I’ve little doubt that ‘February Gold’ daffodils (Narcissus ‘February Gold’, below) flower in February, somewhere, but rarely does this occur in my northwestern Virginia garden. Typically, this event is delayed until the first week of March, occasionally the second, and this year the first hint of the yellow flowers was the first day of spring. Peak…
Month: March 2014
Too much trouble?
In the recent online gardening newsletter of the University of Maryland Extension service a homeowner writes in, wanting to begin an edible garden, and inquiring if blueberries are a good starting point. The answer, intended as encouragement, is a detailed listing of the cultural requirements of blueberries, including sunlight exposure, pH and moisture requirements, and…
Much to do before I sleep
With the delayed arrival of spring temperatures, routine chores required to tidy up the garden are off to a slow start. I’ve made little progress with only one warm weekend day earlier in the month, but no further delays are acceptable, no matter how cold. At the least, the dead tops of perennials and grasses…
Sneaking into spring
After several warm days, a few blooms of hellebores (Helleborus spp., above and below) have opened, just in time to be buried again by eight inches of snow. Of course, in March it is assured that snow will not last long, so I expect that many of the hellebores will reach peak bloom by the…
Lost blooms
Most often, Leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei, above) flowers dependably late winter into early spring along with witch hazels and hellebores. The late winter bloomers provide a welcome measure of relief to impatient gardeners yearning for spring. In recent warm winters, leatherleaf mahonia occasionally bloomed into January, and despite consistently cold temperatures this winter the flower buds…
A pussy willow for every swamp
The variegated pussy willow (Salix gracilistyla ‘Variegata’, above) sprawls about the rear property line with an open habit and a tangled mass of branches. One look will dissuade a gardener from believing this wide spreading shrub is appropriate for any place other than the far reaches of the garden, and more preferably onto someone else’s property. A…
Bloodied, but not beaten
With warmer temperatures after a winter that has been too long and too cold, I’ve finally begun to remove remnants of the large maple that toppled over in December’s ice storm. The top branches that crushed an old ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud were removed within a few days of the storm, but the shattered trunk arched…
Flowers in the snow
More than a few times this winter, enthusiasm has been quashed by another spell of extreme cold or more inches of snow. As soon as buds of hellebores show signs that flowering is imminent, they are buried for another week under six inches of snow. Finally, ‘Diane’ (above) and ‘Jelena’ (below) witch hazels (Hamamelis x…
The winter of our discontent
At long last, this wearying winter is nearing its end, but not before leaving a trail of broken limbs and browned foliage. Ice and heavy snow (and snow again) have snapped branches and even entire trees, but as late winter creeps into spring the pressing issue is figuring what is alive from branches or entire…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 