Eastern Shore Gardener

First the talk: I am going to be giving a talk at the Chestertown Garden Club January meeting, and it is open to the public. Here are the details

When: 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Where: Church hall of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 101 North Cross Street, Chestertown, MD 21620

Topic: Befriending the Bay: Creating Bay-Friendly Gardens and Landscapes.  Join local gardener and garden expert Barbara Ellis for a practical look at what gardeners can do to benefit the bay. Learn how principals like reducing lawn and runoff as well as attracting wildlife can help you create beautiful, unique gardens and landscapes that also help the Bay.

Hope to see some of you there! I’ll have books and a few tools available for purchase.

TIP: Weeds on the March!

The winter weeds in my garden—and over at Victory Farm Community Garden—have evidently enjoyed our warm, wet fall as much as I have. We weeded at the Community Garden last week, and I’ve started pulling here, too.

At the risk of being the bearer of bad news, I though I’d post a warning. It’s worth bundling up and spending some spare time pulling some of the offenders. Otherwise by spring, they’ll have taken over major ground!

I’ve got good-size drifts of henbit, ground ivy, chickweed, and bittercress, to name a few. And while I also have mullen seedlings, I’ll leave those in place until they begin to bloom. I happen to love the rosettes of woolly white leaves.