Two Chinese dogwoods (Cornus kousa) with variegated foliage are flowering sparsely. ‘Samaritan’ is shaded on all sides, and in recent years it has flowered only on uppermost branches that peek into sunlight above a holly, two Japanese maples, and a much taller ‘Ivory Silk’ lilac. The wide spreading ‘Wolf Eyes’ (below) often flowers heavily, but…
Category: Flowering plants
Disappointment and joy
A recurring theme in the garden (and in life, I suppose), is that things do not always turn out as you want, or expect. My best guess is that more works out for the better than the worse, and often the bad is not so horrible, just disappointing. Unhappily, the weedy yellow flag iris (Iris…
More in mid May
A week ago, there seemed to be a few open areas in the garden, or at least spots that weren’t jammed full. This is good, I thought. I can add a few goodies. A few days later, what in the heck was I thinking? After a week with several inches of rain, growth has kicked…
Observations in mid May
May, and particularly the last half of the month, is the peak in this garden. This is when foliage fills to hide neighboring homes, and a period when there are many more flowers and foliage of interest than I have time to comment on. After struggles with poorly drained soil and spider mites in the…
The rear garden in May
Several readers have asked, so here it is. At the bottom of this page is a lengthy video of the rear garden, taken with the assistance of a marvelous gadget called a gimbal stablilizer, that allowed me to walk without the video jumping up and down. I can’t hold the camera still standing still, much…
Definitely spring
Even the most cautious gardener must now be confident that the threat of frost has passed, and now he is free to plant goodies, no matter how tender. Several weeks ago, I could not wait any longer to plant several variegated fatsias (Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’, below), so they were planted with more cold in…
A vigorous vine
While many clematis are slow to get started, Clematis montana ‘Rubens’ (below) has been vigorous from the start. To my recollection, this is the third (and best) try for a vine to cover the railing of the deck outside the kitchen window. I’m a bit foggy what the the first was, but the second will…
A favorable comment
Favorable comments about the garden are always appreciated, and especially helpful when acquaintances of my wife counter her criticisms. Yes, I understand that there are parts of the garden that don’t function ideally, and guess what, mostly I don’t care. If something flops over a path, walk around it. Or, on it. I didn’t exactly…
Unexpected and unexplained
The young gardener understands that things will go wrong, but expects that there will be fewer issues as he gains experience. And then he tends his garden for a decade or two, with fewer, but continuing unexpected and unexplained occurrences, and he wonders if he will ever figure this out. No, he will not, at…
No better place
What better place is possible than here, today? Could there be anything more beautiful than this winding, potholed Virginia back road decorated by flowers of redbuds, dogwoods, and a scattering of serviceberries? Abundant redbuds in full bloom lean far out from the tall canopy of maples and poplars, reaching for sunlight, while less numerous white…
A passion for parrotia
Not every garden needs a Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica, below), much less two, but then, a garden need not have Japanese maples or hydrangeas, or whatever marvelous plants if the gardener prefers otherwise. A garden of clipped hedges without a single bloom might delight one gardener, no matter that I am unlikely to give it…
A delightful iris
Until recent years, Iris bucharica (below) was a favored spring filler between paperbush (Edgeworthia chysantha) and a Fernspray cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Filicoides aurea’). But, and there are arguably too many buts around this place, the paperbush grew much wider than expected to shade the irises. For once, I plead innocence. I am the victim of…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 