With trees and shrubs fully leafed and many perennials looking their best, the garden is at its best, but no doubt, short of perfection. And what fun is perfect?

Things are going to go wrong. There will be weeds, sometimes it seems in the same spot I weeded yesterday. If this upsets me, I need to give up the garden.

Today’s very minor dilemma is the memory of the glorious view of the northwestern property line a year ago. Three very tall fringetrees (Chionanthus virginicus, above) flowered at the same time as yellow, orange, and red deciduous azaleas just a step lower. There could not be a better moment in this garden, and today’s the day where flowering should come together to match last year’s beauty. But it won’t.

The fragrant and brightly colored deciduous azaleas are favorites. I encourage anyone looking for a tall shrub at a forest’s edge to consider these instead of more common evergreen azaleas (or other shrubs). Even better, mass the azaleas one next to the other. I don’t think I had a clue when I did this years ago, so it became another happy accident. I should claim credit for my design brilliance, but you’d know otherwise.

In any case, the scene is a few degrees less today as a result of the twenty-five degree night two weeks ago. Flower buds of several azaleas must have been at a vulnerable stage, so many flowers were lost before fully opening. Fortunately, not all flowers were lost, and not even most, but enough that the scene is not quite up to last year’s standard.

What will I do about it? Enjoy what’s here and understand that stuff will happen in the garden. Some will be bad, but much will be splendid. I’ll treasure today’s combination of fringetrees and azaleas, and yes, I’ll remember last year, but today is not so bad.