Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I posted an update on the small caliper Black Tupelo native tree that is planted in our parkway and talked about the small, pointy buds that the tree had set on the tips of the lower limbs.   I talked about how I've been 'turned on' to the beauty of tree buds in Winter over the years.  But, it isn't just the action that is taking place on the deciduous trees in our yard that is worth noting.  Last week, I showed some photos of one of the Weeping Norway Spruce trees planted IB2DWs and talked about the brown 'buds' that were set on the tips of that conifer tree.   Another conifer tree in our front yard is an Oregon Green Austrian Pine.  I planted it back in the Fall of 2024 and it, too, was a tiny tree.  The Oregon Green pine is known to grow into an open-branching habit in form, but also comes with heavy 'candling' - or the emergence of white candles on the tips.  In May of 2025, the first Spring for this tree, I posted some phot...

The neglected rhododendrons (they're only neglected because they have - imho - failed to live up to their promise) are back with buds that were set in Fall and (hopefully) have made it through the thick of winter temperatures.   The pair of Rhododendons were planted on either side of our back stoop and sort of just were blah.  They started to get thin and decline.  Could be because of chipmunks eating away at their roots.  Or, could be they were were in the wrong spot.  I ended up digging them up and replacing them with a pair of handsome dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgos and I've been VERY happy about that move.   Without much thought, I stuck them in around the small (immature) Dawn Redwood tree in the backyard.  That area is a sort-of no-man's land with nothing there on purpose, rather just the result of having 'available space' and plants that 'need a home'.   They get a mix of shade and sun back there and since I water (with a sprink...

The pair of Spring Grove Ginkgo trees (dwarf Ginkgos) that I planted this past growing season on either side of our rear stoop are worth documenting in the garden diary.  Being winter, they're clearly dormant, but they're doing some interesting things:  They're clearly exhibiting some foliar marcescence with many of their leaves clinging to the limbs.   And, they're covered with buds.  That are stud'd everywhere.  On the limbs.  On the trunk.  At the tips of branches.  And all along them.  They're quite different and really nice to look at when contrasted with he white snow.  Here's a pair of photos showing the same one: the north-side Spring Grove Ginkgo .  The second one is planted by the Grill on the southside of the stoop, but I am not including photos here. The snow cover on the ground is a few inches thick and I'm hoping that it is providing a nice blanket of insulation on this young, one-year-in-the-ground dwarf ginkgo....