Arriving This Week in The Nurseries (April 2nd)
As the spring gets underway we are still constantly receiving plant material to serve your gardening needs. Here are a few things we’re receiving this week and a few plant varieties that are coming into their own this week and just need a new home. Scheduled to Arrive This Week Assorted Blueberries There’s nothing sweeter… Read More
Scenes From the Winter Garden
No doubt, the garden in winter is more sparse than times when it is chock full of blooms, but it is not devoid of interest. A brief stroll on a chilly afternoon reveals sights that are overlooked with the distraction of flowers. In winter, seeds of witch hazels are propulsed far from the parent plant…. Read More
Scheduled for Removal
Along with modest new plantings envisioned for spring, a few removals also are scheduled for some mild winter weekend. Two small trees have failed to survive, a small Japanese maple planted in the middle of a vigorous patch of Ostrich ferns, and a Golden Chain tree with pendulous branches (Laburnum x watereri ‘Pendulum’, below). Planting… Read More
Work To Be Done
There is work to be done if flowers of hellebores and snowdrops are to be seen as milder temperatures return. The largest piles of leaves were removed from hellebores before the recent, extended period of cold, when swelling buds were first noticed. While flower buds were not injured by temperatures that dropped to zero, foliage… Read More
Impatient For Spring
Is mid January too early to be impatient for spring? In fact, I don’t wish to scoot the calendar forward, but anxiously await milder temperatures after several weeks of cold that has dragged on far too long. Winter flowers are a partial remedy for seemingly interminable winters, but many blooms curl for protection as temperatures… Read More
The Return of Milder Temperatures, and then…
The vagaries of weather seldom stray from the gardener’s thoughts, and sometimes inhabit his restless sleep. January is often discomforting, bundling against the chill, but also with apprehension that survival of treasures exposed in the garden is beyond his control. Winter Sun mahonia began flowering early in November. While flowers have been effected by near… Read More
A Brown-Leafed Gordlinia
Six spindly gordinias (x Gordlinia grandiflora) were planted into clumps of three when it became sadly apparent that a long established Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha, flowers below) was nearing its demise. Over three years, a rejuvenated spring drenched the surrounding soil (also killing a large witch hazel and holly), and though Franklinia was found in the… Read More
Collecting Mahonias (and Other Treasures)
A handful of hybrid mahonia cultivars (Mahonia x media) are barely distinguishable from one another, but I’ve determined to obtain one or more of each. Multiples are necessary to plant in varied conditions, so at least one if not all will thrive. That I often cannot recall which is which after several years is inconsequential,… Read More
May – June Spring Gardening Checklist
To-do, To-do… If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process. Cut back spent Tulip and Daffodil blooms, but not the foliage! Divide and replant crowded Daffodils. Feed your roses and new plantings with slow-release fertilizer sparingly. Provide supports for fast-growing perennials such as delphiniums, peonies, and lilies. Tie up clematis… Read More