I was considerably distressed early in the summer when my wife hacked back arching branches of the tall nandina that partially obstructed steps down from the lower deck. I was not so much concerned with the nandina as the wonderful white clematis (Clematis ‘Henryi’, below) that climbed through it. ‘Henryi’ had grown to be intertwined…
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.
What I’m planting
What did you do on your summer vacation? I didn’t take one. Haven’t since the kids have grown up and moved out. Not that I’m all work and no play, but nowadays I’d rather putter around the garden. This is about as much excitement as I can stand. For various reasons I happened into a…
Late summer – and all’s well
Despite storm related disasters that have broken and uprooted trees, the general health of the garden is good and the mental state of the gardener is as good as ever. Through much of August and into September rainfall has been more regular and heat has not been so extreme as earlier in the summer. At…
The Sun King
The flowers of ‘Sun King’ aralia (Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’, below) are not entirely inconsequential, but the small globes of tiny white flowers are unremarkable from more than a few paces away. This does not deter abundant pollinators (mostly wasps and ants in my garden, both quite harmless) from visiting the blooms over the period…
Oh no, not again!
I’ve made mistakes in planning and planting the garden, plenty of them! In some parts of the garden it’s difficult to distinguish where one plant starts and the other ends. There is a mass of foliage with differing textures and colors, and here and there a bunching of flowers or berries will poke out. It…
Hummingbirds and butterflies on a September morning
A pair of hummingbirds have been particularly active in the garden in recent weeks. Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience to wait to catch a photograph of them, but the likely spot to capture a picture would be when they visit the flowers of ‘Black and Blue’ salvia that borders the garden’s largest pond. This…
Disappearing coneflowers
My garden seems particularly ill suited to growing coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, below). These are tough native perennials that require a mostly sunny and well drained location. They are not particular about soil, and need little care. Through the years I’ve planted a handful or two, mindful to provide a dry, sunny environment, but eventually they…
Undemanding summer bloomers
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, below) typically grows with a slightly arching, upright habit, but that’s when it’s properly sited in full sun, and not jammed beneath a crapemyrtle and crammed under a wide spreading Joe Pye weed. It deserves better, but no matter, it seems happy enough in my garden. It has flowered since the…
In late August
There’s an obvious void in the rear garden where the multi trunked Seven Son Tree (Heptacodium miconiodes, below) was toppled over by a storm earlier in the summer. The missing tree disturbs my eye, and I’ve been desperate to replace it, but hesitant to plant another tree until cooler temperatures and more regular rainfall returns…
Filling in the blanks
The spring after planting ‘Crystal Falls’ mondo grass (Ophiopogon jaburan ‘Crystal Falls’, below) I cut its slightly weather beaten foliage back to the ground, just like I do with liriopes. I’ve also planted dwarf mondo grass (which I don’t cut back unless it is severely damaged by the winter) and black mondo (that doesn’t seem to…
The blue mist of late summer
In one year ‘Hint of Gold’ blue mist shrub (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Lisaura’, above) has grown from hardly more than a rooted cutting to three feet across and nearly as tall. Its branches are more rigid and its form more compact than other blue mists in the garden, and foliage retains its yellow color through…
I can’t believe they ate the whole thing
Walking around the garden after this afternoon’s light rain I noticed that one of the small weeping Golden Chain trees (Laburnum x watereri ‘Pendulum) was mostly defoliated. Heat? Drought? No, I looked closer to find a few handfuls of caterpillars (White-marked tussock moth caterpillar, below) actively munching on the few remaining leaves. I supposed that the…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 