The ever changing garden.

Hosta, or Plantain lilies are best suited to shade gardens

I can speak first hand, on the changes a garden goes through during its lifespan. Nine years ago when we purchased this property, there was nothing here but a few trees, mostly in the back yard and only two in the front yard. Of those two, one fell during a hurricane. We essentially started with the proverbial blank slate.

Year after year, we added, subtracted, moved, expanded, smiled, cried, hated and loved our yard. True gardeners. Frustrated at times, but we are always chomping at the bit late in the winter season, for the warmer days of spring to arrive and life to once again resume in our little oasis.

A garden is an ever changing organism. Starting with our blank slate, we had a few trees cut from the back yard right when we moved in, a house warming gift from my parents. My next task was to aerate and over seed the lawn the first autumn, giving us an incredible lush lawn the following spring.

From there it started with a small tree here and there, adding a planting bed, then expanding it the next year. We've expanded the beds so much, and added new specimens so frequently, that there is very little "lawn" left in the front and the work is beginning now in the back yard.

The strip of grass has since been removed, growing the small island of mulch into the larger one on the right. The Japanese Maple has grown considerably to fill in the space.

We've learned that you can't always plant something and expect it to live there the rest of its life or yours. Gardens evolve, plants grow, things need to be moved. All of the sun loving plants we planted early on, have either died out, diminished or have been moved. We move plants and trees around often. Not the large stuff mind you, I don't have the strength, money or access to large moving equipment.

The first few years we had lots of sun in the front yard and my wife chose some very nice roses to plant and for the first few years we had fantastic colors and varieties. This year, there aren't many left and of those they just don't bloom like they once did since they get more shade than anything else. Now it is time to move the roses if we can find a properly sunny spot. That is getting harder to come by, after all the specimens we have planted.

We had some hostas planted on the side of the house at first and they got fried the first year, literally cooking in the intense Virginia afternoon heat. We moved those under the only tree in the front yard at the time, a Black Locust, where they still thrive today. In fact, they are loving life so much, not only have we divided them, they are propagating on their own and this year we have massive amounts of babies. The blossoms are already starting to emerge, even on the babies and on two we just purchased and planted just a few weeks ago. I broke a leaf off of one when dividing them last year and stuck just the leaf/stem in the ground, no roots at all, and they have taken off and have blossomed! Incredible!

Colors, textures, and different sizes give you plenty of options with Hostas

Newly purchased, planted and now blooming!

The back yard is in its changing phase now. We don't have much room left in the front yard, so we are concentrating on designing and planting the back yard. Designing is our word for changing things as you go as we don't really draw things out or plan ahead. My wife chooses the plants, I plant the plants and then after they are established, I proceed to remove the grass between them, add mulch and bingo. Planting beds. This has given our beds a very flowing, curvy feel, completely informal, which my wife jokingly refers to as the J-Lo beds. To me, in the future, grass will be just a means to get from growing bed to growing bed, pathways through the vegetation. I'm shooting for 15 minute mow times.

The JM we nearly lost last week. Almost 70% of it is now gone.

The point is, a garden is not just a plant and forget endeavor. It is ever evolving. Get used to things living and dying, even if not by your not so green thumb, get used to moving things around to suit the environment that is changing also. It's not that we planned on going from a sunny type yard to a shade yard. It just happened that way. We fall in love with a new plant , tree or shrub, buy it, take it home and plant it. We are the reason our garden has changed. We are greedy. Greedy for all things beautiful and living.

The cost of doing business. When we nearly lose something we love.

The top leaves turn deep crimson while the lower, sheltered leaves are green.

In owning property and maintaining it, there are always maintenance issues. There are inevitable pitfalls and catastrophes throughout any given year. The death of a plant or tree, storm damage, critter damage, we've all been through it. When we have a named storm or even just a summer storm front sweeping through, we cringe and take it as part of life when we lose something.

That being said, we had a nice semi-heavy rain the other day, no wind to speak of, and the rain was not torrential, but steadily heavy. We really didn't pay it any attention. It happens that way many times during the year. So I was disheartened when I saw the aftermath of this seemingly innocuous weather event the other day.

The day after was drizzly and overcast, which reminded my wife of typical London weather. We didn't do anything in the yard because of this. I got home from work, and went to the shed to get something. On my way back to the house, something caught my eye that just didn't set right. I looked to the left and noticed a very large branch down. Right where our very first Japanese maple was now residing. Sigh. Really?

Clive Owen was right..."Look at what they make you give"

This very large, very heavy branch had fallen directly on top of our well established JM. I believe it is a Crimson Queen, but I'm not entirely sure. Back when we purchased it 8 years ago, we didn't think to keep the tags or to make notes, although my wonderful wife has a memory like an elephant, I'm just not sure. The top leaves turn deep crimson while the lower, sheltered leaves are green. This branch had fallen long-wise, directly on top of this 6' diameter mounding beauty and broken off nearly every branch.

So what do we do now? After much discussion, we will be moving what is left to a new home. I will then proceed in cutting down the remaining offending tree. It has been problematic since we moved in, having lost many branches and harboring many dead branches. The funny thing is, we don't even know what kind of tree it is. It was there naturally when this property was developed. It does not bloom, there are no known means of natural propagation. It is, however, home to Downy Woodpeckers and Bluebirds as of this year. I'm pretty sure they are all done with their families, so that shouldn't be a problem.

We are going to cut it down, leaving about 2 feet of stump with a level top, so we can put a planter with some cascading effects and plant two Deodar Cedars near this to not only block some unsightly views from the neighbors, but to satisfy my wife's Jones for these majestic trees.

As for the JM, I will continue to feed and nurture it in its new home and hope that it back buds and produces some new leaders. I might have to try my hand at grafting if that doesn't work. This started out as a small $20 specimen from a big box store. We planted it in the middle of the yard and moved it to its current location a year or so later. It has been happy where it is and has made us happy ever since. Now it's time for some TLC.

Can you smell the Spring? Pleasant odors abound throughout the garden.

Sweet Bay Magnolia blossom has a sharp lemon scent

This is early Spring in Virginia. One of my favorite times of the year. This morning was absolutely gorgeous and as I was sipping my coffee on the deck, I was becoming intoxicated with the smells all around me.

The honeysuckle is in full bloom and the smell was drifting from around the side of the house were we allow a section to remain wild and grow uninhibited. Wow! What a wonderful smell.

Sweet, sweet honeysuckle

As I wandered around the garden, coffee cup in hand, I was treated to yet another wonderful smell. The lemony scent of the Sweet Bay Magnolia. One of the best. It tempts us for a few weeks in early Spring, then vanishes until next year.

Fragrance along with beauty, Sweet Bay Magnolia

And lets not forget the Peonies. Large soft bloom with wonderful rose scents. Don't forget to cut some and bring them in! It would be such a waste not to fill your home with this wonderful intoxicant. Some have already bloomed and are spent, but more are on the way, as they have some 3 weeks of varying bloom times in our garden.

soft and fragrant Peony

Peonies are unique

The middle of this one looks like confetti

So don't just plant for looks, plant for your nose as well. A good garden will have plants with different heights, different textures, different colors and of course, different smells. With all of that, then make sure you plant so that you have different colors, heights, textures and smells that happen all throughout the year, and don't all just happen at once.

What would be the point in that?

The Black Locust just finished its bloom time with its fragrant flowers

Inside out. Time to put those house plants outside!

Mother's Day is a time to reflect and to give thanks to those wonderful moms out there. No doubt, they deserve it. It is also time to let those cooped up houseplants live it up in their outside habitat.

We use Mother's Day as our guide for this transition. Obviously it depends on where you live and the weather, seeing as Denver just got snow dumped on it on Mother's Day. Like I said, its just a rule of thumb, a guide. The temps at night are now above 50 so all should be good. We also waited for those damned canker worms to pass on, so our Orchids and such do not become lunch.

The raised bed in the middle is for growing Bonsai material. The benches around that keep the houseplants off the ground. Morning sun leads to afternoon shade.

Every plant we have is tolerant of outside living. When you do take your plants out, acclimate them slowly to the new bright light by placing them in a shady area first and give them plenty of water. Some of the plants will need full sun and will be moved where they can achieve that. The others will get morning sun and afternoon shade. We will water them daily, unless there is a rainy spell.

We had a busy weekend, hitting some of the local nurseries. And as always, visiting a nursery means that I was planting in the afternoon. Funny how that works. We picked up two more yellow Azaleas, these weren't tagged as Admiral Semmes, but I'm pretty sure they are. We had been eying a Variegated Parsons Juniper for a couple of years now and each time we had to hold off for one reason or another. This time the time was right and so was the price. If you have never seen one, they are quite unique, with some of the foliage without pigmentation. I will be putting up a photo real soon.

I also had some new visitors to the yard. Every once in a blue moon we have seen a Scarlet Tanager. Today I saw the male twice! I'm hoping this means we have a new neighbor. I also saw something I have never seen here before, a Yellow Billed Cuckoo. I saw it in the Locust tree just hopping from branch to branch, but not really doing anything. I've never seen his shape before and had to look it up, but it is unmistakably a Cuckoo.

I leave you with some photos from around the yard. I love spring.

Clematis in bloom. Large 6" blossoms.

Peony

Peony

firethorn or pyracantha

Yellow Iris

Go native. Learn the plants that are native to your area and grow them.

Nothoscordum bivalve - False Garlic or Crowpoison

It's time to go native. But what does that mean? Maybe you heard someone at your local nursery mention native plants. It is a niche area when it comes to plants, most are hard or difficult to propagate, while others are better off left in the wild.

A Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic (indigenous) or naturalized to a given area in geologic time. Which can seem a bit ambiguous. Where's the cutoff? Well, in North America a plant is often deemed native if it was present before colonization. There, that's better. So if it was in your area naturally during Colonial times, then there's your native plant.

Cornus florida or Common flowering dogwood

We all know of at least one truly native plant where we live. Whether you are in the US or Canada, Europe or India, there are plants that you see every day, everywhere. Here in Virginia I had always known from childhood that the Cornus florida, or Flowering Dogwood was the Virginia state flower and tree. If you drive through the country on a bright spring day, you can spot all of the dogwoods growing wild in the woods, being comprimised by their bright white flowers, in an otherwise, still bleak landscape.

I just had no idea just how many plants were native until we started going to a small boutique nursery near our house. They have a small section carved out just for native plants. It's quite helpful and at least gets us looking or doing more research about plants in our area.

Stylophorum diphyllum - Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy. A beautiful, yellow, early spring wildflower

A colleague of mine shared her sometimes out of control Wood Poppy with me a couple of years ago. Shade loving and a prolific spring bloomer, this plant is wonderful in my shade garden near the edge of the woods. Stylophorum diphyllum - Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy.

One plant that I inherited when we purchased this property had me stumped for a few years. It has a beautiful flower, but it grows in thin leafed clumps and has white bulbs similar to onions or garlic, but has no smell. It has spread pretty well over the years and part of me doesn't mind, but I might have to start keeping it under control. It is Nothoscordum bivalve - False Garlic or Crowpoison.

I'm still researching to find out what this one is

I'm still researching to find out what this one is

 So what's my point? Find what is native to your area, find something you like and plant it. Keep these native going. Some are fast becoming extinct. The way we Americans build housing and businesses, by scraping off the top layer of earth, and cutting every tree in sight, building and then planting horrible trees like the Bradford Pear in droves, it's a wonder that we have any native plants left at all.

If you don't have a nursery like we do near you, at least get with your state forestry service or local co-op or farmers market and inquire about these plants.

Nothoscordum bivalve was formerly classified in the lily family, but has recently been moved to the Amaryllis family. It does not have the oniony-smell of true garlics and onions.

False Garlic

Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in.

Acer Palmatum "Orange Dream"

This last week I was a happy guy. I had some decent weather on my days off, but as luck would have it, the best weather was on the days I was working. Still, I was able to get some things done around the yard, plant some new specimens and even perform the first mowing.

Pear blossoms at sunset

Now this. Freeze warnings for tonight and the next couple of nights. Are you kidding me?! I thought, well, hoped, beyond all hope, that we were past this cold weather. You see, I hate cold weather. With a passion. I don't mind a cooler season necessarily, I just don't like freezing temps. Especially now. All of our Japanese maples are leafed out. Some leaves are still very young and tender. These, I am worried about. The hostas have just emerged. The tulips have been beautiful, but they are about spent. I'm mainly worried about the 16 unique specimen Japanese Maples we have around the yard.

Viburnum

We pride ourselves on finding the best version of each specimen and really look out for unique hybrids or new ones. Yesterday we picked up a real beauty called "Orange Dream". I'm not sure why it is called this as it is more yellow/chartreuse than orange, but its foliage is bright and different and will look nice as a trio of JMs, one red and the other with lacy green leaves.

But what is a gardener supposed to do? I guess I could go to the store, purchase massive amounts of plastic on rolls, wrap each tree and hope that that works. But then I have just created landfill waste that will last a millennia. I guess I'll just let ol' MN handle it. It is she, that is throwing us these curve balls by the way. The brutal winter we had, this late, late cold snap, and yes, I did find those damned Canker Worms on some of the trees last evening.

You've got to be kidding me.

Slumber is over. Spring awakens. Quickly!

Weeping Cherry blossoms are a sight for two of the senses

Ahhh. Spring has sprung. And with the work I was able to complete over the last few days, so has every muscle in my body. It is late in the season this year that I am completing this annual task, cleaning the beds from all of the winter detritus, raking out leaves blown in from yards afar, pulling early cool weather weeds and errant grasses.

While my body is protesting today, I am quite happy and satisfied. The days were warm and dry, allowing me two entire days of bending, picking, raking and hauling. I even broke a sweat a couple of times. Evenings have also been fruitful.

Snowbells soaking up the sun

This weather, being so pleasant, allowed me to also assess the damage done by ol' Ma Nature. It is not pretty. Upon further review, the Jasmine and two of the Gardenia have taken a huge hit, possibly even being visited by the Grim Reaper. I trimmed up the Jasmine, and the usual profuse "bleeding" of the white milky sap was not present. Sigh.

One of the early bloomers. Tulip.

But signs of life were evident elsewhere throughout the yard. Peonies are popping out of the ground, the tulips are starting to bud and a couple even managed to bloom. There are buds on all of the Japanese maples, which makes me very happy. The dappled willow was in full bud and this year, the squirrels have been snipping off the last 1-2 feet of each branch, leaving a disgusting pile at the base of the bush. My wife believes they are using them to build their nests, but I have seen them snip off these branches, only to nibble the very last couple of buds. Such a waste. We sprayed the bush with a fine mist of animal repellant, so we'll have to wait and see if that will work. They have never done this before and neither have I.

Peach blossoms

Over the years we have changed the ratio of grass to beds, and by doing this, have increased the need for mulch. Mulch is great stuff. I really does retain moisture in the ground under it. It biodegrades back into the soil, leaving nutrients over time. It does keep weeds at a minimum, and those that do manage to sprout, are easier to pull out. With that being said, I think that natural hardwood, cypress, pine bark or needles is the best. Stay away from the dyed variety. Chemically dyed mulch will only leech those chemicals back into your yard or garden. I've seen ads for ground up rubber mulch. Again, rubber from tires is extremely caustic over time and leeches horrible chemicals into the ground and will not look nice over the long haul.

Japanese Maple 'Shishigashira', or "Lions Mane" with new leaves.

Mulch can be expensive. It is cheaper by the yard when purchased in bulk, but it can be a large outlay all at once. The first year I was able to cover all my beds with just 20 bags of mulch. Two years ago we got a load of mulch delivered by dump truck, 9 cubic yards of it! And I was still shy, and since then we have added new planting beds in the back. This year I will be hitting the beds with small amounts of bagged mulch, here and there where needed. Make sure you get online and see when your local big box store is having a sale. Try to get them when they are 5 bags (2 cf each) for $10. The best deal all year. The Japanese Maples will be getting their dressings first.

The above images are the culmination of only 5 days of warm weather. It is amazing the resilience these plants have and the drive to reproduce and do it all over again after such a hard winter. We could all learn a lot from them.