It’s a crisp winter day. The trees are bare, having lost their leaf coats months ago. Through their stripped branches, I can see what is invisible during the leafy seasons of spring, summer, and fall.
The horizon lies beyond, beautiful and distinct.
Continue reading HorizonToday I received a text from an unknown number.
“Your kids keep climbing my tree, please ask them to stop.”
My first reaction was to laugh, because my kids are all in their 20s. If they’re climbing the neighbor’s tree, they’re grownups and responsible for themselves! I replied that I wished my kids were out climbing trees!
Continue reading MendI was worried earlier this winter when all of my smaller-leafed rhododendrons had turned burgandy and curled up tightly. Had I killed them by pruning them too deeply after they flowered last year?
I’ve written before about senescence, in which the rhodies’ older leaves turn yellow and fall off in the autumn. Even the evergreens lose their leaves and needles sometimes!
Continue reading Rhododendron Insights: Adapting to Life’s SeasonsWhen I look out my kitchen window, I can see a little tree in the distance still holding onto its golden leaves deep into the winter cold.
Continue reading My Winter Forest DiscoveryIt’s only January, but I’m dreaming of pruning around my yard. I don’t know what it is about pruning, but I love it as much as weeding (which is a lot, let me tell you)!
There’s so much opportunity to put the shears and loppers to work–forsythia, tons of lilacs, and wild grapevines.
Continue reading Broadening My Harvest HorizonsThis is our first winter in our new home in the mountains, and we’ve moved far enough away from the ocean that it no longer softens the winter chill. Temperatures have regularly dropped below freezing, and watching what happens in the perennial garden has been fun!
Continue reading Discovering Life’s Unexpected Joys in 2025
Lauri Hawley 