Maryland Native Plants for Winter Color Heuchera americana – Coral Bells   Heuchera americana, Coral bells, is a native, clump-forming perennial with a basal clump of heart-shaped leaves.  This plant provides multi-season color as it is semi-evergreen. Coral bells can be massed to form a ground cover as the foliage typically grows to 1 foot in height. In the late-spring/early-summer a flower spike reaches up and a display of delicate  greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers attracts pollinators and hummingbirds. Some cultivars bloom at different times of the year. Best grown in org ..read more

Maryland Native Plants for Winter Interest Cornus sericea ‘Budd’s Yellow’ Cornus sericea ‘Budd’s Yellow’, is a lovely addition to a garden for winter interest.  A suckering shrub with an upright-spreading habit and yellow stems typically grows in the absence of pruning to 5-8 feet tall with a slightly larger spread. The best color appears in the younger stems.  In the spring, yellow-twig dogwood produces showy white flowers that attract butterflies. Flowers develop into clusters of whitish (sometimes bluish tinged ) drupes in summer. Fruit is attractive to birds. It’s dark gree ..read more

Click Here to Read Our Most Recent Newsletter! This newsletter has information on our 2nd Annual Makers Market on Small Business Saturday and information on our remaining nursery inventory. It also showcases many of Cultivate’s new holiday items and many of our recent restocks! The post 2nd Annual Maker’s Market Newsletter and More! appeared first on Landscape Design, Installation, Maintenance and Native Plant NurseryLauren's Garden Service ..read more

Winter Blooming Beauty Hamamelis virginiana – Witch hazel   Hamamelis virginiana, commonly known as witch hazel, is a fall to winter blooming, deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to woodlands, forest margins and stream banks. The blooms are a fragrant and bright yellow that grow in clusters, each with four crinkly, ribbon-shaped petals. The blooms appear along the branches from October to December usually after leaf drop but sometimes at the time of fall color. Flowers are attractive to pollinators and fertilized flowers will form greenish seed capsules that mature to light ..read more

Maryland Native Trees Pinus virginiana – Virginia Pine   Pinus virginiana, Virginia Pine, is a host plant for various moth species including Wenzel’s Pitch-blister Moth and Eastern Pine Elfin. Virginia pine is a straggling, scrubby looking evergreen that is usually 15-40 ft. tall, becoming flat-topped with age. Outstretched limbs spring irregularly from the reddish-brown trunk. Cones are sharp to the touch due to prickly-like appendages. This is a short-needled tree with an  open, broad, irregular crown of long spreading branches; often seen as a shrub. Virginia Pine is used as pulp ..read more

Edible Beauties  Corylus americana – Hazelnut Corylus americana, commonly called American filbert or hazelnut, is a deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed shrub which typically grows 8-16′ tall. This shrub occurs in dry or moist thickets, woodlands and wood margins, valleys, uplands and prairies. It easily grows in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. The nuts are similar in flavor to the European filbert. Roast them for eating or grind into flour for cooking or baking. Leaves are oval-shaped, toothy, and dark green  (3-6″ long). Fall color is quite variable and ..read more

Maryland Native Plants for Winter Interest ‘Baileyi’ Cornus sericea – Red Twig Dogwood   ‘Baileyi’ Cornus sericea – Red Twig Dogwood, also called red osier dogwood, is a large shrub with bright red branches that add color to winter landscapes. These shrubs are beautiful in the fall when their leaves turn red and leave behind showy colored branches in the winter season. They create a nice green backdrop to highlight other colorful plants throughout the rest of the year. We use red twig dogwood in our rain gardens because they’ll tolerate wet soil. This shrub prefers full sun to part ..read more

Click Here to Read Our Fall Newsletter! The post Fall 2023 LGS Newsletter appeared first on Landscape Design, Installation, Maintenance and Native Plant NurseryLauren's Garden Service ..read more

Maryland Native Plant for Winter Interest Salix discolor – Pussy Willow   Salix discolor – pussy willow ranges from Nova Scotia to Maryland. It is typically found growing in moist to wet soils in meadows and swamps along lakes and streams, but also will be found in some drier conditions. This is a dioecious species that is most often seen as a large multi-stemmed shrub to 6-15’ tall. Before the foliage emerges in late winter, male trees produce a showy display of catkins (1-1.5” long) that are pearl gray and silky. Female trees produce smaller, less attractive, greenish catkins. Mal ..read more

Maryland Summer Blooms Rudbeckia triloba Rudbeckia triloba, or Brown-eyed Susan, is a herbaceous perennial that grows from 2 to 3 feet tall with a slightly smaller spread of 1-1.50 feet. Starting in July and into October, yellow flowers bloom atop hairy purple stems. Though they have smaller flowers than other Rudbeckias, they make up for it with more flowers. Brown-eyed Susan grows best in full sun and is drought tolerant once established. They prefer organically rich soils, but will tolerate clay. While they are shortlived biennials, they spread easily in disturbed soils by self-seeding. Ru ..read more