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This week I had the good fortune to take a day off and have a girls’ trip with my mom and sister-in-law. We boarded a Bob Neff bus at dawn for a day of adventure.

Our first stop was the Hope Hill Lavender farm. Located in Pottsville in Schuylkill County, Hope Hill sits atop a scenic rise with over 4,000 lavender plants growing in rows radiating downhill. Formerly a Christmas tree farm, and abutting a state forest, this farm has been growing lavender for about 10 years. Wendy Jochems and her husband Troy chose to grow lavender due to its relative resistance to deer, insects and disease- making it an ideal choice for organic farming methods.

They grow a combination of both French lavender, Lavendula x intermedia, and English lavender, Lavendula angustifolia. Like many herbs, lavender is in the mint family characterized by square stems, and aromatic foliage. Its tubular flowers attract a plethora of bees and other pollinators. It grows best in full sun and very well drained soil. A neutral or “sweet” soil with pH in the range of 6-8 is best. If you can grow acid-loving blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons with ease, you will probably be unsuccessful with lavender unless you add lime to raise the pH.

In general, French lavender is larger with longer leaves, taller flower spikes and a higher camphor content which makes it more aromatic. These flowers are harvested for their oils which are steam-distilled from the buds to make lotions and soaps. Their longer stems also make nice dried bouquets and sachets. You may be familiar with the popular cultivars ‘Grosso’ or ‘Phenomenal’ French lavender.

English lavender is shorter with more vibrant flower colors. Popular English lavender selections are ‘Hidecote’, ‘Munstead’ and ‘Melissa’. The fragrance is sweeter, making it the choice of chefs and bakers for culinary use. I sampled my first lavender cookies and lavender tea and was pleasantly surprised. English lavender is often dried for bouquets as its more intense flower color holds up well in everlasting arrangements.

Wendy gave us some great pruning tips. The first year remove all the flowers even though it may pain you. Lavender is a woody sub-shrub and you want to direct its energy to developing strong roots and a good branching system. The second year as it comes out of dormancy, cut it back to 4-5 inches tall in a nice mound shape. Lavender is late to leaf out. Don’t panic if you don’t see green immediately. Depending on how cold the winter was, it may take until the end of May to break dormancy. Lightly trim it to enhance branching and keep it in a mounded shape. The third season it should reach mature size. A light trim is all that is required at this stage.

To dry lavender stems for crafting or culinary use, remove the stems just as the buds are beginning to open. Tie 20-50 stems together with rubber band or string and hang them upside down in a dry, dark, warm area. Wendy’s drying shed had five box fans blowing across her bundles but when I did it as a girl, I hung a string in my mother’s sewing room where there was a good breeze as the windows were usually open in those pre-AC days. It takes a few weeks to dry completely.

This last year was a rough one for lavender. With record rainfall in 2018, going into the winter with saturated soil sounded a death knell to many lavender plants. Wendy told me her farm lost many of their mature French lavenders and she was not alone. The lavender farm we were to visit originally cancelled our tour as they had a total loss and had to replant completely. English lavender seems to withstand rainfall on the foliage and damp soil better, but the more robust French tolerates heat and humidity more successfully. Here in PA, it’s a toss-up which we have more of.

I’ll be back to visit Wendy and Hope Hill Farm again. They are open Saturdays in the spring and more during high season in July when the lavender is in full bloom. They make and sell soaps, oils, and other lovely gifts. Crafting and culinary classes incorporating lavender are also a draw as well as their three donkeys. They also keep bees and sell the honey. She actively manages their facebook page and website hopehilllavenderfarm.com. The afternoon adventures to Fonthill Castle and the Mercer Museum in Bucks County were places I would not have ventured to on my own, but made for a fun day of family fellowship.

In addition to being beautiful places to visit, our public botanic gardens have strong research arms. Mt. Cuba trials cultivars of our native species, most recently Phlox, Monarda, Heuchera, oakleaf and snowball Hydrangea. Longwood does plant exploration and has a breeding program in addition to trialing annuals. In the Midwest, the Chicago Botanic garden has been trialing perennials under the watchful eye of Richard Hawke for the last 30 years. Most recently he published a review of ferns two groups of ferns.

The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 26 varieties of native lady ferns- Athyrium felix-femina, and Japanese painted ferns, Athyrium nipponicum. They were grown for four years in clay-loam soil in partial to full shade. These are both deciduous groups of ferns, so dead fronds were removed over the winter, but very little other maintenance was performed. Chicago is Zone 5b a full zone colder than here, so if they are winter hardy there, they are good here as well. We were gratified to see some of their highest rated ferns were also some of our favorites.

Lady Ferns- don’t be fooled by the name- while the fronds may appear delicate, especially some of the more lacy selections, these ferns are tough as nails, withstanding winter cold and summer drought, sun and shade. Some of the top picks are the straight species A. felix-femina which grows three feet tall and almost four feet wide. Its feathery, bright green fronds add a delicate texture when grown with hostas or coral bells. ‘Victoriae’ an old selection with very lacy leaves and a distinctive “X” on the end of the fronds. It also has a large vase shaped habit it reaches two feet tall by three feet wide.

Japanese Painted Ferns Its little wonder this group of ferns were selected as Perennial Plant of the Year in 2004. They are adaptable to many garden situations and their colorful silver, burgundy and green foliage is striking. Morning sun brings out the colors better than full shade conditions. Top selections are; ‘Apple Court’ with heavily crested and tasseled tips on its colorful fronds and ‘Regal Red’ with silvery tips and red stems and centers. It also has more of a spreading habit.

They also trialed some Lady fern/Japanese painted fern hybrids and ‘Brandford Beauty was the best of both worlds. A beautiful vase-shaped, clumping fern with graceful fronds and silvery green coloration with some burgundy. ‘Ghost’ is a very popular three feet by three feet clumping fern with dramatic silver and purple colors however it was a bit slower to emerge in the spring.

These two groups trialed in Chicago are beautiful additions to the garden but just the tip of the iceberg of ferns that grow well in this area. Don’t overlook some of our other native ferns for adding texture and interest to the shade garden. Christmas fern is evergreen and has a distinctive “J” to the tips of the fronds making it look like a Christmas stocking. Grows best in part-full shade, with moist or dry soils. Maiden hair ferns with their delicate fan shaped habit, black stems and lacy fronds are one of my favorites for a moist shady spot. If you are looking to fill in a large area in sun or shade, ostrich ferns with their upright feathery fronds spread fairly quickly to form a mat. If you are not looking for a spreader, the Cinnamon fern is one of our largest clumping native ferns reaching up to five feet tall. It’s fruiting head is an brown upright stalk which gives it its name.

If you are interested in ferns for containers, there are four main ferns that are grown as annuals: Boston ferns, Asparagus ferns, rabbit’s foot and less commonly, staghorn. Many of these are grown in Florida, particularly near Apopka and shipped north. The high light and warm temperatures in Florida help them grow much more quickly. Boston ferns make elegant hanging baskets to grace a shady porch. They must be brought inside over the winter. Asparagus fern with its lacy foliage works well in shade combination planters and the staghorn and rabbits foot ferns are usually grown as indoor houseplants.

No matter your purpose, houseplants, or for the shady garden, ferns are a great addition to your gardening toolkit and we thank Richard Hawke and the Chicago Botanic Garden for pointing out some of the best.

Now that I have graduated from providing plants and advice to other gardeners, I have more time to concentrate on my own gardens. After six seasons, I’ll admit I’m about as satisfied with this effort as I have been with any since I was eight or ten years old and gardening with my grandmother.

Along the way I have had time to make some observations about the process, especially the nightmare many of us call weeds. I’ll start in year six and work my way back.

Presently, I mulch about half of the garden each year and do a little touch up in the other half. You can gage the size of this effort when I say I spread 27 yards of mulch maybe an inch deep. I’ll return to my mulch theory later.

Other than that, I walked around with the hoe for 30 or 40 minutes three or four evenings in early May. I also took a half full back pack sprayer for a walk in the garden until it got empty. My wife has ventured out more often but I’m met with “it’s no big deal” rather than a SOS. The weed spray targeted seedlings from a single tree that was cut down late last year.

It all started six gardening seasons or almost seven years ago when we moved from the farm. We found numerous tall trees, mostly oak, and did salvage about six azaleas from previous owners. The rest was a sparse collection of weeds and grass that probably would have starved a goat.

The first year we did a lot of spot spraying with a contact herbicide and fed a lot of plant roots to the voles. As we tilled, we woke up a lot of weed seeds. We mulched as we went again maybe an inch. We added a pre-emergent herbicide to the program. For small areas, diligent labor can be substituted for chemicals. I’m proving that in my vegetable gardens.

Year two was a repeat of year one except the voles nearly disappeared. Year three let us examine our mulch cover and do touch up where needed. The back pack sprayer was also getting rest. In year four we made our final pre-emergent application and settled into a program of mulching every other year. We now were able to add some native perennials that colonize by reseeding.

My take on weed science is that weed seeds can lay dormant in the soil for a long time. The good news is that most weed seeds won’t germinate unless they are in the top half inch of the soil. They need near light. And the biggest sin is leaving a mother weed mature in the fall as we seasonally tire of our gardening efforts. Living where weed seeds don’t blow in from the neighbors is also a bonus.

As I’ve stated, mulch is a blessing and I prefer a light coat on a regular schedule. Some suggest really piling it on and getting a lot of years out of one effort. I contend that a weed seed that lands on a thick blanket of mulch doesn’t ask whether its soil or mulch. It just germinates and grows.

Limited tillage and a late summer attack on existing weeds also play a significant role.

Since I have little to do in my half acre of gardens, I am now taking my ideas to my son’s house and finding it almost as frustrating as the first years in our new home. With patience, I have no doubt that battle can be won, too.

What is the first thing you do when someone gives you flowers? If you are like most people, you lift them to your nose and sniff. Our brains tell us flowers SHOULD be fragrant. Unfortunately, most are no longer. Bred for large size and diverse colors, fragrance seems to be an afterthought. If you want to add back fragrance to your yard here are my Top 20 Fragrant Plants.

Shrubs

Lilacs are one of the most fragrant shrubs. Best in sun to part shade, lilacs will perfume your yard for a month from late April through May. Watch out for powdery mildew on the foliage. They bloom on old wood so only prune right after flowering.

Fragrant abelia has even more fragrant flowers than lilacs but is less well-known. Fragrant abelia smells like fruity baby powder to me, but in a good way. These have a slightly awkward habit and are best pruned to shape after flowering. These are a cousin to the fall blooming abelias which are not fragrant.

Mock Orange, or Philadelphus, always reminds me of my grandmother. She had a large one in her yard and would cut branches to bring in the kitchen. The white flowers smell just like oranges. Again, prune only right after blooming to preserve next year’s flower buds.

Some viburnums, specifically Viburnum carlesii are wonderfully fragrant in the spring. Not all viburnums smell however. It seems the ones grown for their berries, Viburnum dentatum, V. nudum and V. brachteatum do not have much of an odor.

Fringe tree, Chionanthus, is a native small flowering tree. It has a lemony fragrance and just finished blooming in my yard.

Roses of course make the fragrant plant list, though not all varieties have an aroma. The beloved Knock Out roses are not fragrant at all. Hybrid tea roses and the David Austin line of roses seem to be the best. In general, yellow-colored flowers seem to my nose to be the smelliest.

Butterfly bushes have a sweet fragrance through the summer attracting butterflies to their abundant nectar.

Perennials

Primroses start the season with their sweet odor. Dianthus have a spicy fragrance reminiscent of cloves.

Next to bloom is the woodland phlox. Its heady fragrance is sweet and will perfume the air. The summer garden phlox is also particularly fragrant, but like lilacs, is prone to powdery mildew on the foliage.

Monarda and Agastache are both members of the mint family and have fragrant foliage and flowers. Agastache, or Anise hyssop reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum. Their flowers are great for pollinators attracting many beneficial insects to your yard.

Mountain mint is gaining in popularity especially among gardeners looking to plant natives and attract bees. There are several species of pycnanthemum, most have white flowering bracts in the summer. It is the foliage that is particularly fragrant, with a strong pepperminty aroma. These grow well in sun and shade.

In high summer, daylilies and bulb Asiatic lilies have great fragrance. While Asiatic and Oriental lilies make good cut flowers, daylilies don’t as each flower only lasts one day.

Annuals

Annuals as a category have less fragrance to offer as many of these have come under heavy breeder scrutiny for traits other than odor. But there are still some great choices.

In the early season pansies and nemesia have wonderful sweet aromas. Snapdragons follow these with a spicier sent. Sweet peas, an old-fashioned favorite still smell amazing.

Heliotrope is perhaps my favorite with a baby powder sweet smell. Purple or white flowers make it a nice addition to containers or beds. (Pictured above)

If you have a white garden, the tall flowering tobacco Nicotiana sylvestris, has particularly fragrant flowers in the evening.

Annuals primarily grown for their foliage, lemon verbena and pineapple sage both would make my all-time favorite plant list. Lemon verbena has a nondescript white flower but the foliage has a heavenly citrusy scent. Brush the foliage of Salvia elegans and smell a burst of pineapple. Bright red flowers in late summer and fall draw hummingbirds for a second attraction.

Popcorn plant, Cassia, is a kids’ favorite. The large yellow flowers look like buttered popcorn, but it is the foliage that earns the name. Brush the foliage and it smells like you are at the movies.

Fragrance, more than anything else, triggers memories. Take some time to smell the roses this week. Literally.

Last week’s article tacked the question of growing edibles in containers. Today’s popular query seems to be why is my (fill in the blank) not blooming? 

Some shrubs and trees need to reach a certain size before they bloom. Many woody plants have a juvenile stage where strong roots and branch architecture develop before they focus on reproduction. Plants like paw-paw trees need up to eight years to flower and bear fruit. However, if your shrub or tree was blooming at the garden center when you bought it and hasn’t since, juvenility isn’t your problem.

Improper pruning is often the culprit. Believe it or not, most shrubs do not require pruning and are better just being left alone. Shrubs with a vase shape or weeping natural habit are very beautiful left to their own devices. Pruning often makes these graceful shrubs boxy, and in my humble opinion, hideous. But if you must clip, here are some guidelines.

Shrubs bloom on either old wood meaning buds are set the summer of the previous season, or new wood meaning flowers bloom on the current season’s growth. Some shrubs bloom on both old and new meaning the first flush is on old wood, and after a brief pause a second flush of flowers bloom on new growth. Several clematis and new re-blooming hydrangeas and weigelas are like this.

In general, early spring bloomers set their flower buds the summer before. Pruning this old wood in the fall, or late winter will also remove the flower buds. Shrubs in this category include winter hazel and witch hazel, forsythia, flowering quince, pussy willows, flowering cherries, crabapples, magnolias, exochorda, weigelas, lilacs, deutzia, purple ninebark, bridal veil spireas and viburnums. In general, if you need to prune these to control height or spread only do it immediately after flowering. Finish pruning this group by the end of June to avoid cutting of next spring’s flowers.

Late spring and summer blooming shrubs often bloom on new wood, the current season’s growth. These shrubs like butterfly bushes, bluebeard, roses and panicle hydrangeas can be pruned dormant in the late fall or early spring. A hard prune on this group of plants will control the height of vigorous plants like ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea and ensure that new growth starts from strong stems. Red and yellow twig dogwoods that are grown for their colorful winter color are best pruned in the late winter. Remove oldest stems at ground level. The younger stems have the best color.

Evergreens are best sheared after the spring flush of growth to control shape if needed. Allow sunlight to penetrate the base of the plant by trimming the top narrower than the bottom. This prevents that “bare knees” phenomenon.

Poor flowering can also be attributed to improper placement. Trying to grow a full-sun plant in the shade often is a loosing proposition. Habit is looser and flowering is either sparse or nonexistent.

The last cause of poor flowering is one that you can’t do much about. Weather. Some plants like big-leaf hydrangeas are root hardy here but flower buds are tender to extreme temps and March winds. I have a hydrangea at the house that dad planted probably 15 years ago and I’ve never seen it bloom. I keep meaning to dig it up and replant with something more reliable. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe this summer will be its last chance. But I’m not holding my breath.