Adams Garden

05/26/2026

Did a ‘Chelsea Chop’ today as the perennials have had a growth with the recent rain. This process is when perennials are cut back by a third to a half in mid-spring to produce more compact plants with more blooms. I focused on creating space around newer shrubs and unique plants. I let the cut pieces fall in place since the beds are thickly planted.

04/30/2026

While pulling garlic mustard today in southern Washington County I noticed several plants that had garlic mustard aphids, Lipaphis alliariae, on them. I first saw these 3 years ago, but didn’t see any last year. It’s interesting that one plant is totally infested while nearby ones are untouched. I left the infested plants in place while I pulled all the healthy plants.

04/20/2026

As I was clearing Vinca minor (right) to make way for a new native planting I found some winter creeper (left) mixed in. Side by side you can see the differences. Winter creeper has darker leaves with well defined veins and the leaf edges are finely toothed.
Both are invasive species, winter creeper also has a tendency to climb and choke trees.

03/22/2026

It’s the third day of spring and both the native p***y willow (Salix discolor) and forsythia are in full bloom. The difference is that the willow is being visited by a variety of bees while the forsythia, despite the quantity of flowers, is seeing very little insect activity.

02/25/2026

My trail camera captured this image a couple of weeks ago. The camera was lying face up on the ground at the time. What ever it is is close to the ground. Any ideas? It could be a nostril or an eye, or something else? (This was in central Maryland and the time is at the bottom of the photo.) The second image is 30 sec later and looks like a back leg.

12/20/2025

This year I got a relatively large crop of fruit from my purple passion vine, Passiflora incarnata. I was surprised because the weather had been dry and I assumed the fruits would be dried out as well. But that wasn't the case. Anyway those good results prompted me to write a little piece on the purple passion vine on my blog.

I first saw passion vine when I was growing up in Southern California. It was a woody vine covering a fence in my Grandmother's back yard. ...

11/15/2025

Today was a good day to spray garlic mustard with glyphosate. There are 2 windows of opportunity for spraying: shortly after a hard frost in November or in late winter when temperatures are above 40. I’ve done the late winter sprays a couple of times, so this year I’m doing an early treatment. This is also a good time to spot invasive euonymus in the woods, by its bright red leaves.

I also noticed some nice foliage on this white oak that I planted about 10 years ago. (The green leaves at the top of the oak are from an autumn clematis. I was able to cut that off at the base but it will require further treatment. )

10/10/2025

Rutting season is approaching in the Mid-Atlantic region so it’s time to protect younger, flexible trees and shrubs. Deer rubbing their antlers on the trunks of smaller woody plants can severely damage the plant. In some cases the plant is obliterated.

10/05/2025

I noticed the buzzing noise before I saw all the bees, wasps and other insects on these aromatic asters, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium. This is a great late season perennial that supports a lot of pollinators.

09/29/2025

Pulled down a lot of purple passion flower, Passifolia incarnata, today so that I can open the gate to our pool. This species native range just touches on Southern Maryland. I don’t usually get many fruits, but this year I got nearly a gallon just from what I pulled down