The splendid excesses of spring in the garden are abundantly evident in May, where blooms explode from every corner, and subtle charms are easily overlooked. I’ve made considerable efforts in recent years to plant for flowers in autumn and winter, but still there are more spring flowers than can be readily listed. With cool spring temperatures…
Category: gardens
The garden in mid May
With warm temperatures arriving late in the spring it’s unsurprising that the garden’s azaleas have flowered a bit late. Several hot days in early April pushed dogwoods into bloom exactly when they’re expected (if there’s such a thing), but this was followed by delightful cool weather that has caused the azaleas’ delay from their usual…
More about Japanese maples
The Golden Full Moon maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum’, below) leafs several weeks after the garden’s other Japanese maples. It’s in nearly full sun, which is not it’s preferred location since the yellow foliage is prone to sunburning (though this has not been a problem for me). But, this should speed leafing in the spring, not delay…
The well maintained garden?
No, I’m sorry. Perhaps you’ve mistaken my garden for another. Mine is not well maintained at all, but barely managed. Still, there’s a time in May when all seems right about the garden. I’ll claim that it’s only for a day, but it’s longer, not a month, but perhaps two weeks when the garden looks just…
Big blooms, small flowers
There is no larger shrub in the garden, and certainly no larger blooms than on the Chinese Snowball bush (Viburnum macrocephalum ‘Sterile’, below). In fact, the huge blooms are composed of many smaller flowers, much like mophead hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), but Chinese Snowball is considerably taller and wider than the largest of the mopheads. This…
Finding space for trees
There’s no disguising that I’m a sucker for any distinctive tree, common or rare, and regardless if there’s space to plant it, or not. Last year I purchased tiny saplings of Dove tree (Davidia involucrata, below) and Korean Sweetheart tree (Euscaphis japonica) since there was no space in the garden to plant full sized trees….
The spring garden
I’ve planted to fill the garden with blooms throughout the year, and with recent mild winters there has been something flowering every day for the past two years. Still, skillful planning would be required not to have a garden full of blooms in the spring months (and what would be the point). Again, there are…
Spreading under difficult circumstances
A strip of forest runs along the southern border of the garden with tall swamp maples and tulip poplars, but also a wonderful black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and a sprinkling of oaks to the lower end. The area between the house and the forest is narrow enough at its closest point that I fear one…
Silverbells
Carolina Silverbell (Halesia caroliniana, below) is native to much of the American southeast, though not to Virginia, so it can not correctly be called a native in my garden. No matter, I have trees from across the globe, and none lovelier in bloom than the silverbell. Unfortunately, the dangling blooms have a tissue papery substance,…
Catching up
In the spring there are so many blooms and so few hours to jot down the mindless drivel that fills these pages. So, today there will be more photos, and less babbling. No purpose is served by me having these pictures stored on my computer and not sharing them. We’ll start with photos from a…
No sense
Fortunately, I still have a sense of humor, but I’m afraid even it’s fading fast. My common sense is debatable, and I’m so color blind I can hardly tell green from brown. My wife tells me I’m nearly stone deaf, and I can barely smell the most fragrant of flowers in the garden. This is…
Upset by the cold spring
After a cold early spring, typically gentle bumblebees are unusually irritable and aggressive when I poke my nose into their business. I’m not a complete idiot, and not unsympathetic to their business of collecting nectar. So, I back off until they are a bit calmer, then dive in again. Photographs must be taken, even at…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 