Stewartia malacodendron, The Silky Camellia
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The native member of the tea family most easily grown is silky camellia, Stewartia malacodendron.
Of all the native woody plants it has the largest flower of any with the exception of the magnolias.
Like evergreen camellias, the petals are fused at the base and drop as a unit. The white blooms with ruffled edges contrast with dark filaments to m...
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How to Plant a Shrub
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Digging a hole is neither as hard nor as easy as it's made out to be. Here's what we've boiled it down to after 30 years of planting shrubs.
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How to Install Tree Diapers
The best way to charge Tree Diapers with water is to submerge them in a bucket. Here are the simple steps and a few tips.
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How to Sharpen Pruners and Loppers (and an occasional shovel)
Put a glint on your edges! It's healthier for plants and for you when your pruners and loppers are sharp. Read our tips here.
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How to Garden For the Birds
Recently I did a seminar on Gardening for the Birds and as I was preparing the powerpoint I was fascinated by how our gardens provide even more than we can imagine to our feathered friends.
As much as I love many different plants in the garden, I also enjoy watching the birds that come to feed and nest in the yard.
Birds are simple in their need...
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How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden
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As a hydrangea grower, both in the nursery and in the garden, we have experimented with a few methods of deterring and repelling dear. I'm not going to opine about methods I've never tried, rather I'll stick to what I've tried that has proven successful.
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Deer Damage in the Garden
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I've been asked to describe what plants look like after deer eat them. How do you tell it was a deer? This is a good question - insects eat plants too, so it's important to understand what deer chewing looks like vs. insect chewing. With wise observation and understanding of what deer damage looks like, you'll be able to act based on that knowl...
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This Seductive Pink Magnolia Was Named Riveting Rosie in a Naming Contest
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We needed help naming a plant again. Not just any plant - a seductive pink hybrid Magnolia with the cumbersome name of Magnolia sieboldii 'Colossus' x Magnolia insignis. Read about this new magnolia and about the naming contest right here.
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Let's Talk About Shade Gardening
Do you need to figure out what type of shade garden you have? We'll help you do that here. Determining your shade gardening situation takes a little bit of study, both in reading what others have to say about shade, then in spending time outside hanging out with your plants in shady spots. Let's get started.
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Things We Learned as a New Nursery at the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival
I knew I loved shopping at plant markets.
Now WE know we LOVE being a vendor at plant markets.
Already this month we had a plant stand at the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival in Douglasville, Georgia. It was good to get out of our Internet shop and chat with people in person. There is a hunger for plant coaching and that's something Mike and I b...
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Why do Leaves Turn Colors in the Fall?
Autumn is a heady time of year for we tree lovers. The colors themselves are lovely, but I especially enjoy watching the layers of color appear in stages as each tree species turns color.
First the Dogwood with plenty of still-green trees behind it causing the red or burgundy fall color of the Dogwood to especially pop out of the scene. Then th...
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