On occasion a small plant will be ripped from the ground, usually (I suspect) by hungry deer. A few years ago I found a newly planted rhubarb several paces from where it had been planted with leaves and stems chewed down to the roots. The following year another newly planted rhubarb was uprooted, never to…
Month: July 2012
Home sweet home
I’m overjoyed to be home again. I’ve just returned from two weeks on the road visiting nurseries, a three thousand mile trek looking at plants that sounds like bunches of fun, but after thirty some years on the road the thrill is gone, long gone. Seeing old friends and discovering new plants is never tiresome,…
Yes, there are butterflies
I’ve recently commented on the lack of butterflies in the garden this summer. But, like many of my most astute observations, as soon as I pronounce my conclusions I’m quickly proven incorrect. This bothers me only slightly. Gardeners are accustomed to being wrong, though it’s helpful that natural forces beyond my control are most often…
Groundhogs and snakes, oh my!
There’s a new groundhog in the neighborhood. Well, not just in the neighborhood, but under my garden shed. Another groundhog lived under the shed until last year, then he mysteriously disappeared after the snowy winter. Perhaps he had grown too fat and lazy, living in the relative luxury of this garden with ample water, food,…
Almost back
Over two winters the three Southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora, below in bloom) in the garden were beaten and battered by snow. The main trunk of ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ was broken once in the heavy snow of 2010, and more damage was inflicted in the wet snow a year later. While the trunk of ‘Greenback’ was…
Enthusiastic, not invasive
The past few weeks have been hot, real hot! In only a few weeks lawn grasses turned from lush green to straw colored, and the deep greens of the garden faded a few shades. Some plants pay no attention, and even thrive in the heat. Plume poppy (Macleaya cordata, above) grows exuberantly to fill whatever space…
Buttonbush
There are few woody plants that prefer constantly damp soils, and fewer that thrive in standing water. A year ago I was marginally aware of the native buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), but took more notice with a swarm of bees and butterflies buzzing about a small patch of glossy leafed shrubs with odd, pin cushion-like blooms…
Enjoy the blooms
Over the past few weeks I’ve spent far more time in the garden tearing things up rather than enjoying, and its become wearisome. First, a grove of bamboo that had been a nuisance for the past decade was removed, then two dead hornbeams and a damaged spruce were cut down. When this was finished and…
Goodbye bamboo!
The bamboo is gone! My wife and I chopped it to the ground last weekend, her using loppers and me with the chainsaw. The chainsaw does the job much more quickly, but the bamboo frequently grabs the blade and pulls it loose from the bar, so while I’m fiddling with the saw my wife was…
Gone in a moment
The storm rumbled over the Blue Ridge directly from the west so that winds swept over the nearby foothills and across the open lawns of neighboring homes. Few trees obstructed to slow the wind’s approach, so the first gusts crashed into the garden and the sliver of forest that borders the southeastern property line. In…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 