Already, dozens of tiny Japanese maple seedlings are fully leafed while hundreds of newly germinated seedlings do not yet show the distinctive maple leaf. Most of the seedlings not weeded out a year ago will soon be pulled and discarded, though I am always on the lookout for an unusual leaf form. But, the evaluation…

With a rainy Sunday forecast (a week ago), Barbara and I decided we must stay local to make our annual bluebell hike on Saturday instead of our plan to head up into the mountains. Of course, there are a number of trails that we schedule to coincide with flowering of hepaticas, bluebells, trilliums, or orchids…

….. but I’m worried. The thirty or forty Japanese maples in the garden come into leaf over a period of weeks. Today, some are leafed fully while leaves of others are just emerging. With temperatures falling into the mid-twenties last night, I’m concerned about ones that are halfway between that are the most vulnerable. Too…

I do not claim any semblance of patience. Yes, the garden demands a measure of watch and wait, but I seek an immediate return. Fortunately, I am able to ignore these impulses to occasionally plant for the long-term and then forget until the dividends are paid years later. Why would anyone plant trilliums? They are…

The emerging foliage of spring has been witnessed over three decades in this garden, but it remains a delight with daily surprises. The same old garden is ever changing, a result of new additions, but also its continued growth. A viburnum fades as it recedes into deeper shade, but a redbud becomes more prominent. I…

Sure enough, the first of the redbuds is flowering as scheduled at the start of April. Set over thirty-six years in this garden, the timetable is that redbuds (Cercis canadensis) flower April first and dogwoods (Cornus florida) the tenth. Yes, there are variations by days and occasionally weeks, usually earlier after very mild late winters….

In the depth of winter, this is the day the gardener dreams about. Certainly, there are abundant blooms, but the background of green is beginning to fill. Many of the emerging leaves are marvelous. Japanese maples are favorites in every season, even the naked silhouettes in winter. Leaves unfurl gracefully, many alongside glorious blooms. With…

Though halfway down the slope of the rear garden, and with the view broken by Japanese maples, Kousa dogwood, and serviceberry (all budding but bare of leaves, of course), the tall ‘Merrill’ magnolia (Magnolia  x loebneri ‘Merrill’, below) flowers splendidly in March for whatever brief period until blooms are ruined by freezing temperatures. Days after…

After thirty-six years in this garden, I long ago ceased being surprised when a plant declines and eventually must be replaced. Here, the reason for decline is most often due to increasing shade as the many Japanese maples, dogwoods, and redbuds (and others) increase in size. In rare cases, I’ll prune tree branches to allow…

If no harm is imminent, I will often delay a task that must be done, but maybe it can wait until tomorrow (or a year from tomorrow). And so, pruning of the paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) in the lower rear garden was not accomplished a year ago, and here it is, now bumping against the stone…

I have mistreated the variegated Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas ‘Variegata’) too often to expect its forgiveness, but after multiple transplants, the small tree appears to be recovering despite my efforts. The dogwood (commonly called a cherry due to its red fruit) was once in ground far too damp, then too shaded before landing in a…

Today’s hike is the annual physical challenge for Barbara and me. Each year, we must prove to ourselves that we are still able to scamper up through the boulder lined gorge of Keyser Run on the appropriately named Little Devil’s Stairs trail. But, the trail is not only a fitness test as we age. The…