Plants & Gardening

Gardening is one of the greatest joys in my life.

There are many opportunities in gardening to try things out, move them around, work with nature and the earth to bring something wonderful to pass.

Besides, if you are clever, you can rent a lot of really neat power equipment! The pond you see in some of these pictures is the result of a weekend with a backhoe. I think I may need a bigger pond ...

It's easy to get a bit carried away. The cute little concrete figures look so nice in the garden center or antique shop you forget how many are already dotted around the garden.

That I bought only two demonstrates great self-restraint, although a third showed up one Christmas (thanks Bill and Micki!) and will eventually move onto his permanent home perched atop a county water valve, watching over my first successful rose, since joined by a second. He will join the toad guarding the bench by the front door and the crossed-toe figure protecting the front walk.

Water features have been more challenging to limit.

There is a small fountain alongside a bench at the front door, its bubbling spout greeting visitors and adding a calming note to my (warm weather) practice of sitting there in the evening going through my mail. The fountain is behind the impatiens (in the fuzzy picture above) between the dogwood and the juniper.

A black kettle with a water lily and spouting fish sits in my new conservatory behind the house. My goal is to extend the bloom of the water lily through as much of the year as possible.

Out in the yard, a pond (remember the backhoe?) nestles back into the tree line, filled with water lilies, hyacinth, iris, and - sporadically - some good-sized gold fish. A blue heron cleaned out my gold fish in October 2000. Last Spring I restocked: nine one inch feeder goldfish. The little fellow below just moved in on his own. His friends showed up also. I love the jungle sound of frogs croaking in the evening. Fortunately my neighbors like it also. This summer (okay maybe fall) a second pond will be linked to the first with a stream and a waterfall.

You may be interested in more photos and descriptions of my garden and general rambling, but be warned that eventually there will be a lot of photos so the page may take a while to load.

My garden receives the bulk of my horticultural attention. That doesn't keep me from learning from the work of others; it is easier than digging in the concrete that passes for soil in Northern Virginia!

One of my favorite places to visit is Longwood Gardens, in Kennet Square, Pennsylvania.

More transient--but not to be missed--is the Philadelphia Flower Show. In the Spring of 1999 I saw the Chelsea Garden Show in England.

You can't live in the D.C. area without visiting the National Arboretum.