Wood poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum, below) have seeded into open and not so open spaces in the dry, shaded side garden. I’m not quite certain when or where it was first planted, but it pops up everywhere without asking, though it stops as sunlight encroaches into this shaded space. Since it typically goes dormant by summer…

Typically, freezing nights dot the forecast at the start of April, but with afternoons in the sixties and seventies, the gardener no longer has concerns that temperatures will drop into the teens to inflict serious damage. Yes, it can happen. It has happened, but rarely enough, I have few worries. No matter, I’ve jumped ahead…

A few dozen Tete-a-tete daffodils remain in bloom. These were autumn planted after construction of the sunroom was completed, probably in December, which accounts for flowering that is weeks late. I’m happy to have planted hellebores, daffodils, snowdrops, winter aconites (Eranthis), and spring starflowers (Ipheion) immediately rather than waiting another year. Certainly, taking time to…

I brush against the Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa, below) with a cloud of pollen erupting. The reproductive organs are barely visible, but another cloud is released as I examine more closely. Clearly, the cypress is wind pollinated, not dependent on the birds and bees, or even the curious gardener to spread pollen. Of course, this…

What’s that? Oh, something I planted. I’ll know in a few weeks, but for now, at least I can see something so I don’t plant this Asian mayapple where it will have to be moved so soon. It’ll never stop. The garden’s never done. After thirty-five years, there’s hardly an open inch until closer inspection…

This rainy afternoon is ideal for observing the garden from the perch of the glass walled sunroom that looks down upon the rear garden. Raindrops fall onto parts of the three ponds visible, though one will soon be obscured as Japanese maples come into leaf and Ostrich ferns unfurl their tall fronds. Two Japanese maples…

Today, flowers of Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens, below) verify that the native is the superior choice for this garden, where I ask only that it fill small spaces, flower beautifully, and display attractive foliage. Its cousin, the Japanese spurge (P. terminalis) is less showy but considerably more vigorous and better suited to spreading to cover…

The small rear lawn is littered by petals of ‘Merrill’ magnolia that drift on the breezes. Six days of peak flowering were a bonus before a twenty-five degree (Fahrenheit) freeze began a decline that will soon turn today’s limp flowers to brown mush. The gardener disturbed by the nearly annual freeze damage should simply plant…

Weather permitting, Barbara and I get out a few times a week to hike nearby mountains or to roam local forests. When my vote to pick the day’s hike is permitted, my choice is dictated by trails with botanical interest. We’re a few weeks early for trout lilies, trilliums, and mayapples, but many spring ephemerals…

I am thrilled to see two Asian mayapples (Podophyllum pleianthum, below) breaking ground along the stone path in the shaded, side garden. All knowing (or know nothing) gardener that I am, I did no watering over the two month period of drought last summer. In midsummer, one of the two planted mayapples planted earlier in…

Several branches of nandinas stray from their upright habit, probably due to snow or ice sometime in recent years. Today, the arching branches are evident, but soon, the two neighboring Japanese maples will be in leaf, the Ostrich ferns will reappear, and the nandinas are likely to be forgotten until next winter. I’m reminded that…

In this cold-natured garden where everything flowers a week later than just up the street, ‘Merrill’ magnolia flowers on March 15. More or less. Fifty feet down a gentle slope, ‘Royal Star’ flowers three days later. There is never a time when the Star magnolia flowers earlier than ‘Merrill’, but both might come into bloom ten…