Blast From The Past
I got to spend some time last week with some very special women. I stopped in to say hello to Becky and her husband Nick. Many might remember Becky who ran our customer service and cashiers for many years. As…
A Memory From A Family Friend
A few weeks ago, Pat Torbert Kral reached out to Stephanie to share a memory she had of her grandparents Albert and Rose Behnke. She put her memory down as part of a story about her first job.
Thanksgiving Farms ‘We Grow Our Own’
Road Trip Last Sunday, my friend Donna and I took a road trip to Adamstown, Maryland, in Frederick County. I have always heard about Thanksgiving Farms, an independent garden center but never had the opportunity to go there. Carol Allen…
Raised Vegetable Garden Beds
A lot of planning and work went into Jane & Marshall Fleming’s vegetable garden over the years. This looks to be another successful year for them as they have already been harvesting the broccoli.
A Visit To Patuxent Nursery
This week Stephanie’s road trip took her to Bowie, Maryland where she stopped in to see Patuxent Nursery. Lucky for her, former Behnke Bes, the perennial manager, was there, and they were able to catch up.
How Old Is This Geranium Anyway?
Overwintering A Geranium For Spring I bought this red geranium in a 4 inch pot in 2018, the year before Behnke’s closed. The photo does not show just how spectacular this color is, and unfortunately, I never knew what the…
Homestead Gardens, A Maryland Destination Garden Center
This week Stephanie took a road trip to visit one of Maryland’s destination garden centers in Davidsonville, MD. Homestead Gardens is a family-owned independent garden center that offers a wide selection of everything and beyond for your home and garden.
Brighton Dam’s Azalea Garden
How could I have lived in this area my whole life and never have known about the Brighton Dam’s Azalea Garden? A beautiful public garden with over 22 thousand azaleas planted over 5 acres this is a must-see garden that everyone will enjoy.
Two Growers That Sell Retail Too
Wholesale Grower My husband and I started Hillside Nursery, in 1979. We were a wholesale nursery of annuals, perennials, and poinsettias a few months after we got married. For 27 years, we sold our plants to retail garden centers and…
Spring Blues
Larry Hurley writes about one of his favorite blue flowering perennials. There are a number of blue-flowered, spring-blooming perennials. A group you should consider are in the genus Amsonia, commonly known as Bluestar.
Several are native to the United States, and one, Amsonia tabernaemontana, is native to Maryland. This species gets two to three feet tall, and blooms for several weeks in late April through early to mid-May, depending on weather conditions. It has pale blue flowers and nice yellow fall color. It grows in full sun to partial shade.
A Visit To A Local Independent Garden Center
Grey Goose Farm: A Visit To A Local Garden Center Yesterday I finally did it! I went to visit Grey Goose Farm in Laytonsville, MD. As with most of you, I have stuck pretty much close to home, but now…
Rebranding: Beyond Behnke’s
After months of working on this thing called Re-Branding, here it is! Are you as excited as I am? Maybe not, but that’s okay. This whole process has been such a learning experience for me. I hope you enjoy reading about this process I have started and remember, we are never too old to learn something new. Life is all about change!