There are several small patios scattered about the rear garden, each with a chair or bench, and since gatherings are rare (despite my wife’s wishes) there is no need for larger areas or more seating. The number of patios is a convenience to sit to rest without going too far, but also to enjoy the…

Last year, a ‘Little Honey’ Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Little Honey’, below) was moved from a spot where the yellow leaves were often damaged in too much sun, to the shadier far side of the garden that borders a forest of tall maples and tulip poplars. I didn’t like ‘Little Honey’ much in the sun,…

My age is showing, I’m certain, when I say that a significant amount of my time is spent at the kitchen table (a new one, thanks to the pandemic) reading the newspaper (a sure sign of an old timer, it seems), or looking out into the garden. I will readily admit that my reading time…

Another big project is on the horizon, probably for this weekend. Once I’m motivated, there’s little to stop me, even my wife’s insistence, and though it pains me to give in, this is a project my wife has long suggested so there will be no resistance on her part. I might even earn a few…

I did not intend to accumulate the numbers of hydrangeas (or azaleas) in the garden today, but trialing one, then another became a small, but favored collection that belies my stated preference for treasures less common. Yes, the lovely blooms in June come shortly after the garden’s peak, so a void is filled. My son,…

By late spring a year ago I noticed handfuls of big leafed seedlings scattered through the garden. The thought occurred that these looked much like a calla lily (and not the caustic Giant hogweed that was a popular topic at the time). I was reminded since a neglected, nearly forgotten, somewhat cold hardy calla (rated…

Amongst a number of spring plantings, mostly singles plugged into whatever small gaps remain in this thirty-one year old garden, there are two areas with more extensive new plantings. One is the partially shaded area where a large, failing Alaskan cedar was removed in late winter. A slightly larger area borders the small, newly constructed…

The lower half of the rear garden remains a disappointment. Someday, though not soon, it will return to its previous glory, or some approximation of it, I’m certain. The culprit responsible for the area’s decline was a doubling of our yearly rainfall a few years ago. The lower half of the garden is indeed also…

Despite pleadings by my wife, who despises any plant with needles or spines, two Monkey Puzzles (Araucaria araucana, below) were planted earlier in the spring. Money puzzles have no thorns, but the stiff, scale-like leaves end in extremely sharp tips. It is a dangerous tree if not handled carefully. Both trees are planted well off…

Thankfully, the Bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla, below) is recovering from an ill timed freeze that hit just as emerging leaves were most tender. While scattered branches of the large tree were spared, most leaves were damaged, and since a freeze and damage this late in the spring is so rare I was at least slightly…

The garden would be a happier place if not for swamp maples (Acer rubrum) that hover over its margins. No, the shade is not distressing, it is the many thousands of seedlings that are the annoyance. I do not fret over the scattered seedlings of tulip poplars and blackgums that occasionally must be plucked, and…