As traffic jams our local highway traveling to see glorious autumn foliage in the mountains, there is plenty of color here in the garden. And, more to come. While the peak color is currently on display, several of the most colorful Japanese maples (above and below) do not turn until mid-November. A few of the…

The season’s first frost or freeze was forecast for last night, so despite doubts I hauled the non-cold hardy succulents and cactus-like euphorbias to the basement. Too often, this annual chore is undertaken in a panic with fading light and a howling, chilly wind, but the day was mild and thus my questioning the forecast….

In recent years, the tall, coarsely textured Tatarian asters (Aster tataricus, below) have lost their prominent positioning in the garden. Something came along that looks better, longer, so the asters were moved to the back. Despite being more shaded (I thought they would be too shaded), this does not seem to reduce the quantity of…

Going back twenty-five years ago, I recall happily jerking out the last of the lacebug infested azaleas by the house, vowing never to plant another. But, gardeners are rarely set in their ways, and when offered a trial of reblooming azaleas that flowered in spring and again in autumn, I said “sounds like a good…

I have nothing against lawns. There was a time when the boys were growing that the rear lawn was our ballfield. Later, the flatter, lower, rear lawn was well worn from fierce family badminton games. But, as happens, the kids grew and moved on, and so did the practicality of the lawn. As my passion…

A year ago, a mutated branch was noticed on the variegated ‘Duet’ beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Duet’, below). While reversion to the green leaf of the typical white berried beautyberry would be expected, this branch exhibited a muted yellow-green center to its green bordered leaf. I pledged to watch to see if the variegation returned this…

In early autumn, deer eaten hostas are far more problematic than damage done by the extended, late summer drought. Just before the first of two major rainfalls, I resisted the urge to break out the hoses, so only a few new plantings were watered through a summer when there were only a few insignificant showers….

A few weeks ago, I marveled that the castor bean had topped the tip of the greenhouse, just over ten feet tall, I guessed. Today, the single trunk and huge leaves stand at least another four feet taller, rising far above the garden, though still dwarfed by a huge beech at the garden’s border. The…

On this last day of September, few flowers are seen along this climb up the mountainside that leads to a short stretch of the Appalachian Trail that Barbara and I are hiking today. A few asters and fewer phlox are seen, but near the peak the common witch hazels (Hamamelis virginiana, below) are beginning their…

I must put a stop to this disturbing trend. One of the oldest (and neglected) areas in the garden was recently chopped out to make room for workers to construct a sunroom in place of our shabby deck. A treasured ‘Moonrise’ Japanese maple and several unusual plants have gone in (with room to spare for…