Winter is a great time for reflection and to watch birds combing the woods for seeds and hidden larvae.  Our plants are currently under winter protection using our poly-covered cold frames and straw bales to protect their root zones.  Once temperatures stay routinely below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, many plants remain dormant until spring warmth brings them back to active growth.  

It's a great time to enjoy the beauty of winter plants.  Winterberry and American hollies will delight you from now through spring with their striking berry displays, as will many of the viburnums.  The bark characteristics of musclewood, ninebark, hickory, beech, white oak and birch are textural eye candy and tactile delight.  The dry winter habits of grasses, goldenrod, milkweed, Eupatorium, Clematis, Joe Pye, Rudbeckia and sumac are enjoyable to look at, and are food for many of the seed eating birds.

So visit your garden and see what is about.  Enjoy a local park or other public place to bird and critter watch. Chipmunks, squirrels, fox, wild turkeys, deer, hawks, herons, cardinals and bluebirds are just some of our local residents. You might even get to see an eagle! (There are mature adults and juveniles resident in our area.) Many plants have interesting bark, fruit, or dried floral displays.

We are open by appointment if there are plants that you are interested in, so give us a call a day or two in advance if you are interested in stopping by.

Our winterberry hollies are beautiful this year and the brilliant red berries will provide great color for you, often through spring. It's a great replacement for the non-native, heavenly bamboo. 'Red Sprite', a 3'- 4' selection is a large-berried dwarf variety. 'Winter Red' is a prolific fruiter and taller (6' - 8'). "Maryland Beauty" is compact (5' - 7') and very heavily berried, with shinier leaves.  

We have the male pollinators,"Jim Dandy" for the early flowering "RedSprite", and "Maryland Beauty", and "SouthernGentleman" for late flowering "Winter Red"

When spring arrives, we will have a good supply of native Rhododendrons, maples, viburnums, beech, Carpinus, oaks, dogwoods, redbuds, elderberies, hazelnuts, buckeyes arbor vitae, bald cypress, etc.

Our address is 5200 West Heaps Road, Pylesville, MD 21132.

(410) 836-0500

Stop by for a visit!