Today was a gift, maybe not Christmas, but perhaps a belated birthday gift, a week late. Whatever, a gem of a day hiking to a mountaintop lake in north Idaho. Despite the glorious scenery, I am most enthused by the trailside plants that are far different from natives of our close-to-home  Blue Ridge Mountains. Many…

A long established hosta with subtle green and yellow variegation, one that I long ago forgot the name of along with several dozen others, is a current favorite of hummingbirds.  The long, tubular flowers in early September, long after others have faded, are ideally shaped for hummers so that the tiny birds spend considerable time…

A white edged rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum ‘Silver Edge’, below) is the most vigorous of several rhododendron varieties in the garden. While one shaded beneath a wide spreading ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple in the front has grown acceptably to six feet, the second just below the kitchen window has grown a few feet taller and considerably wider….

I am thrilled with the recently delivered variegated Dove tree (Davidia involucrata ‘Aya nishiki’). In fact, the initial unboxing of the tree was slightly concerning, first seeing browned and wilted leaves, then the slender trunk bent severely to fit into its shipping container. But a moment later, I realized the treasure I’d been sent. Years…

Despite countless delights, every garden stroll reminds that there are concerns (most minor) that must be addressed. Eventually, if not today. When I note that parts of the garden are overcrowded, plans must be made for shuffling plants around or pruning where areas are not easily accessed as shrubs and trees have merged. The often…

Years ago, a mint was planted in damp ground in the lower rear garden. I pledged to carefully monitor its spread, but this was not necessary as the mint soon disappeared. Today, I’m surprised to see two clumps of mint spreading on small areas of bare soil. It seems impossible that this is the mint…

On a cool mid-August morning, I began my tour of the closeby State Arboretum of Virginia, my second visit to the Arboretum, but the first without my wife (a benefit of retirement and she is a year away). By my lonesome, I could spend as much time as I wanted, prowling every corner to visit…

On occasion, I wonder what harm might come if the several types of ground hugging weeds were allowed to grow in areas of bare ground in the lower rear garden. Certainly, they are a nuisance to pull, and of course, as weeds are well adapted to persistence, the entirety of the root is rarely removed….

Once again, I have planted a gardenia, the columnar shaped ‘Diamond Spire’, after years ago declaring “never again” as several that were optimistically promoted as cold hardy to zone 6 perished early in their first winter cold (in temperatures slightly below zero). I rarely see gardenia in local gardens, confirming my assumption based upon limited…

Remnants of the recent hurricane moved gently through the garden. Yes, it was a gully washer, eroding bits of loose debris that required only minutes of cleanup along with several arm loads of small branches brought down in the storm. Areas nearby fared far worse, and while I would have been thrilled with another inch…

I am thrilled that a storm is upon us. No doubt, this should break our drought and saturate soils (at least temporarily) dried by weeks of summer heat. The gardener must be grateful for whatever is provided, but I am overjoyed. I watch the pounding rain from my perch in the sunroom, several feet above…

On occasion, a tree or shrub overgrows its allotted space so that it must be chopped back. Truthfully, there is not one but many, and most are left to fend for themselves. I’ve pledged several times on these pages to hack back paperbushes (Edgeworthia chrysantha) that have spread several times the width promised by otherwise…