Mounds of brown leaves of the purple leafed European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropunicea’) cover the stone path, an early and mostly unwelcome sign that autumn has arrived and frost is near. Recent rainfall has ended the late summer drought, and after weeks of ninety degree temperatures, I can hardly complain about the cool and breezy days…
Category: Native plants
A bumper crop of dogwood berries
I’m thinking that berries on the dogwood (Cornus florida) in the front garden are more abundant than usual, though I am unreliable on matters of recollection, and perhaps this is nothing out of the ordinary. In any case, I will presume that I am correct, reasoning that bees were particularly active in pollinating in the…
Sporelings in odd places
While I would not for a moment describe it as invasive, or even aggressive, sporelings (baby ferns) of Japanese Painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. ‘Pictum’, below) are common in the garden. These often pop up in odd places, though always in shade. Along the narrow, constructed stream that flows between two of the garden’s ponds, sporelings…
Drought, or just dry?
Probably, the gardener is too quick to label a period in summer without substantial rainfall as drought, but there is no doubt that the past six weeks have been much drier than usual. Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) and ‘Okame cherry (Prunus x incamp ‘Okame’) have reacted by dropping leaves. While moisture loving River birches (Betula nigra)…
The assistant gardener, for better or worse
I notice that the assistant gardener (my wife) spends less time in the garden, and while her efforts are appreciated on occasion, I heartily encourage that she come out to visit, and please leave her pruners behind. I notice that ivy along the path to the back deck is still neatly pruned, and that branches…
The dry garden in a dry summer
Curse you. I don’t want to hear that the storm that veered north a few days ago dumped an inch and a half of rain on your garden. This was two days after you had another half inch that came so close, but scooted north of here at the last moment. A few storms the same…
What’s flowering in late August
After three weeks of horrid summer temperatures it seems a miracle that anything in the garden could be alive, much less flowering and looking splendid. But, of course, the gardener knows that plants are sturdier than that, and even at the end of an August notable for too many days over ninety, and too few…
Let nature take its course
I was unconcerned when I first noticed an infestation of aphids on seedpods of the Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata, below). What harm could be done to this vigorous native? Probably none, and I planned to let nature takes its course. Its course, as it turns out, was to attract beetles that have quickly stripped aphids…
Where are the bees?
Much about the fate of bees and other pollinators has been discussed by government and gardeners in recent years. I cannot argue, except in my small part of the planet where there is no sign of their diminished numbers. On any sunny afternoon from July through September, the gardener need only stroll past his small…
Summer rain
Each August afternoon, the gardener scans the western sky for storm clouds that might bring relief to his parched garden. For weeks, scattered storms have looked promising, only to veer slightly off course. In fact, the garden is surviving this dry period with few problems, so I whine only in disappointment that another garden is…
A bit out of control
The edge of the koi pond is getting a bit out of control. Not all of it, but of one hundred twenty feet of stone partially submerged in the pond, a section of perhaps thirty feet of mixed irises has been infiltrated by Japanese silt grass and other annoying weeds. Two circumstances contribute to this…
It’s hot out there
Given that gardeners are individuals of outstanding character and judgment, I suspect that many are content to remain indoors as much as is possible through the worst of summer’s heat. Regardless of their good sense, there are generally fewer flowers to attract the gardener, and with any luck, drier ground is less likely to grow…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 