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Through The Garden Gate
Latest Through The Garden Gate
Embracing the unexpected
Every spring, I look forward to participating in several workshops on gardening. If I get one or two new ideas for what to plant or ... Read more
2 weeks ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Loropetalum — a versatile garden shrub
Have you met Loropetalum chinense, better known as the Chinese fringe flower? I first learned about it last fall when I was looking for something ... Read more
1 month ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Planting the right plants can help pollinators
Pollinators and plants have been having a love affair for more than 100 million years. Throughout that period, plants have developed unique ways to entice ... Read more
2 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
What’s new in the garden for 2021
I’ve looked into my crystal ball in search of clues about what 2021 will portend for gardeners, and what I see looks remarkably similar to ... Read more
4 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
A perfect plant gift for the Christmas season
Various types of plants are popular as gifts during the holiday season – poinsettias, cyclamen, orchids, and Christmas cacti all have their supporters. As many ... Read more
4 months ago by Staff Report.
Project to extend the gardening season was a success
Late last winter, I accepted a challenge to infuse more native plants into my existing garden while also extending the growing season. All through February ... Read more
5 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
It’s the perfect time to find gentians
Fall means yellow flowers — goldenrods by the dozen, sunflowers, sneezeweed, and many, many more — but not all fall wildflowers are yellow. There are ... Read more
6 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Gardening with dogs
Hello, fellow gardeners. My name is Anca vom Dreifke Wood. I’m my mom’s new garden helper. I can’t pick locks and open gates like my ... Read more
7 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
COLUMN — Possessed with a pickling passion
Every summer when I was a kid, my mother and grandmother would become obsessed with the need to can, pickle, and preserve everything in sight. ... Read more
7 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
How to survive hot, dry summers in the garden
July was brutally hot and dry. We had day after day of temperatures over 90 degrees with high humidity and no rain. Even though I ... Read more
9 months ago by Staff Report.
Gardens continually evolve
Gardens never really stay the same. Years ago, my grandmother, and many of her contemporaries in rural Virginia, planted forsythia, japonica, roses, lilacs, peonies, daffodils ... Read more
9 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Growing picture perfect pitcher plants
Sometimes a gardener just needs a change of pace, something like a wild child plant that looks as if it came from another planet. If ... Read more
10 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
The challenge of adding fall color to the garden
As most of you who have seen my garden know, it’s all about spring and early summer. There are masses of hellebores that begin to ... Read more
12 months ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Gardening from a dog’s viewpoint
Hello, fellow gardeners. It’s me, Uschi again. While my mom is busy moaning about the general state of affairs – plants arriving and no one ... Read more
1 year ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Gardening trends for 2020
Like just about everything else, gardening is influenced by trends. For nearly 10 years, our obsession with native plants has increased. Some gardeners have been ... Read more
1 year ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Add pops of color to winter gardens
On New Year’s Day, my gardening mad friends in England sent me photos of their yard, and I was struck by how colorful it was, ... Read more
1 year ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Gardening resolutions for the New Year
Hi there, it’s me, Uschi, my mom’s best garden helper. She’s busy reading seed catalogs and making lists of plants that she doesn’t need and ... Read more
1 year ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Glorious excess
It’s December and that means short days and long, dark nights, so I’ve temporarily abandoned the garden. There’s plenty I can do out there — ... Read more
1 year ago by Staff Report.
Sweet anticipation: Habenadas in November
Here it is early November and I’m still nursing along a pepper plant because I’m curious about its fruit. Almost everyone in my family is ... Read more
1 year ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Gardeners questions
Over the years, I’ve gotten lots of questions about gardening. Most are the usual ones — when to plant potatoes, how to grow sweet potato ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Tomato mania
You’ve heard of Crimson Tide? Well, last month I had a red tide running through my kitchen. Way back in early spring, I prepped my ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
The gardener and the wedding: Part II
The wedding is fast approaching — Labor Day weekend. Invitations have been sent, responses have been tallied, accommodations and transportation have been arranged; even the ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Luxurious food
Mention luxurious food and most people think of heaping servings of beluga caviar, raw sea urchins, foie gras, kopi luwak coffee or other expensive, hard-to-find ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
The lazy gardener
I don’t know exactly how it happened, but, at nearly 72, I find myself managing two homes and gardens — one in town and the ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
Moss: Going with the flow
Some gardeners have very inflexible opinions about how their gardens should look; they insist on imposing their will on nature. Others take stock of what ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
The gardener and the wedding: Part I
In most families when a daughter brings home a serious boyfriend and announces her engagement, there is an immediate flurry of activity related to dresses, ... Read more
2 years ago by Dr. Cynthia Wood.
The art of keeping plants alive
About every six weeks, I get a text from someone I know. It contains only a photo of a very sad looking house plant. No ... Read more