Every day, I’m reminded how fortunate I am to have stayed put for thirty-three years, with a garden now chock full of mature trees and shrubs. Still, I’m impatient with new plantings, and unfortunately, not attentive to the care required to nurture tiny perennials that are shoehorned into gaps. For once, I must agree with…

I understand that I am far too inattentive to regularly grow anything from seed or by rooted cuttings, so I am quite pleased by the success in growing blackberry lilies (Iris domestica, aka Belamcanda chinensis, below) from seed to today’s blooms. Dozens of seeds were collected from a variety of sources, and while I managed…

I was warned, but couldn’t resist planting Pinellia, a jack-in-the-pulpit cousin that is quite aggressive with numerous reports that it could not be controlled or eradicated. Call me stupid (others have), but I plunged forward. Now, I thank my good fortune that Pinellia has spread, but that I was lucky enough to plant it with…

Tomorrow I visit the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (Alabama), but already I’ve been inspired to add to the garden when I return home. There are not many spaces open after thirty-three years, but I’m figuring a way to plant an area beneath the canopy of several maples at the forest’s edge. The ground is solid with…

The first of the blackberry lilies (Iris domestica, below, aka Belamcanda chinensis) is flowering this morning, the first from seeds gathered in late summer two years ago. Reports of flowering in the first summer are likely to be when seeds are started in a heated greenhouse, while mine is not and tiny seedlings are planted…

Despite a dry late spring, the garden’s Japanese maples are thriving. Red leafed maples have faded slightly in July’s heat, but these are shaded a bit so color does not fade as much as maples in more sun. Green and variegated leafed maples show little change from spring, though the Floating Cloud maple (Acer palmatum…

In this garden with areas that are consistently damp I am occasionally alerted to plants that thrive in dampness by ones growing in the shallows of the koi pond. Unsurprisingly, Joe Pye weeds have established here, but more curious is a panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata, below) seedling that has grown for several years in the…

In early July I continue to be frustrated by rabbits that are nibbling tall perennials, particularly ones that are newly planted and most in need of foliage to survive. Yesterday, I was confronted with an additional concern as I crossed paths with a youngster, and of course this is what rabbits do, breed and nibble….

Here, neatness counts very little. Rambunctious growth is the goal in the garden. No doubt, this can go too far, paths disappear, and occasionally a favorite is overwhelmed by an exuberant neighbor. Editing is required, but to the barest minimum. With neighboring plants encroaching, few of the garden’s plants would display well if dug and…

The garden is not irrigated, and no way am I dragging hoses around when it turns dry, as certainly it will in summer. While new plantings are watched (often not carefully enough), everything else is expected to make it on the somewhat regular rainfall that comes once a week in this Virginia garden, though sometimes…

The Golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata, below) is officially off the short list of the garden’s least favored plants. Sufficient ground is now covered within the radius of its seed drop so that there are few of the annoying seedlings that once grew by the thousands. I don’t expect golden rain will ever become a…