Putnam Hill Blog

We have been busy growing! Everything is looking fresh and beautiful. Come on by and shop our 2022 selection. Putnam Hill Nursery is now open Wednesday through Sundays, 10am-3pm. Feel free to explore the gardens while you visit. For the current plant list, download the availability below. For photos and descriptions, visit our online shop. If you would like to preorder before you visit, select “local pickup” at checkout and the date you would like to pick up. We look forward to greeting you at the nursery. Happy Spring!

We have a lot of great plants and seeds this year! Yes, we now sell seeds too! Preorder online or email your order to mel@putnamhillnursery.com. Want to pick up instead of having your order shipped? No problem! Choose “local pickup” at checkout and the date you would like to pick up. Please allow 1-2 days for us to prep your order. We ship on Mondays and Tuesdays via USPS the week of the date you select. If you prefer another carrier, let us know and we will do our best to accomodate. Unfortunately, for agricultural reasons we do not ship to the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, LA, MT, ND, NM, NV, OR, WA, UT, WY. If you live in one of these states and there is something you really really need, reach out to Melanie at mel@putnamhillnursery.com to discuss options. Thank you and happy gardening!

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for current availability click here

I’ve been considering penstemons lately. Penstemons have proven to be excellent garden plants because of their drought tolerance, long bloom time and nectar production that attracts favorable wildlife such as hummingbirds, honeybees, and bumblebees. There are many that are native to the western states thriving in rocky, barren soils, but the eastern states also have a few that boast the same desirable qualities. The following are some of my favorite penstemons.Penstemon smallii is a northeastern native typically found in light shade in well- drained woodlands from Georgia to North Carolina. Being hardy to zone 5, it adapts well to growing farther north. It boasts lavender flowers late spring to early summer and will often rebloom if deadheaded. The foliage is medium green often with a rosey hued rim. The color of the leaves deepen when given some shade. Out of all the penstemons listed here, Penstemon smallii will tolerate the …

It was a very full summer with many things happening. Somehow it felt adventurous. It was adventurous. Not in an “I’m going to climb Kilamanjaro” kind of way but in a “wake up and look at what is in front of you kind of way.” Why not go, see, do, and discover along the way? So here are some of the things I saw, heard, and did that stand out for me that, quite naturally, lead back to the garden. On a week-long trip to the Outer Banks with my husband, Keith, and friends, every day I walked the designated path through the dunes to reach the beach and sit by the ocean. I walked this path several times a day. In the morning, I sat on the deck of the house and looked at the dunes. In the evening, I could feel their presence while stargazing, just as when ...

This little guy was found early in the morning while we were getting ready for the weekend sales. He made his way over from the bronze fennel. The bronze fennel has been fun. Putnam Hill started growing it in the 90s when the nursery was called “The Herb Garden.” At that time, we sought out unusual herbs to grow. The main attraction to bronze fennel was its culinary traits. The leaves and seeds have a delightful, sweet licorice flavor, and cooks and chefs add it to stuffing, fish, salad dressings, and herbal teas. Over time its ornamental qualities added to the fascination. Bronze fennel gets this adorable, fuzzy, bottle-brush growing tip that is basically irresistible to pet. It is a leaf ready to unfurl, all fresh, new, and soft. As it pushes forth, it opens to create a wonderful, lacy texture. The color is a dark bronzy purple. Older leaves ...

This past weekend I had the pleasure of vending the native plant sale at Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, MD. This was Putnam Hill’s first all natives plant sale. As most of you know, at Putnam Hill Nursery we grow all types of plants with our focus mainly on offering a large selection of perennials that, when planted in your garden, will offer beauty throughout all four seasons of the year. These plants are both native and non-native. We have been selling natives since we started the business in 1996. They were mixed in with the non-native plants in the nursery, and we were growing them just for the ornamental value. As the years progressed, the call for native plants became more frequent. People were talking about how they greatly benefited the environment; feed wildlife; are more suited to the climate of the region requiring less care, water, and ...

Wow, what a summer. It has been a hot one. Thankfully, the forecast predicts a break in the weather. Next week, school starts for many students marking the end of summer. We now enter the slow acceptance that the garden is starting to prepare for winter. Hard to believe as hot as it is, but that is where we are going. Nonetheless, I always find this time of year a relief. The fast pace of spring and summer ending with the loud cicadas and katydids reaches such a crescendo that I feel I need a nap from it all. The bright colors and blousy flowers, the busy bumblebees, the momma birds busily gathering food, caterpillars chomping, the high-pitched mosquitoes, the weeds that grow overnight to a foot tall, the heat that won’t quit, the gallons of water for the plants and the garden. I just want to say, "Stop! Enough! ...