Picture This!

Gardeners! Do you have an indoor plant, flower arrangement, outdoor garden, or landscaping photo that you would like to share? Here’s the place to impress, inspire, laugh, and share ideas about your indoor or outdoor adventures.  

Email your photo with a first name, city, and a short description of why you are submitting it.  We will try to post it as soon as possible.  eMail Jill Baedke: heartofvamg@gmail.com.

2024 MARCH – I am so excited about my Carolina Jasmine- blooming now! I loved the one growing in the Bayscape Garden at the Virginia Cooperative Extension office in Farmville. Now a few years later Voila! (Click on the Bayscape Garden button in the side bar to find out more about “Bayscaping”.) Annemarie – Farmville
2024 MARCH – A SIGN OF SPRING! Bluebells make me smile.
Joyce – Farmville
2024 MARCH – When the store has garden soil on sale and you have saved up some aged horse manure and grass clippings, what do you do? It’s time to fill that new little raised bed! Now it is ready to plant special flowers for the Heart of Virginia Master Gardeners plant sale – May 4! (Check out Events in the menu above for more details.) Dianne – Burkeville 
2024 MARCH – The weather in Hanover still hovers above freezing during the night – yet these beautiful Hellebore (also known as the “Christmas Rose” and “Lenten Rose”) continue to bloom. Right above them is my Camellia Japonica tree with beautiful red flowers. Is spring coming? Jill – Hanover
2024 FEBRUARY– These Summer Snowflakes (Leucojum Aestivum) are blooming in my garden right now! February!  They are similar to Snowdrops but taller, with daffodil-like foliage.  This is an old fashioned spring blooming bulb and special to me because I remember them in my grandmother’s garden many, many years ago!  Wonderful childhood memory. Nan in Farmville 
2024 FEBRUARY- The previous owners pruned the hydrangea bush at the wrong time and, since they blossom on old growth, I have waited almost 2 years for new blossoms. Too bad the deer also like them and have munched off most of the new buds. This lonely survivor still makes me happy. 
Dianne in Burkeville
2024 FEBRUARY– Here is a personal arrangement of mine – to close out the celebration of the “Year of the Dragon”.
Barbara in Buckingham
2024 FEBRUARY– So you think your poinsettia and amaryllis are finished after Christmas? Here are two adorning the Valentine table.
Trish in Green Bay
2024 FEBRUARY– Such vivid red colors – and this amaryllis – and our family – enjoy two holidays!
Trish in Green Bay
2024 JANUARY: Last April I planted my holiday Amaryllis bulbs in pots in shady ground. (Picture 1) Before 1st frost, I brought them in and put them in paper bags in the garage for 4-6 weeks. In November, I brought them out and started watering weekly. Out of seven, four are growing leaves, two are still dormant, but one Amaryllis started blooming after Christmas! (Picture 3) When the bloom dies out, I will cut the leaves back and put all the bulbs (in pots) back into the paper bags. (Picture 2) When the weather warms up, I will repeat/modify/rethink the process for another holiday of surprises!
Jill in Mechanicsville

2023 DECEMBER – This 20+ year old cactus was in full bloom the week before Thanksgiving! It gets a lot of benign neglect!  The plant spends the summer outside in the shade.  It comes inside mid-October and usually has buds when it comes inside.  I have never repotted it & rarely fertilize it.  
Elsie in Buckingham
2023 NOVEMBER: I’ve waited 3 years for this to blossom. Before the killing frost I put it in my basement. To my surprise, when I went in for the amaryllis, I was gifted by this beautiful bloom on my Angel trumpet!
Dianne in Burkeville
2023 NOVEMBER: Look what I found blooming at the side of the house with beautiful flowers! My Camellia is around the corner so enjoyed by the neighborhood as they come down the street. Today, when putting up seasonal decorations – there were dozens of blooms all over the tree! AND it was 27º the last few night! Don’t forget to take a walk around your yard – you may be surprised at forgotten treasures!
Jill in Hanover
2023 AUGUST – Update on the Marble Tomato seeds that still give me many seasons of surprises. The birds and the squirrels have been “planting” them all over. Here are two beauties growing by our front steps, nestled in the boxwood! Not everyone can pick tomatoes as they go in and out of the house!
Casey in Hanover, VA.
2023 AUGUST – Last fall I clipped 12 ends from my Sweet Potato Vines and rooted them in water over the winter. Here they are for the third season – beautiful! Indoor and outdoor pop of color for all seasons.
Christine in Hanover.
2023 JULY– I was pleased to find this black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar and 4 of his buddies on my dill plants.
Elsie in Dillwyn
2023 JULY– Here is a bloom delighting my eye at the moment.  It is a lily from South Africa (Blood Lily Haemanthus) a member of the same family as the Amaryllis and just as easy to grow.  
Jackie in Buckingham
2023 JULY- Clivia Miniata is an easy care houseplant.  I bring it inside during the winter but keep it on my covered deck  during the summer.  It requires full shade, likes to dry out between waterings and rewards with this beautiful long lasting bloom. 
Trisha in Farmville
2023 JULY– Last fall I moved some bulbs from my front bed not knowing what they were. What a wonderful surprise to get these beautiful gladiolus!  Because I think of them as an old fashioned flower I put them in my grandmother’s vase to enjoy inside.  
Dianne in Crewe
2023 JUNE – A friend gave me some marble-size VERY sweet cherry tomatoes and do the birds/squirrels, and family, love them! Thank you Kendall! This is the second year that I have 80+ “volunteer” plants all over my yard – under the mailbox, between bushes, and even by the curb!
Casey in Hanover, VA
2023 MAY – HOVMGA Plant Sale! Last year I bought this Dusty Miller for $1 and planted it in front of my gnome! Beautiful! Mark your calendar for our 2023 HOVMGA Plant Sale! Check Events & Activities page for more information about our events.
Jill in Farmville, VA
2023 APRIL- While the yard at my new-to-me house needs tons of love and work, the blossoms from my tulip popular tree were an amazing gift to find. 
Dianne in Rice VA

2023 MARCH: I like to walk around my yard and find “what’s poking up” or ready to go to sleep and make a quick arrangement. Some crazy combinations have resulted – but still make me smile! Here is the middle of March with high and low temperatures. Flip-flops or winter boots?
Jill in Richmond, VA
2023 FEBRUARY When my winter arrangement gift starts to droop, I walk around the yard and replace it with fresh ferns and berries. I add the next holiday ornament and have weeks more of enjoyment!
Chris in Prospect, VA
eMail: heartofVAmg@gmail.comWebmaster: C. Jill Baedke