The ground along the back border of the garden is soggy, and often swampy. Just a few feet further behind the property line cattails and various other undesirables grow, and between brush and brambles and the likelihood of man eating beasts, only deer dare to enter this unruly, damp jungle. Here, the pussy willow thrives….
Author: Dave
I've been in the landscape business with Meadows Farms since 1976. I have a one acre+ garden in Warrenton VA started in 1989 that I test new plant introductions and landscape products. I have 6 ponds in the garden and a number of patios and paths.
A great memory …. it’s just short
I have a dreadful memory. This is not so much a matter of age as an attention deficit. There’s no syndrome, or any diagnosis so serious, I just don’t pay adequate attention to some things. I rarely recall a person’s name until at least the seventh time we’ve met, and my wife routinely tells stories…
(Un)remarkable in winter
The magnificent native dogwood (Cornus florida) is not much to look at in the dead of winter, though references and overly enthusiastic garden writers might imply that it has four season interest. The clusters of red berries that are evident when the foliage drops in mid autumn (and are the basis of the four season…
The downhill side of winter
At the start of February we’re on the downhill side of winter, but I’m anxious for the season to move along faster to be rid of this cold. A few unusually warm days tease that spring is drawing nearer, but the mood is spoiled a day later with a chill and gusty winds. Even on…
The noise
Author’s note – I’m sorry, today no photos, just a story about an idiot gardener and the hazards of procrastination. For two days the winds howled, until I could take it no longer. I was off from work for a few days with nothing to do except laze about the house. It was warm a few…
Brush piles
Over two weekends I have burned two piles of brush, twigs and branches, and perhaps some whole small trees that have accumulated over two decades. These were woody prunings and shrubs that died, and branches large and small that have fallen from the tulip poplars and maples that border the garden. Anyone who thinks that…
The next Ice Age
Listening to shivering co-workers, the recent period of cold must be the second coming of the Ice Age. Instead, these temperatures are quite ordinary for January, and not extreme at all. I’ll exercise restraint and not tell the long and probably boring stories of extreme temperatures from thirty years ago, but it must be noted…
Not so cold for hellebores
Never mind the cold. Despite the recent stretch of cold temperatures in late January, the garden’s hellbores (Helleborus orientalis. H. niger, and hybrids) continue to bloom, and flowers that were opened partially were unscathed by the cold. On the other hand, the flowers of hybrid camellias turned to brown mush on the first night of…
Winter flowers, and more to come
This week, another warmer than usual winter is disguised by a heavy blanket of frost. On a cold, blustery January afternoon the garden’s flowers don’t make the shivering temperatures feel any warmer, but they promise that spring is nearer by the day. On average, the coldest temperatures of the winter are the second week of…
Hasty conclusions
I hesitate to make pronouncements of any but the most obvious sorts. Too frequently hasty conclusions are quickly disproved, and unquestioned observations are contradicted. Along the driveway there are a handful of hybrid camellias, two of one cultivar, and three of the other, ‘Winter’s Star’ and ‘Winter’s Interlude’, though I don’t recall which is which until…
Neglected chores …. again
Inevitably, one garden chore or another is neglected. Not only in January, when I make an effort to do as little as possible, but through the year. The resulting calamity is predictable, but rarely are the consequences so dire as to cause any more than a few hours additional labor. In recent days it’s become…
Something’s missing
The garden escaped the late October hurricane without substantial damage, but storms earlier in summer blew trees over and broke some nearly in half, so there are gaps to be filled and considerable rough edges to smooth. I’ve resisted the urge to replant for the most part. For once I’ll take a bit of time…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 