Leaves have fallen, flowers faded, and now the gardener will reflect on the year past, and consider the year to come. Each year brings shares of joy and disaster to the garden in unequal measure, and again I am pleased that the balance decidedly favors the positive. Perhaps there has been a year or two…
Month: December 2016
A very average early winter
Some discussion over the holiday recollected that a year ago Christmas was seventy degrees. Though I don’t recall the specifics, much of that early winter was warm so that hellebores were flowering before the new year. While this season has not been so mild, temperatures have not been particularly cold except a few nights that…
The garden’s paths
Over the better part of three decades, a hodgepodge of stone paths has been constructed to wind through the garden. In some instances, paths preceded the planting of the garden, which was then planted after ready access was available. None of the paths is artfully constructed, and even the more formal path to the front…
Winter, and my dull prose
I regret that too often my dull prose does not adequately depict the beauty I see in the garden. I suspect that I am too literal, and certainly not inclined to romantic descriptions. Even as the eye witnesses extraordinary beauty, I am incapable of finding the proper words to express this. (Photos, I hope, minimize…
Tree surgery
Several weeks ago, a long limb from the nearest maple in the forest to the house crashed to the ground on a windy afternoon. This was a large branch that had formerly brushed the house in a breeze, but the arc of its fall took it further from the house. To my great relief, there…
Here today, gone tomorrow
Recent freezing temperatures have not been cold enough to disturb the exceptional late autumn floral display of camellias (below). That is about to change. Temperatures dropping into the low teens by the week’s end will certainly damage flowers of camellias and the scattered blooms remaining on ‘Eternal Fragrance’ daphnes (Daphne x transatlantica ‘Blafra’, below). With…
Perhaps enough
To hear my wife tell it, I am barely in control of my impulses when it comes to the garden. There was a time, not too many years ago, when she supposed that she had some influence, but I think this thought has been abandoned, and now she only hopes I will not make too…
Another leaf cleanup
In a burst of energy, leaves covering paths and patios were removed so holiday guests could wander the garden if weather permitted. The weather was splendid, and with the crowd inside I wished to get outdoors for more than a few moments to escape the heat of the kitchen, but duty prevailed. A week later,…
A berry shortage
Every day in the garden, there will be some matter of consequence, good or bad, and most hardly noticed. The observant gardener will note that, not only does he shiver in a mid April freeze, but this cold coincides precisely with hollies (Ilex) in flower. He stays indoors as much as he can get away…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 