Garden News Archives
Q&A with E.O. Wilson
Over his long and wide-ranging career, esteemed naturalist E.O. Wilson has conducted groundbreaking research on the social behavior of ants, written extensively about the biological basis of human behavior, and spearheaded the movement to protect the planet’s biodiversity. Recently, the latter has led him to assist in a successful push to
Spring 2012 President’s Circle Highlights
What a spring it’s been! Between spells of unseasonable warmth, deluges of rain, and clouds and sun alternating at a dizzying pace, spring 2012 has provided enough atmospheric variations to take us on a regular botanical thrill ride. Cherries bloomed in early April, bluebells were out before May, and even BBG’s roses accelerated to peak beauty
BBG Babies
Just a few months into its first year, the Visitor Center is already attracting wildlife. BBG gardener Barry Rogers, who oversees the plantings there, has spotted a mother rabbit and four babies nesting in the newly planted berm, a mockingbird nest in one of the new hawthorn trees, and most surprising of all, a well-camouflaged duck nest among the
Plants for Shady Window Boxes?
I live on the first floor, and all of my windows face north. If I install a window box, would anything actually grow in it? Yes, plenty! Don’t think an abundance of shade means you can’t grow a window box full of beautiful plants. There are loads of possibilities that would thrive in just such a location, just as there are loads of plants that
Coming Soon: Cool Season Veggies
More wet weather this week has helped the newly planted edible plants in the Annual Border establish themselves and saved BBG’s gardeners the trouble of doing much supplemental watering. Of course they’ve used the extra time to pull the weeds that also thrive in the rain. All in all, the season is off to a good start, and the cool-season
Roots Growing Through the Pot?
Help. I bought some potted herbs with the intention of planting them in my window box. I temporarily set the pots in the box thinking I’d plant them later, but then I never got around to it. Now, two weeks later, the roots have grown through the holes in the bottom of the starter pots and anchored themselves into the soil below. Should I yank
Wearable Art
What kind of art would Andy Goldsworthy make if he were a woman? That’s a question environmental artist Nicole Dextras asked herself one day while searching for inspiration for her next project. Her answer: plant-based sculptures that are wearable and even wonderfully stylish. Dextras has created a series of seven such pieces and is now hard at
Children’s Garden Honored
BBG’s Children’s Garden has won the American Horticultural Society’s Jane L. Taylor Award for its work in nurturing future horticulturalists. The Children’s Garden is the oldest such garden in the U.S. and was founded in 1914 by Ellen Eddy Shaw, a former schoolteacher. After visiting a little boy on Myrtle Avenue and seeing the pride he
Off to a Wet Start
It’s always helpful when the weather cooperates with your gardening plans. This week’s soaking rain started just a few days after BBG’s gardeners finished planting the Urban Garden exhibit. “It was kind of nice timing. That’ll help everything get established,” says Warm Temperate Pavilion curator Karla Chandler, who is overseeing the
Another Reason to Green the City
We all know that city trees clean and cool the air and just make the neighborhood prettier. Now, a new study suggests they also deter crime. Using satellite images and a crime data base, researchers compared tree canopy to rates of crimes like thefts and shootings across Baltimore and found that a 10 percent increase in tree cover was correlated to
