A week ago, with the threat of frost and possibly a freeze, pots of tropicals were hauled indoors for the season. Most agaves and elephant ears will tolerate a light frost, but if temperatures dropped below the thirty-three degrees that was forecast, some might be injured. This annual chore is not one of my favorites,…
Category: Japanese maple
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…
Finally ripe
On Saturday, the number of cardinals harvesting berries from the dogwood (Cornus florida, below) makes clear that the red berries are finally ripe. On this breezy afternoon branches sway and shake with birds swooping in for a meal, then moving on to the safety of taller, neighboring trees. By Sunday morning, berries are gone, and…
At it again
Unsurprisingly, I’m at it again. Planting, though if you take the word of my wife the garden’s been full for years, and another plant could not possibly be wedged in. Which is, of course, nonsense. Certainly, she understands the futility of putting a halt to new planting, and now she just groans when she spots…
A temporary reprieve
Summer-like temperatures forecast for the middle of October offer a temporary reprieve for flowers threatened by the first frost. A week ago, this killing cold seemed imminent, with overnight lows dipping into the thirties. But, with great relief, the critical degree or two colder was not reached, and now there will be toad lilies and…
Tragedy narrowly averted
If there can be such a thing as a tragedy in the garden (rather than a severe disappointment), one was narrowly averted in mid April when two nights with temperatures in the twenties damaged new leaves of Japanese maples (as well as hydrangeas and others). With fresh growth spurred by early spring warmth weeks ahead…
Not quite a weedy mess
Clumps of Japanese iris (Iris ensata) at the pond’s edge have been infiltrated by stilt grass, seedlings of Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum, which, for now are tolerated because they mature long after the irises have faded), and a jumble of other weeds that cannot be identified. Difficulties in access to remove weeds along the pond’s…
A slow recovery
No doubt, gardeners get jittery at the mention of any number of weather events, constantly dreading freezes and droughts that might bring ruin to their treasures. Certainly, every gardener has suffered losses due to cold, snow or ice, wind, hail, or combinations of these within a single storm. Never, he proclaims, has he seen a winter…
A work in progress
Perhaps someday, the garden will be complete. After twenty-seven years, much of the property is covered by ponds (below) and plantings, but the gardener’s work is never done, it seems, and much remains to be done along the edges. If all goes well, in another decade the garden should be perfectly satisfactory, though setbacks are…
Memory lapses
Seemingly, I am incapable of recalling the dates of most events in my life without an unforgettable reference point. I’m quite certain I would not remember when I was married if it was not the year after I began to work full time after college (Egads! In the same place since 1976. It seems like…
A week away from the garden
A week ago, I left the garden in reasonably good order to travel to the west coast. Weeds were mostly under control, and I even fit in a bit of planting before leaving since a few afternoon storms were forecast. The storms faded, so the small perennials barely survived the week, but otherwise the garden was in…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 