In the depth of winter, this is the day the gardener dreams about. Certainly, there are abundant blooms, but the background of green is beginning to fill. Many of the emerging leaves are marvelous. Japanese maples are favorites in every season, even the naked silhouettes in winter. Leaves unfurl gracefully, many alongside glorious blooms. With…

Though halfway down the slope of the rear garden, and with the view broken by Japanese maples, Kousa dogwood, and serviceberry (all budding but bare of leaves, of course), the tall ‘Merrill’ magnolia (Magnolia  x loebneri ‘Merrill’, below) flowers splendidly in March for whatever brief period until blooms are ruined by freezing temperatures. Days after…