Of two hybrid ‘Venus’ dogwoods (below) planted several years ago, one has flourished while the other does no more than survive. The vigorously growing (and flowering) dogwood is tucked between taller, more established trees, but it is located so that it is shaded only from the late evening sun. Here, the positioning emulates the understory…

With warms days, and more flowers than I can recall through any December, I do not miss frigid temperatures, ice, and snow that have brought a degree of ruin to the garden in recent winters. But, continued dreariness and rain are becoming bothersome, and I would greatly prefer some middle ground, even if cooler temperatures must…

The abundance of berries on hollies in the garden varies, being subject to weather conditions at the time of flowering that might discourage pollinators from being out and about. This year, there are no berries on the deciduous Winterberry hollies (Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Red’, below), which are otherwise healthy, but have exhibited fewer berries in…

There is always something, and often many somethings that the gardener is not quite satisfied with. Rarely is there anything he despises, for he has made do and become convinced that this is not so bad after all. But, if he had his druthers, there are things that could be changed for the better. If,…

While eating breakfast this morning, my wife and I observed a red-tailed hawk perched on the tree lilac (Syringa reticulata), only a few feet from our kitchen window. This low branch is not an ordinary perch for hawks that are ever present soaring high above the garden, though with most trees bare in late November the…

As certain as winter’s cold and summer storms, leaves will fall in autumn to cover much of the garden. Now, I must plan to mow, rake, or shred to remove a large portion of the leaves that drop from the forest that borders the southern edge of the garden, and the dozens of trees that…

At the start of November, the garden shows mixed results from recent frosts and a single night of twenty-eight degrees. While brightly colored leaves of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) have fallen, stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia, above) has only recently changed color, and it is as lovely as in any autumn. Earlier, I observed…

The purple beautyberries (Callicarpa dichotoma, above) berried heavily in the garden this year, while I’ve observed that fruits on white berried types were a bit more sparse. White berries on the variegated beautyberry ‘Duet’ (below) are barely seen, even with a heavy crop, due to the exceptional vigor that hides the small berries, and due to…

Most likely I’m mistaken, but around here it seems that autumn foliage colors are late and more muted than usual. Until the past week there was not much at all to see, but now, after a week of cold, dogwoods (Cornus x ‘Celestial Shadow’, below) have turned to crimson, and just about everything else, to…

I don’t recall if the clump of ‘Chocolate’ Joe Pye weed (Ageratina altissima ‘Chocolate’, formerly Eupatorium rugosum, below) just off the driveway is the original or a seedling. Long ago a single plant was added, somewhere in the garden, and after many seedlings have come and gone only this one remains. Most sprouted in inappropriate…