The mix of purple and white coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, below) along the driveway is a colorful introduction to the garden, but also a long flowering favorite of pollinators. This started as a few ‘White Swan’, but seedlings have gradually turned to a greater population of purples. I recently noted the increased numbers of honeybees in…

A great pleasure of my long career in the gardening business has been annual visits to many nursery growing operations across the country. In four decades traveling, I’ve made many wonderful acquaintances and learned lessons that have turned a job into a hobby and obsession. But now, with my looming retirement, this will be my…

Finally, leaves of the weeping ‘Whitewater’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Whitewater’, below) are showing splashes of creamy variegation. The leaves emerged green and stayed green until recent weeks when several began to turn. I’ve had no previous experience with ‘Whitewater’, but mottled leaves of a ‘Silver Cloud’ redbud (below) with similar foliage coloring come out immediately…

I chuckle when a gardener states that today their garden is perfect. I suppose there might be a day in late May, if I was inclined to spend many more hours of maintenance, that this one could come in with a passing grade. A year from now, as I have more free time in retirement,…

Inarguably, in flower, the Golden Rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) is glorious. After too many years of pulling abundant seedlings, with ever increasing shade, the number has become manageable. So, I no longer despise the tree. Seedlings from the maples that border the garden are a much bigger nuisance,  but of course, I do not have…

I think the garden’s looking good, not as good as a month ago with hardly a drop of rain until a few days ago, but still pretty good. Of course, I’m prejudiced, but still I was somewhat wary of having a group of landscape designers here to visit the garden last week. Do they expect…

I suspect the possibility there are too many hostas in the garden. Curiously, my wife does not hesitate to question the numbers of dogwoods, redbuds, and Japanese maples, but I am rarely scolded over quantities of smaller plants. She does not think twice before chopping leaves that veer over the stone paths, but she does…

I often joke to non-gardening acquaintances that their dead tree has skipped a year, it will be fine next year. Mostly, they ignore me. Today, I wonder why the Wheel tree (Trochodendron aralioides, below) has skipped a year in bloom. It’s alive and healthy, and yes, I’m aware that many factors play into the lack…

I’ve had my fill of sunny, seventy-five degree days. Finally, there’s been enough rain that I’m happy to sit at the window watching as puddles swell on the patios, and now I won’t have to fret about another week without measurable rainfall for awhile. The Japanese maples I planted a few days ago should be…

As is often the case, the best plant combinations in the garden are complete accidents. Japanese Painted ferns pop up in the best places, and today, the most notable accident is the multitude of seedlings of Verbena bonariensis (below) that stand tall and purple in front of the bright yellow ‘Golden Falls’ redbud. The verbena…

Recent visitors to the garden were enthralled by several plants, but two sweetshrubs (Calycanthus) caught their eyes. The large flowered ‘Aphrodite’ (Calycanthus ‘Aphrodite’, below) blooms a few weeks later than native species that faded two weeks ago, and with multiple buds it continues to flower weeks longer. My dysfunctional nose does permit me to comment…

I do my small part, though more to selfishly attract wildlife for personal enjoyment than to do my minute part in delaying our warming climate. I feel only slightly guilty that I enjoy our warming winters, but also that the years without extreme freezes have enabled me to add plants that I long expected not…