Cold Climate Gardening

The temperatures are still dropping into the teens every night (last night’s low: 17.5F or -8C) and even when the high hits 40F (4C) the brisk wind makes it feel chillier. But at least a hurried stroll around the premises is now rewarded with signs that Spring is slowly making inroads in Winter’s territory. These […]

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A strong argument for calling Magnolias Tulip Trees
I grew up with a large Southern Magnolia in a small backyard. Its great size dominated the space, smothering the ground below and adjacent plants with massive quantities of leathery leaves and sucking up all available moisture with large surface roots. I was unknowing of its survival tactics […]

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I took this photo yesterday, a day ahead of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I knew that rain was predicted for Wednesday afternoon and throughout today, but late yesterday morning it was merely overcast and quite mild, and I thought, “Go looking for flowers now, or forget about it.”
So I went galomphing about in the nearly […]

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Don of An Iowa Garden gets the prize–uh, actually, there is no prize–gets the glory for the First Snowdrop of 2007, North American Division. Shucks, it’s hardly any fun when it’s over this early. If anyone had one blooming earlier in January than the 6th, well, did you get a picture?
Special mention must go to […]

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Tick-tock, winter is coming. I was greeted at dawn with a few hours of light snow this morning. It melted as it landed, not like the snows that have recently visited Watertown and plagued Buffalo. It is a warning that fall is at a close and winter is coming. I spent this past weekend digging […]

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This is a section of the Birthday Garden, which is a somewhat raised bed sandwiched between the driveway and the house. At the base of the stone wall, looking rather pale, are some Colchicum byzantinum. Above them is an unknown chrysanthemum, which Debi Lampman of Bedlam Gardens in King Ferry, NY gave to me this […]

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We’re in the midst of the last warm days of fall giving way to cool and colder weather. Light and medium frosts have been visiting with hard frosts soon to follow. It’s interesting to see how the plants in the garden respond to the weather. Placement and severity of frost have brought an interesting – […]

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