Though my wife is certain to disagree, it is clear to me that my excellent behavior over the past year has been rewarded by the disappearance of nutgrass that had widely invaded the small area of lawn at the damp, lower end of the rear garden (below).  No doubt, weeds in the garden will now…

A few days ago, two orders of native orchids arrived. I had only a very general idea where all would be planted, but with plants in hand decisions were made quickly to get them in the ground that evening before dark. Upon review a day later, I believe all were located as ideally as possible,…

A variegated leaf beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Duet’, below) is planted where it is hardly seen without mucking through slop as a spring trickles through the rear garden. I have never been tempted to move it to a more prominent position. While there is nothing wrong with ‘Duet’, its berries are less abundant than other beautyberries…

Leaves of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, below) turn early in the season to a soft yellow, not the unremarkable yellow of maples and tulip poplars that whines that winter is approaching. But don’t blink, leaves of ginkgo are soon gone, sometimes within hours, so don’t miss a day or better luck next year. I rarely miss…

I profess no particular expertise or intimate knowledge to encourage spring and autumn flowering camellias, though I happily tout success with both with several growing to ten feet and taller with long periods of bloom. This is a small collection of no more than ten or twelve species and hybrids, but all seem quite happy,…

Autumn leaf color of ‘Wildfire’ blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wildfire’, below) is inferior to the native, but still the mottled coloring is glorious in mid-October as other trees in the garden just begin to show the earliest color changes. New leaves of ‘Wildfire’ are colorful through the spring and early summer, so while it falls short…

A ‘Silver Cloud’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Silver Cloud’, below) planted years ago leaned to the ground, creating an eyesore though it seemed to be in perfect health despite roots that were pulled far out of the soil. Unfortunately, it was cut to the roots earlier in the year. Despite ambitious, only partially fulfilled plans to…

Nope, too early for autumn leaves to show much color, but there’s plenty of color in the garden. Some flowers, some berries, and the seed capsules of the Korean Sweetheart tree (Euscaphis japonica). The tree grew considerably in autumn a year ago, and for whatever reason the leaves hung on far too long into early…

So many gardens are named, with signs prominent by the roadside. Some designations are historical, I presume, but others are gardener given. Some are humorous (Dave’s Folly), but most seem presumptuous to my thinking. This garden, at least, is not so grand as to warrant a title, though several come readily to mind. Most would…

Brilliant red berries of hollies are often taken for granted, in particular those on evergreens with a dense green backdrop that do not stand on bare stems through the early winter months (Ilex koehneana, below). My colorblindness lessens the contrasting reds and greens from a distance, and perhaps a recently acquired yellow berried holly will…