In past years ‘Royal Star’ (Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’) and ‘Dr. Merrill’ (Magnolia x loebneri ‘Dr. Merrill’) magnolias have flowered in early March in my garden, or sometimes nearer the end of the month. And, occasionally the blooms will arrive in late February or slip to early April, so there’s no early or late flowering…
Month: March 2013
I’m moving to South Carolina
A year ago I noted that the mild winter temperatures were more akin to South Carolina than to northwestern Virginia. I’m not at all certain that this was a result of the warming of the planet (that seems inevitable), or an anomaly, but I was all for it in the short term. If this matter were…
Unusual and uncommon March blooms
For the first time since I planted the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica, sometimes referred to as Persian witch hazel, below) I’ve seen its unusual blooms. Parrotia is in the witch hazel family (Hamamelis), and the flowers are somewhat similar to other witch hazels. This tree was a late addition to the garden, planted long after…
So, this is the first day of spring?
Today is spring? I’m not impressed. There should be no surprise that the weather on the first day of spring is not much different from the preceding three weeks, and much the same or worse is forecast for the next ten days. It’s not exactly cold, but this doesn’t feel like March, or spring. It’s…
Mid March
Despite cool temperatures, March is dragging the garden (kicking and screaming against its will, it seems) into spring. On Saturdays’s gray morning I was convinced on first glance that the day was too inhospitable to undertake the garden chores that surely must be accomplished within the next few weeks or disaster will strike. Rain seemed…
Gun control
On several occasions my wife has been angry enough to declare that she is ready to purchase a gun and put it to good use. Not that I’ve done anything to deserve being shot, but it makes sense to me that a husband should not be in favor of arming his wife. There are too…
Almost spring
Prompt action in the early morning prevented all but minor damage to Japanese maples and evergreens that were bent from the heavy, wet snow a few days ago. Of course, I happily crow my successes (few as they are), and remain largely silent when schemes go awry. The garden has suffered considerably from heavy snow in…
Today, heavy snow and the garden
Long before daylight this morning several inches of snow had fallen, and the worst of the storm is still to come. When I first went outside in the dark I was alerted to the problems ahead. Limbs of the wide spreading ‘Seriyu’ Japanese maple planted just off the corner of the garage were weighed down…
No doubt, it will get warmer
There will be warmer days. Soon, I hope. After considerable consternation in recent years (and earlier this winter) about the warming of the planet, the past few weeks have been cold, just when there was hope that spring was around the corner. With witch hazels and hellebores in full bloom a week into February, there…
Right plant, right place …sometimes
Too many times through the years I’ve been guilty of squeezing a plant into a space that is too small for its eventual growth. Fortunately, or not, the cause is not ignorance of the mature size, but over exuberance in attempting to shoehorn too many treasures into too small an area. In fact, the garden…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 