I DON’T RECALL HOW I FOUND THEM—maybe it was while fixing something, or painting the house all those years ago. But for some reason I was down at ground level, peering under the floor of the front porch, and there they were, in near-darkness: two tiny trillium plants. I rescued them, and you know how it goes when a plant thanks you for your help: Now I have hundreds, thanks to those first two, and to a tip handed down from a great gardener about dividing them when they’re in flower. Yes, like right now. [read more…]
shade gardening
The older my garden gets, the more shady beds and borders I have. Great plants and sensible strategies for growing in shade.
2 becomes 200: how to divide trillium
April 22, 2012 at 9:41 am
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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…]
blooming in my garden: may 2, 2011 slideshow
May 2, 2011 at 2:19 pm
THE MOST COLORFUL CREATURES HERE as April turns to May: returning male birds in mating plumage. The last week included the arrival of rose-breasted grosbeaks and Baltimore orioles…but I am straying, as the point is plants, right? Oops. A look at what’s blooming (including Uvularia grandiflora, above), the second in a series of new slideshows during this busiest of changing garden times. [read more…]
let there be hellebores!
April 13, 2011 at 2:09 pm
I ALWAYS START TO FEEL BETTER, like we’re turning a corner, when the hybrids of Helleborus orientalis jump all the way up out of the ground and start showing off. After a couple of weeks of timid semi-bloom, with the flowers hugging close to the ground on unextended stalks as if in fear of assault by lingering winter blasts, here they finally come. More on these favorite plants, including a podcast: [read more…]
great shrub: bottlebrush buckeye
March 23, 2011 at 8:57 am
IT FELT LIKE SUCH A BIG SCORE the day many years ago when I found the bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora, in a nursery in New Bedford, Massachusetts, even though the plant was just a small thing in a plastic pot at the time. Now it’s my biggest shrub, and also one of my favorites, for it hummocky shape, handsome leaves that turn gold in fall, and easy, basically disease-free disposition. [read more…]
a narcissus and a bluebell that play well in shade
October 3, 2010 at 6:47 pm
ILOVE THE OPPORTUNISTS AMONG BULBS–the beauties that ask only enough full sun to get up and growing each year, develop their foliage and finish flowering, and then will do with dappled shade. I grow some snowflakes (Leucojum) that way, and extra-early little Eranthis hyemalis (the winter aconite), and even lots of big Narcissus under my old apple trees. Then friends turned me on to a couple of other charmers that have found similar homes here in recent years: a Spanish bluebell called ‘Excelsior,’ above, and a little daffodil called ‘Hawera.’ [read more…]
great shrub: a showoff viburnum, ‘michael dodge’
September 18, 2010 at 1:50 pm
YOU CAN SEE IT FROM THE PROVERBIAL MILE AWAY: Viburnum dilatatum ‘Michael Dodge’ weighed down in its embarrassment of gold fall fruit. Even though it’s a little coarse up-close and my friends the birds don’t seem to care for the flavor of all those brilliant morsels, I think I’m in love. [read more…]
golden days: is yellow spring’s favorite color?
May 6, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I KEEP WONDERING WHY (SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING) the first weeks of spring seem to be so inclined to glow in solid gold. Is it something about co-evolution and early season pollinators liking the color, or just a side effect of how we’ve selected what plants we make our gardens from over the history of the nursery industry? (These are the kinds of things I think about, you see.) Whatever the “why,” the “what” is pretty great, and so an homage to spring’s favorite color: yellow. [read more…]
hellebore porn: a fast look at 2010′s bloomers
April 7, 2010 at 7:56 am
I DON’T KNOW WHAT MORE I CAN SAY in praise of hellebores. I’ve told you that I rely on them for my garden’s earliest burst of major perennial color, and that they are among my favorite evergreen groundcovers, happy even in some tough spots here and asking for little care. So rather than say that all again in more detail, how about some pure hellebore porn? After all, these Helleborus orientalis are sexy plants, which freely mate and create endless new color variations. Which you can see in this latest slideshow… [read more…]
