“And therefore, as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” William Shakespeare, from Hamlet, First Folio Perhaps you have already made a fairy garden. It is an endearing activity for parents and grandparents to enjoy with the children in their lives. Full of whimsy and fun, we enter the world of ‘make-believe’ once again and see the world from a different perspective. Everything is...
The first Camellia shrub usually chooses a stretch of damp, cool October days to burst into bloom. I am always taken by surprise when its luminous white, spring-like blossoms unfold, because they look rather out of place beside the colorful leaves falling from nearby trees. Bright flowers in shades of white, pink, and red open on our evergreen Camellia shrubs each October and November while the rest of the garden fades, and as we begin preparing for winter’s...
Vines of all types love our Coastal Virginia climate. Many different species thrive in summer’s heat and humidity, growing by inches each day. They creep across the ground until they encounter something to climb. Their tender, flexible tips reach up and out in search of a support, and then they climb. Benefits of Vines All vines in our area produce flowers and seeds. While some flowers are bright and showy, like the bright orange trumpet creeper, others are nearly...
Every tiny seed holds a bit of life, stored efficiently enough that it can spring into growth in some future time when conditions permit. The saying goes that every acorn holds the potential for a future forest of oaks. Although that acorn will grow into only a single tree, each tree can produce millions of acorns during its lifespan. A ripened seed, the DNA for a new plant, contains stored proteins, carbohydrates and minerals in its cotyledon, and a...
Maybe it will rain, and maybe it won’t. It has been unusually dry in our area for the past several months. Some of the little starts I planted with high hopes in March and April have been struggling to take hold. I need to water large areas of our garden several times a week, as though it were July already. And regular irrigation just isn’t an option for many gardeners. We are relatively fortunate in coastal Virginia because we...
What is an Herb? Why is mint an herb, but clover isn’t? Have you ever given it much thought? Botanically, any plant with a soft stem, that dies back in winter, is ‘herbaceous.’ Were you give a stack of a dozen cards, each with the name and picture of a plant, could you sort them into ‘herbs’ and ‘not herbs’? If asked, most of us could probably name at least five herbs. Those used in cooking, like basil and thyme...
Recognizing and identifying trees can be a great pleasure. Knowing trees well enough to understand how they fit into the local ecosystem, and how they can be used, allows us to look around at the trees in our community with even greater appreciation. But there are so many trees! How can you learn to identify them without carrying around a heavy field guide? This was our quandary as my novice Tree Steward colleagues and I began a project to...
The Williamsburg area has recently been rezoned by the USDA to a slightly warmer Zone 8a. But temperatures can still get down to 5°F or -15 °C, although we don’t typically see temperatures much below the 20s. So as we pull out our gloves and coats, here are some simple things we can do even now to prepare for when extreme cold weather is in the forecast. Tips for Protecting Plants Potted shrubs and perennials hardy to Zone 6 or...
In late autumn, the Williamsburg area woods light up with evergreen holly trees as the hardwoods lose their leaves. It is their time to sparkle in the winter sunshine. Their broad, prickly leaves are waxy on top, reflecting what light reaches them through the forest canopy. Unobtrusive throughout the summer, hollies are among the few forest trees, along with wax myrtle, pines, cedars, and magnolias, which remain bright green and covered in leaves throughout the year. Holly King Legends...
Cardinals nest in a large evergreen shrub beside my kitchen window. Though the shrub, Ligustrum, is frowned upon by many contemporary gardeners as invasive, the birds don’t know that. They delight in its abundant berries and the insects that visit year-round. We delight in watching the birds come and go, even as they peer in the windows at us. We amuse one another. Cardinals, titmice and other birds also perch in the crape myrtle tree a little further out...