Flowers of several terrestrial orchids (Bletilla striata, below, and Calanthe discolor, further below) were damaged in the recent freeze, an instance of unfortunate timing and an extremely late and unusual drop in temperature to a few degrees below freezing. Orchids were not alone in suffering injury from the cold, though including the orchids, none of…

I do not object that flowers of the ‘Stellar Pink’ dogwood (Cornus ‘Rutgan’, below) are barely shaded in pink, and most blooms appear nearly white in color. The same is true of the supposedly pink flowered ‘Satomi’ Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’). I’ve witnessed both with deep pink flowers in the much cooler northwestern states,…

I am enthralled by various sweetshrubs (Calycanthus floridus), though my appreciation in the garden is limited by a nose that has never fully functioned except for the most obvious scents. Also, I admit that the flowers are not showy in the manner that visitors or passersby on the road out front would stop to take…

Yesterday, several of what I figure to be tough as nails terrestrial orchids (Bletilla striata, below) were dug and transplanted. I have no doubt this is best done immediately following its imminent flowering, but these few had strayed into a crowded clump of sedge (Carex), and occasionally tasks must be undertaken when the mood is…

The garden, any garden, should ideally include marvelous plants that must be viewed close up, and hopefully will also include pleasant wider views. From late autumn until mid spring the wider angle in this garden is not filled until perennials break dormancy, but today it’s almost there. With the largest part of the garden in…

Plant orders for spring were made in the boredom of winter, long before I became aware of the pandemic that now keeps many of us off the streets and out of public places. Local garden centers are now booming, and I’ve made several purchases (so far), but a number of the oddities I enjoy so…

Many of our favorite hiking spots have been closed off, though technically the trails are not, but roads accessing them and parking lots are. Several weeks ago, just into this current crisis, I lamented that a favorite section of the Appalachian Trail bordered by trilliums might not be accessible, and sure enough it isn’t unless…

With cool and sometimes cold temperatures through much of April, blooms remain on native dogwoods (Cornus florida, below) that typically would have faded a week or two earlier. Redbuds, that began to flower a day or two earlier than dogwoods, are past bloom, and are beginning to leaf. Dogwood crosses (such as Cornus ‘Rutgan’ Stellar…

Little damage was done by a recent twenty-eight degree night. This followed several nights that flirted with the freezing mark, and fortunately, seldom is damage severe on tender new leaves unless temperatures fall to twenty-five degrees or colder. Two seedling Japanese maples were at the tenderest stage of growth, with leaves just out, and while…

An evergreen Pragense viburnum (Viburnum x pragense, below), once planted at the forest’s edge twenty-five years ago, has long been relegated to deep shade behind the tall and wide spreading ‘Merrill’ magnolia. Miraculously, it survives, though at a fraction of its once formidable size and with many fewer blooms. A nearby Korean Spice viburnum (Viburnum…

A goose has taken residence beside the koi pond, fortunately not on the side where I regularly lounge to relax, but on the far side. I watched as she (it is safe to assume a she) prepared her nest, and in order not to be rude to our guest I have not spied in the…

My wife tells me that this garden is full, with some good reason though there are small open spaces to be plugged wherever I look. The larger picture overflows with trees and shrubs planted over thirty one years, and she demands that any more planting will have to spill over onto the neighbor’s property. Long…