Whenever Abby or Adam looked into their backyard, they were greeted by a hideous rotted wood fence that was far from any sort of privacy shield. Being new homeowners, they were big on ambition and change and also slightly motivated by their neighbor’s two-tone, half-painted house. To their neighbor’s defense, I, too, am sporting a […]

This summer at Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, we are focusing our educational programming on pollinators. We have some fun and vivacious plants scheduled for the gardens. One of the ideas we had was to plant an entire area of Cleome or spider flower. We just adore these summer annuals from South America as they draw in […]

The Heat!! The Heat!! — I melt just walking to the veg patch. I don’t yet have an outdoor shower, so the hose is my only welcome respite (and I’ll take it with a smile! Whew, it’s hot!) I can’t get my work boots on because I (stupidly) walked barefoot across my asphalt driveway and burnt […]

A quote I think about when creating a container planting or designing a flower pot garden. “You just can’t plant exotics in the countryside. They just jar. But in town, where the are no points of reference, you can get away with all sorts” – Jinny Blom, Garden Design Magazine, March 2011 The whole concept […]

Surrounds landscapes in Sterling, Virginia, has a beautiful portfolio of work that beautifully demonstrates how the benign and basic are not actually all that attractive – and how, with the addition of some thoughtful planning, beautiful plants, and timeless stonework, any landscape can feel much more elegant and appropriate to the site where it lives. […]