Before You Garden...

2016-03-20

Welcome spring – trees breaking bud

The star-like white flowers of Magnolia stellata, the star Magnolia (shown above), are some of the first Magnolias to bloom in the spring. The strappy tepals (sepals and petals) explode from tightly packed, fuzzy buds when a few warm days spur new spring growth. Magnolia x loebneri‘ Leonard Messel’ blooms are similar in shape, but slightly…

2016-02-29

More Witch Hazels for winter into spring bloom

The Hamamelis season is in full swing here at Northview. Many of the witch hazel flowers are out earlier this year as the weather has been mild this winter, although combined with one of the heaviest snowfalls recorded in Philadelphia. I have been thinking about witch hazels for the last few weeks. I was lecturing at…

2015-03-30

Top 10 favorite garden witch hazels for spring bloom and fragrance

The snow has melted this week but the weather is still cold. The garden is bleak, brown and muddy. Witch hazels are the only woody plants that are providing some welcome splashes of color. Gardening here in Pennsylvania where the timing of spring bloom is so variable from year to year, it is wonderful to have…

2015-03-21

Snowy garden on March 21st! Wasn’t I meant to be planting peas?

Today is the first day of spring but you would not know it as we had a late season storm yesterday that brought another few inches of snow. It was beautiful outside today with morning temperatures hovering around 32 degrees fahrenheit and the snow crisp and crusty on the surface. The sun came up and…

2015-02-27

Philadelphia Flower Show 2015

The largest indoor flower show in the world opens tomorrow at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The annual taste of spring for all of us gardeners who are starved of the color and smell of the earth and flowers is a treat that we look forward to all winter. The Theme this year is ‘Celebrate the…

2015-02-22

Touches of Color in the Winter Garden

Despite all the moaning about the weather and how cold it has been for the last few weeks, the complaining is often followed by the refrain, ‘but thank goodness I am not in Boston’. We have had snow, frozen rain, and other unidentifiable frozen precipitation, but not the feet of snow that have fallen on…

2015-01-25

Preventing snow damage to evergreen trees and shrubs in the snow

With one heavy wet snow this week and two more larger snowfalls expected, it is time to think of ways to prevent snow damage to your trees and shrubs. The first way is smart plant choice, and coniferous evergreens with needles are one of the best for a snowy climate. Not only are many of…

2015-01-11

Snowy details in the garden

We had several snow falls this week accompanied by bitter cold. Trips to the compost heap were about all the garden visiting possible until today when the temperatures have risen to around freezing. The winter garden is shades of sepia and white. The tiny details of old plant stems are outlined in relief against the…

2015-01-01

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. A new year brings another year of expectation in the garden. We always hope that this gardening year will be better than ever! At least this year we are not submerged in snow like last year. Winter is still young, we will see what nature has in store for us.

2014-09-09

The poisonous caterpillar gets attacked

The Saddleback Slug Caterpillar featured in the previous post now has troubles of its own. It was attacked by a female parasitic wasp which laid eggs on the caterpillar. The eggs hatched and ate the insides of the caterpillar. The eggs were present inside the caterpillar in the previous photographs, we just did not know it. The young parasitic wasps (in their pre adult form) have emerged as little oval cream colored pupae all over the back of the caterpillar. The pupae will hatch out and will have changed (undergo metamorphosis) into adult parasitic wasps and the cycle will start again. It is a rather gruesome sight that seems stranger…