Karen Fox has worked at Wharton’s Garden Center (off Old Landing Road on the Route 1 corridor in Rehoboth Beach) for 8 years and is affectionately known as the unofficial Plant Guru. A southern Delaware resident for 25 years, she’s a lifelong nature lover and a certified Nursery Professional – a title earned through weeks of coursework and a tough, multi-hour exam covering everything from plant ID to pest control.
She’s usually on-site Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., ready to answer questions about veggies, flowers, native plants, and everything in between. “People are much more interested in native plants and sustainability,” she says. “They don’t need as much water or care.” Karen is also passionate about pollinators: “One bee can pollinate 5,000 plants in a day – a whole colony, up to 300,000.” Look for bee, butterfly, or deer icons on plant labels to see how each one supports the local ecosystem.
She also teaches private classes (details on Wharton’s social media), including how to create four-season containers. “It’s four seasons of color in one pot – so it’s always blooming,” she says. “It’s not just beautiful. For businesses, it draws customers and shows you’re open year-round.”
We asked Karen for some beginner-friendly, local favorites:
Landscape: Start with an evergreen foundation – boxwood, hawthorn, or Japanese holly
Color: Try hydrangeas – macrophylla for shade, panicle for sun
Perennials: Fill in with daylilies, catnips, and Russian sage – all hardy in the summer heat
and humidity.
CRUSH QUESTIONS:
Q: What is your favorite part about living in Coastal Delaware?
Karen: “I feel so lucky to live by the ocean and I try to never take that for granted. I love early mornings on the boardwalk and views from across the Indian River Inlet Bridge.”
Q: Tell us something about yourself we wouldn’t otherwise know?
Karen: “I’ve been married 41 years,” she says (the secret is lots of honest talks). “And I’m a cancer survivor. I took one year off for treatment and now I’m in remission – back and thriving,” she says with a smile.
Q: By definition, a crush is a brief infatuation with something … what are you currently crushing on?
Karen: “The arts!” she says without hesitation. “We have so much good music in our area – Freeman Stage, Cape May–Lewes Ferry has great concerts, and we just saw the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra at Cape Henlopen High School.”
