After suffering through several nights falling into the upper twenties (Fahrenheit), the reblooming Encore azaleas have recovered in milder temperatures to again flower at their peak. One azalea that had few blooms earlier now has many. This period of flowering is weeks later than the typical peak in mid-October, and blooms are more abundant than…

The last of the Japanese maples are coloring. Beautiful, but the dormancy of winter is nearer by the day. Leaves of the brilliantly colored ‘Shishigashira’ (Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira’, below) will soon join the ankle deep piles that cover the shaded three-quarters of the garden. But, the garden will not be bare through the winter months….

After five days of touring arboreta and gardens in the Philadelphia area with the annual conference of The Maple Society, I have minor concerns. I only pretend to know better. I hope this thirty-five year old garden has been planted to flourish for many decades after I’m gone, but several aged trees in arboreta raised…

While the garden continues its fade into dormancy, splashes of color remain, with a surprise or two. After recent nighttime temperatures dipping into the upper twenties (Fahrenheit), hostas are limp and colorless. Except one. Several green leaves remain on a single hosta, but surprisingly, it also has a long overdue flower. With quirky swings in…

I should’ve done this or that, but of course, didn’t. Amongst a lengthy list of tasks uncompleted or put off, pruning of the green foliage reversion of this tallest variegated Pieris japonica is nearly inconsequential. When this last branch of variegated foliage is eventually overtaken by more vigorous green growth, it will hardly be missed….

With leaves ankle deep and sun shining through the shadiest parts of the garden, I collect seeds for projects with my volunteer groups. There is no need to add more mountain mint, baptisia, or Joe Pye weed to the garden, though plenty of seed left behind will inevitably spread these into any open ground. Seeds…

With ponds scattered about the garden, I regularly watch my step to avoid the many little frogs that leap from my path. Nearer a pond or the stream, there are splashes as I stroll the garden. As I checked the swelling buds of ‘Marvel’ mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Marvel’, now Berberis x hortensis, above), I…

Again, I’m clueless, and while I sometimes try to figure why something has gone awry, today I’m quite pleased. The Australian native grevillea (Grevillea victoriae ‘Murray Valley Queen ‘, below) is flowering this third week of October, at least a month earlier than in past years. Nothing has changed that I can see to cause…

The sun filters through the tree canopy as I stroll leaf covered paths in areas of the garden that were deeply shaded until recent days. A large portion of the garden is now covered in leaves from the forest that borders the garden but also from dozens of redbuds, dogwoods, beech, and various other trees…

Too often, I fall into “oh, isn’t it pretty” mode while strolling the garden. Yes, I stop to admire the butterflies on the garden’s many Joe Pye weeds (Eutrochium). I’m astonished by the varied bees and wasps on the large clump of mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum, below) at its month long, late summer peak. But,…