Variegated leaves are splashed, striped, or spotted with white, gold, pink, and other colors. Garden designers are told to beware not to use too many or they will clash. I don’t have any secret formula, but I have dozens, maybe hundreds of variegated plants in my garden. And it looks just fine to me. This is one…
Category: gardens
Backyard wildlife habititats – certified or not
I recently filled out a questionnaire from the National Wildlife Federation to qualify my garden as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. The answers you give are on your honor, so I think that a toxic waste dump could probably become “certified”, but the concept is honorable enough. In fact, certification or not, my garden is inhabited…
Plant collections
I just have to get one of those. And one of this-or-that. And before you know it I have a bunch of this-or-that’s and some more of those. Such is the sad fate of a plant addict. The worry is, I often buy plants before having any idea where they’re going in the garden. I don’t recommend this for others, but…
Encore azaleas
I have been growing Encore azaleas in my mid-Atlantic garden since they were introduced, and in my position as a buyer for Meadows Farms nurseries and landscaping I have had the opportunity to test several varieties prior to introduction. In particular, it has been important to me to evaluate plants with a claim of improvement…
Flowering trees
What better time than a snowy morning in late January to contemplate additions to the garden. The most critical decisions to make in the design of the garden are the ones that take up the most space, trees. While shade trees often occupy large expanses, flowering trees are much easier to work into the landscape….
Color in the winter garden
Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ ‘Winter Sun’ Mahonia is a great garden plant if you don’t mind the lethal spines on the leaves. I have several planted in a range from full sun to shade. The plants and blooms in sun are larger, although the ones in shade are doing fine. Mahonia beali seems to grow equally as…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 