Peonies Symbolize Femininity, Wealth and Honor The peonies always bloom for Mothers’ Day in Eastern Virginia, alongside the roses. Roses and peonies are just part of the romance and beauty of mid-May in our area. Their full, heavy blossoms packed with petals invite the gardener to snip a stem or two for the vase inside, especially when there is rain in the forecast. Peonies invite us to pause and gather May’s flowers in the moment, savoring one of the most...
What To Do in May and June Avid gardeners find lots to do during May and June as spring melts into summer. The enjoyment of spending time outside watching things grow and listening to the birds can distract us from our spring to-do list. But taking care of business early in the season will result in a more attractive garden and more success through the summer months ahead. The days are getting noticeably longer and warmer as the first flush...
Planting Reliable Shrubs in Tough Conditions Home builders and contract landscapers rely on tried-and-true shrubs that they expect to out-live their warranty. That doesn’t mean that they are planting the most beautiful shrubs in new neighborhoods, or even the most appropriate ones for the site. They certainly don’t try to replace the sorts of native shrubs that might have grown on the site before it was razed for construction. But they choose reliable shrubs that they expect prospective buyers...
The Living Fence Gardening is the art of domesticating the wild, of creating living geometry within our landscapes. Order, symmetry, lines, and boundaries please the eye and soothe the spirit. We are inclined to organize and define our spaces by dividing them up into smaller pieces we can manage, to protect them within walls and behind gates. We contain what is ours, setting aside sacred space, our own ‘paradise,’ from the wider world. We exclude the unwanted wildness living...
Bins of papery brown bulbs appear in every garden center and big box store right after the back-to-school displays disappear for another autumn. I love to study the photos of bright spring flowers on the bins, bags, and boxes of bulbs. They invite the ultimate impulse purchase. “Where to plant them?” you may wonder. No matter, you’ll find a spot. As trees turn gold and scarlet, we feel the chill in the air, and know that the long summer...
A Mystery and A Memory We found several large evergreen shrubs in our new yard that we couldn’t immediately identify, when we moved here over a decade ago. We could pick out the boxwood and Camellias, but we were especially curious about the very tall, open shrubs that the birds loved the most. It was August, and tiny bluish gray drupes were ripening along this shrub’s woody stems. Its leaves were fragrant. Birds gathered in its dense and twiggy...
Colonial Williamsburg welcomes visitors to the natural beauty of one of the wilder, quieter portions of the historic area. The Bassett Trace is named after Burwell Bassett, Martha Washington’s nephew and a Virginia legislator and congressman. In 1800, he purchased a white farmhouse near the trailhead. In 1936, that farmhouse, now known as Bassett Hall, became the favorite home of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. During the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, an...
There is a special beauty in the form and structure of a bare tree after it has dropped its annual crop of leaves. Like the beauty of a classical statue, one can see the truth of its bones. Leaves, for all of their movement and color, veil the beauty of branches and buds. Looking at a bare tree is a study in pure potential. All of the tree’s life draws inwards to the wood and roots as...
What’s the big fuss about Nandina? It is attractive, easy to grow, and can be found growing throughout older neighborhoods in our area. Its berries (drupes) turn bright red in October, just in time to brighten up the winter landscape. Some people cut the red fruit for use in holiday decorations. Nandina’s foliage may even turn bright scarlet after frost, depending on the cultivar. It can be a beautiful and useful plant. Nandina is so tough and versatile that...
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...