Add Life and Color to Your Dormant Garden with Fall Annuals

As the crisp autumn air begins to set in and the long, hot days of summer give way to cooler weather, many gardens may start to look a bit tired and faded. But don’t let the end of summer blooms signal the end of your garden’s beauty! Fall is the perfect time to refresh your outdoor spaces with vibrant, seasonal plants that thrive in cooler weather and bring color back to your garden. Whether you’re in the heart of Maryland, like the picturesque town of Davidsonville, or anywhere with a change in seasons, locally grown fall annuals are waiting to breathe new life into your yard, patio, or container garden.

With a vast array of textures, colors, and plant varieties available, fall gardening allows you to embrace the serenity and charm of the season. Let’s explore some of the most popular fall plants and how they can transform your garden into a colorful oasis that lasts through the autumn and winter months.

Mums: The Quintessential Fall Blooms

No fall garden is complete without the vibrant, cheerful blooms of chrysanthemums, commonly known as mums. These autumnal favorites are a go-to for adding bold color to your garden. With dazzling shades of yellow, red, orange, and even cooler hues like purple and lavender, mums offer plenty of options to suit any design style. Whether you’re going for a traditional autumn palette or mixing in some unexpected tones, mums are sure to create a stunning visual impact.

What many gardeners might not realize is that mums are actually perennials. When planted in the ground, they can come back year after year, rewarding you with their bright blooms again and again. To ensure their survival through the winter, it’s best to plant mums in the ground early in the fall and mulch around the base to protect the roots from harsh frosts. Not only will you enjoy their beauty now, but you’ll also have a jumpstart on next year’s garden!

Cool-Weather Veggies: Extend Your Harvest

Fall isn’t just about ornamental plants; it’s also an excellent time to grow and harvest cool-weather vegetables. Even after the first frost, your garden can continue to provide fresh, nutritious produce. Hardy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, mustard greens, turnips, and leafy greens thrive in the cooler temperatures of fall.

These crops not only bring healthy, homegrown food to your table but also lend a lush, green texture to your garden beds. Planting a fall vegetable garden is a rewarding way to make the most of your outdoor space as the days grow shorter. Many of these vegetables can tolerate light frost and will keep producing well into the season, ensuring you can harvest fresh ingredients even when the weather turns chilly.

Ornamental Kale and Cabbage: Colorful Cold Weather Champions

Looking to add bold foliage and vibrant texture to your fall landscape? Ornamental kale and cabbage are excellent choices! These sturdy plants are not only visually striking but are also incredibly hardy, thriving as temperatures drop. Their deep, rich colors actually intensify after the first frost, making them a standout in any garden or container.

While ornamental varieties of kale and cabbage are technically edible, they have been bred for their visual appeal rather than flavor. Their leaves tend to be tougher and more bitter than their culinary cousins, but their stunning appearance more than makes up for that. Whether tucked into borders, used in containers, or planted alongside fall flowers, ornamental kale and cabbage bring unique shapes and hues to the garden, lasting well into winter in milder climates.

Pansies: The Perfect Fall and Winter Blooms

If you’re looking for a versatile, cold-tolerant flower to brighten up your garden, look no further than pansies. These resilient blooms are beloved for their ability to maintain vibrant color throughout the fall and even survive into early winter. Pansies come in a wide range of colors, from soft pastels to bold, jewel tones, making them perfect for both subtle and dramatic garden displays.

Plant pansies in containers, hanging baskets, or directly in garden beds for a splash of long-lasting color. They pair beautifully with other fall favorites, like mums and ornamental kale, creating striking arrangements. One of the best things about pansies is their ability to withstand cooler temperatures, making them an excellent choice for extending the beauty of your garden well into the colder months.

The Joy of Fall Gardening: Less Maintenance, More Reward

One of the many benefits of fall gardening is the reduced need for constant maintenance. Cooler temperatures mean less evaporation, so your plants generally require less watering than in the heat of summer. Fall annuals are often hardier and more resilient, thriving with minimal effort once they are properly planted.

Additionally, fall gardening offers a slower pace that allows you to enjoy the process of creating a beautiful landscape. The pressure of peak summer gardening is gone, and you can focus on selecting plants that will last well into winter and beyond.

Visit Homestead Gardens for Expert Advice and a Wide Selection of Fall Plants

At Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, Maryland, we offer a wide variety of locally grown fall annuals, vegetables, and ornamental plants that are perfect for transforming your outdoor space. Whether you’re refreshing your garden beds, planting containers for your patio, or adding accents to your landscape, our selection has something for every gardener.

Our expert team is always on hand to provide advice and guidance to help you choose the right plants for your space. With a curated selection of high-quality plants and the knowledge to help you succeed, you can create a picture-perfect autumn garden to enjoy for months to come.

Embrace the Beauty of the Season

Fall is the time to reimagine your garden and embrace the changing season with fresh color and texture. With the right plants, your outdoor space can remain vibrant and alive well into the colder months, offering beauty and enjoyment long after summer fades. So don’t let your garden go dormant—visit Homestead Gardens today and discover the endless possibilities for creating a colorful, lively autumn landscape. Happy planting!

The post Add Life and Color to Your Dormant Garden with Fall Annuals appeared first on Homestead Gardens, Inc..

Container gardening has come a long way from the terracotta era. The concept of Potscaping is the art of growing plants in containers and is perfect for small-space gardeners. Create a color palette using the plants and pots or add pops of colors, reduce your gardening maintenance, and have healthy, happy plants! The key is to find the perfect pot for every plant.

4 Rules to Choosing the Perfect Pot

• Drainage. The number one deal-breaker when pairing plants with pots is drainage. If you fall in love with a container that does not have a drainage hole in the bottom of it, drill one (or a few for larger pots). Keep the holes about 1 inch from the edge and about 2 inches apart. Lack of water drainage can cause rot, fungus and bacteria growth – a.k.a. an unhappy and unhealthy plant.

• Material. The material of a container can make a difference in the growth of your plants, so do some research before buying. Plastic pots are more lightweight, cheaper, and fine for indoor gardening. The classic terracotta option is best for drought-tolerant plants because it is a porous material, which means it will absorb water from the soil, then dry out. Glazed ceramic pots are very sturdy (and heavy) but will work well for almost any plant, making them a great all-around option. 

• Sizing. Plants are meant to thrive and grow, so you need to give them the space to do so. If you stick a plant in a small pot, it will not have room to expand and grow. When choosing a pot, opt for one that is 2 to 3 inches larger than the current size of the plant. So as your plant grows, it needs to be repotted and moved to a larger container.

• Aesthetics. Does your garden or gardening space have a certain look and feel that you are going for? Find a planter that makes sense for your space. This is your chance to add pops of color and texture, or keep it minimalistic. A happy gardener makes for happier plants.

At Homestead, we are passionate about containers. We have hundreds of containers in every size, shape, material and color. If you need help figuring out which container will work best for you and your plants, we’re here to help. We can even have your heavier pots delivered. 

And please follow us on social media and share photos of your container garden plants! Because we love plants as much as you do!

Have Questions?

Homestead Gardens is here to help. Visit the location nearest you, or email us at AskHomestead@homesteadgardens.com.

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Are you someone who rises before the sun to join the long string of headlights along the highway?

Is your work day long, so that you find yourself winding  your way home long after sunset?

Is the weekend the only time that you see your yard in the daylight? If so, a ‘Moon Garden’ or ‘Evening Garden’ may be just what you need if you’re looking to enjoy peace, quiet and serenity in your landscape.

There are five key elements to this type of garden:

• plants that stand out in low light (e.g., plants with leaves or blooms that feature silver, white, yellow, and cream variations)
• architectural or sculptural plants, or plants with interesting bark forms
• plants that emit their scents at night in order to attract pollinators
• lighting features that heighten the romance and highlight your plants
• fountains or water features that invoke serenity and serve as a source of hydration for pollinators

Ferns & Grasses

Grasses are imperative for any Moon Garden. While these perennials provide texture and color to the day time landscape, they are the voice of a nighttime garden as they sway and rustle in the breezes. As Autumn approaches, many grasses and ferns change color, providing new focal points in the garden.

‘Cosmopolitan’ Maiden Grass

‘Karley Rose’ Fountain Grass

‘Frosty Curls’ Sedge 

Golden Variegated Hakonechloa

Little Bunny Fountain Grass

Silver Fern

Perennials & Annuals 

Night Blooming Plants

Fragrant Plants

Trees and Shrubs

Lighting

Low-wattage lights can be used to enhance garden features or to create dramatic shadows and textures.

• Consider installing pathways lined with oyster shell or other luminescent material that reflect the light of the moon.
• A solar powered lantern or decorative torch will accentuate the beauty of your nighttime garden. 
• Gas lighting built into your pathways or hardscape can evoke timeless romance
• Add a light-colored bench near your lighting, so you can sit for a moment, absorbing the moonlight, the fragrance of the flowers around you, and the mood of your garden.

Final Thoughts

The next time you visit Homestead Gardens, visit our various departments and find out which plants would work best for you in a nighttime garden. Shake it up a little. Become a night-owl and see your garden like you’ve never seen it before.

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There’s nothing that adds beauty and interest to your garden like butterflies, so why not create a garden specifically to attract them? You too can create your very own backyard butterfly oasis!

Many butterfly species are under threat from habitat loss and lack of food sources. Many people have heard about the plight of one species in particular: the monarch. Scientists estimate that the population size of monarch butterflies has decreased by 90% since the 1990s! In 2018, the population started to rebound because more gardeners paid attention to planting their choice of food — milkweed — and providing other elements they need to survive, such as water and shelter.

You can help monarchs and other butterflies so that we continue to reap the benefits of their pollinating prowess and get to enjoy them when they visit our gardens. Here’s how to make a backyard butterfly oasis.

Plant Butterfly Attractors

Butterflies require different food sources for their different life stages. Caterpillars (larval stage) eat plant material (called larval host plants), while butterflies feed on nectar from flowers. To attract butterflies, you’ll want to plant plenty of both.

Larval Host Plants

• Dill
• Carrots
• Alfalfa
• Cherry Trees
• Birch Trees
• Fennel
• Parsley
• Milkweed
• Spicebush
• Pawpaws
• Violets
• Lupine
• Beans
• Peas
• Vetch
• Clover
• Ornamental Grasses

Butterfly Stage (Flowers)

When deciding which flowers to grow, it’s key to look at their bloom times. To best support butterflies, you want to choose species with staggered bloom times so that butterflies have food available throughout the entire growing season. If all of your flowers are finished by late spring, the butterflies will have to look elsewhere for food! Remember that native plants are also usually a good bet for butterfly gardens.

• Milkweed
• Coneflower
• Blueberries
• Asters
• Bee Balm (Monarda)
• Angelica
• Yarrow
• Phlox
• Sunflowers
• Daisies
• Butterfly Bush
• Salvia
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
• Verbena
• Goldenrod
• Joe-pye weed

Provide Habitat Essentials

Like other wildlife, butterflies need water. Setting out shallow pans of water or creating puddling spots (water-filled saucers with pebbles for butterflies to perch on) in your garden will allow them to drink. Butterflies also get important minerals from “puddling.” Alternatively, you can make an existing water feature more butterfly-friendly by adding some rocks or sand that stick partially out of the water so it’s easier for the butterflies to access.

Butterflies also need places to rest. They love to hang out in warm, sunny places. If you have space in a sunny section of your garden, add some flat rocks which will absorb heat from the sun and make great butterfly rest areas.

While some species of butterfly, like the monarch, migrate each year, many will overwinter in your yard. Different species survive the winter in different ways, but many seek shelter while they’re in the caterpillar or pupal stage in piles of leaves or brush. Leaving some leaves and brush in your yard can help butterflies survive the winter. You don’t have to leave this brush in the middle of your garden; let a pile accumulate in the back corner of the yard or between plants where the pile can stay hidden.

Some species spend the winter in trees or shrubs. If your area is particularly windy, adding taller trees and shrubs will double as a windbreak, making it easier for butterflies to feed in your garden. The cavities in standing dead trees are also a favorite spot for overwintering, so leave a little bit of dead wood if you can.

Native Butterflies to Look For

When you’ve provided butterflies with everything they need to thrive, you’ll start seeing more visitors! There are many species of butterflies found in Maryland, but these are the most common types likely to visit you:

• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• American Copper
• Variegated Fritillary
• Appalachian Brown
• Monarch
• Southern Cloudywing

If you’d like to identify species of butterflies present in your yard, Maryland Butterflies is an excellent resource.

Try implementing a few of our tips to create a butterfly oasis of your own, and get ready to experience your garden in a whole new light this summer.

The post How to Make Your Backyard a Butterfly Oasis appeared first on Homestead Gardens, Inc..

It may be a little early for your garden to provide a full meal for a Memorial Day cookout, but you can still harvest plenty of fresh flavor for finishing touches. One way to let your garden shine is to serve fresh-from-the-garden cocktails.  Using what you have on hand from your garden, you can create a variety of tasty drinks that are sure to impress your family and friends. Here are some of our favorite cocktail garden garnishes.

Lavender

Beautiful, aromatic, and edible, lavender is an excellent addition to a variety of cocktails. Grow lavender in pots or in well-drained sunny spots in the garden. Try mixing things up by infusing lavender in vodka for a lavender martini. You could also try mixing up your own hard lavender lemonade, or leave out the alcohol for the kids. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.

Mint

Mint is easy to grow in full sun to partial shade in moist soils (or containers) and is bountiful in the spring, so it’s an excellent option if you’re expecting a lot of guests. It’s the classic choice for refreshing mint juleps with mint-infused simple syrup and bourbon or for making mint mojitos with rum and lime.

Strawberries

Fresh strawberries are the highlight of this time of year. If you have fresh strawberries in your garden, you’ve got plenty of options. You could use tried and true recipes for strawberry margaritas, daiquiris, or a strawberry rosé sangria. If you’re feeling adventurous, try a cocktail called the “Kentucky Kiss” featuring bourbon, strawberry puree, maple syrup, and a splash of lemon juice or the “Strawberry Smash” with vodka, club soda, lemon, strawberries, basil, and honey.

Thyme

Thyme, another full sun-loving perennial herb, has a nice mild flavor that is a great accent for cocktails. Some feel it has a slightly lemony or minty taste. It’s frequently paired with bourbon, bitters, honey, and a lemon peel for an updated twist on the classic old fashioned. Muddle the leaves to bring out the flavor or garnish cocktails with a sprig of thyme.

Celery

While you probably won’t have homegrown tomatoes for Memorial Day, you could have some celery. This cool weather vegetable is great for garnishing Bloody Marys. It’s also excellent when paired with gin and citrus in the “French 75” cocktail that uses celery, gin, sparkling wine, and lemon juice.

Citrus

Late spring is the tail end of citrus season, so make sure to squeeze the fresh juices to use as mixers. The peels also make wonderful garnishes. If you don’t have your own potted citrus, go ahead and get one! They’re fun to grow outside during the summer and make great houseplants during the winter. We carry many potted varieties, including lemons, limes, and tangerines.

Up your refreshment game this Memorial Day with garden-fresh cocktails. But be warned — your friends will love them so much that you’ll always be hosting gatherings!

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If you only have a few free days per week it can be tough to find time to enjoy your garden. But what if you didn’t have to enjoy your garden during the day? What if you planted a garden that really comes alive at night?

You can do such a thing! It’s called a “moon garden,” and it’s perfect for relaxing in the evening with friends or enjoying some quiet time alone.

History of Moon Gardens

The moon has always played an important role in gardening. Long before calendars, we tracked time by the cycles of the moon. To this day, many of our full moon names hint at our agricultural past. For example, the strawberry moon — which is the full moon in June typically coinciding with berry harvest season — still reflect this connection.

The first recorded “moon garden” was created in 1933 by Benjamin Poore in Massachusetts. He outfitted the garden in bundles of bright white flowers and even invited a few white animals into the space, including cows and doves! The most famous moon garden was created during the 1950s at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, England. The garden’s creator, Vita Sackville-West was an English writer who filled her garden with white flowers like peonies, roses, and irises.

Flowers for Moon Gardens

Incredibly, there are a few varieties of flowers that only bloom at in the very late afternoon or at night. Make room in your moon garden for:

• Fragrant Evening Primrose
• Night Phlox
• Moonflower
• Datura
• Four O’ Clocks
• Night-Blooming Jasmine

There are also flowers that are more fragrant at night than they are during the day. They’re perfect for dark evenings when you’re focused less on your sight and more on your other senses.

• Gardenia Augusta
• Tuberoses
• Lady of the Night
• Nicotiana
• Angel’s Trumpets (Brugmansia)

Lastly, you can also select white and yellow flowers that stay open at night and during the day. Large clusters of these bright flowers look amazing under a moonlit sky.

• Yarrow
• Snowdrops
• White Lillies
• Hydrangea
• Snow-in-Summer
• White Daffodils

You can also include plants with light or variegated foliage including dusty miller, variegated hostas, and lamb’s ear.

Furniture & Lighting

Just as you’ll select flowers with light colors that stand out at night, choose patio furniture and pathway pavers in light shades of white or gray. Adding a few string lights or lanterns can make your garden enjoyable when the moon is waning or when there are overcast skies to help you set the stage for an evening with friends.

Sound

While your sight may be somewhat limited at night, your hearing won’t be. Add wind chimes or a fountain to give your garden more depth. Water features are also excellent for reflecting the moonlight.

Wildlife

While many people add bird feeders to their garden, if you want to enjoy your garden at night, you’ll need to think about nocturnal species. Night blooming flowers will certainly encourage nighttime pollinators like sphinx moths to visit your garden. Depending on where you live, you can also add bat or owl boxes to your property to encourage them to visit.

Enjoy your garden more this year, even if you are stuck inside during the day. Using these tips, you can create a wonderful evening atmosphere for any space. Need help picking out flowers for your moon garden? Visit us!

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Interest in container gardening continues to grow because it’s so versatile. Use containers as accent pieces all over your garden, to liven up a balcony or to frame an entryway. Annuals in hanging baskets can add color to a drab patio and banana plants in big pots can turn a swimming pool into a tropical oasis.

Containers mix your personal style and flair into every aspect of your property, including patios and can make an outdoor dining area look refined. Plus, they are ideal for small space gardening.

Choosing Plants

There are no limits when it comes to container gardening. Plant them full of annuals for an all-season floral display or full of herbs and place them near your kitchen door for the freshest flavor enhancers. Some vegetables and fruits, like Bushel and Berry’s compact blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, also thrive in containers. Create a small water garden with miniature water lilies or lotus. Succulent arrangements are perfect for tables, and don’t need to be watered every day. You can show your patriotism with red, white and blue combinations for Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

Choosing a Container

Almost any pot will work as long as it has good drainage, except for a container water garden, of course. Keep in mind that the smaller the container, the faster the soil will dry out. Larger containers allow you to create displays with more impact. If weight is going to be an issue (think about carrying a pot upstairs to a balcony), look for lightweight pots. There are high quality plastic pots now that are hard to distinguish from terra cotta. The soil you use is very important and a specialty blend like Espoma’s Organic Potting Mix or Homestead’s own Maryland Select Potting Soil is recommended. They’re specially formulated to help plants thrive through the nutrients found in the soil. Use a liquid organic fertilizer like Espoma’s Bloom! once a month to keep your plants flourishing.

Color Theory

This is a project you can really put your stamp on. Use terra cotta pots for a natural or classic look, try painted pots for bold statements, wooden barrels, wheelbarrows, you name it.

Try out different color combinations of plants, too, in your cart first, to get a feel for the overall look. Complementary colors, opposite colors on the color wheel, make bold combinations. Think of opposites like red and green or violet and yellow. Harmonious colors live next to each other on the color wheel. Think of blue, violet and pink or a warm combination like yellow, red and orange. Play around and have fun. That’s what gardening is really all about.

Thriller, Filler, Spiller

One well-known rule of thumb about planting containers is the thriller, filler and spiller method. The “thriller” is generally a tall plant with big bright blooms. The “filler” is medium sized, while the “spiller” is generally a trailing plant that gracefully cascades over the edge of the pot, softening the lines.

Read on for some ideas for sun and shade using annuals and tender perennials. Don’t worry, perennials, tropicals and small shrubs can work well too. You can even plant summer bulbs in containers like Montbretia, Bulb.com’s Summer Bulb of the Year. When planting in shade, consider textures – your combinations may be more subtle, but they can be equally beautiful as a full-color sun container.

Top Picks for Your Container Garden:

Thrillers for Sun

• Butterfly Bush
• Ornamental Millet
• Hibiscus
• Mandevilla
• Angel’s Trumpet

Fillers for Sun

• Angelonia
• Pentas
• Lantana
• Verbena
• Nemesia

Spillers for Sun

• Bacopa
• Calibrachoa
• Helichrysum
• Sweet Potato Vine
• Lobelia

Thrillers for Shade

• Ferns
• Elephants Ear
• Coleus
• Ornamental Grasses
• Asparagus Fern

Fillers for Shade

• Fuchsia
• Begonia
• Double Impatiens
• Wishbone Flower

Spillers for Shade

• Creeping Jenny
• Wire Vine
• Polka Dot Plant
• Euphorbia
• Diamond Frost
• Ivy

Whatever you choose, remember, there are no hard and fast rules. A pair of containers planted simply with an evergreen in each has a subtle splendor. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

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Self-care looks a little different for everyone.  If you’re looking to indulge yourself (or your mom) this summer, one item you might consider adding to your to-do list is creating a self-care garden. Along with receiving “garden therapy” (gardening has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety), you can grow ingredients for a variety of self-care products.Then, you can make your own homemade herbal teas, natural soap, beauty products, bath bombs and more. Here are a few of our favorite plants for self-care gardens.

English Lavender

A wonderful perennial, lavender is easy to care for and very fragrant. Lavender likes to stay on the dry side, so plant in full sun and well-drained soil. Pick the flowerheads just before the flowers start to open when the buds are still dark purple. We recommend English lavender types.

The flowers are excellent for use in soap and other scented products, as well as in herbal tea or as a flavor for lemonade. Lavender is used in aromatherapy products specially formulated for relaxing, so it’s great to use when you’re feeling anxious or for use just before bedtime. It can also be sewn into sachets (or just placed in a small cloth bag with a drawstring) for use as a calming air freshener.

Sage

Sage is another perennial full sun-loving plant that thrives in well-drained soil. You can grow it near your lavender! Sage has been used medicinally for centuries and has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s an excellent choice for cough drops. When consumed, it can help ease upset stomachs and improve digestion. Its fragrance is also believed to sharpen memory.

Lemon Balm

Like lavender, lemon balm has a wonderful calming effect. This plant loves full sun and will tolerate a wide range of soils. You can also grow it in containers! Crush the leaves and steep to make a lemony tea that tastes great either hot or iced. Lemon balm is also wonderful for adding fragrance to bath products. It can be infused into oil for use in a variety of recipes and helps improve circulation when dabbed on your skin.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a shrubby Mediterranean perennial that likes rocky, dry soils and lots of sun. In our area, look for cold-hardy varieties such as “Arp,” or plant it in a container that you can bring inside during the winter. This herb helps with focus, so if you’re working on a tough project, it may be a great time to cut a few sprigs and put them in a little vase by your desk. It can also be used in homemade personal care and cleaning products as a natural deodorizer.

Mint

Mint is a spreader! Grow it in a container to keep it, well, contained. Give it lots of moisture and full sun to partial shade. Mint tea brewed from the leaves soothes upset stomachs. It’s also great for adding to soaps and scrubs and will help invigorate during your morning shower!

Roses

Most rose species can be used for a variety of skin care products. Try making floral water with petals or rose hips (the fruits), infusing the hips or flowers in oil, or adding rose petals to a bath bomb. Rose hips are a wonderful fall treat in homemade herbal teas and are chock full of vitamin C, helping you prevent autumn colds and flu.

Calendula

This cheerful, yellow annual flower is a powerful healing herb. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that can help heal minor cuts and a variety of skin irritations. Dried calendula petals also lend their beautiful color to soaps, oils, and bath bombs. It grows best in full sun during the spring and fall.

Echinacea

This native perennial is easy to grow in sunny spots and has the added bonus of attracting butterflies. All parts of the plant can be used to make a tea or tincture to boost the immune system.

Aloe Vera

A popular houseplant, aloe vera is easy to grow and is amazing for treating minor burns, from sunburns to cooking burns. Just break open the leaves and spread on your skin. It can also be used in homemade skin care products and helps soothe irritations.

Bee Balm (Monarda)

This plant has colorful flowers beloved by birds and butterflies. People use the flowers and leaves to brew teas to settle the stomach and treat cramps. Grow in full sun and moist soil.

Chamomile

Many people know chamomile for its use as a relaxing bedtime tea. When the flowers and leaves are brewed in a tea or used in tinctures they can reduce anxiety for people and pets! You can also add chamomile to soap, lotion, bath bombs, or even right into the bathwater to relieve skin irritations and redness.

Citrus Trees

If you’re really looking to step it up a notch, grow a potted citrus tree. They’re amazingly easy to grow houseplants, and you can move them outdoors during the summer. Citrus fruit and peels are great for scenting bath products and can be dehydrated and added to homemade tea blends for a boost of vitamin C. They can also help you fend off the winter blues by adding a touch of green to your indoor space during the winter season.

If you’re trying to create healthy habits this summer or show mom a little extra love this Mother’s Day, a self-care garden might be the right project for you. Add some of these helpful plants to your garden and enjoy!

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Why “grow native?” Native plants have evolved with a region’s climate and unique features for thousands of years. This makes them especially well-suited to growing and thriving within their respective climates. Many times they are better able to withstand local pests, diseases, and weather patterns, and perform better in local soil conditions than their cultivated counterparts. For gardeners, growing native plants can cut back on the amount of effort it takes to cultivate a beautiful garden.

Wildlife also benefits from native plant species. As Maryland’s plants, insects, birds, and mammals evolved together, they came to rely on each other. By planting native species, you’re making these important plants more available to wildlife that needs them for food, water, and shelter.

Here are some of our favorite Maryland native plants for the garden.

Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis

This cheerful red flower is a favorite of the ruby-throated hummingbird. It’s easy to grow, perennial, and can be divided once established to add plants to your garden. Plant cardinal flower in moist areas with full to partial sun. It is a great marginal plant for ponds and bog gardens.

Christmas Fern – Polystichum acrostichoides

Easy to grow, the Christmas fern is a great choice for those looking for a low maintenance fern. It tolerates shady spots as well as acidic soils. It’s evergreen, deer resistant, and ideal for use in cut flower arrangements.

Bergamot (Monarda)

Monarda is a must for pollinator gardens. The brightly-colored flowers are favorites of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies alike. It’s a very easy-to-grow perennial for sunny garden spots. The flowers and leaves can also be used to create a delicious herbal tea.

Red Maple – Acer rubrum

The red maple is a handsome, long-lived shade tree that can grow 60-90 feet tall. In autumn, its leaves turn brilliant yellow, orange, and red hues. It also has beautiful reddish flowers and seeds early in the spring. Its early spring pollen benefits native pollinators. The red maple tolerates wet soil well and is often chosen for areas with less than perfect drainage.

Black-eyed Susans – Rudbeckia hirta

This North American native is Maryland’s state flower! It’s super easy to grow and will self-seed and spread a bit when given the space. It’s a favorite flower of many pollinator species, which flock to its yellow flowers with black centers. Black-eyed Susan plants are very drought-tolerant and a wonderful plant for gardens with poor soil.

Arrowwood – Viburnum dentatum

This small shrub has it all! Arrow-straight stems (where the plant gets its name) add interest to the garden in the winter, while clusters of tiny white flowers cover the shrub in spring, blue in late summer, and shiny foliage that turns green to yellow to red in the fall. This rounds out the four-season interest. Several species of moth rely on the leaves as a larval food source and arrowwood’s fruits are an important food source for songbirds. Why wouldn’t you grow this gorgeous shrub?

Pawpaw – Asimina triloba

Even though pawpaw is native to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, you may never have heard of it. Pawpaw can be found growing in rich moist woodlands and is the largest edible fruit native to North America.

This tree is also the sole food of zebra swallowtail butterfly larvae, making it key to their survival. Small mammals, such as squirrels, raccoons, and opossums, also enjoy the fruit. Aside from providing these delicious, custard-like fruits, pawpaw trees also bloom with beautiful maroon flowers in the spring and are covered in yellow foliage in autumn.

When you’re adding to your garden this spring, be sure to include a few native species. Plants like these can help your garden thrive and help support local wildlife. Come in and chat with one of our Homestead Garden experts for more native plant options.

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Many people adore cottage gardens for their rustic charm and fairytale-like style. As cottage gardens often have the appearance of having taken years of planting and hard work, they can be intimidating for first-time gardeners. The modern cottage garden typically blends a variety of edible and ornamental plants with a wide range of colors, textures, and sizes.

However, their full and rustic nature actually helps make them easy to maintain. There are a number of plants you can start this spring that can bring that quaint, cottage garden style to your home.

Alcea rosea – Hollyhocks

An old and well-loved flower hollyhocks actually have a history of being used to mark the path to an outhouse. Their height and wide range of colors make them an easy choice for cottage gardens. Alcea is considered a short-lived perennial in Zones 3-8. To extend its life, cut them off at their bases after the flowers fade.

Strawberries

Aside from their fruit, strawberries offer several other benefits. Their creeping habit makes them an excellent ground cover. They also have adorable little flowers in the spring and beautiful red foliage in the fall. If given the space strawberries will also send out runners or clones helping to fill a little more of your garden each year. If you have young children they’re sure to be a hit and will encourage them to spend time exploring looking for these delicious little jewels.

Ditgitalis purpurea – Foxglove

A quintessential feature of the cottage garden, foxglove encompasses many species with varying heights. Some of these are perennials while others are biennial. All of these species grow only leaves the first year but their spires of spotted, bell-shaped flowers are well worth the wait. If you have small children please note that foxglove is toxic to ingest. Interestingly, a chemical found in foxglove called digoxin is actually used to treat heart failure.

Echinacea sp. – Coneflower

A native of North America, coneflower or echinacea is a favorite among pollinator gardeners offering nectar to bees, butterflies and small birds in the fall. It’s perennial and can be divided after a few years to add more to your garden. The native varieties have a tendency to self-seed, but if you want more control, there are hundreds of hybrid varieties that don’t. Native Echinacea purpurea is a common herbal remedy and can be used to make tea which is believed to offer relief from colds.

Convolvulaceae sp. – Morning Glories

Morning glories have the well-earned reputation of being a garden bully. Take great care and consider when moving this into your garden because it will wander. If you do select it, place it near a fence or trellis to support its huge sprawling vines with prolific round little flowers and mind after its vines from encroaching into your beds.

Leucanthemum × superbum – Daisies

Daisies are known as the “friendly flower” and definitely bring the wildflower look to any garden. They’re easy to grow and will self-seed on their own so they will need a generous portion of your garden dedicated to them once they are established.

Rudbeckia sp. – Black-eyed Susans

Black-eyed Susans is an iconic wildflower that’s native to North America. They spread readily and are long lasting as a cut flower. They may be more meadow-worthy than formal garden-worthy which makes them an excellent selection for the cottage garden.

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Also known as Five-color Silverbeet, rainbow Swiss chard has beautiful bright red, orange, yellow, pink, or white stems with dark green crinkly leaves. It’s easy to grow and tolerates both cold and heat well. Its fun colors will look wonderful in the garden and may tempt your children into eating a few more greens!

Achillea millefolium – Yarrow

Yarrow is a wonderful and easy to grow native perennial. It comes in a variety of colors and has clusters of tiny flowers with fern-like leaves. In medieval times yarrow’s leaves were actually used to stop bleeding on the battlefield.

Phlox stolonifera – Creeping Phlox

Another native wildflower, creeping phlox makes a great ground cover. It’s perfect for planting above stone walls to create that waterfall effect.

Pole Beans

Super easy to grow, pole beans are both edible and beautiful. There are many varieties available from green beans to yellow wax beans, to black beans. If you have to space to add a trellis or teepee they add wonderful height to your garden or can be used to create a shady spot for children to play.

Chives

A member of the allium family, chives grow in large clusters and can be trimmed with scissors to add onion flavor to a variety of dishes. They’re a hardy perennial and can be divided after a year or two. They also have round purple clusters of flowers which can be admired in the garden or added to a salad for a fun pop of color.

Adding some or all of these plants to your garden this year can help you achieve a cottage style garden even if you’re a beginner. They can all be started from seeds this spring, keeping your investment small.

Learn more about other plants to spruce up your garden this spring with our recommended 3 stunning spring plants to brighten up your garden.  Or come into Homestead Gardens and talk to our houseplant specialists for more information.

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