SOME OF THE FIRST SHRUBS I PLANTED here 25 years ago are looking a little past their prime (as is their keeper), so I was cheered today to read an entry for Fothergilla major (above) in a woody plant encyclopedia that said some specimens have been witnessed to look good even after 60 years. Coming up momentarily is Fothergilla’s second big moment of the growing season—its autumn show (above)—so it seemed like a good time to recommend this true multi-season beauty. [read more…]
trees & shrubs
great shrub: fothergilla, a multi-season star
October 23, 2011 at 3:48 pm
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zone pushing: overwintering, in 2 podcasts
October 18, 2011 at 8:46 am
IT WILL SOON BE LAST CALL around here, though an Indian summer has lulled me into inattention to some about-to-be-urgent chores. My houseplants have been indoors since an early scare last month, but there are miles to go before the garden’s tender things sleep. A two-part podcast and some links to help you on your way to overwintering tender plants–in case you, like me, didn’t get ready last month when we sounded the first call. [read more…]
why no fruit? when pollination fails
October 3, 2011 at 4:08 pm
IT’S A GREAT YEAR FOR FRUIT-SET HERE in most of my bird-friendly ornamental plants (and also my beloved old apple trees), but for some readers the opposite has been true. Why no fruit on a viburnum (that’s a well-fruited doublefile type, top photo), or a spicebush, or a holly, people have written in lately to ask? [read more…]
sentimental shrub: viburnum sieboldii
September 5, 2011 at 11:37 am
COARSE AND SLIGHTLY UNKEMPT AS IT MAY BE, Viburnum sieboldii was one of my first viburnums and is still beloved here. And as if it knows it has some rough edges to make up for, it gives me little extras, in addition to being easy to grow. There is fruit the birds enjoy that evolves through several colors as it ripens over a long period, and foliage that smells like a somewhat funky pineapple to me when rubbed or crushed (one not-quite-aroma-therapeutic way to tell if V. sieboldii is the plant you’re looking at). [read more…]
great shrub: aralia elata ‘silver umbrella’
August 22, 2011 at 2:45 pm
IHAVE ALREADY CONFESSED MANY TIMES OVER to a love of the genus Aralia. One fairly recent acquisition, bought as a young grafted shrub maybe five years ago, is finally shaping up enough to cause people—and a happy frenzy of bees and wasps—to really take notice this time of year. Aralia elata ‘Silver Umbrella,’ a variegated form of the Japanese angelica tree, is in fine form. [read more…]
the other bottlebrush buckeye: ‘rogers’ strain
August 7, 2011 at 2:32 pm
I’M ALWAYS SAD WHEN MY BIG BOTTLEBRUSH BUCKEYE, Aesculus parviflora, fades from its July bloom—until I remember that there will be another performance a couple of weeks later. No, not from the same plant, but from its close cousin, the later-blooming variety called ‘Rogers,’ whose “bottlebrushes” are about 30 inches long. [read more…]
but i thought they were cucumbers (tee hee)
July 31, 2011 at 6:47 am
I WAS PICKING UP PODS under yellow-flowered Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’ the other day before mowing, and just couldn’t resist faking a jar of “pickles” for this photo. Aren’t they–and nature’s intricate geometry in all pods and cones–fascinating? I’m enjoying the pod-and-water-stuffed jar as the centerpiece on my dining table this week. Not your average midsummer bouquet, but a definite conversation-starter.
bird food! an avian ruckus in the cornus
July 18, 2011 at 10:51 am
WHAT IS ALL THAT NOISE AND FLUTTERING? Why is everyone feathered having a meetup in the twig dogwoods out front? Oh, I see–it’s the (apparently delicious) white fruits that have just ripened. [read more…]
new! slideshow of my 54 top shade plants
June 28, 2011 at 12:01 am
SHADE IS A TRICKSTER, CAPTURING AND RELINQUISHING territory as years pass and woody plants grow—or are damaged or lost. Twenty-five years into gardening on one site, some former “shade gardens” here now bake, and even more spots that were sunny—well, you get the changeable, unpredictable picture. Thankfully, for the latter areas, I have old clumps of lower-light plants to divide, including those in this new slideshow of my top 54 shade subjects. I included some woodland-garden shrubs and trees for those seeking to manufacture some shade of their own—or wanting to add more understory structure to what nature has provided. [read more…]
