The neighborhood deer were unusually active in the garden in early autumn. Leathery leaves of oakleaf hydrangeas and foliage of perennials that persisted late into the season were munched on, and deer resistant evergreens that require a protective spray only in early December were damaged. I haven’t a clue why. In recent years I’ve become…

The late autumn blooming camellias appear to be finished for the season, except for ‘Winter’s Interlude’ that has dozens of fat buds, but hasn’t flowered in any of the past several years. I am probably imagining that the buds are showing a hint of color, as if ready to open on the next warm afternoon,…

“Do you know what my tree is? It’s tall, with leaves shaped like fingers, except the ends are all pointy-like”. I’ve heard this a hundred times with some slight variations, and most often the description leaves me without a clue. I don’t fault the questioner, I can barely describe how to get to my own…

Occasionally, I consider that one plant or another might be my particular favorite, and then another pops into bloom and …. well, you can see where this is going. I’m fairly certain that it’s unrealistic for most gardeners to pick one favorite plant, and depending on the time of the year I have a handful,…

With several unseasonably warm January days it is not unusual for forsythias to burst into bloom, and occasionally a stray daffodil or two will flower weeks early. There is little danger in the premature flowering, and in most cases the blooms are scattered and don’t take away from the  usual display a month later. In…

In my enthusiasm showing off the red berried hollies last week I failed to mention the shiniest, reddest, and most abundant berries in the garden. One of my favorite plants is the common, but beautiful, nandina (Nandina domestica), sometimes called heavenly bamboo for its bamboo-like stems and foliage. I have planted several handfuls of nandina…

The hollies are appropriately adorned for the season with shiny red ornaments. There are at least ten, and probably closer to twenty varieties of upright growing hollies in the garden, and in early December many are loaded with red berries, more than I can recall in twenty-two years in this garden. I’m certain that there…