The winterberry hollies (Ilex verticillata ‘Sparkleberry’, above) have been stripped bare. The shrubs are situated along the driveway so that they cannot be seen in the usual course of a day, so it’s not possible to know if the birds made off with the last of the berries a day, or a month ago. Of…
Month: December 2013
Koi on a warm winter afternoon.
Last week the edges of the large koi pond were frozen, the result of prolonged cold. There is no harm that comes from this, even if the pump is turned off and the pond’s surface freezes over. On smaller ponds water must be kept moving, or a hole kept open for harmful gasses resulting from…
The promise of spring
Despite bouts with ice, snow, and several nights when temperatures dipped far into the teens, ‘Winter Sun’ mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’, above) continues to flower into late December. In recent years the blooms have persisted into January, and there’s no reason to expect anything different this year. On close inspection a hint of…
The winter’s worklist
Sleep, sleep, and cut back foliage on the hellebores. That’s it, that’s all I plan to accomplish between now and spring. Perhaps I’ll manage to work in a bit of time to continue to cut up the trunk of the tall maple that toppled over into the garden in last week’s ice storm. The top…
A blessing or a curse?
For the better or the worse, the garden changes. Plants grow (if the gardener is so fortunate not to kill everything), but in time this can present problems as trees shade smaller shrubs and perennials. While Japanese maples and dogwoods grow vigorously, a tickseed or sedum will invariably require transplanting to a sunnier location, and…
A maple and the ice storm
There are undeniable benefits to living at the forest’s edge, but today I’m not so enthused about living in close proximity to towering swamp red maples and tulip poplars. A portion of the garden is tucked beneath the shade of these tall trees, and after last night’s ice storm the ground is littered with branches….
A foul forecast
With cool temperatures through much of the autumn, alarmists warn of an impending cold winter, and I’ll admit that I’m at least a bit concerned that this forecast could occur. There is no doubt that winter temperatures have warmed over the past several decades, and now my garden is chock full of treasures that would…
A bittersweet ending
It appears that my quest to rid the garden of the invasive Oriental bittersweet vine (Celastrus orbiculatus, below) has been successful, and without any of the ensuing complications that I feared. A year ago, the thick vine climbed far up into a mulberry that arched over the garden from a neighboring thicket of brambles and willows….
Berry nice
None of the four variegated English hollies (Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’, below) in the garden has any berries at all. They never have. No doubt, this is a result of not having a male pollinator handy at the appropriate time, so I must be satisfied only by the handsome foliage. It seems a small investment in…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 