Years ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to Asheville, NC, with a group from Behnke’s to attend the Garden Center Group’s annual event. Asheville was such a beautiful place, and I know it will be again. While there,…
On September 19, 2024, Ele Behnke passed away, and Heaven gained another angel. I don’t even know where to begin expressing how much Aunt Ele meant to me. My earliest memories are of playing with her daughter, my cousin…
Protect your young trees and shrubs this winter. It’s a bit early in the season, but I’m a bit late providing a photo for Stephanie this week. So, in the spirit of planning ahead, I offer up a photo taken…
Some of you might be wondering if these violets could be mine. Last year, I wrote about my attempt at rooting some leaves off my mother’s (Sonja Behnke Festerling) old Chanticleer African Violet. These 3 in the photo are not…
I know that mums are one of the keystone plants for fall decoration. I find them sort of boring, after handling many thousands of them over the years. Familiarity and contempt, and all that. There are some nice perennials…
Rudbeckia subtomentosa, known as “Sweet Coneflower” is one of a number of species of Black-eyed Susans. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, in 2003 a nurseryman named Henry Eilers found this unusual form with quilled petals in the wild. If you took…
We spent a couple of days in Juneau, and we revisited the Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure. The photo is from our 2019 trip when it was abnormally warm and sunny. This time it was normally cool and rainy. Either way, the garden…
It is September which means that Stephanie is ready to start decorating her front porch for Fall.
Last weekend, I went on yet another adventure. This time, my wonderful daughter-in-law, Amy Fleming, invited me to tag along to Gaver Farm outside of Mt. Airy, Maryland, in Frederick County. She was taking my grandchildren, Robert and Elizabeth Rose,…
Last Sunday, my husband and I drove Westward to find the Washington County Agriculture Education Center in Boonsboro. I will have a booth at the Fall Gourmet Food & Craft Show Extravaganza on September 14 & 15. It’s a good…
Although bees, butterflies and hummingbirds get much of the credit for pollinating, there are loads of other pollinators in your garden. This is a photo of a (non-native) hybrid ornamental onion, Allium ‘Millenium’. This was the Perennial Plant Association Perennial…
I was about five feet from this butterfly bush that I wanted to write about, and a sandhill crane streaked through the photo. The butterfly bush, Buddleia ‘Pink Cascade II’, didn’t seem to mind. Butterfly bush is not native, and…