I’ve been thinking of how fast time passes. I’m at the age when I go to more funerals than weddings, and I was sad to hear about the recent death of Stephanie’s Father-In-Law, Marshall. As a gardener, I was thinking…
Everyone has that one cherished Christmas ornament – the one that captures the essence of the holiday season or holds a special sentimental value. Old World Christmas features a collection of over 1700 spectacular Christmas ornaments. Have you ever wondered how…
Snow in the Washington, DC area! Alert the Press! Rest assured, the Press has been alerted and we out here in snowless (at least at our house) Wisconsin know all about your recent snowfall. This is a good time to…
Santa brought me SNOW BOOTS! Boy, I was excited that he thought ahead and picked these nice warm boots back in the fall. With the snowfall this week, I have been pretending with my grandkids that I love snow. I…
As the year comes to a close, I want to take a moment to wish you all the joys of the season. Merry Christmas to those celebrating, and to everyone, may this special time of year bring peace, warmth, and…
Just because they aren’t flying around now because it’s winter doesn’t mean that we should forget about our pollinators. Gardeners are coming around to the idea of leaving some debris in place overwinter (for example: allowing fallen tree leaves…
Norfolk Island Pine, Araucaria heterophylla, is sold as a houseplant during the Christmas season. I’ve tried to grow it several times with limited success. (The success being limited by premature death.) Detailed cultural information available here from the North Carolina Extension Service. …
Last Saturday, I finally sort of got our Christmas tree up. This may have been the latest I have ever waited to put it up, but up it went. For some reason, I was not feeling up to decorating our…
Poinsettias at Behnke’s Largo growing location, November 20,2004 In our prime growing days, Behnke’s sold around 55,000 poinsettias a year, most of which we grew ourselves. This photo is part of one of the three greenhouses we had at Largo,…
One of my mom’s, Sonja Behnke Festerling favorite things to do after retiring from Behnke’s was ringing the Salvation Army bell at Behnke Nurseries. As a member of the Beltsville Rotary Club, which organized bell-ringing shifts from Thanksgiving through Christmas…
Happy Thanksgiving Out here in Wisconsin we have a lot of wild turkeys. Here is part of a group of a dozen well-fed wild turkeys at my sister-in-law Nancy’s bird feeder in central Wisconsin. We see them regularly here in…
Paint Branch Garden Club Talk This past Monday, I was invited by the Paint Branch Garden Club to give a talk about Behnke’s Early Years at their meeting. I had been looking forward to this ever since they told me…