Given that gardeners are individuals of outstanding character and judgment, I suspect that many are content to remain indoors as much as is possible through the worst of summer’s heat. Regardless of their good sense, there are generally fewer flowers to attract the gardener, and with any luck, drier ground is less likely to grow…
Category: landscaping
Goodbye beetles
Just as Japanese beetles were becoming bothersome, destroying every flower of the purple Passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata, below), they have vanished, though certainly not due to any action on my part. My displeasure counts for little in this garden. I suspect that the beetles’ movement into the next phase of their lifecycle is determined by…
Passionflowers and beetles
Early flowers of the passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata) were undisturbed by pests, but now, as dozens of Tiger swallowtails have appeared in the garden, so have Japanese beetles. Beetles find flowers as they open, and a bloom that would typically last for a few days is destroyed by midday. There are readily available controls for…
A good omen (if you believe in those, which I don’t)
After recent back surgery, I expect the period for recovery will be brief enough that I will remain unqualified to write on the topic of gardening with physical limitations. Already, I have plucked a weed or three, and since I have nothing better to do while recovering, no doubt this activity will pick up. So…
A short hiatus while repairs are made
Many things can be put off. Weeding, for example, can be delayed for weeks without dire consequences, though the longer the delay the greater the likelihood that thousands of seeds will be spread about. The garden demands constant evaluation, when to plant, to weed, or prune for maximum benefit, or often times to minimize troubles….
Returning to the garden
While traveling for a few weeks on business, my wife reported regular sightings of a blue heron by the garden’s smaller ponds. The large koi pond is too deep, but in the shallower ponds the heron can stand on the bottom to wait for fish to come out of hiding. I prefer to keep koi…
A misguided (?) preference for variegated foliage
Perhaps the balance of too many variegated plants has been tipped beyond the point of distraction, but I suspect that jarring foliage contrasts are the least of problems a design purist would diagnose in this garden. In any case, my eye is easily pleased, regardless that cardinal rules of landscape design might be trampled into…
Hounds on the loose
A week ago, my wife and I enjoyed a visit with our loaner dog. On occasions far too rare, we welcome a visit from our son’s greyhound while he and his wife travel. The long legged hound carefully steps through the garden’s uneven stone paths, a remarkable contrast from the floppy eared sister hounds (Daisy…
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.
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 few magnolias
Among collections in the garden, space considerations allow a relative few magnolias. Besides the shrub-like form of the Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’, below), most grow to substantial proportions, and so the gardener is encouraged to choose wisely. Make no mistake, many small magnolias will grow to the size of a one car garage,…
Buttonbush and other swamp lovers
On a rainy morning, the absence of bees and butterflies on satellite-shaped, white flowers of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis, below) is in stark contrast to any sunny afternoon when the gardener must approach with caution, or risk the consequences. I first discovered this native shrub in a swampy area along a local hiking trail, where the…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 