Rosemary trees, home-grown gifts and voles

By WTOP Staff
November 15, 2012 | 7:57 PM

WASHINGTON – A sure sign of the approaching holidays is the appearance of those wonderful Christmas-tree shaped cones of live rosemary in garden centers and upscale supermarkets.

These living rosemary plants make great table-top Christmas trees, and are the perfect gift for the host of your Thanksgiving dinner. But they have one problem, they are 100 percent dog-dirty, six-times-sideways root bound, jammed into pots so small there’s no room in there for any soil.

So, as soon as you get your little

Plants native to DC-area could offer greener alternative to water-hungry lawns

By Kate Ryan
May 26, 2026 | 4:10 AM

Your yard could require less water, help defend against erosion and support wildlife. All you have to do is plant native flora. At the Swamp Rose Co-Op in Silver Spring, Maryland, staffers guide plant lovers who may want to start with one corner of the garden or convert their entire lawn to a meadowlike landscape dotted with wildflowers. The co-op provides retail sales, and also offers maintenance, design and installation of native gardens.

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