Winter damaged, browned leaves of hollies, mahonias, and nandinas have been shed with some branches bare of foliage until spring growth covers them again in coming weeks. I have little concern over their survival since most are long established, though a few mahonias were autumn planted and there is minor concern with leaves only on…

A neighbor’s magnolia is flowering, but our garden down the hill is a bit colder and more shaded, so ‘Merrill’ (below) and ‘Royal Star’ are several days behind. I don’t mind, several chilly nights are on the way. There’s nothing worse than newly opened flowers ruined by a freeze. In the next week, the two…

Work to tidy up the garden has begun. As always, periods of labor are interrupted by extended wanderings to enjoy the early blooms. With flowering of witch hazels, paperbushes, and bulbs that had been delayed by the chilly winter, this inefficient clean up will continue several days longer. But, this is my reward for surviving…

I will not dispute that the abundant seedlings of hellebores can be a minor nuisance. On occasion, the clutter of tiny seedlings must be weeded out (a simple task), though dozens or hundreds are left behind. The balance of this equation is firmly on the side of the more hellebores the better, I think. Vigorous…

The details of a mild winter several years ago are long forgotten, but I recall when the garden’s paperbushes (Edgeworthia chrysantha, below) began flowering before the end of January. I vaguely remember a second time when flowering started the first week of February. Both are recalled for the joy of flowers through the period of…

The Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria auracana) has arrived, a gift from a longtime nursery friend in Oregon. Of course, it’s small, but not so small that there were not complications getting it home in my tiny car. The spine covered tree was stuffed into the floor of the front seat (there is no back in this…

Yes, the snow was delightful, but three weeks of snow cover was far too long. The thick crust of frozen sleet over six inches of snow delayed its melting, but finally, after days of milder temperatures and rain there are only a few scattered icy remnants that refuse to retreat in this shaded garden. Snowdrops…

I could not pass on the opportunity to snap a few photos of this wet snow sticking to plants. Temperatures were far too cold in mid-January for the heavier snow and sleet to stick to leaves in the gusty winds, but today we’re hovering around freezing. It will become warmer overnight as the next front…

Once the soggy ground dries a bit, I plan to retrieve a handful of small boulders that have been lost through the years in the clutter of plants. The boulders were at first set out as irregular stone borders, and three others retained soil for a witch hazel planted along a drainage swale. Unfortunately, the…