A gardener questions that his hydrangeas are not flowering this year, and perhaps they never will again. Possibly, they’re dying, he thinks. But, of course, the hydrangeas are fine, and only delayed a bit because they were nipped by April freezes, then constant rain and cloudy skies have slowed regrowth. Perhaps the problem is not…
Month: May 2016
A preference for informality
Only a single plant in this garden is regularly sheared to keep its shape, and this is by necessity, not for aesthetic purposes. For reasons that are unclear after many years, a spiral pruned Common box (Buxus sempervirens) was once planted beside the bluestone path that leads from the driveway to the deck in back…
The spring garden tour
Collector’s gardens are frowned upon by designers, most likely because the parts are of greater importance than the sum, and that is true to some degree in this garden. Sacrifices, most very minor (I think), have been made to cram in another Japanese maple, or any of a dozen (or more) other small collections. Hopefully,…
Transplants, seedlings, and sporophytes
For the penurious gardener, there is joy in discovering seedlings of treasured plants, and a double measure when seedlings are found in just the right spot so they can be left to grow, undisturbed. In this garden there are many dozens, possibly hundreds of hellebore seedlings. Handfuls have been transplanted around, though only so many…
The same, but different
A lack of space has dictated that no significant changes have been made to the garden in recent years. While hardly noticeable, dozens of low growing perennials have been planted to cover open ground beneath trees and shrubs to help prevent weeds that require too much time to keep up with. This has been moderately…
Two weeks of rain
After two weeks of rain there is no part of the garden that isn’t saturated. Even the dry shade of the side garden is soggy, though this will dry quickly once the rain stops. I presume it will. Other areas of the garden will not dry for weeks, and it’s likely that ankle deep mud…
Close enough to perfection
There is a day, and if the gardener is fortunate enough, a week when the garden nears perfection, at least to the gardener’s mind. This does not imply that there is not a weed, or that pruning of the nandinas cannot wait another day or the paths will become impassable. That is an impossible standard…
Almost complete recovery
Though several Japanese maples continue to show minor damage from the ill timed April freezes (below), questions about their long term health have been answered. Most have fully recovered. Leaves that hang limply on damaged maples will soon become brown and fall off without any action taken by the gardener, and there seems little doubt…
Not a crazed fanatic
I am not quite certain of the appropriate description for my plant collecting. While I might be fanatical, or obsessed, I’m not so far gone that I will pay any price for a favored plant. I’m not a patient person, but neither do I waste money foolishly, though some, mostly my wife, might argue otherwise…
A succession of dogwood blooms
Finally, flowers of our native dogwoods (Cornus florida, below) are fading as new leaves emerge. This end date of early May is very typical, but the start date for flowering was pushed forward by a week (or ten days) with the warm temperatures of March. The coolness of early April, and two late freezes did no…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 