Leisure hours not spent in the garden often find my wife and I stumbling down nearby mountain trails (she walks gracefully, I stumble), with many trails selected for their botanical interest in addition to views of the valleys below. Several local treasures are hiked multiple times each year, and of course the glorious, native flora…

The weather rollercoaster is not unusual for spring, though a recent coating of snow is out of the ordinary for mid April. Periods of mild temperatures have been interrupted by scattered freezes, and it is fortunate none have dropped low enough to do much damage to emerging leaves. Yes, every new set of camellias flowers…

I am uncertain of the cultivar name of the red leafed Japanese maple that borders the driveway. Certainly, it is a dissectum type, and taking a guess from the time it was purchased thirty three years ago when there were many fewer varieties available, it is most likely ‘Crimson Queen’ or ‘Ever Red’ (Acer palmatum…

At best I’m neglectful of the two small remaining parcels of lawn. My preference would be to turn every inch of the property to garden, but that’s at least a bit impractical, and mostly my wife has forbidden another inch of grass be removed. Sometimes, I must cooperate. I don’t fertilize the lawn or garden,…

Again I am disappointed by the failure of another of the garden’s daphnes. Just when I think I’ve figured them out, wrong again, as a long established ‘Eternal Fragrance’ fades and finally is dug out and hauled to the compost heap. No doubt the garden evolves, shade and root competition increases, so what works one…

Flowers of ‘Jane’ magnolia (below) are disappointing, and the few buds on the recently planted ‘Yellow Bird’ were damaged by a freeze a week ago. I hoped that unopened flower buds would have adequate protection, but many were close enough to opening that they were damaged by a twenty-three degree (Fahrenheit) nighttime freeze. About half…

While a scattered few flowers must satisfy the gardener in the winter months, April is glorious in its abundance. With many dozens of hellebores in the garden the slowly fading flowers remain the most obvious presence in early spring, but other flowers are now too numerous to count. While hellebores (above) were late starting after…

More than once my wife has told me, “you don’t have to have one of every plant in the world”, and of course I agree. That’s a lot of plants, so how is it possible for me to disagree? However, and this a huge however, she wants fewer plants and I want more, even a…

The gardener’s inclination (at least mine) is to suspect that any plant is dead that has not woken from its winter slumber by the start of April. Surely, blight has vanquished the hostas, all hundred of them, he thinks, but then some sense creeps in to argue that these must only be late in waking….

There is little reason to fret over minor damage resulting from recent freezes. Yes, flowers of early magnolias and camellias were lost, but that happens most years and blooms were in full, magnificent display for nearly a week. So, why be bothered? Enjoy the garden today, and if one thing or the other goes awry,…