A great joy in retirement is not waking hours before sunrise to witness the chilliest hour as I did for four decades. Of course, rising with the morning sun the nighttime low is long past and our current indoor thermometer does not register the overnight low temperature for later viewing. With lows forecast to fall…

The garden is entering the period when falling leaves and declining perennials open visual gaps that can deceive the foolish gardener into purchasing many more plants than can be fit into tiny gaps that will quickly fill with spring’s growth. I am that fool. The sparseness will continue through the winter months, and even into…

Yellow leaves from maples (Acer rubrum) and tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) in the neighboring forest drift on the breeze to cover the side and rear gardens. In time for Thanksgiving guests, the paths will be cleared (for a day) but leaves will blanket the garden to decay over months. The deluges of June washed away…

The latest planting project, though so small in scale to barely register, was to complete planting of the stumpery. The grander part of this addition to the side garden was an accident of nature. The Bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) that was its centerpiece was felled by a sudden storm in late June. I hope to…

The tall hostas have collapsed following the recent freeze while ones closer to the soil have not. The color remains in a few, even ones that are now prostrate with the exception of the many seedlings of the blue-green Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’ that are now a sickly yellow. Preparing for winter’s cold, their sad appearance…

Several frosty nights quickened the garden’s seasonal change, but this was noticeably accelerated by one night of freezing temperatures. Many hostas and several late blooming perennials have collapsed, while bees and ants remain hard at work pollinating autumn flowering camellias (below) that will continue into late November. Flowers of several toad lilies (Tricyrtis, below) have persisted…

The garden is a mishmash of styles from rock gardens to Japanese maples and an increasing number of large leafed plants that are tropical in appearance. Some are cold hardy (Tetrapanax papyifera and Musa basjoo, below) and others are not. While little care is required for much of the garden, the non-hardy plants must be…

I see little in the autumn coloring of Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum, below) to justify the acclaim for its faded yellow. Perhaps I am missing something, and unfortunately I am unable to enjoy the scent of its fallen leaves that is most talked about. Undoubtedly, environmental factors effect such things as foliage color, and I’m pleased…

I presume that thieves breaking into the greenhouse to raid the koi food container are raccoons, a beast capable of outsmarting lesser humans (apparently including me). After multiple efforts, I’ve blockaded the door and window to discourage them, though the reason they’ve moved on could be that the food supply is dwindling. While I monitor…

With a single night dipping into the thirties (Fahrenheit), flowers of several toad lilies (Tricyrtis) have quickly faded. Others remain in bloom, attracting the few bees still active. The last of the toad lilies to flower was the vigorous ‘Miyazaki’, but it is also the first to fade and set seed (below). I’ve potted many…

Okay, summer is officially ended. Overnight temperatures in the forties are not summerlike, and now it’s dipping into the thirties. This isn’t quite winter, but it’s clear we’re headed in that direction. I’d be happy if early October lingered a few extra weeks. The shortened hours of daylight are as much of an issue as…