Sadly, locating the garden’s newest acquisition, the evergreen ‘Empress of China’ dogwood (Cornus elliptica ‘Elsbry’, below), was not difficult. The tree was purchased assuming that it would be shoehorned into some marginally acceptable spot, which is perfectly acceptable practice in this garden. Two Pagoda dogwoods planted earlier in the year were fit perfectly to stand…

A week of overnight temperatures below thirty degrees has ended flowering of toad lilies (Tricyrtis) and most of the reblooming Encore azaleas. The lone azalea holdout, ‘Autumn Amethyst’ (below), will often flower into December, and of course I have no idea why this flower tolerates the cold while others fade overnight. Outdoor thermometers stuck to…

Five nights below freezing have started the foliage decline of the garden’s paperbushes (Edgeworthia chrysantha, below). Wilted leaves will be followed closely by yellowing, and then foliage will drop to expose the large flower buds that should begin showing color in early to late February. Several paperbushes have grown to twenty feet in width, much…

Tender mangaves and questionably cold hardy, orange flowered osmanthus have been dug and banished to the basement for the winter, but several maybe and perhaps cold hardy shrubs will be left outdoors for the winter. ‘Spider’s Web’ fatsia has been outdoors for three winters, the first when it was protected by a basket of shredded…

Oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia, below) flower dependably in part sun and shade, though the large blooms are more scattered in the deeply shaded canopy beneath maples and tulip poplars along the edge of the garden. With any degree of filtered sunlight they are wide spreading and colorful hydrangeas, highlighted as much by their autumn foliage…

The first of several nights forecast to drop several degrees below freezing did surprisingly little damage to the garden. Unsurprisingly, annual coleus and pelargonium are nearly gone, and a few fading azalea blooms faded more quickly, but otherwise the slow descent of the garden into winter dormancy was not accelerated as expected. Toad lily (Tricyrtis)…

Today is the dreaded day when tropicals must be brought indoors, into the dark basement for most, or for ones slightly more cold hardy, into the small greenhouse. Both areas have limited space, and with a few additions this year I’m hopeful that all will fit. I’ve added sheets of greenhouse plastic to the roof…

The garden is rapidly descending into its winter dormancy. Make no mistake, this is not ascending, no matter how the gardener views the more scattered highlights of late autumn and winter. Flowers are fading, leaves are turning, and on a breezy afternoon the stone paths are littered with fallen leaves. Soon, paths will be covered…

Though my wife is certain to disagree, it is clear to me that my excellent behavior over the past year has been rewarded by the disappearance of nutgrass that had widely invaded the small area of lawn at the damp, lower end of the rear garden (below).  No doubt, weeds in the garden will now…

A few days ago, two orders of native orchids arrived. I had only a very general idea where all would be planted, but with plants in hand decisions were made quickly to get them in the ground that evening before dark. Upon review a day later, I believe all were located as ideally as possible,…

A variegated leaf beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Duet’, below) is planted where it is hardly seen without mucking through slop as a spring trickles through the rear garden. I have never been tempted to move it to a more prominent position. While there is nothing wrong with ‘Duet’, its berries are less abundant than other beautyberries…

Leaves of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, below) turn early in the season to a soft yellow, not the unremarkable yellow of maples and tulip poplars that whines that winter is approaching. But don’t blink, leaves of ginkgo are soon gone, sometimes within hours, so don’t miss a day or better luck next year. I rarely miss…