Shimmering Shade

My shade garden is at peak beauty this time of year.  The hosta leaves have unfurled, pink azaleas are popping, and the mosquitoes have not yet come out to play.  Serenity rules the day.  I continue to strive for more fullness and cohesiveness throughout these garden beds, and my goal this year is to simplify and streamline the variety of perennials and to replace poor performers, while adding some sturdier characters.  It's decision time, and so this will be one area of the garden that I tackle this summer.

Winter's Blooms

The Mid-Atlantic winter has been mild & moderate, and in addition to the great many plants in my garden that are beginning to break dormancy, several early varieties are blooming earlier than ever before.

Helleborus







Pieris Japonica

November Joy

The crisp cool days of November have arrived, which means no more pesky mosquitoes, and time to plant bulbs and rake leaves. While basking in the joy of this sunny sweet day, I accomplished many chores and got all my tulips and lilys in the ground. My husband was also productive, both mowing and fertilizing the front lawn. We worked hard, but also (literally) took time to smell the roses. I also did not forget to grab my camera. Here's a snapshot of what's happening in the garden:

Rock Garden
The Serviceberry has hit its peak color, showing off fire orange foliage. The ornamental birdhouses are really set off nicely along this backdrop, and I'm convinced that the way to add more charm to a garden, is to incorporate more Garden Accents.



Wooded Back
The Tulip Trees and assorted woodland at the back of our property line are thrilling to watch at this time of year. They are majestic and gorgeous and honestly, they are the main reason why we fell in love with this property when searching for our first home.



Woodland Garden
This border was only installed 2yrs ago, yet it looks as if it's always been there. I will keep adding to this area until it's completely filled in, but already I'm feeling that it is 90% done, and that is a really good feeling (and a relief).



Shade Perennial Border
Hostas are just such great plants, and several have turned golden yellow which is an added joy. This border area is like night-and-day compared to what we started with, and I'm terribly proud of what it has become.



My Family
The greatest joy of all, is the family that I am so blessed to share my life and these great November days with. The children are growing as fast as the trees, and we are always building wonderful memories as we work together, in our garden.

My Hosta Collection

Quite by accident, I've stumbled into being a Hosta Collector, swayed by the ease and charm of this most reliable perennial for the shade garden. There are endless varieties of Hosta, they range from giant-sized to teeny-tiny, with colors from dark or silvery blue to electric variegated creams and green, and many are fragrant. Hostas feature prominently in my Shade Perennial Border, as well as in many containers on my deck, and with my collection growing every year I think now it's time for me to begin compiling a list of them all. So far I have about 15 different cultivars. Perhaps one day there will be 100!




My Hosta Collection
Hosta So Sweet
Hosta Big Daddy
Hosta Striptease
Hosta Zounds (?)
Hosta Hadspen Blue
Hosta Masquerade
Hosta Royal Standard
Hosta Frances Williams
Hosta Golden Tiara
Hosta Wide Brim
Hosta Patriot
Hosta Fragrant Dream
Hosta Fragrant Bloom
Hosta Stained Glass
Hosta Elegans

Hosta Wishlist
Hosta Risky Business
Hosta Rainbow's End
Hosta Orange Marmalade
Hosta Hush Puppy
Hosta Pandora's Box
Hosta Lakeside Cupcake

The Hosta Border

The view from my main deck is especially lovely this time of year, as the Azalea 'Rosebud' shrubs come into bloom and the Hosta leaves unfurl themselves. I like to sit and watch the various birds who come to visit the bird bath, and to listen to the sweet sounds of nature. Shade Gardening can be so pleasurable when you work with it to optimize the conditions you've been given, and along this border I also grow Hellebores/Ferns/Lamium/Tiarella, as well as the shrubs Leucothoe 'Scarletta' and Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls'. I do not feel at all limited by the shade, and this is one of the most serene spots in the whole landscape.

Bush Honeysuckle Must GO!!

Since I started my garden a year ago, I have been committed to filling the landscape with mostly native plants and those that can attract wildlife such as birds, bees and butterflies. Definitely I am seeing results and yesterday alone, I saw 3 different species of birds visiting my bird bath within only an hour time frame. Still, I am not a die hard "nativism" adherent, and so far I have not ripped out any plant simply because it is not a native. My large fan-shaped Euonymous Alatas (i.e. Burning Bush) is so lovely and fitting in its place, that I have respect for this plant despite its less-than-ideal reputation for being invasive.


However, the Bush Honeysuckle is a whole different story. I like the fragrant flowers, I like the nice lime green color of the leaves when Fall arrives, I like the mildly weeping habit of this understory plant, but I DO NOT like the crazy amount of seedlings that are sprouting up everywhere! They are hard to yank out, and now I clearly see why Bush Honeysuckle is such a threat to woodland areas. I plan to replace it with Chionanthus virginicus (White Fringe Tree), an attractive native with a very unique look while in flower. I will not regret saying goodbye to the Honeysuckle.

日本庭園, Japanese Garden Design

As my woodland garden begins to take shape during this second year since we bought our home, I feel a pull to incorporate elements of Japanese Garden Design into the landscape. If the land could talk, I feel it would be whispering "make me into a Japanese Woodland Garden", and already much of the shrubbery present (Pieris Japonica, Euonymus Alata, Camellias, Peony Tree, Satsuki Azaleas) originate in the Orient. The Japanese Garden aesthetic emphasizes being in harmony with nature, and features may include:

* Water, real or symbolic.
* Rocks or stone arrangements (or settings).
* A teahouse or pavilion.
* An enclosure device such as a hedge, fence, or wall of traditional character.
* A bridge to the island, or stepping stones.
* A Stone lantern of some sort.

My garden already contains rocks and stone, there is a "bridge" to connect the deck closest to the house to the outlying floating deck, and I was already planning to install a Bubbling Urn water feature to be a focal point of the garden. I found a seedling Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood' at Home Depot last weekend for $12.97, and my plan is to transplant the Honeysuckle to the corner of the back of the deck, replacing it with the Bloodgood. The current Rock Garden is overrun with weeds & vines, and so I will dig those out and replace with a few pockets of shimmering Lamium 'White Nancy'. To bring it all together, I will add in smooth silver/gray river rock.

Rock Garden

Back Border
I would like to add a stone lantern somewhere, and so most likely I will move the bird bath that is under the Pink Dogwood and put the lantern in its place.

Snowmageddon

The entire Washington, D.C. metro area is completely blanketed in snow, with more on the way and an expected accumulation of up to 3 feet. I am pretty amazed at this development, because when my husband & I left the Midwest several years ago, the one thing we lamented was a future bereft of snowy white winter wonderlands. I have come to love the balmy Mid-Atlantic climate, where Spring comes early with a spectacular parade of flowering trees (Cherry Blossoms, Eastern Redbuds, Dogwoods), and where summers often extend late into the reaches of November, but I still appreciate a good winter snowfall at least occasionally. There is something magical and romantic about snow, like the way it glows under the moonlight, brightening up the dark days of winter, or the effect it has of putting a smile on children's faces. Despite the general inconvenience, I welcome a few good days of having my world painted in snowflakes.

Wednesday, February 3rd





Saturday, February 6th

A Beltway Blizzard

Our second snow of the season is Bigger and Badder than the last. This is not a mere "frosting" of snow, this snow is deep (2ft.) and heavy and just might stick around. Our driveway is impassable and we are stranded at home. Guess I'll have plenty of time to catch up on my favorite Gardening Blogs/Books/Magazines.

A Snowy Day

The Mid-Atlantic winters are typically mild and rarely snowy, but today around mid-morning snow flurries began to fall, and by afternoon the landscape was blanketed in the softest freshest snow. It is all so beautiful, from the Japanese Maple and Harry Lauder's Walking stick out front, to the Camellia and Holly shrubs out back. My Woodland Wonderland has become a Winter Wonderland.