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Our Blog

From plant care tips to seasonal inspiration, our blog is packed with expert advice, creative ideas, and practical solutions to help your garden thrive year-round.

Container Gardening

Patio-Ready: Summer Container Combos You’ll Love

A beautiful container garden is one of the easiest ways to refresh your porch, patio, deck, or outdoor living space for summer. The right combination of plants can transform any...

Native Plants, Pollinator

Native Plants That Pollinators Love in Coastal Virginia

There’s nothing quite like seeing butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds enjoying your garden. These important pollinators do more than add life and movement to the landscape. They help support healthy blooms,...

Pollinator

5 Butterfly Host Plants Every Virginia Gardener Should Know

Butterfly gardens are often filled with colorful flowers that provide nectar for adult butterflies, but if you want to support the entire butterfly life cycle, host plants are just as...

Seasonal

The June Garden Refresh: Plants That Instantly Re-Energize Your Yard

By June, your garden has revealed a lot about itself. Some plants are hitting their stride, while others have finished their spring show. You may even notice a few spots...

Edible Gardening

5 Secrets to Bigger, Better Tomatoes This Season

A great tomato harvest starts long before the first fruit ripens. From choosing the right variety to understanding how your plants grow, a few tomato-specific techniques can make all the...

Container Gardening

From Canvas to Container: Finding Garden Inspiration in Art

What do great gardens and great works of art have in common? Both tell a story through color, texture, balance, and emotion. Just like an artist uses a canvas to...

Plants

How to Help Your Hydrangeas Thrive All Summer Long

Hydrangeas are (in our opinion) one of the undisputed queens of the summer garden. They are reliable bloomers that brighten borders, foundation plantings, and containers alike....

Plants

Best Heat-Tolerant Perennials for Low-Maintenance Summer Color

Looking for a long lasting color that can handle the summer heat without constant care? These heat tolerant perennials are your best bet....

Plants

Top 10 Natives & Nativars for a Low-Maintenance Garden Hampton Roads

Natives are getting a lot of attention these days, and for good reason. They can be better adapted to our hot humid summers, generally drought tolerant once established, and attract...

Plants

Don’t Make These 7 Mistakes if You’re Container Gardening

Container gardening is one of the most flexible and rewarding ways to grow plants, but even the simplest pots can lead to frustration if you’re not careful!...

Plants

Gifts That Grow: Our Top Picks for the Gardening Mom

Mother’s Day is the perfect time to celebrate the moms who’ve nurtured us with love, wisdom, and a little bit of dirt under their fingernails....

Plants

Top 10 Shrubs That Shine in Spring

Now that it’s April (and almost May!), now is the moment when some of our favorite spring blooming shrubs begin to show off their best features....

Houseplants

3 Ways to Optimize Your Weekends with Indoor Gardening

Are you looking for a way to add some life and creativity to your weekends? Indoor gardening can not only provide you with a fun hobby but a way for...

Houseplants

7 Things You Need to Know about Dendrobium Orchids

Dendrobium orchids are a true sight to behold, with their delicate petals and striking hues. These tropical flowers seem to fit gracefully into any space, their ethereal beauty captivating all...

Houseplants

Our Top 5 Spooky Succulents & Cacti of the Season

Mums, pansies, and pumpkins line the doorways of homes all across Hampton Roads, especially for this upcoming weekend of tricks and treats....

Houseplants

Solutions for the Top 5 Most Common Houseplant Pests

Part of loving and caring for our houseplants is also keeping an eye out for things that may hurt them. Pests are a part of life, but there are a...

Houseplants

Catch the Wave on this New and Unique Succulent, String of Dolphins

There’s a new succulent on the scene , String of Dolphins. This playful, succulent variety, otherwise known as Flying Dolphins, the Dolphin Necklace, or by its scientific name Senecio Peregrinus,...

Houseplants

Our New Favorite Houseplant: Anthuriums

Anthirium Anthirium A houseplant that has the potential to bloom year round is hard to come by. Luckily, we have the solution: anthuriums....

Edible

Berrylicious Blueberry Crumb Cake

Berrylicious Blueberry Crumb Cake July is National th Berrylicious Blueberry Crumb Cake Fresh from the Oven Blueberry Crumb Cake by Chef Menu McDonald Garden Center, Family Grown, Hand Picked Blueberries...

Edible

Plant of the Week: Rosemary Topiaries & Cones

Add festive cheer and fragrance to your Christmas this year with rosemary topiaries and cones. Rosemary, perennial herb with fragrant, needle like leaves in silvery gray green, is a holiday...

Edible

Your Berry Best Yard

Make your yard its berry best for holiday cheer. by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia Nothing says “happy holiday” like clusters...

Edible

Plant of the Week: Better Boy Tomatoes

Did you know that a Better Boy tomato plant once yielded more than 340 pounds of fruit, earning it a Guinness World Record?...

Edible

Plant of the Week: Strawberry Eclair

Get your taste buds ready for our newest berry on the block... This new gourmet strawberry boasts a unique taste with a hint of citrus and raspberry flavor to it....

Edible

Growing Citrus in Containers

Try your hand at growing citrus in containers. We're sure you'll find it fun and rewarding... and of course, you'll definitely enjoy the fruits of your labor when those tasty...

Gardening Care

Learning About Lawn Solutions

Giving your lawn the TLC it needs doesn’t have to be a hassle. Prepping your lawn for fall can be simple, as long as you have the right tools for...

Gardening Care

5 Best Mulching Practices for Spring

One of the most important aspects of spring that is often overlooked is mulch! Keeping your garden beds mulched not only looks good but helps your plants and trees from...

Gardening Care

Fescue – The Grass of Fall

As we approach the end of the summer season, the heat makes us forget the cool weather to come. Along with the mums, ornamental peppers, pumpkins, and so much more...

Gardening Care

Top 10 Watering Tips for the Summer

Summertime is the highlight of the year for bursting blooms and new growth in your garden. During these especially ths, watering becomes the most essential element to keeping your plants...

Gardening Care

Watering Tips During Drought Conditions

We've been lucky to have such amazing, sunny weather here recently, but our plants haven't been getting much rainwater. This recent dry spell in addition to the periods of heavy...

Gardening Care

How to Feed Plants in the Landscape

How to Feed the Plants in the Landscape McDonald Green Leaf, Traditional and Organic All plants require specific nutrients from the soil....

Seasons

Fraser Fir, the Tried & True Christmas Tree

Fresh Cut Fraser Fir Fraser Firs Fresh off the Truck Beautiful Blue Green Needles with Great Needle Retention 'The Christmas tree is a symbol of love, ey....

Seasons

The Holiday Lookbook for 2019 is Here!

The McDonald Christmas Shoppe Gingerbread Houses Ornaments in all shapes, sizes and styles Baby it's Cold Outside Theme McDonald Gift Cards Perfect for the gardener who has everything!...

Seasons

What to Sow and Grow in May

Zinnias Beans Cilantro Butterfly Weed (Asclepias Tuberosa) Basil Marigolds Starting plants from seed is one of the most exciting and rewarding gardening activities, and careful plant selection allows gardeners to...

Seasons

Dress Up Your Holiday Table

Dress up your holiday table with a centerpiece using everyday houseplants. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and you may be looking for ways to dress up the table....

Seasons

Beauty in Small Spaces with the October Magic Bride Camellia

October Magic Bride Camellia October Magic Inspiration Camellia Want elegant, full blooms but don’t have a lot of room left in your landscape?...

Seasons

Holiday Lookbook 2016

Step into a magical Christmas wonderland at the McDonald Christmas Shoppe, where every corner is packed with new treasures and collectible wonders....

Outdoor

Landscape Blog Series: Winter Birding

The McDonald Garden Center Landscape Design and Installation division is one of the cornerstones of our organization. Landscapes are a way for gardeners to express themselves, and their space, while...

Outdoor

The Most Haunted Porch on the Block

It’s finally here...the spookiest time of the year! Halloween is almost upon us and it is time to prepare for all the little ghouls and goblins that come to your...

Outdoor

Ticks in the Landscape

Ticks in the Landscape Jonathan Green Organic Insect Granules Cedar Mulch Fertilome Bug Blaster Granules or liquid spray Hi Yield Turf Ranger Insect Granules Fertilome Broad Spectrum Insect Spray Summertime...

Outdoor

Landscaping by the Locals

The design of your landscape is just as important as the architecture of your home. Our landscape team will work with you to develop a vision that blends your aesthetic...

Outdoor

The Winter Landscape

CELEBRATE A NEW SEASON WITH WINTER FAVORITES. While the days may be shorter and colder, that doesn't have to mean the end of a beautiful landscape....

Outdoor

The Benefits of Landscaping

Any way you slice it there are many benefits to landscaping and plants. The design of your landscape is just as important as the architecture of your home and landscaping...

Wildlife

ALL THAT FLUTTERS…THE TALE OF CHUNK THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Chunk is FINALLY arch Butterfly!...

Wildlife

The Pollinator Garden

Help Mother Nature open up pollinator hotel in your yard. by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia My backyard perennial garden is...

Wildlife

The Tweet on Birds

Winter is for the birds... Now's the best time to sit back and enjoy the birds. Here's some fun bird facts and answers to all your burning bird questions: How...

Wildlife

It’s National Pollinator Week

Pollinators positively effect all our lives let's SAVE them and CELEBRATE them. How do pollinators affect your life? Well, if you’ve ever eaten a blueberry, chocolate bar or tomato, then...

Wildlife

Plants that Attract Beneficial Insects

Beneficial insects are good bugs that means they eat bad bugs like aphids, thrips and spider mites that feed on your plants or they provide a benefit to the plants....

Wildlife

How to: Butterfly Gardening

PLANT A BUTTERFLY GARDEN You can easily enjoy the graceful beauty of butterflies in your garden year after year with the proper selection of their favorite plants....

GET THIS LOOK!

DO IT YOURSELF CHRISTMAS CONTAINER Creating an outdoor arrangement of fresh greens in an urn or other container is a wonderful way to add holiday cheer and life to your...

GET THIS LOOK!

DO IT YOURSELF BOXWOOD WREATH Give your front door a makeover this season with this Christmas door decorating idea. Simple and festive, wreaths are the perfect way to welcome holiday...

Get This Look!

DO IT YOURSELF HOLIDAY WREATH Give your entryway a makeover this season with these Christmas door decorating ideas. Festive and colorful, wreaths are the perfect way to welcome holiday guests...

Get This Look!

DO IT YOURSELF NATURE PUMPKINS Adorn your pumpkins with a little bit of nature. Take a walk outside and find autumn inspiration nearly everywhere....

Get This Look!

DO IT YOURSELF PUMPKIN FLOWER ARRANGEMENT Who would have guessed it? The pumpkin shell isn’t just for peter, peter pumpkin eaters’ wife....

Decorating You’ll Fall For

EASY FALL CURB APPEAL We LOVE fall and everything that comes with it! Apple picking, pumpkin patches, outdoor gatherings with family ends, cooler temps, and of course… decorating!...

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for.

Laxmi Jayaraj (Lux)

Jul 2025

McDonald Garden Center feels like a second home. Plants are always healthy and well cared for. Staff are warm, patient, and generous with their wisdom.

K. F.

Feb 2025

Had a great time at Plantopia HousePlant Adoption Day. Plants are top notch, great selection. Staff are awesome, friendly and knowledgeable, and give great tips.

John Vaquerano

Jan 2023

Marissa and Erin treated us like long lost nursery mates. I got great advice, and will definitely be back. I highly recommend this place.

Elizabeth Cannon

Jun 2025

Associate helped me pick the right planter, fertilized him, and topped with decorative rocks. All for an incredibly reasonable price and caring smiles.

Sebastian Mot

Jan 2020

This place is MASSIVE and has anything you could ever want. The succulent selection is huge, and the staff is very helpful.

Joyce Drakeford

Jan 2019

So knowledgeable. Friendly service each and every time. Find the perfect plant for every spot in your yard. Been a customer for years.