your inbox as a PDF several days before it is available online. You can use the PayPal (credit card) online order form here: http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/subscribe.htm

A Balmy Bloom Day!

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. Here is the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we have had a mercifully mild fall and December has been especially mild. After two very punishing winters we deserve it!

My Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper' is looking great (see above) and I also have many marginally hardy plants as well as summer annuals blooming away as well. They include Dianthus, Salvia, Calendula, and Zinnia.

What is blooming in your garden today?

Late fall sedums

This matrona sedum struggled early on, but has been in its heyday for the last few years.

It was beautiful in the late afternoon light today.  The iPhone didn't capture it appropriately, but perhaps enough.  The dried, senesced flowering stalks were luminous, and rusty brown, in the waning light.

Leeks in December

Who knew that I'd be out harvesting young leeks and dividing up my perennial leek patch in December?

a December leek harvest

But they're flourishing in this unseasonably warm weather, and I'm finally feeling well enough (after a nasty cold-like virus) to actually enjoy it.

Lovely to be in the garden this afternoon, continuing to tidy cool season greens here and there, too. 

I transplanted (!) some red romaine lettuce seedlings that had been hanging on in flats (looking scrimped) -- hmm, who knows.

I sowed the final spinach seeds from one of this year's packets -- ridiculous, but you never know. 

One of my good gardening friends (always experimental) and one who doesn't follow the "rules" has lovely Swiss chard, spinach seedlings, hardy-looking onion relatives of all sorts, as well as young cilantro plants everywhere.  Maybe the La Nina or is it the El Nino effect that's bringing us this continuing warm weather in the Eastern U.S. will keep things warm for a bit more.  It's certainly predicted through the week ahead.

A woodchuck that crept out from the ravine ate my cilantro plants while we were traveling in October, so I have no homegrown cilantro at this point (I had to send out my gardening companion for cilantro for our dinner this evening.  Aggravating, as it would have been flourishing now!)

An orchid in winter

We have a row of orchids along the kitchen windows, which have flourished in the light there.  This is the first year that they've re-flowered, testament to their site and evolving care (not mine).

This one is particularly lovely;  illuminated by late afternoon light, its graceful stem, elongated by the sun's changing angles over the day, frames the edge of the window looking towards the deck.

orchid in late afternoon light

Local First Friday: Greenstreet Gardens

Guest Blog by Joelle Lang

The history behind it:

In June 2000, Ray and Stacy Greenstreet purchased a greenhouse operation in southern Anne Arundel County, Lothian, MD, to grow some plants and raise their family. But Greenstreet’s roots actually began in the mid ’70s on the existing 65-acre farm. At that time, a small rooting station was established to grow plants for Ball Seed Company wholesale customers. As the years passed, neighbors and locals bought the extra plants for their gardens.

Word-of-mouth referrals helped build the landscaper and homeowner side of the business. In the summer of 2000, the Greenstreets expanded the property to the ever-evolving business of today. Greenstreet Growers, Inc., home of Greenstreet Gardens, is a dynamic complex, located around the corner from Prince George’s and Calvert counties.

What it’s like today:

Greenstreet Gardens in a family-owned business open all year round. They provide annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs, and native plants. They provide green wall plants for both exterior and interior spaces. They also offer garden tools, home décor, a landscaping service, tools for birding, and plants that would thrive in an aquatic garden.

Greenstreet Gardens is both a retail and wholesale garden center. They have three retail locations in Lothian, Md, Alexandria, VA, and in Del Ray, VA, where they sell their products and host events such as gingerbread decorating for the holiday season and live music. Their wholesale shop is located in Lothian, MD. They own a 65-acre farm in Maryland and grow most of their products that they sell there. They also have 23 greenhouses in Maryland.

What makes it special:

Greenstreet Gardens is dedicated to supporting local businesses. They sell local meats, jewelry and even local popcorn at events such as their fall festival. They also run a local farmer’s market during the summer.  

The garden center also offers unique events all year, including hosting Santa every weekend during the Christmas season.

About the Author 

Joelle Lang, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a multi-platform journalism student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. This autumn, she is also an editorial intern for Washington Gardener Magazine.

"Local First Friday" is a weekly blog series profiling independent garden businesses in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic region. Washington Gardener Magazine believes strongly in supporting and sourcing from local businesses first!

Traveling

For the first time in many years, we're not traveling over winter break, staying at home in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

The academic schedule of decades has yielded now in "graduation" to a more flexible one, so mid-January to early February is a more appealing time to travel, and escape the relatively mild winters for a few weeks, before spring wildflower season begins, not so long afterwards.

Curiously, FB keeps reminding me of my posts last year, as we were about to head off (to far south, in Argentina and Chile), so that has me thinking about conundrums of travel.

Travel brings such a widening perspective, where ever we go.  If more Americans traveled, I think it would bring more scope to how we perceive "immigrants"and "refugees."

My great-great grandmother left Germany in 1848, with her five young sons, to escape the draft into the Kaiser's army (at least that's how the story is told).  They established the Wagner Brothers Clothing Store in Ellinwood, Kansas as adults.

"Quality has no substitute" was their motto.

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Sunshine Farm & Gardens

 Rare and Exceptional Plants for the Discriminating Gardener and Collector

Barry Glick
Sunshine Farm and Gardens
696 Glicks Road
Renick, WV 24966, USA
Email: barry@sunfarm.com
www.sunfarm.com

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

Native Spotlight: American Holly

Guest Blog by Rachel Shaw 

American Holly (Ilex opaca) is familiar to many people; with its evergreen leaves and bright red berries it is often depicted on Christmas cards or used as a holiday decoration. Before moving to this area, I had been aware of it only in this festive capacity, and thought of it simply as "Holly." It was not native to the part of the Midwest where I had lived, and I had never seen it growing outdoors. I knew the English folk carol, "The Holly and the Ivy," and on that basis I suppose I had assumed the plant was from England.
 

In fact Ilex species are found in England, the U.S., and in a wide variety of places around the world, some 400-600 species, according to Wikipedia. An article by H.E. Grelen for the US Forest Service describes American Holly as “primarily a plant of the humid Southeast,” although its northernmost range begins in coastal Massachusetts, extends into Appalachia, and can withstand the cold of Zone 5. The article begins with an interesting bit of history: 

When the Pilgrims landed the week before Christmas in 1620 on the coast of what is now Massachusetts, the evergreen, prickly leaves and red berries of American holly (Ilex opaca) reminded them of the English holly (Ilex aquifolium), a symbol of Christmas for centuries in England and Europe. Since then American holly, also called white holly or Christmas holly, has been one of the most valuable and popular trees in the Eastern United States for its foliage and berries, used for Christmas decorations, and for ornamental plantings.

There are two American Hollies in my yard, with somewhat different appearance. One, growing under the shade of another tree, is tall and rather leggy -- if a tree can be described as leggy! After the cold and ice of the last couple of winters some of the leaves were damaged and turned a silvery-brown, but the tree appears to have recovered well. The other tree is in an area with a bit more sun as well as some protection from wind, and did not show the same leaf damage. It is also a smaller and more compact tree, with smaller leaves and a somewhat rounded top.

Since both trees were here when I moved in, I don’t know much about them. There are apparently many cultivars of Ilex opaca, and I don’t know if one or both of mine might be cultivars. I had assumed that both were planted at the same time, but it is possible that the taller one is also older. The University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture website describes the American Holly as becoming “open, irregular, and high branching with age.” So perhaps my taller, more scraggly tree is also older.

I have to be honest and say that I do have quite the strong attachment to my two Ilex opaca that I feel for many of my other native plants. (Perhaps it has something to do with the prickly leaves – you don’t really feel the urge to hug an American Holly!) But the berries are good food for birds, and the trees are a pretty sight as part of a snowy landscape. Now that I’m thinking of it, I may go out and cut a branch or two for decoration. Happy holidays, everyone! 

About the author: 
Rachel Shaw focuses on vegetable gardening and growing native plants in her small yard in Rockville, Maryland. She blogs at http://hummingbirdway.blogspot.com/. 

She will be taking some time from being our monthly native plant guest blogger for the next few months and plans to return to it sometime next spring.

Video Wednesday: Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in November

This video is a montage of photographs by Tom Stovall taken over the past two years around Meadowlark Botanical Gardens during the month of November. They include the seasonal Winter Walk of Lights. Enjoy!

Beautiful evening light

I'm grateful for the light surrounding our house in the mountains.

We have morning sunrises from the kitchen window and deck and evening light from the front door and side windows.

In winter, the light slants low, illuminating the house throughout the day, including my small ground-floor studio space.

Recovering, now, from a nasty virus, I was glad to be able to take a nice rest (not my usual mode) on the couch looking out at the evening light.  I searched out a late August view.

Here are a couple of late October versions.

Sunsets in the mountains are good.  I'm grateful.

Lovely fall carrots

A harvest sample

I'd bought some carrot seeds in late summer from a "seed collector" - an eclectic fellow who had obtained these seeds from a source in India, bred traditionally by a researcher looking for heat tolerance.  The seed collector was mentioned in Organic Gardening magazine (now Organic Living). His business is called The Rare Vegetable Seed Consortium.

I had acquired purple and deep orange varieties, sowed them late, without much anticipation of anything, as we were traveling in late September and October, so not around to water.

But much to my surprise, my harvest (prompted by the late 20° F overnight temperatures) yielded a small bunch of totally delicious purple and orange carrots.  They were good both fresh and roasted.  Encouraging, to be sure.

Carrots are NOT an easy vegetable to grow in the Southern US!

The best looking one!

P.S.
I see that Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has picked them up from the original collector, who introduced them here.  Good news for keeping these great varieties alive.  I bought them from the collector's small company, but Baker Creek is "mainstream" now.  This is a good thing as these are a delicious and productive variety that needs wider distribution.

Local First Friday: The Behnke Nurseries Co.

Guest Blog by Joelle Lang

The history behind it: 

The Behnke Nurseries Co. was founded in 1930 by Albert Behnke. Albert, whose father was an award-winning horticulturist, traveled from his home in Kellinghusen, Germany, to Beltsville, Maryland, in search of a better future. He took a few jobs working with something he knew, flowers, before opening Behnke Nurseries. The company faced rough times in its early years, suffering through the Depression as well as a statewide drought. After WWII, however, the nursery experienced profound growth and expanded its small selection of plants to include annuals, perennials, roses, shrubs, and trees. Behnke Nurseries was the first company to own a modern greenhouse after the war. Since then, three more modern greenhouses were erected on the property.  

What it’s like today:

Behnke Nurseries, located on Baltimore Avenue and open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week (and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday,) offers annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs, houseplants, herbs and vegetables, and a garden shop fit with gardening materials such as seeds and fertilizer, and books and calendars. They provide services such as landscaping, deliveries, and basic planting services. The store also hosts events all year such as speakers, activity workshops, and live music.

 

What makes it special:

“We have been really lucky that we have the best employees that anyone has ever had,” said vice president and marketing manager Stephanie Fleming. The employees at The Behnke Nurseries Co. make it unique because of their extensive knowledge of plants and horticulture and their passion for gardening.

   Product-wise, the store offers an exceptionally vast selection of perennials as well as a huge line of native plants.

About the Author 

Joelle Lang, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a multi-platform journalism student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. This autumn, she is also an editorial intern for Washington Gardener Magazine.

"Local First Friday" is a weekly blog series profiling independent garden businesses in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic region. Washington Gardener Magazine believes strongly in supporting and sourcing from local businesses first!