While this garden was not initially intended as a haven for wildlife and pollinators, it has developed into an ideal habitat for both. Rabbits and squirrels are seen daily, with evidence that deer are regular visitors despite my spraying a repellent to protect vulnerable plants. Scratches on the lid of the koi food pail tell…

My two weeks of summer business travel annually coincide with the peak flowering of three Bottlebrush buckeyes (Aesculus parviflora, below). Two in part sun in the rear garden flower first, but both were barely cracking bud when I left the second week of July. The third, the oldest and by far the largest, is more…

With the recent addition of two Japanese maples I’m thinking this might be the end. Several remain in pots on the patios, but without a spot to plant them I suppose they could stay in the containers for a few years. Even with the extremely dry spring and early summer, and my lack of attention,…

With temperatures in the upper nineties, my labor in sunny areas of the garden will be limited. But, in the heat of the afternoon, I must get out to see the abundant bees and butterflies feasting on nectar in the sunny, lower half of the rear garden. As always, I’m planting, so recent revisions must…

I joke that my recent, annual tour of nurseries in the southeast is the coolest two weeks of the year. Seldom do my travel partners and I venture out of an air conditioned vehicle or hotel room, though after sitting and doing nothing for a week I managed a six mile hike in the one…

I do it every year. After four decades traveling to purchase plants for the garden centers each time I return with several must-haves for the garden. Occasionally, this is only to test a plant before it hits the market, but more often, I’ve fallen and can’t live without plants that must be added to the…

The garden should be into its gentle summer decline, but recent rainfall has revived plants parched after a dry late spring. A stroll through the garden reveals one gem after the other. While flowers of hostas (above and below) are underappreciated, many are glorious and favorites of bumblebees. Early summer is the peak peak period…

The mix of purple and white coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, below) along the driveway is a colorful introduction to the garden, but also a long flowering favorite of pollinators. This started as a few ‘White Swan’, but seedlings have gradually turned to a greater population of purples. I recently noted the increased numbers of honeybees in…

A great pleasure of my long career in the gardening business has been annual visits to many nursery growing operations across the country. In four decades traveling, I’ve made many wonderful acquaintances and learned lessons that have turned a job into a hobby and obsession. But now, with my looming retirement, this will be my…

Finally, leaves of the weeping ‘Whitewater’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Whitewater’, below) are showing splashes of creamy variegation. The leaves emerged green and stayed green until recent weeks when several began to turn. I’ve had no previous experience with ‘Whitewater’, but mottled leaves of a ‘Silver Cloud’ redbud (below) with similar foliage coloring come out immediately…

I chuckle when a gardener states that today their garden is perfect. I suppose there might be a day in late May, if I was inclined to spend many more hours of maintenance, that this one could come in with a passing grade. A year from now, as I have more free time in retirement,…

Inarguably, in flower, the Golden Rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) is glorious. After too many years of pulling abundant seedlings, with ever increasing shade, the number has become manageable. So, I no longer despise the tree. Seedlings from the maples that border the garden are a much bigger nuisance,  but of course, I do not have…