July 10-11, 2025 Cultivate'25 and GardenComm Mega Connect

Some of the tour group for GardenComm, day 1

Decades ago, I joined Garden Writers, now known as GardenComm, a group of garden writers and communicators who network, educate, and support one another in sharing the joys of gardening. AmericanHort's Cultivate '25 is a national trade show and educational event held in Columbus, Ohio, designed to support garden centers, growers, garden educators, and other professionals in the horticultural industry. This year, the organizations' annual meetings overlapped, and I was able to attend tours, events, educational classes, plant trials, and a trade show, taking advantage of opportunities by both groups.

I drove with my friend, Kathy Jentz, a garden podcaster, publisher, magazine editor, author, and fellow garden communicator. We stopped at Dawes Arboretum, a two-thousand-acre public garden in Newark, Ohio. Japanese gardens, sample vegetable gardens, beautiful trees, and perennial plantings were accessible and beautiful. Here are a few photos of the area. 

The following morning, we got up early to view the Chadwick Arboretum on The Ohio State University campus. Trials of annuals and display gardens of perennials were outside the horticulture building, which we were able to photograph and judge for beauty and adaptability in a home garden. 

Flower Trials

New varieties are compared and judged for garden suitability

Kathy Jentz

We picked up Teri Spieght, award-winning author and an incredible presence in all her horticultural endeavors, and Natalie Carmolli, Proven Winners' Garden P R and Marketing Specialist, and went to the Governor's Residence, where we met other GardenComm members.  We were shown several gardens that interpreted various areas in Ohio using primarily native plants. A cutting garden and medicinal garden were included in the Governor's landscape. 

Tour organizers

Some of our GardenComm members

The cut flower and pollinator garden

Our next stop was a private home where we saw the work of Columbus Foodscapes' Katie Carey. Later,
we met at Katie's home, where she shared her hillside garden in an urban area with our group. 

Katie shares her story

She creates garden spaces for clients

Katie grows edibles at her urban home 

We toured Highland Youth Gardens, which reminded me a lot of what Farmy Chippy has done in Baltimore, creating gardens and spaces from once-abandoned city lots.  Children from a neighboring middle school assist in cultivation and harvest. Food produced is given away to those who want it every week. 

The back entrance of the garden is just off the street

Members of the tour, Teri and Denise, listen to our garden host

Students from the school across the street learn from the garden

Shady spaces are created by the grape arbor

We all met for our annual awards dinner in the evening. I was very proud that two of my friends won Gold Laurel Awards from GardenComm!

Teresa Speight won Gold for her book Black Flora

Kathy Jentz won Gold for Digital Media for her program Reduce Your Lawn Day

Day 1 of our meet-up was fantastic!

Look for Day 2 later this week. 

A Visit to Ladew Gardens

July was a busy month for me, filled with learning events close by and out of state. We have a remarkable horticultural community! 

Ava is getting up close and personal with the Cottage Garden 

On July 1, Ava Marie, WBAL’s meteorologist, and photographer Bridgette joined me at Ladew Gardens to shoot 4 episodes of The Sunday Gardener. Director Emily Emerick joined us in presenting the butterfly house, the new cottage garden planting by David Culp, a look at creating and maintaining Ladew’s famous topiaries, and an interview with the resident artist.

It was a warm, humid day, so we kept looking for shade. Everyone at Ladew was friendly and knowledgeable as they were interviewed about various subjects.

First up was Sheryl Pedrick, Director of Education. She explained the lifecycle stages of a butterfly and showed us which plants were needed by specific caterpillars for nesting and feeding.

Sheryl took us inside the Butterfly House and showed us the incredible meadow at Ladew.

Next up was a look at the recently renovated Cottage Garden, designed by David Culp of Brandywine Cottage, collaborating with Cavano's, a local wholesale perennial nursery. 

We look ready to spend our time in the garden.
Me, Emily Emerick, and Ava Marie

Photographer Bridgette with Ava 

We took a golf cart to find Abby Evans, Senior Horticulturist, to learn about the pruning and care of  Ladew's world-famous topiaries. 

Not seen in the photo are the power tools and pruners that keep Abby busy shaping the incredible hedges and topiaries at Ladew. 

For our last segment, we were lucky to connect with the sculptor and one of the Artists In Residence at Ladew, Walter T. Matia, whose beautiful bronzes were set among the plants in the gardens.

 

We recommend a visit to Ladew Gardens, just about a 20-minute drive from Valley View Farms. The journey and the destination are beautiful! 

A huge thank you and shout-out to Chrissie Perry, who took most of the photos in today's post. 

Here is a link to The Sunday Gardener from July 5. 

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/sunday-gardener-ladew-topiary-gardens-support-butterfly-life-own-garden/65317107T

Look for upcoming blogs about other July events that I was lucky to attend. 

Summer Perennial Favorite---Echinacea

 Echinacea, commonly known as coneflower, is a hardy perennial, native to central and eastern North America. It is grown for its striking appearance and herbal properties. We will concentrate on its use as an ornamental perennial that blooms from mid-late summer in the garden. 

Echinaceas love full sun and well-drained soils. Once the roots are established, they tolerate periods of drought. Most are hardy from USDA Zones 3-9. 

Benefits beyond their appearance include attracting bees, butterflies, and songbirds. Seeds feed birds like goldfinches in the fall and winter. They are also deer-resistant. 

To keep flowers fresh, deadhead the plant to prolong blooming. Coneflowers can be propagated by division and may self-sow if allowed. 

We carry more than 50 varieties of Echinacea, including straight species Echinacea purpurea and scores of cultivars in a range of colors, including white, orange, yellow, red, and green.  See the full list of what we may carry this season on our Plant Finder Echinaceas, with descriptions and attributes of each plant. 

Click Mount Cuba Center evaluation trials for results of their 2020-2022 trials. 

 

National Pollinator Week has arrived! Now is the perfect time to celebrate hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, beetles, moths, birds, bats, and other pollinators that keep our environment thriving and our gardens blooming. Here are some great ways to act in your own gardens and communities.

Have your habitat registered for Monarch Butterflies

1.      Plant native plants like bee balm, black-eyed Susans, milkweed, clethra, and scores of other plants that have naturally evolved alongside soils, birds, and other animals, and our environment.

My backyard Clethra was a magnet for Swallowtail butterflies

          Annuals can also be used for attracting pollinators. I love Black and Blue Salvia for attracting hummingbirds, lantana for butterflies, and zinnias for bees and other pollinators.

3.     Build a bee hotel. I did not have to do that; I noticed bees living in my firewood stack and in some old fence posts, providing their own ‘construction’ for a hotel.

Our signage identifies pollinator attracting plants, and natives

4.      Avoid pesticides, especially when plants are in bloom. If you must use pesticides, look for safe organic options and always follow the label instructions.

Many pesticides are labeled for pollinator protection

5.           Include a water source in the garden. A shallow dish with pebbles or a birdbath can provide a habitat for healthy pollinators. A small pond is another way to attract pollinators to the garden. 

A new pond and the surrounding landscape will be a wonderful habitat for pollinators

     

K      Gardens can be a little messy. Pollinators use leaf litter and hollow stems for egg laying and nesting.

This Black Swallowtail caterpillar keeps my parsley from growing too large.

For your community:

1.      Host a pollinator garden installation at a local school, park, or business.

Host a butterfly release

2.      Volunteer and learn with local nature groups, including Oregon Ridge Park, Cromwell Valley Park, Cylburn Arboretum, Green Towson Alliance, The Wild Ones of Greater Baltimore, and other nature-affiliated groups. 

3.      Provide seminars to local groups and/or join with local garden centers to reach out to the community. We worked with The Wild Ones of Greater Baltimore and the Baltimore County Master Gardeners to provide several seminars in 2024 and 2025. 

Learn more through books like Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope by Doug Tallamy.

Most importantly, enjoy this week and take notice of the many pollinators that help provide us with beauty, food, and an amazing world. 

 

Happy Father's Day

Dad is manning the grill

Father's Day for the gardening Dad means gifts of plants, a nice shovel or trowel, or, most importantly, spending time gardening side by side with his kids. My dad was not a gardener until he got a tractor with a backhoe that he used to dig up the out-of-control forsythia. He helped me plant a tiny nursery of shrubs I would use for some light landscaping jobs. Truth be told, he'd rather have tools to work on his Fords and Alfa Romeos. 

Dad would rather work on his cars

On the other hand, my former father-in-law, Max, spent a lot of his free time in the garden. A German immigrant, he purchased his home in Cockeysville with his wife, Eloise, where they raised two wonderful children, Maria and David. Max passed his passion for gardening to his son, who enjoyed vegetable gardening just as his dad had. David found his way to growing wonderful crops of tomatoes, peppers, beans, and other vegetables and flowers in his gardens. 

David is harvesting early lettuce

One day's tomato harvest

Another dad who relished his time in the garden was my late boss, Bill Foard. His tomato gardens are legendary. He would have me and other Valley View Farms' staff over to see his garden. Billy was very transparent; while he was the most successful farmer-turned-backyard gardener that I'll ever know, he wasn't shy about showing us the challenges he faced in growing perfect tomatoes. He and his daughter, Lisa, spent time canning the tomatoes for their almost-famous Bloody Mary mix, a prized gift to family and friends. Billy brought in buckets of his vine-grown tomatoes to be shared by his Valley View Farms family. 

Billy's garden in mid-July

Bill passed his knowledge of gardens to 
his children and the Valley View Farms family


To all the gardening and non-gardening dads out there, Happy Father's Day!!!

Transitions

 Garden centers go through transitions as the seasons change. This year, we are experiencing many of those changes now, with the added transition of dropping one department as we increase the footprint of several others. 

Our long-time patio manager, John Hessler, decided to retire after a 50-year career at Valley View Farms. We miss him and wish him the best! The space that previously held the patio furniture has been turned over to our pottery department, which had been relegated to the back of the store and outside. Wow, the selection of pottery is impressive!

All shapes, sizes, and colors

What amazing colors and designs

With the move, our flower and vegetable seed area has been expanded, and potting mix displays have been enlarged. 

HUGE seed selection

All of the supplies gardeners need

Outside, tropical plants will eventually take over much of the old pottery space.  Best of all, we will expand our areas of perennials, trees, and shrubs to include hundreds of Native Plants. 

Well-labeled Native plant signs

Last year's display with perennial expert, Jane. 

A great way to help our pollinators.

We are excited by these transitions and moving forward with new ideas, terrific plants, and unique merchandise.  Stop in and let us know what you think of the changes. 

We're Going Bananas!

 

We received our annual order of banana plants this week. While it is way too early to put them outside, banana trees sell fast so we get them this time of year to guarantee delivery from our Florida growers. 

Caring for a banana tree in Maryland can be tricky, but so much fun! Here are some basic care instructions. For more details on their care, go to our Plant Finder App and put bananas in the search box.

Choose the right variety. The Musa basjoo is best suited for in-ground planting for our area in Maryland landscapes as it is hardy in our zone. Plant in a sunny spot with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Provide well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter. Use the transplant fertilizer Bio-tone and soil amendment LeafGro for good results. 

Plant when all danger of frost has passed in the spring.Water slowly with a soaker hose to encourage deep roots. Use a balanced fertilizer monthly throughout the growing season. 

The Musa basjoo should be reduced to 1-2 feet after the first frost. Mulch heavily with straw or leaves to insulate the roots. 

The other banana trees we sell are great for planting in pots in late spring and summer to avoid frost. They are all tropical and need to over-winter indoors or be treated as an annual. 

Dwarf Cavendish bunch

The Dwarf Cavendish banana is ornamental and will produce fruit in a greenhouse setting. We've seen them in the Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore and in Longwood Garden's Conservatory. 

Grows to 10' 

We recommended bananas in large pots as a great accent plant to provide a tropical feel. 

The Red Banana has stunning green and red leaves. Grown primarily for its ornamental qualities, the red stems contrast beautifully with the wide, long leaves of the Banana tree. 

Striking container garden

Stop in to see all of our bananas in large containers now. We will continue to receive bananas in smaller pots as the weather warms later this spring. 

Enjoy tropical and hardy banana trees in your yard or patio this summer. 

These photos have been used with the permission of the folks who run our Plant Finder app.