Spring bulbs define possibility. Dive into a binful at your local garden center and hold one in your hand. It’s all in there – roots, leaves, stems, and flowers – all the razzle-dazzle of spring in one neat package.
And now’s the time to plant. So get thee to a nursery or online store and start dreaming of a brilliant spring.
Pick big, firm bulbs. Avoid ones with soft or dark spots. Store them in a cool, dark place with good air circulation until you can plant them by October’s end.
Alliums’ spheres add drama to the spring garden. Photo: Christa Carignan, UME
There are dozens of bulbs to choose from with bloom times from February to May. Snowdrops start the season, popping their dainty blossoms through the snow. Crocus follow and are often snow-dusted as well.
Then comes an avalanche of other bulbs: daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, and more. Less well-known but equally rewarding are camassia, scilla, starflower, winter aconite, cyclamen, chionodoxa and allium. Even the names are delicious.
Grand sweeps of tulips are a sure sign of spring. Photo: Judy Kofoet
How do you decide what to plant? If your garden is graced by deer or squirrels, pick bulbs they don’t like such as daffodils, hyacinth, allium, fritillaria, and scilla.
And remember that drifts of bulbs look best. So instead of a few bulbs, plant a dozen or more in a sweep. Go for the ooh la.
Bulbs’ leaves need to die back naturally since the foliage feeds the bulbs for next year, so keep that in mind when choosing a planting site. Hide the fading foliage by mixing bulbs with perennials that are already filling out.
Siberian iris’s fountain of foliage is ideal camouflage as are the unfurling leaves of ferns or hostas. Practice pairing, planting bulbs to come up through a froth of white candytuft or creeping phlox.
Think outside the box and use bulbs anywhere you want a splash of color. Combine them with low groundcovers under trees. Naturalize bulbs on a hill or in a woodland. Tuck them into a rock garden or container.
Daffodils are a great deer-resistant bulb. Photo: Joan Willoughby
What do bulbs need? Plenty of sun, soil that drains well, and reasonably rich soil. To our clay and rocks, add compost and bulb fertilizer and loosen the planting area to a depth of 6 inches or so.
Then plant your bulbs about 3 times their width deep. A one-inch bulb goes three inches deep while a two-inch bulbs goes six inches down. Dig the hole with a trowel and pop in your bulb, pointy end up.
Space bulbs according to the guidelines on their packaging. Top with soil, water, and mulch.
Aftercare of bulbs is easy. Dig and divide them every few years either after the foliage dies back – when they’re easiest to find – or in the fall if you’ve cleverly marked their location.
Can you garden without bulbs? Yes, but why would you? They are just the ticket for jazzing up your garden beds.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.
I recently visited a splendid Bay-Wise demonstration site at Baltimore’s Cylburn Arboretum with Maryland Extension’s Native Plant Specialist Lisa Kuder. We dropped in on a workshop with Cylburn staff about dividing perennial plants and visited the Arboretum’s rain garden, brilliant with colorful fall native plants.
Rain garden at Cylburn Arboretum. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
Along the way, Lisa and I discussed strategies that can be practiced to expand herbaceous native plant coverage, as we admired the Arboretum garden grounds and mansion. We noticed right away that the gardeners wisely left the post-bloom common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) standing in all their wilted majesty throughout the otherwise manicured gardens as the seed pods developed and cracked open to release seed.
Milkweed seeds. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
To seed or not to seed?
Cylburn horticulturalists are allowing the milkweed to go to seed and expand by putting out runners and sprouting new growth along the edges of their otherwise traditionally immaculate garden beds. Garden Educator Ron Roberto explained that they prefer to allow the milkweed to spread throughout the gardens by seed or rhizomally, by sending out runners, rather than dividing and transplanting (although I have personally had some luck transplanting “rescue” milkweeds from dense patches a few times).
Milkweed sprouts at Cylburn. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
In days past, people may have viewed common milkweed as a messy weed to be eliminated from such stately grounds, and some still may. Now its importance to the rapidly declining monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and other beautiful pollinators is more widely recognized, but it is important to note that the stems and seeds of the plant have ecological value beyond its prime bloom time. Common milkweed flowers are boisterously showy and fragrant, but keeping the sturdy stems, fading leaves and seed pods standing after blooms’ end is an important ecological practice and requires us to expand on what we consider beautiful to encompass more aspects of our ecosystems and all of the wondrous life cycles contained within. For small-space gardeners, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a somewhat more demure but also beneficial and beautiful native milkweed to consider planting, but research has shown that monarchs lay the most eggs on common and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Photo: M. TalabacCommon Milkweed ( (Asclepias syriaca). Photo: M. TalabacButterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Photo: C. Carignan
Allowing plants to reproduce by seed maximizes genetic diversity and helps avoid having monocultures in your landscape, an important sustainable landscaping principle. Genetic diversity is required to allow plant populations to adapt to variable and changing climate conditions. Too much of the same genetics can result from strictly practicing vegetative propagation from cuttings or plant divisions, leaving plants vulnerable to things like disease, pests, reproductive failure, or climate extremes of drought or flood. So let those fall milkweeds stand and go to seed. There’s a good chance that the stems will also become host to beneficial pollinators like native bees over the winter, as well.
Why divide perennials, then, you say?
Well, divisions are necessary to keep some perennial plant species healthy, to stimulate new growth, reduce crowding, and sustainably manage garden beds. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants writes, “Our elders taught that the relationship between plants and humans must be one of balance. People can take too much and exceed the capacity of the plants to share again. That’s the voice or hard experience that resonates in the teachings of “never take more than half.” And yet, they also teach that we can take too little. If we allow traditions to die, relationships to fade, the land will suffer. These laws are the product of hard experience, of past mistakes. And not all plants are the same; each has its own way of regenerating.”
Carefully dividing perennials can be a sustainable and economical way to expand your native plant coverage in your landscape and keep your plants healthy. Native plant exchanges across neighborhoods are one strategy to boost genetic diversity if you’re interested in spreading the native plant love beyond your own yard by safely sharing your native plants. We look forward to establishing a Bay-Wise Native Plant Exchange via social media in the near future, so watch this space for more details to come.
When should I divide perennials?
In general, you’ll want to avoid dividing plants while blooming. The cooler temperatures of spring and fall also help reduce heat stress on the plant. It will be easier to dig and separate out plants at the roots following a rain. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend! I have a sprawling patch of woodland sunflowers (Helianthus divaricatus) along my driveway that were a veritable AirB&Bee all summer long that have now gone to seed, so it’s time to thin them out and expand my sunflower bed to absorb more of our stormwater runoff.
Red-banded hairstreak butterfly on woodland sunflower. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
If native grasses are your thing, cool-season grasses are best divided in the early fall, warm-season grasses in early spring. More details about when and how to divide different types of perennials can be found on Clemson University’s website.
The great divide
To get started, you will first need to decide if you are going to pot or immediately relocate your divides. If you are potting up your divides, set up a simple potting station nearby with small pots, a transplant tool or knife, loose, clean soil, and compost or leaf mulch. I like Leaf Gro because it is a Maryland sustainable product made from locally collected leaves. You may want to have a water mister bottle or some wet cloth (burlap or a light cotton towel or damp sheet will do) or paper to protect the exposed roots, as well. If you are relocating the divides elsewhere in your landscaping, prepare your planting hole ahead of time by digging double the volume as the root ball and sprinkling in layers of leaf mulch and loose soil.
Now you are ready to divide the plant. If the soil is damp, this whole process will be easier on you and the plant. Gently dig up an outer portion of your native plant, working your way around the entire section with the shovel, assessing root depth as you go. Try to get all the way under the root tips before lifting the plant out of the ground. Think vertically rather than horizontally. Our aim is to divide the root system but not to cut the roots short.
When dividing or transplanting any native plants to transplant within your yard, you may want to keep some of the soil that the plant is currently rooted in, as the roots tend to establish important relationships with local soil microbes and fungi. If you wish to share with your neighbors and Bay-Wise Community, though, please be mindful of not spreading weed seeds or pests like invasive jumping worms! Don’t share soil from your yard if you know jumping worms or other invasives to be present. If you are unsure about the presence of invasives in your yard, bare root plants in sterile potting soil instead, to be safe. Mindfully sharing divided perennials is just one way of spreading the native plant love for a climate-resilient and healthy Chesapeake Bay landscape!
After digging up a small portion of the plant, gently knock off chunks of soil back into the hole you dug it from with your planting tool or fingers. Shake loose soil right back into the hole with some leaf mulch to repair the garden bed and gently work excess soil out of the roots with your fingers.
Woodland sunflower, bare roots. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
Keep the roots moist as you work, using your damp cloth, paper, or mister bottle, and have your new planting hole prepared for quick relocation. If immediate relocation isn’t your goal, have your planting pots and tray, clean water bucket, sterile potting soil, and compost ready at your planting station.
You’re now ready to divide the root ball with a transplanting tool or knife into smaller sections, being careful to wear good gardening gloves, or you can gently work the roots apart with your fingers if you’re working with small clumps. At this point, you can remove any dead vegetation and trim the green portions back to about 6 inches. Re-pot in clean, small pots with loose, sterile soil and a sprinkle of leaf mulch.
Now you have native plants to safely share or relocate to expand your pollinator or rain garden!
QUICK TIPS: Try to get photos of your plant in bloom to share in your plant exchange or for your own garden design needs. Label the pots or mark your garden map so that you don’t forget what you have over the winter!
By Stacy Small-Lorenz, Agent, Residential Landscape Ecology, University of Maryland Extension.Read more posts by Stacy.
Over the years, I have been involved in several initiatives that aim to summarize and translate our knowledge of insects, biodiversity, and some of the ecological services they provide, so that it can be understood by policymakers and the general public to inform decision-making and help ourselves and the living planet. The overwhelming take-home of these works is that insects (and biodiversity in general) are declining at a very fast speed, with very negative consequences on our ability to survive in a less diverse future world. When taking on these knowledge translation activities, however, there is one topic that keeps coming back: people are scared of insects (and wildlife, generally)! Then, how to promote the protection of something we’re scared of and disgusted by? In this blog post, I decided to embark on a mission: to help us understand our fears and recognize how they may be affecting our ability to protect the natural world, and what we can do to turn the wave on this to the benefit of all. Keep reading; I promise I will not shame or judge anybody 😉.
Insects (only beetles shown in this picture) are the most diverse and abundant group of animals and play central roles in maintaining ecosystems. Photo: “Insects Unlocked” Project, University of Texas at Austin
The biodiversity crisis – a real problem with real consequences
There is now massive evidence that biodiversity is being lost. This is true for many groups of organisms, but here I want to focus on one in particular: insects. Why? Insects are the most diverse and abundant group of animals and, as such, they are deeply embedded in the running of the natural world. This diversity and abundance turn insects into sorts of ecosystem architects and janitors. They pollinate, feed on other organisms, degrade organic material and make nutrients available for others to consume, disperse seeds, and much more! Beyond the importance of all this to all organisms, these functions, in particular, are central to allowing us to produce food, maintain soil quality and balance, sustain rich ecosystems, and naturally control pests. Promoting insect protection, however, often faces a big challenge: low traction and low engagement, given the fear of insects.
Fear of insects – an encounter between humans and our natural world
Fear and disgust of insects is a very widespread feeling, especially in developed countries and urbanized societies. Although it is understood that the presence of fear or disgust usually develops as a protection system against potential dangers (and there are a few insects that we need to be wary of!), the extent to which fear of insects is present goes beyond what would be needed to properly protect us from a potential danger… And this is starting to have an impact on our ability (and willingness) to protect this important part of biodiversity. How does this work?
People have been studying fear of insects for a while and their findings are really interesting (you can read some neat reviews on this in Current Opinion in Insect Science and Science of the Total Environment). For example, researchers think that this extreme fear of insects may have evolved as a sort of “smoke alarm” (a loud but very non-specific type of alarm). In fact, there is reason to have respect for some insects, since some of them can lead to painful and potentially fatal bites/stings or can carry diseases. The presence of fear against those insects thus makes sense, because they lead to protecting our health. However, there is a balance to be found between responding to a real danger (e.g., hitting a hornet’s nest) or to an inexistent one (e.g., encountering a moth). Because the cost of responding to an inexistent danger is not super high in this case (like for a “smoke alarm”), then an extreme response to any insect can simply appear and spread through human populations. In this case, the only way to “tune” such an extreme response is to learn how to recognize harmful from non-harmful insects, something that many programs (including this blog! 😊) try to do.
Going back to biodiversity conservation, it is illuminating and empowering to realize that the simple action of learning can lead to increased conservation actions… learning when there is reason to stay away from insects or not leads to an appreciation of their huge diversity and more engagement in their protection. Some ways to do this involve using formal learning methods like courses, books, or guides, but also some more interactive ones, such as citizen science projects like iNaturalist or group-specific projects (e.g., the fireflies atlas).
Rearing insects at home (like this monarch butterfly) can be a fun and learning-rich experience through which our appreciation for insects can grow and our fear decrease. Photo: Tim and Selena Middleton (CC)
Another way this fear develops is through social learning. As humans, we can learn through both direct experiences and social interactions. In fact, studies have shown that a large part of this establishment of fear or disgust in humans is learned through interpersonal interactions and not innate. For example, people have discovered that before age 5, most kids are not repelled by most insects or arthropods, and that the level of fear and disgust kids show is correlated with the fear their caretakers have of them. We see this a lot in our work. The Insect Zoo of our Department at the University of Maryland (UMD) is a very popular attraction at outreach events such as UMD’s open house event, Maryland Day. When participating in this event, we see time and time again how kids are not afraid of petting insects or other arthropods, while their parents are grunting and screaming in the background at the simple sight of one. Dealing with this learned fear is a bit trickier because it requires caretakers to become more aware of how they can imprint fear in kids. However, seeking to better understand and recognize insects and their potential (or not) of harm can help break this cycle. Rearing with kids insects like butterflies can be a great positive experience for all, and can happen in pretty much any house. Engaging in learning activities with kids, such as through insect summer camps (UMD has a super-fun Bug Camp!), is another way to restrict the establishment of this type of fear.
Petting zoos and other exhibits that feature insects and other arthropods can be a great way to engage kids and adults in healthy and safe interactions with organisms they may fear. Photo: UMD Department of Entomology.
Finally, there is another way this fear may appear. We said above that this sort of fear is more common in urbanized societies. It is thought that a part of the fear may come from a lack of exposure to biodiversity. Under urbanization, there is indeed a removal of contact with natural environments, with people becoming less and less exposed to wildlife. When insects are seen (often in the house), the other two types of fears may pop up and join forces to, on the one hand, trigger repulsion or fear and, on the other, increase avoidance of natural spaces that could contain “bugs.” The good news is that even in cases when there are few natural spaces available close to home, there are indeed many ways people can be exposed and establish positive experiences with insects. Visiting exhibits where insects are featured is one of these ways. You can learn about many other ways in this cool article: Teaching About Insects in a World Afraid of Bugs.
By Anahí Espíndola, Associate Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish-speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. ¡Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
The news out of the southeastern US following Hurricane Helene is heart-wrenching. Up to a foot of heavy rain fell on saturated soils across mountainous western North Carolina, in the fallout of a hurricane that made landfall in Florida but dumped 40 trillion gallons of rainwater across several states.
Aerial photo of Tropical Storm Helene flood damage in North Carolina. Photo credit: Sgt. 1st Class Leticia Samuels, US Army National Guard
Inland communities were not spared from this coastal storm that sent torrents of water through mountain towns, leaving a wake of wreckage in its path. Roads, bridges, and buildings have collapsed under the force of debris-laden flood waters throughout the region.
Airlift rescues and supply drops are underway, but many residents remain cut off, and countless are yet unaccounted for across the region at the time of writing. The Federal government has issued Major Disaster declarations for areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Marylanders hold all affected by this powerful storm in our hearts and stand ready to support their recovery.
Extreme precipitation events like this are becoming a new norm, brought about by increasingly powerful storms carrying more water, driven by the heat energy of warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures. Hurricanes and tropical storms forming over warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico contain more energy and hold more moisture, with the potential to bring record amounts of rainfall anywhere throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regions. Tropical Storm Helene reminds us again that inland and upland regions can still be devastated by coastal storms. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is no exception.
Animated satellite image of Hurricane Helene. Source: NWS/NOAA
It is with all of this and more on my mind and in my heart that I assume the new role of Residential Landscape Ecologist at University of Maryland Extension. I look forward to advancing green strategies that reduce flood risk and pollution from stormwater runoff into the Chesapeake Bay while enhancing biodiversity. This work is vital to addressing the most extreme impacts of climate change like floods, heavy precipitation, heat waves, and drought. We can do it in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well and bring a great deal of joy to our lives and communities while we’re at it. The Maryland Bay-Wise Landscape Management Program encourages widespread and strategic uptake of nature-based practices that improve water quality and reduce flood risk.
In this position, I will work closely with university colleagues, agency and NGO partners, and Maryland residents to promote sustainable landscape practices that contribute to a healthy and climate-resilient Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Efforts to retain, slow down, and filter stormwater using native plants and landscaping strategies like rain gardens, pollinator gardens, forest conservation, and riparian buffer strips can help reduce the overall amount of water running off from lawns and impervious surfaces like rooftops and asphalt. Allowing more rainwater to be absorbed where it falls reduces and delays flood peaks downstream while ensuring cleaner water for aquatic species and habitat for beneficial insects, declining songbird populations, and other Maryland wildlife.
Here in this space, I look forward to sharing perspectives on emerging science and trends in climate-resilient sustainable landscapes, environmental horticulture practices and gardening for wildlife, and dialogues with bearers of traditional knowledge – getting my own hands dirty along the way as I share some of my personal experiences with conservation landscaping in my wild corner of the Earth.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to join you and my Extension colleagues on this important journey, as there is vital work to be done to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Maryland communities.
If you would like to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene, Charity Navigator has compiled this list of highly rated organizations providing relief assistance for those affected. Emergency resources for those in the impacted area and their families can be found at FEMA.gov.
By Stacy Small-Lorenz, Agent, Residential Landscape Ecology, University of Maryland Extension.
Raise your hand if you want to help butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Good for you.
In my last blog post, I discussed two ways to help pollinators starting in the fall. Waiting to cut back perennials until spring and letting some leaves lie protects overwintering insects.
But there is so much more you can do to help this fall and year-round. It’s all about creating habitat, providing safe spaces for pollinators to live, eat, shelter and raise young.
My neighbors raised their eyebrows when I plunked a moss-covered log into my landscape. But it looks terrific in my woodland garden, a natural accent that provides shelter and food for wildlife.
Logs are attractive habitats for wildlife, including pollinators. Photo: Annette Cormany
So, adopt a log. Spiders and beetles are attracted to the moist areas under logs and peeling bark. Bees and butterflies nest and overwinter in drier parts of logs.
Logs help other wildlife, too. Chipmunks use them as highways, toads love their moisture, and other critters use them for sunbathing.
Lay logs horizontally, burying one end a few inches to maintain some moisture. And be sure to ask permission before tossing that log into your pickup. Mine came from a family property. Honest.
Dead-standing trees called “snags” also provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. As long as a tree poses no danger to you or your home, consider leaving it. What looks messy to us is beautiful to wildlife.
Beetles and other insects burrow through dead wood, creating tunnels that cavity-nesting bees such as mason bees lay their eggs in. Other insects tuck under bark. I once saw a striking mourning cloak butterfly emerge from the bark of a dead tree.
If leaving a whole dead tree is too much for your sense of order or safety is an issue, fell the tree but leave the log in part or whole. Or leave just the stump. Hardwood logs with the bark attached add more varied, longer-lasting habitat.
Stumps offer food and shelter to insects. Photo: Annette Cormany
What else can you do to enhance your habitat for pollinators beyond planting native plants that flower from spring to frost? Plenty.
Add a rock pile or wall. Bumblebees, leafcutter bees, and wasps nest in their cavities. Ground beetles and many other insects shelter where soil meets stone.
Stone walls – including this handsome one dressed in lichen – provide shelter and nesting sites for wildlife. Photo: Annette Cormany
Use different sizes and types of rocks and skip the mortar to create more protected nooks and crannies. Planting native plants nearby makes the area even more attractive to pollinators and other beneficial insects.
Thanks for all you are already doing to help support and protect pollinators. It matters.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.
Wood-damaging insect pests are a concern for anyone who lives in a structure made of wood. So it’s not surprising that we get several samples of insects for identification at our county offices.
Pests can damage wood by eating, excavating, or using it for their homes or galleries. Damage to foundational components can be especially alarming and expensive to fix.
Q. What are some physical differences between a carpenter ant and a termite that can be seen with the naked eye?
Antennae – straight or elbowed?
Ants have elbowed antennae
Termites have straight antennae
Wing length – same length or is the front set longer?
Winged termites have wings that are much longer than the body and are of equal length
Winged ants have wings of different lengths
Pinched or narrow waist versus one long segment?
Ants have a narrow or pinched waist
Termites have bodies that are all the same width
Comparing a termite (top) to an ant (bottom). Diagram courtesy of USDA Forest Service Archive, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
Black carpenter ant(Camponotus pennsylvanicus), winged queen. Photo: Jon Yuschock, Bugwood.org. Note the narrow or pinched “waist.”
Q. Is there a difference in the damage caused by carpenter ants and termites?
Yes. Both can compromise the structural integrity of a building but the actual damage is going to be different. Carpenter ants make galleries and excavate damp or moisture-compromised lumber to make their colonies. Termites eat the lumber and live in tunnels that they make.
Q. What are the similarities between termites and carpenter ants?
Both are social insects that live in large complex colonies.
Both carpenter ants and termites are attracted to moisture, so be sure to fix any drainage issues that would create a wet environment.
Q. Does landscape mulch lead to termites in your home?
The short answer is no; however, mulched areas may be more attractive to termite activity because of the increased moisture.
Try to prevent the wooden foundation from coming into direct contact with the soil. Also, prevent tree limbs from touching your roof, as this gives insects an easy pathway from the soil to your home.
Do not let moisture accumulate near the foundation. Divert drains and downspouts away from the foundation, as well as lawn sprinkler or other irrigation systems.
Reduce and eliminate excess moisture and humidity around the foundation of your home including both basements or crawl spaces.
Never store firewood or debris against foundations or inside the home.
Use mulch sparingly, especially up against the foundation.
Remember that both these insects can be nuisance pests when they invade your home or other buildings; however, in nature, they are responsible for helping to break down stumps, fallen trees, and other debris. They also serve as a valuable protein source for birds and other small carnivores. So when possible, appreciate the value that they bring to your local ecosystem and food web.
Blue Atlas Cedars on the American University campus in Washington, D.C. Photo: M. Talabac
Q: I have always loved the look of blue spruces, and I see many Maryland nurseries stocking them. I’ve heard that I should consider alternatives, though. Why?
A: Although every plant has something it can be vulnerable to (pests, diseases, environmental stress) and nothing is risk-free, Colorado spruce (Picea pungens), the species with the popular blue-needled cultivars, struggles in Maryland growing conditions. As such, it is at risk for several problems that cause dieback and significant aesthetic damage. Overall, spruces as a group are not well-adapted to high summer heat and humidity, or compacted or clay-dominated soils common to urban or suburban landscaping.
No spruces are native to the state except for the tip of western Maryland, where the locally rare red spruce grows in the mountains. (Maryland Biodiversity Project notes that prior logging and wildfires reduced this already limited population.) You can see from the spruce species range maps on the Biota of North America Program website that no other spruce species grows wild anywhere near Maryland.
Due to the particularly damaging nature of the issues spruces can develop here, primarily from fungal infections — drastic needle browning and shedding, plus branch dieback — I suggest using alternatives if you want a large-statured, pyramidal, and/or blue-leaved evergreen specimen tree. This spruce decline issue is prevalent enough that it has its own University of Maryland Extension web page, “What’s Wrong with my Colorado Blue Spruce Tree?”
A substitute plant won’t necessarily look the same (it might have broader or looser branching, or won’t have blue foliage), but it can have a better chance of thriving. Your options will depend on the site conditions, including how much space you have for the plant to mature, though your best range of choices will be for a location in full sun (in summer) with good drainage and no deer browsing pressures.
Few locally native species are evergreen and large-statured, but they include American holly (Ilex opaca), Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), and Atlantic whitecedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), the latter of which is rare, unfortunately hard to find for purchase, and limited to the coastal plain in the wild. Several species of pine grow wild throughout Maryland, but their mature habit is quite different from spruce.
Left: Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), Right: American holly (Ilex opaca). Photos: M. Talabac
Non-native candidates include other holly species or hybrids, Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), true cedars (Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica, and Deodar cedar, Cedrus deodara), and Western arborvitae (Thuja plicata). Arizona cypress (Cupressus glabra) and atlas cedar come in silvery-blue forms if you want a foliage color similar to blue spruce. While leyland cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii) is commonly planted, it suffers from some serious shortcomings that can make it short-lived and prone to fungal branch dieback.
Smooth Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica glabra). Photo: M. Talabac
Whichever plants you try, use a mix of species if you’re growing them in a group, like a screen or living fence, rather than mass-planting only one species or variety. This helps the planting to resist future pest, disease, or weather stress problems, since different species have different tolerances and vulnerabilities. That way, a future issue won’t be likely to impact them all equally severely, like a fungal needle cast infection wiping-out a row of blue spruce.
By Miri Talabac, Horticulturist, University of Maryland Extension Home & Garden Information Center. Miri writes the Garden Q&A for The Baltimore Sun and Washington Gardener Magazine. Read more by Miri.
Have a plant or insect question? The University of Maryland Extension has answers! Send your questions and photos to Ask Extension. Our horticulturists are available to answer your questions online, year-round.
