Gardener's Garden

Made in the Shade

Make the most of your shady side …

The past week of temperatures higher than 80 and sweltering humidity have reminded me just why I love the breezy shade of my back gardens. My shade gardens grow down the slope of a hill and under the canopy of several 75 to 80-foot red and white oaks, numerous maple and beech trees and a couple of redbud trees. At this time of year, most of these back gardens are in full shade, although the sun does trace a line of filtered light through the trees as it crosses the sky during the day. I spend a lot of the summer out of the sun on this breezy slope and, consequently, have figured out which plants might thrive in the shade, which might be devoured by the wildlife we cohabitate with along the Potomac and which will lend brightness to the …

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May Is the New June in the Garden

Prune perennials to extend bloom times.

It’s time to be courageous and cut back your perennials to extend their bloom time and encourage repeat blooming. Because we have had such a warm winter, and an even warmer spring, perennials in this area are about three weeks ahead in growth than normal. Therefore, traditional June tasks need to be done in the next few days of May.  Pruning back summer- and autumn-flowering perennials before flowering is essential to maintaining their health and to extending bloom time into late fall. Perennials such as blackeyed Susan (rudbeckia), bee balm (monarda), tall-growing asters, sedum (particularly "Autumn Joy"), coneflower (echinacea), Shasta daisies (leucanthemum) and tall-growing forms of goldenrod (solidago) are good subjects for this …

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Eleni Silverman

8:36 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012

With all this rain these plants are growing fast.....I'm pruning mine between the rain drops.   more ›