With temperatures in the upper nineties, my labor in sunny areas of the garden will be limited. But, in the heat of the afternoon, I must get out to see the abundant bees and butterflies feasting on nectar in the sunny, lower half of the rear garden. As always, I’m planting, so recent revisions must…

I joke that my recent, annual tour of nurseries in the southeast is the coolest two weeks of the year. Seldom do my travel partners and I venture out of an air conditioned vehicle or hotel room, though after sitting and doing nothing for a week I managed a six mile hike in the one…

I do it every year. After four decades traveling to purchase plants for the garden centers each time I return with several must-haves for the garden. Occasionally, this is only to test a plant before it hits the market, but more often, I’ve fallen and can’t live without plants that must be added to the…

The garden should be into its gentle summer decline, but recent rainfall has revived plants parched after a dry late spring. A stroll through the garden reveals one gem after the other. While flowers of hostas (above and below) are underappreciated, many are glorious and favorites of bumblebees. Early summer is the peak peak period…

The mix of purple and white coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, below) along the driveway is a colorful introduction to the garden, but also a long flowering favorite of pollinators. This started as a few ‘White Swan’, but seedlings have gradually turned to a greater population of purples. I recently noted the increased numbers of honeybees in…

A great pleasure of my long career in the gardening business has been annual visits to many nursery growing operations across the country. In four decades traveling, I’ve made many wonderful acquaintances and learned lessons that have turned a job into a hobby and obsession. But now, with my looming retirement, this will be my…

Finally, leaves of the weeping ‘Whitewater’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Whitewater’, below) are showing splashes of creamy variegation. The leaves emerged green and stayed green until recent weeks when several began to turn. I’ve had no previous experience with ‘Whitewater’, but mottled leaves of a ‘Silver Cloud’ redbud (below) with similar foliage coloring come out immediately…

I chuckle when a gardener states that today their garden is perfect. I suppose there might be a day in late May, if I was inclined to spend many more hours of maintenance, that this one could come in with a passing grade. A year from now, as I have more free time in retirement,…

Inarguably, in flower, the Golden Rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) is glorious. After too many years of pulling abundant seedlings, with ever increasing shade, the number has become manageable. So, I no longer despise the tree. Seedlings from the maples that border the garden are a much bigger nuisance,  but of course, I do not have…

I think the garden’s looking good, not as good as a month ago with hardly a drop of rain until a few days ago, but still pretty good. Of course, I’m prejudiced, but still I was somewhat wary of having a group of landscape designers here to visit the garden last week. Do they expect…

I suspect the possibility there are too many hostas in the garden. Curiously, my wife does not hesitate to question the numbers of dogwoods, redbuds, and Japanese maples, but I am rarely scolded over quantities of smaller plants. She does not think twice before chopping leaves that veer over the stone paths, but she does…