The gardener should be aware when he complains that the early spring weather is miserable, no one is listening, though perhaps screaming at the chilly breezes soothes his soul. Yes, it’s raining, or snowing, sometimes simultaneously, but it’s March, and this is to be expected. As recent weeks attest, one March afternoon will be seventy…

Heaven forbid I should ever figure this out. The gardener expects some confusion, and particularly in early spring. My observation in this garden, for whatever little good that might be, is that ‘Dr. Merrill’ magnolia (Magnolia × loebneri ‘Merrill’, below) flowers a day or two before ‘Royal Star’ (Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’) which is also…

The first half of this winter was extraordinarily warm, while the second six weeks were more typical. Certainly, the late winter was not exceptionally cold, but after a pleasant beginning the season dragged on with several weeks under the cover of deep snow. Thankfully, this is behind us, though the gardener should expect scattered frosts and…

With warm temperatures forecast for the first half of March, a rapid (and welcomed) transition from late winter into spring should be expected. There will be more flowers, sooner, and of course some blooms will fade more quickly in the relative heat. On the negative side, I expect weeds to begin germinating, and gardeners are…

I cannot recall the time that I started and completed any task in the garden before the very last minute, or later. Occasionally, this rushing around results in complications. Winter weeds (and weeds in general) are rarely plucked before they spew thousands of seeds that will grow next winter’s crop, and it would seem that…

I often admire gardens displayed in magazines and books, and wonder, what can I do to make my garden look like that? I must be wired in another direction, and probably lack the skill to duplicate these lovely gardens. Masses of perennials, each more lush than the next, spill from beds with color and textural…

Finally, snow has melted along the shaded front walk. Slowly, snowdrops (Galanthus, below) and hellebores (Helleborus) have emerged to join others flowering in more open areas that melted a week ago. With this recent thaw the rear garden is a muddy mess, and with a single narrow entry point I will try to avoid muddying…

No matter that winter began with a delightful session of warm temperatures, ice, snow, and cold in recent weeks have soured the gardener’s mood. Though hellebores and snowdrops appeared through mounds of melting snow in full bloom, it is a single warm afternoon that has improved his disposition. An extended stroll through the garden, the…

‘Arnold Promise’ (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’, below) is running a bit late this year. Typically, ‘Arnold’ flowers a week or more earlier in this garden than the red flowered ‘Diane’, which is now beginning to bloom in mid February. But, thus far only swelling buds are evident on ‘Arnold Promise’, and there is no…

A fresh coating of snow covers the few remaining piles in the neighborhood left behind from the recent blizzard, but much of this shaded garden has remained snow covered for weeks. Daphnes and many hellebores are buried, and with afternoon temperatures in the low twenties, spring seems more than a few weeks off. With a…