It’s spring. There are lots of plants in the garden, with some not fitting into whatever I’m blabbing about this week. So, here’re a bunch of odds and ends so we’ll be all caught up. Until tomorrow.
Red, emerging cones at the branch tips of Acrocona spruce (Picea abies ‘Acrocona’, above) contrast beautifully with the light green new growth. The sprawling habit of Acrocona covers a hundred square feet, but it has grown only a single branch up to about six feet,
Paris polyphylla has had more than its share of troubles. Rabbits snapped a young plant at the base, and a year later I did the same trying to erect some kind of barrier.
Calanthe discolor is an early flowering, cold hardy orchid that spreads steadily. A clump in damp ground struggled a bit, so it was split into pieces and moved to drier, raised areas. This clump doubled in a year and a few others have multiplied nicely. The initial expenditure for Calanthe and Bletilla orchids seems exorbitant, but they quickly multiply so the initial investment is rewarded.
Maresii viburnum has become too shaded at the forested edge of the garden, but still, it manages to flower. There is a progression of blooms seen from the kitchen window from magnolias to service berry, then to silverbell and viburnum.
The ‘Red Dragon’ contorted filbert does not show its best color in this very shady spot nestled beneath an evergreen magnolia, but it is still colorful. Some day, I could be motivated to move it into the sun it prefers.
I don’t know why I bother with this apple espaliered to the shed. The few apples are quickly harvested by deer, though I also grow blueberries almost exclusively for the birds.
Colorful flowers and foliage of drought tolerant sprurges (Euphorbia, above and below).
Flowers of daphniphyllum are nestled beneath emerging leaves. Still, I’d like to see them, but oops, a day late.
Certainly, yellow is overdone along the path to the rear garden with Golden Falls redbud and Chardonnay Pearls deutzia in front of the huge, yellow azaleas.
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 
Good morning, Dave
I eagerly look forward to your posts. Your gardens are beautiful, and you have given me countless inspiration, which is evident in my own gardens. You have said that you do not use fencing as a means of deer protection. Could you please share with us what repellents you use? We have spent 1,000’s of dollars on stake and wire. I fence young trees; otherwise, the deer buck-rubbed and/or literally decimated prized specimens, more than I would like to admit. It seems as if I fence and allow a particular plant, let’s say a cherry laurel, to recover and grow, I can remove fencing in a few years, and then the deer are no longer interested in a more mature plant. Help!
Thank you,
Lorraine
Here are two issues, rubbing and eating. Occasionally, I suffer damage from rubbing, but little enough that I’m not motivated to do anything. I must spray a repellent ten months of the year to prevent deer eating leaves. Currently, I spray Bobbex, alternating every other month with a small amount of hot pepper sauce to change the taste. But, I’ve used other repellents with success. For me, the answer is to spray every five weeks, though I am prone to forget until I see a hosta that’s been nibbled. It is also important to vary between two repellents or to add pepper sauce so deer don’t become accustomed to the scent and taste.