Be warned. Tread carefully while walking through this garden. One eye must be attentive to stepping stones that wobble, unbalanced on tree roots, to avoid a nasty tumble. While the other eye might roam to enjoy the garden, beware that every step might end the life of one of dozens, perhaps hundreds of frogs that…

In August’s heat, leaves of serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) begin to fall without coloring. The tree doesn’t go bare, but the canopy is substantially reduced. The purple leafed European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropurpurea’) often drops a thick carpet of leaves upon the stone path in late summer, which quickly turn to brown, though this year there…

Yes, it’s hot out there. Parts of the garden show the stress of summer heat, and I curse my words from a few months ago pleading for a period without rain. Now, scattered afternoon showers disappear or veer at the last moment to avoid the garden. But, while a few spots show the wear of…

Seedlings of the ‘Miyazaki’ toad lilies (Tricyrtis hirta ‘Miyazaki’) are numerous on the slightly humped bed just below the driveway. Several have been left to grow on, while dozens are weeded out each year. While ‘Miyazaki’ grows vigorously, as do most toad lilies in nearly full sun, its foliage is prone to scorching, in particular…

I must plant another passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata). I see others that ramble luxuriously, which mine once did, but in recent years it appears reluctantly only in late July, and of course this is too late for it to amount to much. Often, I find it difficult to diagnose reasons that a long established plant…

I am undecided how to start with a ‘Brigg’s Moonlight’ daphne delivered in this first week of August. I am delighted that the daphne and assorted others in three and four inch pots survived their cross country journey in summer heat with no apparent trauma. This delivery was six weeks earlier than intended, a glitch…

Admittedly, stone paths that wind through the garden are shabby, due somewhat to poor construction, but in other parts shallow roots have displaced stones that now wobble if stepped on without proper attention. The faulty construction is no fault but my own, as paths were laid only to avoid dragging soil into the house, of…

For better, or perhaps the worse if you are to take the word of my wife, my attentions are occupied by planting, and thereafter, by leaving the garden to grow as it pleases. Certainly, weeding must be done on occasion, but every other task, fertilizing, mulching, pruning, is done at the bare minimum, or not…

This section of the Appalachian Trail is narrow, with seedheads of the native carex (Carex pensylvanica) brushing the hikers’ legs. Arching just above, ferns mingle with wood asters (below), beginning their autumn floral display in early August. Flower buds of the common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana, below) are evident at higher elevations, and several display…

The turn of the calendar to August, and flowering of Gordlinia (x Gordlinia grandliflora) remind me of the slow demise of the Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha) that was planted by the garden’s shed on the lower end of the koi pond. Though the cause of death cannot be determined with assurance, I suspect that a…

Yes, I’ve begged for an end to our fourteen month spell of incessant rainfall, and here it is. Predictably, I’m not so happy now that the ground is parched, but showers are in the forecast, so perhaps this dryness will not persist long enough to cry “drought”. Parts of the garden are dragging in this…