Three large evergreens, an English yew and an Alaskan cedar at the shaded rear corner of the house, and a Blue Atlas cedar halfway down the rear garden beside the koi pond, have required removal in the past year. A ‘Silver Cloud’ rebud that leaned at a severe angle was removed after long debate. All…

Most years, the early spring cleanup is drudgery, an unpleasant several days of mind numbing chores. All over again, I can hear my mother’s voice demanding “make your bed”, “clean your room”, or “take out the trash. NOW”. And like a petulant, sixty-six year old child, I stomp my feet and pout until I’m otherwise…

But of course, you say, a thirty dollar hellebore must be better than any of dozens of seedlings (free plants) that are greatly appreciated and transplanted liberally about the garden. While single flowered hellebores planted years ago are prodigious in providing seedlings, and still quite wonderful in bloom, many newer types have showier double and…

In recent weeks, overly dense and cluttered clumps of hellebores were thinned from an area that drains from the earliest planted hellebores in the garden. A Chinese dogwood interrupts the flow of rainwater, and here a layer of silt and leaf litter has collected that is apparently ideal for hellebore seedlings. As is often the…

With the garden covered by varied degrees of snow and ice in recent weeks, the thinly grassed lawn connecting to the rear garden has become a muddy mess. The narrow passageway from the driveway to the garden has long been a problem, with a poor stand of neglected turf and too much foot traffic. At…

A badly leaning redbud has been removed, and most notably, its debris has been cleared. Too often, clean up is delayed until later, in particular in the winter months when sloppiness matters less. Needless to say, I am pleased by this effort that should be the standard rather than the exception, and thus there is…

As expected after only a few mild afternoons, spidery blooms of witch hazels that were delayed by cold in recent weeks have unfolded. In two days the witch hazels changed from the barest hint to full color, with little delay between mid and late winter flowering hybrids. Finally. Of course, witch hazels were planted for…

Evergold carex (Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, below) spreads slowly but dependably, and no matter that I didn’t notice this until now, the evergreen clump along the front walk has stealthily invaded into hundreds of snowdrops (Galanthus). While the particular snowdrops in the area are taller ones that stand tall enough to be seen through the sedge,…

With the mildest winter in memory a year ago, hellebores, snowdrops, and witch hazels reached peak bloom early in a glorious February. Winter aconites, crocus, sweetbox, and several pieris were colorful long before winter’s end. But not this year, despite a mild start with first blooms of hellebores and snowdrops before the new year. Despite…

I look forward to the warmth of spring, now just a few days (or weeks) off, with more anticipation than most years. A newly planted redbud (in December), a one of a kind variegated sport (below) of the superb, yellow leafed ‘Rising Sun’, will flower (as redbuds do) in early April. Yellow and green mottled…

A curious mix of snow, sleet, and ice has again coated the garden, fortunately not to a depth so that it will melt quickly on the first afternoon that rises above freezing. A comparative heat wave is forecast for the coming week (temperatures in the fifties, Fahrenheit) so this precipitation will soon be forgotten. Instead,…

Years ago, every spell of temperatures nearing zero (Fahrenheit) brought concern for the survival of camellias in the garden, or at least for flower buds of spring blooming Camellia japonicas that typically managed only a few scattered flowers as many buds were cold damaged. Today, I fret only that flowers in late winter are quickly…