Despite pleadings by my wife, who despises any plant with needles or spines, two Monkey Puzzles (Araucaria araucana, below) were planted earlier in the spring. Money puzzles have no thorns, but the stiff, scale-like leaves end in extremely sharp tips. It is a dangerous tree if not handled carefully. Both trees are planted well off…

Thankfully, the Bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla, below) is recovering from an ill timed freeze that hit just as emerging leaves were most tender. While scattered branches of the large tree were spared, most leaves were damaged, and since a freeze and damage this late in the spring is so rare I was at least slightly…

The garden would be a happier place if not for swamp maples (Acer rubrum) that hover over its margins. No, the shade is not distressing, it is the many thousands of seedlings that are the annoyance. I do not fret over the scattered seedlings of tulip poplars and blackgums that occasionally must be plucked, and…

One of two Manchurian lilacs (‎Syringa pubescens subsp. patula ‘Miss Kim’, below) is just about gone. This is a familiar story, oft repeated in this thirty-one year old garden, and rarely are the losses of much concern. Plants grow, and occasionally one conflicts with another. One must be moved, which sometimes happens, or the more…

The third cycle of dogwoods is now flowering, following natives (Cornus florida) the second week of April and hybrids in early May. The large flowered ‘Venus’ remains in bloom as leaves of Chinese dogwoods (Cornus kousa, below) are now obscured by flowers. All dogwoods are excellent choices, with the timing of flowers the primary consideration…

Several Encore azaleas are late in flowering this spring, though this is not too unusual. The repeat blooming cycle of Encores is often disrupted by weather in more northern cold hardiness zones to veer flowering times a few weeks early or late, and occasionally a season of flowering is skipped over. I have planted Encores…

Flowers of several terrestrial orchids (Bletilla striata, below, and Calanthe discolor, further below) were damaged in the recent freeze, an instance of unfortunate timing and an extremely late and unusual drop in temperature to a few degrees below freezing. Orchids were not alone in suffering injury from the cold, though including the orchids, none of…

I do not object that flowers of the ‘Stellar Pink’ dogwood (Cornus ‘Rutgan’, below) are barely shaded in pink, and most blooms appear nearly white in color. The same is true of the supposedly pink flowered ‘Satomi’ Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’). I’ve witnessed both with deep pink flowers in the much cooler northwestern states,…

I am enthralled by various sweetshrubs (Calycanthus floridus), though my appreciation in the garden is limited by a nose that has never fully functioned except for the most obvious scents. Also, I admit that the flowers are not showy in the manner that visitors or passersby on the road out front would stop to take…

Yesterday, several of what I figure to be tough as nails terrestrial orchids (Bletilla striata, below) were dug and transplanted. I have no doubt this is best done immediately following its imminent flowering, but these few had strayed into a crowded clump of sedge (Carex), and occasionally tasks must be undertaken when the mood is…

The garden, any garden, should ideally include marvelous plants that must be viewed close up, and hopefully will also include pleasant wider views. From late autumn until mid spring the wider angle in this garden is not filled until perennials break dormancy, but today it’s almost there. With the largest part of the garden in…

Plant orders for spring were made in the boredom of winter, long before I became aware of the pandemic that now keeps many of us off the streets and out of public places. Local garden centers are now booming, and I’ve made several purchases (so far), but a number of the oddities I enjoy so…