A year ago was the first time I’ve grown castor bean (Ricinus communis). In damp ground that I thought at the time would be ideal, it grew only to knee high by summer’s end. With that obvious failure, my second try was planted on a bone dry slope beside the greenhouse. Happily, this one skyrocketed…

While the late winter flowering leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei, now Berberis bealei) is known to seed around a bit, there is little opportunity for blooms of the autumn flowering mahonias to be pollinated with infrequent mild weather days suitable for bees to be out and about by mid-November. Leatherleafs are often loaded with grape-like fruits…

As autumn progresses, leaves of one Japanese maple after another fall as another comes into brilliant color. Alas, at the start of November the numbers with foliage remaining are diminishing as leaves pile to cover much of the garden. Leaves of several winter flowering witch hazels (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’, below) are now delightfully colored….

The new sunroom is now under roof and enclosed, though still a week or two from completion. This small addition is a luxury for us. Except for boundless plant purchases, I spend cautiously, but this will be a room where we’ll spend considerable time in our imminent retirements. The view from the room is most…

Leaves now cover the side garden that borders the forest of maples and tulip poplars. Eventually, they’ll be cleared from the stone pathways, and some day the leaves will be removed so that winter flowering hellebores are not hidden. But, leaves in the remainder of the garden will be left to decay. Occasionally, I work…

One of the speckled, double flowered hellebores (below) is flowering at the start of November. Clearly, it’s confused, with a second flower on the way. By late in the month it’s possible we’ll see the first of the white flowered Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) that typically begin their flowering in mid-December, but this hellebore planted…

After weeks of waiting, flowers of the somewhat cold hardy Schefflera (now Heptapleurum delavayi, below) have finally opened. First, I should clarify that the hardiness of the schefflera is to low temperatures of five to ten degrees above zero (Fahrenheit) while this garden is rated as a zone 7a with an average winter low of…

As traffic jams our local highway traveling to see glorious autumn foliage in the mountains, there is plenty of color here in the garden. And, more to come. While the peak color is currently on display, several of the most colorful Japanese maples (above and below) do not turn until mid-November. A few of the…

The season’s first frost or freeze was forecast for last night, so despite doubts I hauled the non-cold hardy succulents and cactus-like euphorbias to the basement. Too often, this annual chore is undertaken in a panic with fading light and a howling, chilly wind, but the day was mild and thus my questioning the forecast….

In recent years, the tall, coarsely textured Tatarian asters (Aster tataricus, below) have lost their prominent positioning in the garden. Something came along that looks better, longer, so the asters were moved to the back. Despite being more shaded (I thought they would be too shaded), this does not seem to reduce the quantity of…

Going back twenty-five years ago, I recall happily jerking out the last of the lacebug infested azaleas by the house, vowing never to plant another. But, gardeners are rarely set in their ways, and when offered a trial of reblooming azaleas that flowered in spring and again in autumn, I said “sounds like a good…

I have nothing against lawns. There was a time when the boys were growing that the rear lawn was our ballfield. Later, the flatter, lower, rear lawn was well worn from fierce family badminton games. But, as happens, the kids grew and moved on, and so did the practicality of the lawn. As my passion…