When people talk about fall color, they think about bright yellows, oranges and reds lighting up grand trees like maples, hickories and oaks. A visitor to our Garden will certainly see these brilliant trees and many others. This year, the autumn colors are gradually progressing through the landscape, lighting up a tree here and there. …
Shrubs
Scary Times in the Garden
Halloween is less than a week away and quite a few plants are ready. Let’s go on a whirlwind tour of the Garden and finds some scary plants. First there are the plants that have creepy names – or at least evoke a creepy feeling.Spiderwort – This spring bloomer has pretty little flowers and long…
Rainy Day Blues . . . and reds and yellows
On a rainy morning like today, the temptation is to roll over, pull a leaf over your head and go back to sleep. Obviously a lot of people must be doing this, because there is hardly any one in the Garden. Just a few gardeners, the luckless “light crew” setting up for this winter’s Garden…
Glory Hounds
We are in the middle of April and the crowds are finally here. LOTS of people came to the Garden this past weekend. The parade of people continues, with only the occasional downpour chasing them away temporarily. They all come to enjoy the spring weather, the beautiful flowers and probably those fuzzy eaglets way up…
Spring Trees
After a glorious weekend, things turned ugly today. No, the Garden is still very beautiful, but the horticulture staff has gotten mean. This morning I was sitting in the Flowering Arboretum, minding my own business when the droning noise began. Mowers whirring in the distance – a clever form of psychological warfare intended to scare…
Naked Beauty
Signs of spring are here, but winter has not released its hold yet. Mild days intermingle with cold days and it is easy to see why people can get sick in the changing weather. Fortunately I don’t have sinuses so that’s not a worry for me, but the gardeners sure are. They seem to be…
Party in Pink
I spent the weekend in the Camellia Garden, enjoying a wonderful Valentine’s Day party. Hundreds of camellias were there and most of them were all decked out in their party clothes, ready to have some fun. They were all wearing shades of pink, red and white. I felt really out of place, dressed in just…
Hiding in Plain Sight
It’s another glorious weekend and I’ve been enjoying the conifer garden – hiding in plain sight. It’s a little odd for me to be here since I have so little in common with all the conifers. I flower, they don’t. They are wind pollinated, I need bees (and bees need me – don’t forget that). …
Tough Guys of Winter
It’s been pretty cold lately. Bark peeling cold if you ask the paperbark maple in the Winter Garden. I think he’s just exaggerating – that bark always peels no matter what the temperature. It’s just a complaint to gain some sympathy. But it has been leaf-curling, flower-browning, pond freezing cold. The camellia flowers in full…
Vacation in the Tropics
August is the month for vacations so I wanted to go see some new plants and get away from the gardeners. I headed to the Tropical Garden yesterday. Since I am from a more temperate region, tropicals are not plants I know well and I feel very much like a tourist here. Unfortunately there are…