Finally, I’m back home from two weeks on the road visiting nurseries in the southeast. That’s three thousand miles of interstates, dusty back roads, and bumping around through tree nurseries. More hollies and junipers than I can count, and roses, hydrangeas, and azaleas that will appear in our garden centers in the spring. There are…

There were too many photos to fit into yesterday’s entry about my visit to Bellingrath Gardens, so I’ll finish up today. I was asked to identify a few plants yesterday, and unfortunately the garden does not provide labels, so I’ll identify those that I can, and the others will remain anonymous. First, a photo of…

I’ve been on the road for a week, visiting nurseries in the southeast. Today our journey led us to Mobile, Alabama, home of the Encore azalea and other fine plants. Thus far in our journey temperatures have not been nearly as miserable as back home in Virginia, and today has been no exception, though eighty-nine…

I returned a few weeks ago from a short trip to the delightfully cool weather of Oregon, and at the start of the week I’m off again, this time for a couple weeks touring nurseries in the southeastern states. I’ve no doubt that the temperatures will be a few degrees warmer than Portland. I’ll leave…

Since the beginning of June there have been an inordinate number of days above ninety degrees, and perhaps a day or two over one hundred, horrid conditions for the garden and gardener alike. Today there is an occasional puff of a breeze, so it is arguably more comfortable (less uncomfortable?) than yesterday, but not nearly…

Ugh! One hundred degrees for the next couple days, and no rain in the forecast. Perhaps by the end of the week this short, overheated dry spell will end in thunderstorms, but for now the garden is parched. There is nothing unusual about the occasional drought in the summer, and it’s too soon for gardeners to…

A sunny garden will often benefit from some manner of shade, particularly from the oppressive summer sun June through August. In my garden there are mature maples and poplars along the southeastern property line, but these do little to provide relief from the blazing afternoon sun. Two river birches, a black gum, dogwoods, cherries, magnolias,…

…and the blues, bluer. I’ve returned from Oregon, and, as expected, the weather was delightful. Last week, as Virginia experienced record heat and suffocating humidity, Oregon was experiencing it’s hottest and sunniest stretch this year, but twenty degrees cooler than here, and without a noticeable trace of humidity. It should not be a surprise that…

I’ve just returned from a week touring nurseries in Oregon, and I’m ready to go back. Today’s forecast for Virginia is upper nineties and high humidity after a week with no humidity and temperatures in the seventies on the west coast. There was an weather alert on the Portland area TV news on Thursday to…

…. I’ll be back next week This weekend I’m flying into Portland, Oregon for a week touring nurseries in the northwest. Hot, humid weather is expected in Virginia for the week, and I’ve little doubt that Oregon will be delightful by comparison. I hope to return with photos of spruces and firs, rhododendrons, Japanese maples,…

In twenty years in this Virginia garden I don’t believe that I have seen the hydrangeas bloom so beautifully. Many years hydrangeas suffer damage to the blooming branch tips through the winter, and then will bloom sporadically or not at all, except for remontant types that flower on the current year’s growth. With heavy snow…