With a brand new-to-me garden to fill up,  I need plant ideas, especially shade-loving perennials, so where better to look than the garden of our perennials buyer Larry Hurley?  So I paid a visit to his Bethesda garden this past weekend and saw lots to love, and learned a thing or two.

 

Epimediums and hostas prove they can take dry shade.

Around a large tree in the front yard, sweeps of epimediums and hostas sure look better than mulch, and more interesting than the common groundcovers for shade (I’m looking at you, ivy and pachysandra).

Above, Larry can’t keep his hands off those Epimediums.  On the right in this photo is a big favorite of mine – Euphorbia amygdaloides or Wood Spurge.  It’s evergreen!

In all its glory is the stunning native vine Lonicera sempervirens ‘Cedar Lane’.

Above, another gorgeous native plant – Phlox stolonifera ‘Sherwood Purple’.  It does well in both moist and dry shade.

Above, two of Larry’s many varieties of Heuchera, both paired to great effect with Hakonechloa (also known as Japanese forest grass).  Larry prefers the Heuchera villosas because they’re so long-lived.

Above, newly emerging Hosta ‘Sagea’ and a bronze-colored Heuchera with ‘Evergold’ Carex.  It’s one of the evergreen Carexes, and can take sun or shade.

Here’s a groundcover I’ve never seen before – Wood Anemone or Anemone nemorosa.  Gotta get some!

Also evident in the photo above is Larry’s practice of leaving fallen leaves in place in his perennial borders.  I questioned this practice, having read warnings about dead leaves smothering perennials, but was assured that the perennials are safe and that the leaves decompose by mid-summer or so.  Larry says that smothering may be a problem with maple leaves because they become so tightly compacted, but the leaves of his oaks and tulip poplars are no problem.   Good to know!

Love the large pots on Larry’s deck, and the informal fieldstone paths.  That’s Japanese Painted Fern in the foreground.

Notice more interesting artsy elements – the metal cranes on the left and the large pot on the right.   And how about the stunning bark on the Stewartia in the foreground? A diehard do-it-yourselfer, Larry built the pond himself.

Thanks to Larry for the tour, but I haven’t finished with him yet.  Coming soon – his favorite native ferns and Echinaceas.

Lornicera photo by Larry Hurley.  All others by the author – Susan Harris.

Constance on the job.

You could run into Constance anywhere in our  Potomac store because she works in all departments, as needed, which for her helps keep the job interesting.  “Never a dull day,” and all that.

Life before Behnkes

Unlike her co-workers (Alex, Orion and Christopher) Constance is anything BUT locally grown.  Her dad was a Foreign Service officer and she grew up in Athens, Greece. (Cool!)  Back in the U.S., she studied art in New York City, and her first career was in the museum world there, and later in Minneapolis.

What led her to the D.C. area was her parents’ move here after her father’s retirement in the mid-’90s  She soon discovered there were no jobs to be had here in her field, so decided to start a second career doing post-production work for television.

Sounds exciting, but at the end of the day she just wanted to be outdoors, not in an office, so for her third career she sought work in nature , and came to work at Behnkes in 2010.

Her Gardening Life

The change to gardening was a career move but actually the combining of her work and off-work lives because she’s always grown plants of various types and her parents were avid gardeners.  How avid?  All the family vacations were to visit gardens!  Her dad was an orchid hobbyist, and their house was so filled with plants it could be mistaken for a greenhouse.

So what’s her Hyattsville garden like now?  Mostly perennials, shade-loving ones, and all natives – because of her passion for wildlife.   She’s gotten rid of almost all of her front lawn and has plans to rid the lawn in the back next.

Her Non-Gardening Life
Yes, she has one, and it’s all-nature-all-the-time.  Constance volunteers for City Wildlife and for the Washington Animal Rescue League, where her husband works.  (That’s one of this blog-writer’s favorite non-profits – the go-to place for all my cats.)  He’s also an avid birder.

Posted by Susan Harris.

A familiar face to Potomac shoppers is Christopher Lewis, manager of the garden shop where everyone is buying bulbs and lawn fertilizer this time of year and tools and assorted garden solutions throughout the year.

Origins
Farm boy here!  Christopher grew up on a farm in Howard County, and went off to Susquehanna University in PA to study geology.  That led to work in the oil fields of Louisiana, then using his engineering talents closer to home as a supervisor of construction at BWI Airport.

Eventually Christopher decided to get away from the bureaucratic pressures of that job and pursue his life-long love of growing plants, first by studying horticulture at the USDA Graduate School and entering the Montgomery County Master Gardener program.

Working in Gardening 

Christopher started working at Behnkes in 2005 and with the help of Larry Hurley and financial support from Behnkes, studied for and passed the test to become a Certified  Professional Horticulturist.  Next, he achieved specialty certification in Integrated Pest Management.  At Behnkes he has worked with trees and shrubs and has been the manager of the garden shop for two seasons now.  Before coming to Behnkes, Christopher worked for another garden center and as an “indoor plant technician” keeping plants alive and healthy in office buildings.

Off-Work
After hours, Christopher gets to tend to his own garden in Silver Spring, where he pursues his passions for edibles and native plants.   He’s also the proud owner of his own bee hives, having completed the Montgomery County Beekeeper training.

And when not gardening or working in a garden center, Christopher’s a busy family man, joining his two sons in their Boy Scouts activities (Eagle Scouts – done!), and as an active church member.

Potomac shoppers, meet your expert in shrubs and trees.  He’s Orion – like the constellation – Taylor.

Orion could hardly be more of a local guy, having grown up in and around College Park, and he always knew he wanted to work outside.  Park Ranger sounded good to him, but gardening called in the form of a lawn maintenance companies.  Orion began his career with Behnkes in 1987, starting from the ground up, pretty literally, as a laborer.  Since then he’s worked in woodies, perennials, at the Largo growing facility, and then came to the Potomac store in 1998 and has been there ever since.  Orion is a Certified Professional Horticulturist.

Life in the Country
Orion and his wife have settled into a very rural life up in Sharpsburg, MD – and up is the right word since it’s at a high enough altitude to be a full zone colder.  There, she tends the cottage garden out front and in the back Orion tends his pond, rock garden packed with perennials, and kitchen garden.  He’s also trying fruit trees, with mixed results (the curse of the our region!).

So what shrubs does this woodies manager like best and grow in his own garden?  Small conifers – like Hinoki cypress, and a few yews and Daphnes for still more evergreen interest.  But come spring, his garden gets colorful with the flowers of his many flowering shrubs – roses, spireas, hydrangeas, crape myrtles – all the great favorites of Maryland gardeners.

Orion’s an avid birdwatcher, and attracting them to the garden is a top priority.  To that end, he’s included a bird bath and plenty of feed-birding plants, too.  He’s proud to tell you that his garden has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat – kudos!

Life beyond Gardening
Sure, Behnkes employees garden in their off hours, but what else?  In Orion’s case, another passion is American history.  And not just by reading about it, but reenacting it!  He and his wife portray Civil War-era civilians at local events like the Sharpsburg Heritage Festival.  And next up, they’re going Colonial, so we’ll soon be seeing Orion sporting a tri-cornered hat.  (Photos coming soon!)

Other fun activities include fishing and camping – all outdoor stuff.  And working on their 1780s house.

Trends in Potomac?

But back to work.  Asked what special requests Orion is hearing from his customers, there’s no hesitation before he answers “Deer-resistant plants!”  (Thus, the photo above.)  Plus, he gets lots of requests for native trees, thanks to a growing interest in them generally and Maryland’s help in buying trees – as long as they’re natives.

Orchid-growers are flocking to the repotting workshops that horticulturist Carol Allen is giving at both our locations, so here’s a closer look at Carol.  Her knowledge of plants goes waaay beyond just orchids.   Looks like we could pick her brains on just about anything plant-related:

Carol’s been involved in gardening and horticulture since childhood.  She has worked in almost all aspects of the horticultural industry and confesses to being a confirmed ‘plant-a-holic’. Carol enjoys teaching people about plants and their care and occasionally teaches at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Fascinated by the interplay of pest and prey, Carol recently returned to college and earned a degree in horticulture.  She is currently enrolled as a graduate student in plant science at the University of Maryland where her research is in transfer of virus disease in orchids.

Carol speaks to various plant groups and societies on a wide range of horticultural topics.  She can be heard at Brookside Gardens teaching organic gardening, speaking on building a butterfly garden at a local garden club, teaching master gardeners about houseplant care, or talking about pests and diseases at a regional orchid society.  She is an integrated pest management specialist and a licensed pesticide applicator in the states of Maryland and Virginia.  Readers are informed and entertained by her column in the Washington Gardener magazine on pest issues.  Carol confesses to growing a wide range of plants in and around her home that she shares with cats, anoles, tropical frogs, tropical fish, and pet snakes.