Snowy cold winter days offer gardeners the perfect time to consider additions to their yards from the comfort of an easy chair and a warm fire.

Whether you plan to add tasty highbush blueberries, elegant dwarf crested irises, cheery coreopsis, or something else, you might want to consider the preferences of pollinators.

Native bees prefer purple, yellow, blue, violet, and white flowers. The most important of all pollinators, about 400 species of bees call Maryland home.

Continue reading Pleasing the Pollinators in Your Garden →

 My second date with my husband was a magical trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show (PFS). Combined with the extraordinary displays of flowers and other plants, it has held a special place in my heart ever sense.

When we created our website, In the Garden with Laura, in 2014, we began covering the show. It has been a joyous way to celebrate spring and nature; I look forward to it every year.

This year, the show runs from March 2 to 10, 2024 at the Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA. It opens daily from 10 am to 8 pm, except on March 10 it closes at 6 pm.

The show, whose theme is “United by Flowers,” “illustrates the beauty and power of flowers to transform, inspire, delight, and connect us to one another,” according to event organizers.

To avoid the largest crowds, visit early or late in the day. If you have an option, attend one of the first days of the show while everything is the most pristine.

Continue reading TIME TO PREPARE FOR, PHILLY’S 2024 FLOWER SHOW  →

A Class Is Being Held at Howard Community College

Learn to design a native garden using some of Maryland’s 3,000 native plants. You will redesign or design a garden for your yard using “keystone plants” and other natives from perennials to sedges, ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees.

This six-hour course will be held on three consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, March 7 to 21. The class will start with everyone discussing their own garden and their goals for the class.

Determine how to choose the “right plant for the right place” by using research tools. Design a garden that blooms for three seasons by using basic design elements and incorporating plants that attract pollinators. You will also learn what conditions different plants need to succeed.

Continue reading Want to Create a Native Garden or Looking for New Ideas? →