The garden does not always go as planned. Each year there will be disappointments, or worse. One thing or another will fail to flower, or to survive, and in this one acre garden there are likely to be more than a few things that don’t go as expected. There’s always next year. Despite a late…
Month: October 2016
Another close call
I should have given greater consideration to the proximity of the towering swamp maples and tulip poplars to the house (and less to its suitability for a garden) when this lot was selected twenty-eight years ago. Shade from the forest that borders the southeastern property line was desirable, while the remainder of the property was…
Finally ripe
On Saturday, the number of cardinals harvesting berries from the dogwood (Cornus florida, below) makes clear that the red berries are finally ripe. On this breezy afternoon branches sway and shake with birds swooping in for a meal, then moving on to the safety of taller, neighboring trees. By Sunday morning, berries are gone, and…
At it again
Unsurprisingly, I’m at it again. Planting, though if you take the word of my wife the garden’s been full for years, and another plant could not possibly be wedged in. Which is, of course, nonsense. Certainly, she understands the futility of putting a halt to new planting, and now she just groans when she spots…
A temporary reprieve
Summer-like temperatures forecast for the middle of October offer a temporary reprieve for flowers threatened by the first frost. A week ago, this killing cold seemed imminent, with overnight lows dipping into the thirties. But, with great relief, the critical degree or two colder was not reached, and now there will be toad lilies and…
Glorybower
By far, Rose glorybower (Clerodendrun bungei) is not a favorite in this garden, though its October flowers are quite nice and it has proved to be indestructible in a bit of a difficult spot. This glorybower spreads by rhizomes, with occasional stems appearing eight or ten feet away, and several popping up in the lawn….
The cool nights of mid October
Mounds of brown leaves of the purple leafed European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropunicea’) cover the stone path, an early and mostly unwelcome sign that autumn has arrived and frost is near. Recent rainfall has ended the late summer drought, and after weeks of ninety degree temperatures, I can hardly complain about the cool and breezy days…
A bumper crop of dogwood berries
I’m thinking that berries on the dogwood (Cornus florida) in the front garden are more abundant than usual, though I am unreliable on matters of recollection, and perhaps this is nothing out of the ordinary. In any case, I will presume that I am correct, reasoning that bees were particularly active in pollinating in the…
A favorite October bloom
Several seedlings of toad lily (Tricyrtis) have reached flowering age without notable differences between seedlings and parents. With a dozen or more cultivars in the garden, opportunities for cross pollination are present, but if there are variations from parent plants the differences are slight on second year plants. Flower buds on seedlings of ‘Miyazaki’ (below) stand slightly…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 