At long last, this wearying winter is nearing its end, but not before leaving a trail of broken limbs and browned foliage. Ice and heavy snow (and snow again) have snapped branches and even entire trees, but as late winter creeps into spring the pressing issue is figuring what is alive from branches or entire…
Category: gardens
Better late than never
There are occasions when snowdrops (Galanthus spp., below) push through snow to flower in winter’s most inhospitable conditions. Though much of the snow has melted, the deeply shaded front garden remains covered, and today a few snowdrops have managed to poke through along the treacherously icy front walk. I’ve been waiting. I’m certain that area…
Just around the corner
Though the garden remains covered by snow, several days of warmer temperatures are forecast for this week. Time for winter is running short on the calendar, and finally there is evidence that this long season of cold might be coming to a close. While it’s likely that the snow will melt in a few days,…
Cutting back the hellebores
Predictably, I failed to remove the foliage from hellebores before the flower buds swelled in late December, and now they are covered by many inches of wet snow. By mid January the buds were prominent, and there have been times when the hellebores flowered from late December until March. But, temperatures have been far too…
The overnight snow
I’m getting too old for this. Perhaps I am too old, and I’m fooling myself. Anyway, this morning an able bodied young fellow trudged down the walk to inquire if my wife and I needed some help shoveling last night’s fourteen inch snowfall from the driveway. No, I told him, I’m planning to dig it…
Another day in paradise
Another day, another ice storm. Or snow. And if we’re fortunate the day will bring only a cold, miserable rain. This winter has gone on far too long already with ice and snow, and too much shivering cold. The snow has been mostly benign, but the December ice storm kick started one garden trauma after…
Tracks in the snow
The morning after a recent snowfall the back garden was crisscrossed by deer tracks. This was hardly a revelation. I can’t claim that the local deer community is comparable to areas nearby that are vastly overpopulated. By comparison, there are few in this neighborhood, but the small group of deer beds down in the thicket…
Where are the snowdrops?
At the start of February I fear that nothing will flower in the garden again until April. There is no sign of the snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis, above), which remain under several inches of snow along the front walk. I don’t recall a time when these did not flower by mid February, but even when the…
The hazard of winter planning
There is a need for caution in planning for spring additions to the garden in the winter months. Certainly, this is an ideal time for contemplation, but the analysis of existing plantings can be made more difficult by the absence of foliage. I understand the argument that this is the proper time to see the…
The scent of winter
Despite the horrid cold of recent days, the vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis, above) blooms on, though the ribbon-like petals curl tightly in the worst of the freeze for protection (below). My wife tells me that scents are muted by the cold, but I’ve never paid much attention to this because I’m generally resistant to…
The problem with cold
As is typical of the winter months in northwestern Virginia, temperatures vary considerably, and the daily high might be fifty-five one afternoon, and then seventeen the next. While plants are dormant these fluctuations are of little consequence, and little or no damage is done, though the cold is often of great concern to gardeners. Long ago…
A time for inspiration
I admit without apology, but also with no pride, that I am not a book reader. For better or worse, I haven’t the attention span to relax for a few hours with a good book, though I read the newspaper religiously, and I will wade through the densest academic writings, so long as they are…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 