Planning for spring has begun, though currently details are quite fuzzy and certainly there will be additional inspirations as the winter drags on. There is plenty of time to figure what goes where prior to the spring planting season (March or later), but getting an idea of areas to be added to helps to avoid…

There is at least some small benefit to having a second set of eyes (my wife) to observe the garden, if for no other reason than to prevent the gardener (me) from going too far astray. No doubt, I must be reined in on occasion, and it is fortunate that at some point in the…

I am guilty of occasionally looking ahead, no matter that this inevitably gets hopes up that are likely to be disappointed. With a mild start to winter, I cannot help but glance at the thirty day winter forecast that remarkably predicts only a few nights falling into the teens (Fahrenheit), and none colder. Consecutive years…

Unsurprisingly, snowdrops (Galanthus, below) displayed their first glimpse of color in late December, though peak bloom is proceeding slowly in the new year. Flowers of early types are often revealed prior to the new year, and if not covered by a blanket of snow, early and later blooming snowdrops will help satisfy the gardener through…

A long ago constructed section of the dry stacked stone wall retaining the lower end of the koi pond leaned, then collapsed a few months ago. The soil is stable so there is no rush to restack the wall. Access is complicated by a wide spreading spruce (Picea abies ‘Acrocona’) with pendulous branching, and earlier…

Multiple branches of two late winter flowering magnolias, ‘Royal Star’ and ‘Merrill’, arch to contact soil, rooting as a result. Several from each of the magnolias have been dug and potted on a mild December afternoon to share at a point when substantial enough roots have developed. Though the precise timing escapes me, in the…

While autumn flowering mahonias (Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’, below) are fading in this mild early winter, the late winter blooming leatherleaf mahonias (Mahonia bealei, below) are approaching their peak. In mild years, leatherleafs have flowered in late January, but never this early. The more blooms in the winter garden, the merrier. On occasion there…

With forest along the southern border shielding the winter sun, the garden is slow to thaw. Snow and ice often remain days after the neighborhood has melted. I have just come inside after slip sliding around the icy garden. Fallen tree limbs were tossed onto piles, fortunately none doing damage to surrounding plantings. How a…

A lot of information, and too little self discipline can be a dangerous combination. I speak here, not of matters of grave importance, but of a barely controlled passion for adding new plantings to the garden, no matter that good sense should dictate delaying purchases until spring. As daylight dwindles to just minutes following my…

A succession of nights in the low and mid twenties (Fahrenheit) in mid December has encouraged the reluctant Korean Sweetheart tree (Euscaphis japonica) into near dormancy. Finally. The remaining leaves, showing no coloring, look quite sad, and I’ll be relieved when all have fallen, though I expect no harm will come of it. Today, the…

Until hellebores began flowering the last week of November, I had not considered this late autumn as too much out of the ordinary. Yes, the month was unusually mild, but not far outside the norm, it seemed. But, plants often tell a story beyond my perceptions, and it’s clear that this period heading into winter…

As always, there is good reason to be anxious for spring, though winter has just begun. While camellias, mahonias, and witch hazels will somewhat satisfy the need for blooms, I am particularly impatient for spring’s growth to see what becomes of this year’s additions. As I write, before the idea vanishes beneath other inspirations, I…