Recent mild temperatures have encouraged me to get out into the garden. Lengthy strolls encouraged by blooming hellebores, snowdrops, witch hazels, and now the first daffodils (below) have been briefly punctuated by pulling of winter weeds that should be plucked before going to seed. Many remain, and there is much clean up to do before…

Out in the garden this afternoon, in short sleeves. I’ve not yet transitioned to shorts, but that’s coming. Certainly, there must be colder days on the way, but spring is near in the garden and thankfully early. For the gardener, a snowdrop or crocus (below) flowering a few weeks ahead of schedule is a bonus,…

Yes, I strolled the garden yesterday, and the day before. Little changed from one day to the next, but I relish even the most minor additions as the days slowly advance until spring. This afternoon, I am surprised and delighted by the first wood anemones (Anemonoides blanda, above) in flower. These have spread slowly in…

Undoubtedly, I’m a bit dense, but when the virtues of winter flowering witch hazels (Hamamelis) are extolled, ‘Arnold Promise’ (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’, below) is rarely mentioned. Yes, it’s common, at least as witch hazels go, but from the dozen or more witch hazels in the garden that flower from late October into March…

I am wandering through the garden on this mild afternoon in early February, doing minimal labor, but savoring the blooms that are more abundant each day. While many hellebores and snowdrops flower, buds of spring flowering camellias (Camellia japonica, below) swell by the day. If days remain mild, there will be lovely red and pink…

Temperatures have warmed to eighteen degrees (Fahrenheit) on this sunny morning the first week of February. Last night’s wind gusts have subsided, so it’s safe to go outdoors without restrictive layers of clothing. I am particularly anxious since forecasts call for milder weather beginning tomorrow. The itch to get going in the garden is growing…

I am quite fond of free plants, particularly those that require no effort on my part. The most obvious freebies in this garden are hellebores. Yes, there are plenty that I paid for, maybe half of the hundred plus in the garden, but beneath a hellebore’s canopy of leathery leaves there are dozens, even hundreds…

Not to be forgotten, the winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum, below) growing with low, arching branches beneath a wide spreading paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) along the edge of the koi pond is flowering. Some years, this happens as early as December, but this late January is more average. Access to a closeup view of the jasmine’s bright…

I’ve mentally noted, so I must be reminded repeatedly when notes are not written, that the yellow, threadleafed spirea (Spirea thunbergii ‘Ogon’, below) overhanging the pond by the front walk must be chopped after flowering in late March. No matter how unruly, spring flowering shrubs must not be pruned until soon after the blooms have…

While stomping through the garden this afternoon, a glimpse of yellow was spied through brown stems of what has grown to become a wide spreading clump of toad lilies (Tricyrtis). In winter, I typically stay to the edges of the garden as all noteworthy winter bloomers reside where they are easily seen, but I was…

Unsurprisingly, after three decades in the garden there remains much to learn. While my intent is to shut out the everyday, to escape from overthinking, every peaceful stroll through the garden reveals new information. Some are merely observations to be enjoyed for the moment. Others provoke thought (a dangerous proposition). A tall rhododendron outside the…

Certainly, local gardeners must be thrilled by recent mild temperatures that followed December’s severe chill. I am overjoyed. For several days in December, broadleaf evergreens curled for protection in the cold, and while no damage is apparent in this garden, I repeatedly hear reports of plant losses locally. Somewhat by accident, a handful of tender…