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…
It seems everywhere I go outside these past few weeks I am seeing more and more of these Spotted Lantern Flies. While they are very pretty, we all need to spread the word that they are invasive and damaging. The…
I was walking at a park near my home in Middleton, WI that has a restored wetland. I noticed this white stuff wound around the stems of a few of the plants. Looking closer, I saw that it was made…
This little brick is more than just a planter, it’s a piece of my childhood home and one of Behnke’s Bests, Larry Bristow’s legacy. It comes from the little brick house that once stood at the back of Behnke…
Remington’s in Beltsville, Maryland Remington’s is a little restaurant a few blocks down from where Behnke’s was. This is where many of us would go for a good lunch or after-work get-together. Their quote, Where Good Food + Good Drinks…
We horticulturists are always looking for (or breeding plants for) shorter and more compact plants. There are many reasons for this. If you reside in a place where you have a yard, odds are good that you don’t have a…