In March the greenhouse is a warm puddle of sunlight.
By Horticulturist Chantal Ludder
The smaller section is full of pots with seeds planted but not yet germinated, and large trays full of the tiniest handfuls of green. The larger, cooler half is already crowded with the pansies destined for the spring display in the Parterre garden.
January, notably cold and dreary, is the time to curl up somewhere warm with a pile of notes, drawings, and seed catalogues, dreaming of gardens to come. It can feel a little lonesome for a gardener when you are waiting for spring thaw – until you hear about an upcoming seed exchange.
By Horticulturist Chantal Ludder
Peak leaf season is upon us and the Garden is ablaze in fall foliage.
By Deputy Director, Museum Operations and Director of Gardens Perry Mathewes
But have you ever wondered why the leaves change color? Why are some trees red, others orange and yet others are yellow? Let’s talk.
Norway maple leaf (yellow) and Japanese maple leaf (red).
Autumn is upon us, Halloween is around the bend, and all is well in the gardens. Probably. Maybe. Perhaps you are the sort of person who is content to enjoy the colorful leaves and nothing more sinister than a cup of spiced cider.
By Horticulturist Chantal Ludder
Or, perhaps, you’ve caught a bit of the Halloween mischief, and want to hear some stories about the most dreadful and ghastly plants growing in the MSV gardens. Come with me.
Building a new trail sounds simple, but to create a network of trails over 90 acres can be a challenge.
by Perry Mathewes
by MSV Horticulturist Chantal Ludder
“Come buy, come buy!” As much as I would like to do a pastiche of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, I promise to refrain. But quite soon you are going to see a line of MSV gardeners trotting diligently back and forth from up the hill to bring hundreds and hundreds of plants down to the museum patio. What plants are we selling? Why, anything you could want, of course. All plants labeled, all plants priced.
It was around this time last year the MSV exchanged the original windows on the building for newer, more environmentally conscious ones. Since the old windows were not of use to anyone else, and probably would have been left to languish in a landfill otherwise, the Gardens and Grounds Department quietly laid claim and spirited them away to our workshop. To be honest, I’ve never been more pleased to be in possession of a pile of debris in my life. Old windows, especially the large, sturdy ones, do not run cheap. They are also hard to find in any real quantity, especially if you are looking for a uniform size. Until this happy little windfall, the Museum was unable to offer the workshop I’ve wanted to run for years: Building a Cold Frame.
by MSV Director of Gardens Perry Mathewes
The annual MSV Heritage Plant Sale is just around the corner (May 18–19) and we are busy getting ready. Here are few of my favorites that will be available for purchase at the sale—all fantastic plants well suited for northern Shenandoah Valley landscapes.
In cold, snowy, icy January it is fun to dream about the spring and summer garden. Plant and seed companies know this and flood your mailbox with catalogs full of mouth-watering photos featuring gorgeous flowers and vegetables to entice you to buy their products. Well, I’m not going to do that … mail you a catalog, that is. Instead, I am going to share some alluring photos of a few great plants and simply tell you about the seeds for sale in our museum store.
