Ep 257. Love, Lovage & Treasures at Well-Sweep Farm
Sat, Jun 20, 2026 3:06PM • 13:06
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Well Sweep Farm, native plants, pollinators, formal garden, Patrick McDuffie, lovage, herb garden, storytelling, plantain, scented geraniums, jewel weed, rose petal jam, Venus flytraps, coreopsis, garden lessons.
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Mary, hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:23
Hello there, it's Mary Stone on the screen porch, and it is a picture-perfect day. I cannot believe it. The sun is so glorious, no humidity to speak of, and we've had some humid hot days. We're on the cusp of summer, after all. So, thank you for joining me, and I want to thank those that reach back after our last chat. Lessons from spiderwort and crooked trees, I do love the story, especially of the crooked trees and the symbol of it all, and my back has healed from digging up those spiderwort. I don't hold it against them. In fact, it will find a place in my boggy garden, as I mentioned last time. Anyway, we have a special treat this week that has to do with a visit to a very special farm, and it starts like this.
Mary Stone 01:12
Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Last weekend, I attended an open house at Well Sweep Herb Farm here in Warren County, New Jersey, invited by my birder buddy, Dennis Breedy, who is all about plants that attract pollinators for his meadows, mostly made of native plants. We've spoken about Dennis's meadow before, most recently in episode 217, "moth surveying in a New Jersey mountain meadow." I'll put a link in the show notes.
Mary Stone 01:40
The event was filled with interesting lectures, vendors offering delicious food and beautiful art, and, of course, plenty of plants to tempt gardeners like me. I visited Wells-Sweep several times over the years, purchasing plants for clients, and I occasionally would bring clients there, but this time was special because I was there to relax, enjoy the beauty, and learn not to buy plants, but of course, I did buy some plants. The day began with a tour of the formal garden led by Patrick McDuffie, the third generation of the family that has nurtured Wellsweep Farm for the last 57 years. Patrick majored in biology, but what struck me most wasn't his scientific knowledge; it was his storytelling. He reminded me of the legendary gardeners I've known, people who understand that plants aren't just plants; they carry history, folklore, memories, recipes, and family stories.
Mary Stone 02:41
His grandfather, Cyrus Hyde, known as Cy, was a legendary plant collector and storyteller. Patrick is carrying that legacy forward in his own way. Before we entered the herb garden, Patrick picked up a common plant and leaf growing in the lawn. Many of you have herbs growing right in your yard, he said. "I was tickled pink. Here we were surrounded by 1000s of unusual and beautiful plants from around the world, and he began with what most consider a weed that many people spend a lot of money to try to eliminate. We've spoken about plantain before in episode 157, 'Benefits of Plantain and Dandelions,' both desirable and edible treasures that grow beneath our feet.
Mary Stone 03:26
Patrick passed around horsetail grass stems and explained how the silica-rich plant was once used like sandpaper. We learned about lemon balm, don't let it go to seed to keep it from overtaking your garden, and scented geraniums. We learned about jewel weed, used to treat poison ivy, and how they make rose petal jam. Peak oil production occurs in the morning, so they harvest them then. Then one of my favorite moments came before the tour started. A resident calico cat joined Patrick on the porch of the Blue Farm House. While the farm has been around for nearly 60 years and three generations, Patrick lightheartedly noted that the cat family has been here for far more generations. I love that thought. Imagine being a cat living on a farm like Well Sweep, generation after generation, observing gardeners arriving, falling in love with plants, carrying them home, and returning again and again. The calico cat seemed entirely unimpressed by all of us, as cats often are.
Mary Stone 04:30
Then we entered the formal herb garden, the knot garden of boxwood and crimson barberry, which was beautiful, though I couldn't help thinking about how our understanding of plants changes over time. When the garden was created, barberry wasn't viewed as the invasive plant we now recognize it to be. Fortunately, it's clipped so tightly that I bet it rarely flowers or produces berries that birds adore, hence why their droppings have spread the invader through our woodlands, which are squelching out native plants.
Mary Stone 05:04
Around every corner, there was another story. Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance, scented geraniums with yellow edges developed by Patrick's grandfather. Purple perilla, with its rich color, a basil collection propagated from cuttings rather than seed, a much better way to assure optimum plant health and taste.
Mary Stone 05:27
Unlike many botanical gardens, visitors are encouraged to touch and taste. Patrick said, and that imitation changes everything. Plants become personal. And then I met a plant that I may have encountered before, but I never noticed lovage. I love the name. It sounds like love in luggage, doesn't it? Standing nearly six feet tall, it towered over many of the surrounding herbs. The foliage resembles celery, which makes sense because they're relatives, but lovage possesses a grandeur, rising high with an architectural form. Patrick explained that his grandmother uses it in potato salad. Others use the hollow stems as drinking straws for Bloody Marys. The leaves can flavor soups, potatoes, and broths. A little goes a long way, though. Too much apparently becomes medicinal tasting.
Mary Stone 06:19
Yet, what captivated me wasn't its culinary use; it was its beauty. The flower stalks rose high above the foliage, topped with chartreuse yellow umbels that seemed to float in the air. I bought three plants, not because I needed more herbs, certainly not because I needed more plants. Well, we can always use more plants. I mean, who are we kidding here? But because I fell in love with them, they'll be planted in the newly renovated garden near my front boulder wall, where they'll grow large enough to serve as shrubs. You don't always need a functional reason to have herbs or vegetables in your garden. Sometimes beauty is reason enough.
Mary Stone 07:00
The second lecture of the day was presented by David Hyde, owner of Well Sweep, who spoke about native plants and native ours. One surprise was learning that Venus flytraps are found in the boggy areas of New Jersey pine barrens. However, they were introduced there, and they naturalized. I later read that their only true native habitat is a small 75-mile radius in North and South Carolina. Fascinating plants with tiny green traps patiently waiting for insects. Nature never runs out of ways to astonish us.
Mary Stone 07:34
But the real treasure of the day didn't happen at Well Sweep. It happened a few mornings later. I woke feeling sad. Truthfully, I woke angry. Anger is not an emotion that comes naturally to me. Yet it was there. A year filled with endings has a way of catching up with you. My life partner leaving, Marty passing away, the closing of the home for hospice. Questions still unanswered, loose ends dangling. That morning I finally ripped up my old will. There was something about it that felt surprisingly final. The humidity was low, the sky was beautiful, and I was cranky.
Mary Stone 08:18
Then, while doing my stretches on the screen porch, something caught my eye near Miss Ellie's memorial tree. Bright yellow flowers were glowing in the morning light. At first, I thought they were day lilies handed down by a neighbor, but when I looked more closely, I realized they were the coreopsis Marty Carson had given me years ago. Her gifted plant had never really amounted to much where I had originally planted it, so I moved it next to Ellie's memorial tree, and there it was magnificent. The award-winning variety, named Jethro Tull after the rock band and the 18th-century agricultural pioneer, has distinctive fluted golden petals that seem almost to curl into tiny trumpets, but to me it will always be Marty's gift. Soon after I adopted Miss Ellie, whose name eventually morphed into Miss Ellie May, after the character from the Beverly Hillbillies, Marty laughed and said, "You need another dog named Jethro, but since you can't adopt another dog now, I brought you this plant. You may recall from my sharing about my unexpected furry messenger in episode 20 that Miss Ellie was petrified of other dogs, which is why I couldn't have two dogs on the television show. Jethro was Ellie's brother, standing there beside those flowers. I remembered that conversation.
Mary Stone 09:44
I walked outside with my phone and crouched down beside the blooms. The stems were taller than I remembered. The flowers danced in the breeze. Sunlight filtered through the trees, causing them to sparkle. A few days earlier, I'd asked Marty for a sign that she was okay, and there it was. Not because Marty magically made a plant bloom. Well, maybe she did. That's a nice thought to think about, but because love has a way of remaining present. The flowers became a reminder of our friendship, our laughter, our shared love of gardens, of all the ways people continue to shape us long after they're gone. I stood there, and I cried. I love you, Marty. I miss you. Sometimes tears are exactly what the garden prescribes.
Mary Stone 10:39
Later that day, Jolie lunged after a chipmunk during our walk, and I snapped at her, "You're on a leash." Immediately, I knew the problem wasn't Jolie; the problem was me. I was tired, tired of chasing, tired of worrying, tired of carrying things that don't deserve so much of my attention. You know, it's okay to have feelings of anger, frustration, or irritation, and by processing and expressing them, you can bring them to completion. It's part of healing. I now understand.
Mary Stone 11:13
When I returned home from Well Sweep that day, I wandered out to the vegetable garden. Jolie settled down behind a mound of cucumber seedlings that had sprouted from an outdated seed packet; somehow, that moment centered me. Perhaps that's the lesson hidden inside this haphazard story. I went to Well Sweep to admire their plants and beautiful setting. I came home with lovage, but what I really found were reminders that treasures often appear where we least expect them. In an herb growing in the lawn, many call a weed, and a trio of towering lovage that finds its way into my garden, in a yellow flower gifted by a friend who is no longer here, or my dear canine kid resting behind a mound of cucumbers. It's not about the chase, it's about the lessons, the memories, the wisdom gathered along the way, and learning to enjoy the ride. Thank you for joining me in this garden of life. Until next time, happy gardening, happy enjoying nature, and remember the garden and nature are always speaking to us. We need only to slow down long enough to listen. See you next time on the Screen Porch. Have a beautiful day.
Mary Stone 12:35
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.
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