Unfortunately, I did not pause to document the seemingly herculean task, moving a fifteen feet tall, red leafed contorted filbert (Corylus avellana ‘Red Dragon’) from its overcrowded and overly shaded position beside a ‘Bracken’s Beauty’ magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora ‘Bracken’s Beauty’) in front to a slightly more sunny and open spot in the back garden. With branches…

The great internal debate for the gardener is, do I prefer milder, more comfortable winters that allow me to plant half-hardy plants and work outdoors many days into the winter, or must we save the planet? Hopefully, the outlook is not so dire, but there is little doubt that gardeners, and certainly this one, are…

Placement of plants often involves a bit of guesswork and then trial and error for the best successes. In some cases, I witness a native in its habitat and hope to duplicate these conditions, or I see a plant in another garden and observe its sun exposure and other conditions that might increase its chances…

One of the garden’s hellebores began flowering late in November, a weather-related confusion, I expect, since this one is typically a late winter bloomer. Now, in mid-December, the true flowering season for hellebores has kicked in, so I expect there will be flowers continually into March. Flowers of hellebores are touted for lasting two months…

Unsurprisingly, vigorous, long stems of the Vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis, below) are sparsely budded while older stems will soon display many clusters of small, ribbon-like flowers. But, I am curious why many of the long, mostly unbranched stems retain leaves that are, of course, brown in this second week of December. The marcescent leaves…

As the temperature climbed to sixty degrees on this sunny mid-December afternoon, bees swarmed (at least for the season) freeze ruined flowers of camellias and bright yellow mahonia blooms. I presume their foraging began several degrees colder, with the brilliant sunshine being the additional ingredient that brings them from their winter shelter. Another reason to…

If temperatures remain mild for another day or two (however unlikely with nighttime lows dipping into the low twenties (Fahrenheit) this week), the single flower bud of ‘Autumn Amethyst’ will open in mid-December. This is not unusual for ‘Amethyst’, though more typically this azalea would have scattered blooms over the past month. This autumn, there…

The delivery of bulbs arrived a few days ago, too late to be planted that evening, but the weather was just mild enough (not below freezing) that all were dug in the next afternoon. The planting in the newly cleared area around the sunroom (soon to be designated the treehouse, since the structure is elevated…

Hours before sunrise, the thermometer showed nineteen degrees (Fahrenheit), but that’s beside the house, so I figure the night was colder by a degree or two. No doubt, temperatures will turn colder as winter progresses, but this was the coldest night so far as autumn flowering camellias are blooming. It’s not a pretty sight. Of…

Unquestionably, I am not ready for winter. Never have been. I don’t like the cold, I don’t like the idleness, and while there will be a few somethings in bloom every day until hellebores and bulbs start flowering in February, the garden is still a bit dreary. The tropicals were hauled into the basement several…

After considerable thought, I’ve finally figured a spot to plant the ‘Carolina Sweetheart’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Carolina Sweetheart’, below). I’ve evaluated the ups and downs of planting this redbud for several months, and now I see it. Adding a tree in this cluttered garden involves many considerations, but this location is so simple that it…