Viewing comments posted by sallyg

I grew Kuroda seed from a friend as a fall crop, 2024. I pulled several nice ones today. (Dec 1) Wow, they are so sweet, crisp, tender! My first great success with carrots and really showed me how good homegrown can be. Practically ignored them but for watering early and a little fertilizer. NOTE- they do need to be thinned for best size and that is hard to do later if you don't keep after them- the tops grow together.

Bought 3 in 2021 and they are growing, with nice amount of bloom and berry. Got hit with bugs this spring causing fair amount of leaf damage, but- I am planting for nature, so-- the plants tolerated it and still bloomed and berried, but I am not sure I'd rely on this being a close-up focal point in the garden. Got pretty ratty. I'll try and update next year+.

Charming vine but beware the growth potential and the self seeding! I grew it on my garden fence, the vine makes loads of blooms and thus loads of seed. New ones are still coming up in July with each turn of any soil. And while it looks lacey and airy, enough of them can cast a good bit of shade. I'm not sure where this is best used but NOT on my vegetable garden fence. Maybe someone can gift me an extra acre and I can grow this and other thugs on a frame surrounded by mown area.

There are the North American natives, and there are others, tropicals I assume, very common in the houseplant trade. Of the houseplant types, I've had zebrina, spathacea and pallida for years. All of those are very resilient, like a lot of bright light, and can adapt to full sun in my Maryland garden. For me, they may get very pale and etiolated over winter, but if you keep a scrap alive and get it outside, it will go gangbusters with little effort. I also don't remember ever having pest problems with any of them.

I am seeing clumps of this rush in my shaded garden area. I will experiment with it as a clumping grass for the natural garden. Native to North America.

Naturally occurs in southwest Unites States, its range covers parts of several states.

I've had a Burford for decades. It gets berries all over, was really loaded this winter, but no birds have eaten them even now in April. I'm disappointed - passively feeding birds is something I value in the garden.
Insects do love holly flowers though.

Bought one on clearance, already a full pot, and it has been an easy plant. After a year and a half, it's suddenly stressed out. I split and repotted the two halves today. Will try to update on how it does.

This plant appear on lists of 'good natives because birds like the berries,' but all in nursery trade are female so berries can be very hard to come by. I have 5 of these (4 'Shamrock,' 1 'Gem box') installed a few years ago. Full sun, sandy clay soil, average to good moisture. They've grown well, bloomed well, zero berries. Burford holly and American holly don't pollinate this at all. And I have never seen berries on nursery plants either. They have a sort of loose growth, may need to watch and prune if you want them to stay fairly tight. And they will sucker a bit. They did suffer attack of a leaf miner this spring, but have grown out and don't show any bad effects. Male cultivars are hard to find if they even exist commercially. If you have a few years and room to experiment, you can buy small plants or berries and wait to see which end up male.

I've been growing this for some years. It does well as a potted plant or summer 'annual' here in Maryland, once adjusted to part or even lots of sun. As stems grow, it branches from the base. It will grow indoors with much less light and have a very different, loose look with much smaller, paler leaves.

Bought a starter size maybe 2021. Grew OK but at some point all new leaves were curled, and then dried up. I treated with systemic but could not find insects. As of Sep 2023, it seems to be better and I've made cuttings for swap.

A very aggressive growing grass native to Asia. Not suitable as a lawn grass. It is widespread in state parks in Maryland and is found in most US states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the South, east of the Mississippi. It is a weak stemmed, lush looking, shade tolerant annual grass that carpets the forest floor. Look for the silvery midvein as an ID feature.

This species can be weedy, aggressive, invasive. It now grows in huge patches in many places in central Maryland. Blooming in August, the extent of the growth is very obvious. Wikipedia says parts are edible- do your research before eating.

An Asian species, regarded as invasive in some regions, widespread enough to earn warnings in several Midatlantic states in US.

Celastrus orbiculatus is very common in the state parks in Maryland. I also find seedlings often in my garden under shrubs. Birds apparently drop the seeds. ID of seedlings can be confirmed by the bright orange roots.
Don't ever collect and use berries for decor in your yard, or you'll likely see seedlings later.

Incredibly invasive in some state parks I visit in Maryland. It has spread to my yard from a neighbor. It is virtually impossible to hand pull- leaves tiny tubers behind. After bloom, it sends out runners, with new rosettes and their own new set of tubers. https://www.invasive.org/alien...

I bought a starter plant ( 2 together) of Gold Rush. Good yield, plants got big and finally succumbed to borers today, early August. That is good results for my garden. Agree I like the color, taste, tenderness, ease of picking, for some reason most of mine had some to almost half the fruit green along with gold. Would grow again.

I have just a few growing. The beans are slim and straight as advertised, and plentiful, and do not seem to get as big as many other bush beans I have grown. A nice, well-mannered bean. So far so good.

I bought Avonblue in 1990 and as of 2023 it still bears well. Blueberries are virtually problem free in my central MD garden. Today I tried to find links about this variety and only found references to it being a parent variety of newer hybrids. It seems to be not out in the marketplace, and is not on the list of recommended blueberries from U Maryland.

I planted a Sunshine Blue at least 20 years ago, and it's still going strong. Blueberries have been virtually problem free to grow in my central MD garden. Once they begin to have a sizeable crop, I haven't had birds take too many here. The birds seem to wait until I'm about done picking, fruit is getting small and tough, then they come finish the harvest.
Not among current recommended types from U MD, maybe newer cultivars have taken its place.