In this second week of January, several seed catalogs and a few from mail order plant suppliers have arrived in the mailbox. Once, the box was stuffed with catalogs after the start of the new year, but today it is the email bin that overflows. It’s been a while since I’ve grown anything from seed…
Category: hosta
The best ….. and the worst of it
Leaves have fallen, flowers faded, and now the gardener will reflect on the year past, and consider the year to come. Each year brings shares of joy and disaster to the garden in unequal measure, and again I am pleased that the balance decidedly favors the positive. Perhaps there has been a year or two…
The garden’s paths
Over the better part of three decades, a hodgepodge of stone paths has been constructed to wind through the garden. In some instances, paths preceded the planting of the garden, which was then planted after ready access was available. None of the paths is artfully constructed, and even the more formal path to the front…
Deer in the autumn garden
With a one acre garden chock full of flowers, berries, and leafy treasures, I am pleased to do my small part to feed the neighborhood wildlife. Like it or not, and I don’t, the koi pond should be mentioned for attracting a variety of herons and snakes looking to feast on frogs and small fish. While…
Mildly disappointing
The garden does not always go as planned. Each year there will be disappointments, or worse. One thing or another will fail to flower, or to survive, and in this one acre garden there are likely to be more than a few things that don’t go as expected. There’s always next year. Despite a late…
Another close call
I should have given greater consideration to the proximity of the towering swamp maples and tulip poplars to the house (and less to its suitability for a garden) when this lot was selected twenty-eight years ago. Shade from the forest that borders the southeastern property line was desirable, while the remainder of the property was…
The first coolness of September
Following late July surgery, an initial bout of boredom drove me outdoors in the worst of summer’s heat. Heat and sweat soothed the soreness as I bent and weeded, stretching the surgeons’s instructions more than a bit. Perhaps, an indication of the extent of my recovery is that I now spend fewer hours outdoors and…
Sporelings in odd places
While I would not for a moment describe it as invasive, or even aggressive, sporelings (baby ferns) of Japanese Painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. ‘Pictum’, below) are common in the garden. These often pop up in odd places, though always in shade. Along the narrow, constructed stream that flows between two of the garden’s ponds, sporelings…
Sad hostas
The heat of summer is likely to bring out the worst in any garden, and certainly one without irrigation. After an unusually hot August with barely a trace of rain, the garden is a bit more haggard than most years, though I don’t believe any permanent harm will come of it. Summer is rarely kind…
The assistant gardener, for better or worse
I notice that the assistant gardener (my wife) spends less time in the garden, and while her efforts are appreciated on occasion, I heartily encourage that she come out to visit, and please leave her pruners behind. I notice that ivy along the path to the back deck is still neatly pruned, and that branches…
Let nature take its course
I was unconcerned when I first noticed an infestation of aphids on seedpods of the Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata, below). What harm could be done to this vigorous native? Probably none, and I planned to let nature takes its course. Its course, as it turns out, was to attract beetles that have quickly stripped aphids…
Two weeks away from the garden
While traveling on business (again) I am pleased to show photos of the garden that have not been featured in recent weeks. As always, there will be plenty of work to do when I return.
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 