I suppose that delivery folks are not too bothered that the front walk is covered ankle deep by leaves. I don’t think I have any more plants on the way, though some bulbs and seeds are expected soon. Otherwise, no one walks the paths except me, a few times every day or more if there’s…

Autumn foliage color is far down the list of criteria that I evaluate in a plant for inclusion in the garden. Often, my selections are driven by emotion upon seeing a tree while visiting a garden, though a bit of research is certain to follow. A time or two I’ve been tempted by foliage color…

The garden does not shut down for the winter though its progressing bareness can occasionally be distressing. The gardener must focus on the positives, and there are many despite the lack of leaves and fewer flowers. Still, in the fading light of early evening my thoughts drift to February, a hopeful time when the garden…

Occasionally, there is a cost to my inattentive ways. A Flame Thrower redbud (Cercis canadensis Flame Thrower) planted in late summer was initially watered, then neglected until I noticed it defoliating more rapidly than other redbuds in our continuing period of minimal rainfall from late summer into autumn. I did not intend to push the…

A great joy in retirement is not waking hours before sunrise to witness the chilliest hour as I did for four decades. Of course, rising with the morning sun the nighttime low is long past and our current indoor thermometer does not register the overnight low temperature for later viewing. With lows forecast to fall…

The garden is entering the period when falling leaves and declining perennials open visual gaps that can deceive the foolish gardener into purchasing many more plants than can be fit into tiny gaps that will quickly fill with spring’s growth. I am that fool. The sparseness will continue through the winter months, and even into…

Yellow leaves from maples (Acer rubrum) and tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) in the neighboring forest drift on the breeze to cover the side and rear gardens. In time for Thanksgiving guests, the paths will be cleared (for a day) but leaves will blanket the garden to decay over months. The deluges of June washed away…

The latest planting project, though so small in scale to barely register, was to complete planting of the stumpery. The grander part of this addition to the side garden was an accident of nature. The Bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) that was its centerpiece was felled by a sudden storm in late June. I hope to…

The tall hostas have collapsed following the recent freeze while ones closer to the soil have not. The color remains in a few, even ones that are now prostrate with the exception of the many seedlings of the blue-green Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’ that are now a sickly yellow. Preparing for winter’s cold, their sad appearance…

Several frosty nights quickened the garden’s seasonal change, but this was noticeably accelerated by one night of freezing temperatures. Many hostas and several late blooming perennials have collapsed, while bees and ants remain hard at work pollinating autumn flowering camellias (below) that will continue into late November. Flowers of several toad lilies (Tricyrtis, below) have persisted…

The garden is a mishmash of styles from rock gardens to Japanese maples and an increasing number of large leafed plants that are tropical in appearance. Some are cold hardy (Tetrapanax papyifera and Musa basjoo, below) and others are not. While little care is required for much of the garden, the non-hardy plants must be…

I see little in the autumn coloring of Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum, below) to justify the acclaim for its faded yellow. Perhaps I am missing something, and unfortunately I am unable to enjoy the scent of its fallen leaves that is most talked about. Undoubtedly, environmental factors effect such things as foliage color, and I’m pleased…