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Posts Tagged ‘University of North Carolina Press’

Attracting Birds

Posted in Backyard Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 26, 2015| 4 Comments »

A couple of days ago I was returning from running errands, and spotted a family of turkeys in our yard. They were strolling through a group of trees along the driveway that I hope one day will resemble a woods. As they slipped into the tangle of vegetation, it reminded me how much progress I’ve made over the years replacing lwangrass with more wildlife-friendly plantings. This woodsy area is still far from beautiful, but it does now host a variety of native trees and shrubs that I have planted over the years. In the interest of full disclosure, it is also the site of one of my major wineberry battles earlier this summer.

I keep a list of birds I have spotted on the property, and this isn’t the first time I have seen turkeys here. (In addition to being a gardener, I am a birder, so I am usually always looking.) Still, it has been fun to follow this family all summer and plan what else I can add to the landscape that will make it friendlier to an even wider variety of creatures.

Yellow-billed-Cukoo

Above: Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, one of the many species spotted at Hackberry Point.

Come September, I will certainly add more natives for birds and other wildlife, and I hope many other Eastern Shore Gardeners will do the same. To help get you planning and planting, I wanted to share a link to 10 Tips for Attracting Birds to Your Landscape, a blog post I wrote for the University of North Carolina Press in support of Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping earlier this year. I hope you enjoy it!

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Six Tips

Posted in In the Garden, tagged , , , on April 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Months ago, the University of North Carolina Press asked me to write two blog posts that relate to Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping. The first of them was published today, and I wanted to share a link to it here on Eastern Shore Gardener. Six Tips for Creating an Eco-friendly Landscape, outlines the fundamental principles covered in the book that help create a sustainable landscape. Each principle offers many options for implementation. Chapter One presents ten tips for each principle that gardeners can use to move toward a beautiful, sustainable landscape.

Since it looks like spring is really finally here, I am spending the afternoon outdoors cleaning up beds and replenishing the leaf litter on the garden. The simple act of mulching works toward several principles. It is especially important for #4, Manage Water Runoff, but it also is an essential part of principle #6, Garden Wisely, because of all the benefits mulch brings to soil, weed control, and more. I wait until spring to clean up and cut down, because deep leaf litter and stems provide overwintering sites for insects and good hunting grounds for birds. All the stems and other plant parts pulled off the garden in spring go directly to the compost pile, and eventually are returned to the garden to complete the cycle.

If you don’t already have a copy of Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping, consider coming to one of the events listed in the calendar. Adkins Arboretum has copies available by mail. It is also available from Amazon.

Uvularia-grandiflora

Above: Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) is finally beginning to emerge from the soil. It brings yellow spring flowers and handsome foliage to the garden.

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Books and Blogging

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I haven’t managed many blog posts in the last year, and I have missed posting about plants and events in my garden. Happily, I have more than a lame excuse for the lapse involving dogs (or parrots) eating my homework.

After months and months of research and writing, plus agonizing photo editing and rounds of review, my book Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping (CG&L for short) has finally been sent to the printer. It is scheduled for publication March 30, 2015.

CG&L Cover005Published by The University of North Carolina Press in association with Adkins Arboretum, the book features 293 pages and 317 color photographs. I can’t wait to see it in color. (I have a black-and-white version of the book now.) The cover here is just a tiny taste of what is inside. I hope this book (all sales benefit Adkins Arboretum!)  will become a guide for gardeners throughout our region.

You can pre-order Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping by clicking the cover image on the right side of this blog. Or, to order from the University of North Carolina Press directly, visit http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/11759.html.

Of course, copies also will be available for sale at Adkins once they come from the printer. In addition, I have started booking talks based on the book, and I will be bringing books to all of these events as well. I will announce dates here once they have been finalized.

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Summertime Color

Posted in In the Garden, tagged , , , , on July 5, 2012| 1 Comment »

I have been derelict in my postings of late, and it’s not just the heat at work. I am hunkered down at my computer working on a really exciting book project. You see, most of my career has been spent writing for publishers who publish nationally, and this book is especially exciting to me because it is focused specifically on gardening in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. I am writing it for Adkins Arboretum and it is going to be published by the University of North Carolina Press. Publication probably isn’t until 2014, but my manuscript and all the photos are due in March of 2013. So, between now and then, I will be pretty tied up.

Hemerocallis

ABOVE: Hemerocallis ‘Bridgeton High Society’

I’ve also been busy taking pictures of Bay-friendly gardens, since there are quite a few color photos in the book (yeah!). In addition to taking some pictures of my own, I’m also working with a friend and photographer, Neil Soderstrom, to get photographs of some really wonderful gardens for the book. I’m also planning to use this new-found photo library to put together talks on gardening in this region—especially green gardening in this region.

So, while I still intend to post to Eastern Shore Gardener regularly, if there are silences from my end, just know I’m hard at work on Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping!

Hemerocallis-'Woodside-Perf

ABOVE: Hemerocallis ‘Woodside Perfection’

Summertime Color

Even though Chesapeake Gardening & Landscaping will focus primarily on native plants, I’m posting pictures of daylilies today, since they’re among the brightest things I can see while chained to my computer. Mine have been going strong for at least six weeks despite the heat, and the second flush is just getting started. In my garden rebloomers like ‘Stella de Oro’, ‘Happy Returns’, ‘Rosy Returns’, and ‘Black-eyed Stella’ are first to bloom. By now they are in reblooming mode, but flowers are sporadic since I don’t water much. Midseason daylilies keep the flowers coming strong, and I’ve shared pictures of three standouts that are gorgeous now.

Hemerocallis-Conspirator's-

ABOVE: Hemerocallis ‘Conspirator’s Oath’

The meadow is also filled with flowers these days, and I’ll get a post up about that in a week or two! In the meantime, stay cool and happy gardening!

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