Carolina Silverbell (Halesia caroliniana, below) is native to much of the American southeast, though not to Virginia, so it can not correctly be called a native in my garden. No matter, I have trees from across the globe, and none lovelier in bloom than the silverbell. Unfortunately, the dangling blooms have a tissue papery substance,…
Month: April 2013
Catching up
In the spring there are so many blooms and so few hours to jot down the mindless drivel that fills these pages. So, today there will be more photos, and less babbling. No purpose is served by me having these pictures stored on my computer and not sharing them. We’ll start with photos from a…
No sense
Fortunately, I still have a sense of humor, but I’m afraid even it’s fading fast. My common sense is debatable, and I’m so color blind I can hardly tell green from brown. My wife tells me I’m nearly stone deaf, and I can barely smell the most fragrant of flowers in the garden. This is…
Upset by the cold spring
After a cold early spring, typically gentle bumblebees are unusually irritable and aggressive when I poke my nose into their business. I’m not a complete idiot, and not unsympathetic to their business of collecting nectar. So, I back off until they are a bit calmer, then dive in again. Photographs must be taken, even at…
More April blooms
In mid April pink and white blooms peek out from the forest that borders the highway. Though my morning drive to the office is in darkness, the evening commute is more cheerful with these ornaments as I head back into the country. I’m disappointed when the blooms fade to lush green foliage in May. The…
A new flower every day
After weeks of cool temperatures the weather suddenly turned past warm to hot, and even if this was only for a few days the soaring temperatures have had an immediate effect on the garden. Blooms that were delayed for weeks have popped out in quick succession, and each day brings new flowers. In fact, due…
Spreading joy
I was surprised this afternoon to see that tiny Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa luciliae, below) has spread from a handful of bulbs to scattered coverage over several hundred square feet. I recall that a year ago I marveled that it had spread to a dense carpet covering fifteen square feet, but now there are…
A flowering tree?
My nose itches. My eyes water. The maples must be in bloom. This is not some exotic variety, but the native Swamp or Red maple (Acer rubrum, below). They’re everywhere, and there are a good number in the narrow swath of forest that runs along the southern border of my garden. The shallow roots make…
It’s finally (almost, just about) spring – what’s next?
After a few false alarms there is now some clear progress in temperatures warming to more typical spring weather. Night time temperatures continued to drop into the twenties late into last week, but there were a few daytime highs in the sixties, and now the forecast is for highs in the seventies. With a late…
Skunk cabbage
I’m certain that more manicured gardens than mine do not experience the pleasure of having skunk cabbages (Symplocarpus foetidus) growing in their damp shade. Many parts of my garden are dry shade where planting is a struggle, but midway along the rear garden’s border is an area where a trickle of a spring surfaces. Here, native…
Catching up on spring gardening chores ….
….. And stopping for a few moments to smell the daphnes (Daphne odora ‘Aureo-marginata’, below). I don’t need to tell anyone that the weather has been most inhospitable for most of March, so I’ve fallen behind in taking care of the garden’s spring cleanup. In most years I’m finished (or nearly so) by the start…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 