Berries of the native beautyberry (Callicarpa americana, below) have tardily turned to purple with more colorful berries still to come. I’ve struggled with the native while Asian beautyberries have thrived (I expect due to questionable placement), but after suffering in a difficult spot beside the driveway the American beautyberry has made a comeback. I’m quite…

There is no rhyme and little reason why I am attracted to certain plants. Yes, I am slightly obsessed by Japanese maples, dogwoods, and redbuds, but what caught my eye to obtain the Glossy False Sinningia (Hemiboea subcapitata, below) flowering today in the garden? I’d never heard of it or seen this Gesneriad (African violet…

Happily, recent rainfall has quenched wilting shrubs on the brink, but in mid-September, sure signs remain of our late summer lack of rainfall and the change to autumn. Piles of leaves of the European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’) litter the front stone path and Sensitive ferns (Onoclea sensibilis, below) are turning to brown. I can…

I’ve been over-inspired, it’s clear. There is always something that must be updated in this thirty-six year old garden, but after the bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) was felled in a late June storm my creative thinking has gotten a bit out of hand. I suppose the day could come when the gardener just sits back…

No, not me. I don’t dance, or at least rarely. I wobbled back and forth long in the past to satisfy my future wife a time or two, and I suppose there were brief parents of the groom dances at our sons’ weddings. But, rather than discussing my lack of social skills, today’s dance topic…

The yellow-leafed fleece vine (Fallopia baldschuanica ‘Lemony Lace’, below) is less vigorous in growth this year for reasons not obvious to me. In recent years the vine has spanned the length of two sides of the summerhouse roof but this year it’s only halfway across. (I must note that the summerhouse is not extravagant. It…

The logistics to remove jewelweeds (Impatiens capensis) that grow up through the wide spreading paperbush on the back slope of the koi pond are difficult. Jewelweed is easily pulled, but you must be able to reach it. This paperbush is one of several that have spread to twenty feet or more, and while jewelweeds closer…

The bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla, below) refuses to die, though it toppled over roots and all in a late June storm. I’ve removed the bulk of the large tree, but the roots and a section of the lower trunk remain as a feature of the garden since too much work would be required to dispose…

Several Joe Pye weeds (Eutrochium spp., below) pruned by deer months ago are flowering weeks later as others have faded by early September. The remaining flowers attract swallowtails and bumblebees, though in smaller numbers than early August when many were flowering. With fading flowers of mountain mints (Pycnanthemum muticum) visited only by bumblebees and carpenter…

A few stray flowers remain on blackberry lilies (Iris domestica, aka Belamcanda chinensis, below), but most have moved on to seed production with some seeds already ripe. Several times, I’ve harvested seeds to start in the greenhouse in late winter, though I think that direct sowing is similarly successful. This year, I plan to leave…

Today, I wake to cool breezes and clear, blue skies. Overnight temperatures fall into the fifties, not the stuffy seventies more typical for August. We’re in desperate need of rain, but otherwise, how could late summer be any better? The garden shows signs of dryness, but while I’ve had to water the containers a time…