This is it. We’re done. With a half day Wednesday we’ve spent close to two full days constructing the garden. I think that it’s turned out mostly as I envisioned it. There were a few bumps in the road. Several plants ordered to be delivered from Oregon were cancelled a week ago when temperatures turned…
Category: Flowering plants
Garden show – day two
Cleverly, I wait to take photos until managers have hands in their pockets. They claim that they do some physical labor to justify their paycheck, but no evidence is to be found. I have the excuse that my picture is never taken since someone must take the photographs. You must take my word that I…
The garden show – day one
Today, construction begins on the display for our annual garden show. Certainly, few people see anything but the final result of the week’s work, so I’ll stop at intervals to document the garden as it’s put together. I have plenty of time for photo taking since I’m here to supervise. I’m a bit over the…
Mid February snow
This was inevitable, I suppose. I’ve been dismayed in recent weeks that hellebores were poised to flower with only another few days of slightly less frigid temperatures. A single day of relative warmth last week was not enough, and now they will be buried by snow with little chance that it will melt for another…
Deer and aucubas
Earlier this morning, sipping a second cup of coffee I watched through the kitchen window as seven young deer trotted past the garden. In recent weeks I’ve seen much more of this group, though usually only one or two at a time. There’s not so much to eat in the garden in February with deciduous…
A case of cold
After a single day a week ago when temperatures rose above fifty and a start was made on the long list of chores that must be accomplished by spring, the current spell of cold is even more an annoyance. February is often a month of extremes, one day teasing that spring is imminent, and the…
Hurry along
After a day or two in early February when temperatures rise more than a few degrees above freezing, the gardener becomes particularly anxious for spring to arrive. His patience is not helped at all by witch hazels and hellebores with buds that are ready to burst into bloom, and snowdrops that have flowered sporadically for…
Adding a few vines
In this long established garden, spring planting rarely involves anything more grand than shoehorning a few hostas or hellebores between existing plants, though there are occasions when an area must be rejuvenated due to damage from storms, or when a space might simply become overcrowded. In early February, as I consider what can be planted…
Plan for spring, more hostas
As I recall, and this is a tricky proposition since my memory has never been much to talk about, there were once a hundred or more varieties of hosta in the garden. This was, of course, before the invasion of deer a decade ago, and despite the sturdy constitution of hostas, constant nibbling took a…
Bird watching
Not once in January was I tempted to begin working on chores that must be accomplished sometime before spring growth commences. Several times each week I’ve scurried through the garden to catch up on the few blooms and swelling buds, but I’ve hardly stopped for a moment to pull a weed or to pick up…
Buds
After a flush of growth in autumn, the hellebores (Helleborus) are plump and now heavily budded. I have not yet removed the foliage so that the nodding flowers will be more evident when these begin to bloom in several weeks. Certainly, I’ll get around to this, at least by the time the first color begins…
Contemplating the garden
Without question, winter is time for contemplating the garden, though I readily admit I’m not much on planning. With cold temperatures and less labor there is opportunity to consider what went wrong, and no doubt countless minor tragedies befall the best of gardens. Also to consider, what worked, no matter how small the successes might…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 