Many things can be put off. Weeding, for example, can be delayed for weeks without dire consequences, though the longer the delay the greater the likelihood that thousands of seeds will be spread about. The garden demands constant evaluation, when to plant, to weed, or prune for maximum benefit, or often times to minimize troubles….
Category: Flowering plants
Returning to the garden
While traveling for a few weeks on business, my wife reported regular sightings of a blue heron by the garden’s smaller ponds. The large koi pond is too deep, but in the shallower ponds the heron can stand on the bottom to wait for fish to come out of hiding. I prefer to keep koi…
A misguided (?) preference for variegated foliage
Perhaps the balance of too many variegated plants has been tipped beyond the point of distraction, but I suspect that jarring foliage contrasts are the least of problems a design purist would diagnose in this garden. In any case, my eye is easily pleased, regardless that cardinal rules of landscape design might be trampled into…
Hounds on the loose
A week ago, my wife and I enjoyed a visit with our loaner dog. On occasions far too rare, we welcome a visit from our son’s greyhound while he and his wife travel. The long legged hound carefully steps through the garden’s uneven stone paths, a remarkable contrast from the floppy eared sister hounds (Daisy…
Two weeks away from the garden
While traveling on business (again) I am pleased to show photos of the garden that have not been featured in recent weeks. As always, there will be plenty of work to do when I return.
Not quite a weedy mess
Clumps of Japanese iris (Iris ensata) at the pond’s edge have been infiltrated by stilt grass, seedlings of Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum, which, for now are tolerated because they mature long after the irises have faded), and a jumble of other weeds that cannot be identified. Difficulties in access to remove weeds along the pond’s…
A few magnolias
Among collections in the garden, space considerations allow a relative few magnolias. Besides the shrub-like form of the Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’, below), most grow to substantial proportions, and so the gardener is encouraged to choose wisely. Make no mistake, many small magnolias will grow to the size of a one car garage,…
Buttonbush and other swamp lovers
On a rainy morning, the absence of bees and butterflies on satellite-shaped, white flowers of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis, below) is in stark contrast to any sunny afternoon when the gardener must approach with caution, or risk the consequences. I first discovered this native shrub in a swampy area along a local hiking trail, where the…
Generally ignored except when flowering
While showy flowers of Indian pinks (Spigelia marilandica, below) catch the attention and favor of visitors, the clump forming native is rarely seen in garden stores. When found, the buying public generally, but inexplicably ignores it. The first planting of Indian pinks in the garden was disappointing, though not entirely unsuccessful. While planting, I imagined…
A few favored hostas
Visitors to the garden remark on the huge leaves of hostas, supposing that the gardener possesses some unique skill to make this so. Certainly, there must be some special fertilizer, or at the least annual applications of manure to grow leaves so large. In all modesty, and modesty is required when the gardener has done…
A slow recovery
No doubt, gardeners get jittery at the mention of any number of weather events, constantly dreading freezes and droughts that might bring ruin to their treasures. Certainly, every gardener has suffered losses due to cold, snow or ice, wind, hail, or combinations of these within a single storm. Never, he proclaims, has he seen a winter…
A work in progress
Perhaps someday, the garden will be complete. After twenty-seven years, much of the property is covered by ponds (below) and plantings, but the gardener’s work is never done, it seems, and much remains to be done along the edges. If all goes well, in another decade the garden should be perfectly satisfactory, though setbacks are…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 