About this column:
My husband, Tony, and I have lived in Catonsville 49 years, raised a family here, and a recent retirement project of mine has been the self-publishing of a hard cover, coffee table art book titled, "Gardens of Catonsville." The book is for sale at Six Mile Coffee located at 609 Frederick Road and Oakdale Pharmacy located at 1713 Edmondson Ave.Recently I visited the Baltimore conservatory to enjoy, once more, the beauty of the amazing variety of healthy plants that grow here in five distinct climate zones.Rising above the extensive parklands that include the Baltimore Zoo is the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanical Gardens of Baltimore, only 15 minutes from Catonsville. The 1888-built Palm House is one of the few Victorian conservatories remaining in the world. It was designed by George Frederick, who also designed Baltimore City Hall and the Mansion at Cylburn Arboretum. This five-story glass structure is framed in …
Years ago I bought my first flower seeds in March to get a head start on my summer garden. I recall that I used an egg carton and brought dirt in from my lettuce garden. After watering and watching for several weeks, spindly, weak stems popped out of the dirt and angled toward the window. By the time I transplanted the usually hardy zinnas, these babies were two inches high and anxious about their new environment. Few survived and, in my mind’s eye, I can count about ten flowers that ever bloomed. The lettuce I had planted from seed, directly into the ground, grew enough to provide me …
Snowstorms really are beautiful...but they are so white! A gardener and artist loves color. So, as I admire my shiny red blooms, of my 'Christmas Amaryllis,' I am grateful for having bought the bulb before last Thanksgiving. I enjoy having a living plant inside while all is dormant and white outside, and I love watching it grow. Amaryllis plants are amazing in so many ways. Of all flowering bulbs, they are the easiest to bring to bloom. They are great fun for kids of all ages to watch grow as you can see daily changes in the plant. And as they rise to over a foot tall they take center …
I doubt that there has been a census on the number of fish ponds that exist in Catonsville but my observation is that they are plentiful. So I wonder how these families of fish survive our winters. What is the typical care required? As I decided to find out what some local fish pond owners do to prepare for the winter months, I recalled the number of ponds I had seen on two different garden tours the Catonsville Historical Society had organized in the past several years. There was a rectangular one against the back of a home overlooking an inviting swimming pool. There was a smaller …
I doubt the children on your shopping list would jump for joy if they received a gardening book for Christmas. But, you never know! My granddaughter, age 7, would be excited if she received a cookbook and would head for the kitchen to bake! And she is thrilled to watch the amaryllis that I gave her on Thanksgiving Day growing. Our hope is that it will bloom by Christmas. (And it is her winter garden to care for!) So do we fall for the ever-changing tech world and buy gifts advertised on TV? Or do we balance our lives and our loved one's lives by promoting an appreciation for our natural …
In my book, Gardens of Catonsville, I organized the paintings and gardeners' comments by the seasons. There are many spring and summer gardens represented, fewer autumn ones and only two winter gardens included! Yet there are beautiful garden scenes about, even while our shrubs and plantings hibernate and our annuals just die. In walking around the block last week, I spotted several plantings of pansies that will endure the cold and spring back to life in the... spring! They are annuals but fade out with too much heat. Another plant recently placed in gardens is the ornamental cabbage. …
Catonsville is a town of gardens. Look any direction, up and down our streets, and there will be a pretty vista worth pausing to take a look. One of the newest gardens in this lovely town, or village, if you like the sound of that, is the one along the side of our Chamber of Commerce building. It looks like it grew to maturity overnight and is called Amy's Garden. Amy Wieland has always loved gardens and gardening. I met her after her home garden was on the 2008 Garden Tour sponsored by the Catonsville Historical Society. It was during that tour that I took lots of photos and asked some …
