I hope this doesn’t become an April Fool’s Day joke, but I plan on writing a garden update on the first day of each month starting now. While the garden has gotten off to a slow start due to the weather this year, when I looked around a surprising number of things are going on already.
Certainly, the spring bulbs are the stars of the show right now. In the front of the house on the patio, I have planted a large planter with pansies, daffodils, ornamental alliums, and canna Picasso. The pansies and daffodils are in full bloom, the alliums are up and growing, and the cannas are still dormant. I bought a bag of mixed daffodils at a big box store; however, the majority are your typical large yellow forms, pretty but a bit disappointing. Out of blank bulbs, only two are not yellow. One is a bicolor with an orange cup and yellow petals and the other is pure white. You never know with bulbs planted in the fall as to what they will look like until the spring.
Other bulbs planted around the property are up and doing their thing. Depending upon where they were planted, various daffodils are just coming into bud in shady areas to full bloom in sunny areas, and many in between. It’s a good way to see what are the colder areas in your garden. The hyacinths are in full bloom and beginning to finish up. One of my childhood favorites, the grape hyacinths (Muscari species) are up and blooming. I love their tiny little clusters of deep blue flowers. Several tulips including one patch that came with the property are just now coming into bud. Various allium species are up and beginning to form flower buds. They are a real show stopper in between the time the earlier spring bulbs are finished and the summer flowering plants have begun flowering.
Perennials are just beginning to awaken after a long winter’s sleep. Many of the true sages (Salvia species) are breaking dormancy and putting out new leaves. This includes several forms of autumn sage (Salvia greggii) in the front garden and Vermillion Bluffs Mexican sage (Salvia darcyi) in the back garden that are putting out new leaves.
The cannas are up and growing despite being burned back by frost. This always happens with them and our weather, warm days followed by bitterly cold weather. Similarly, I was worried about my white calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) but it is up and growing and seems to be doing fine despite the cold temperatures.
Other plants in the back garden including Coral penstemon (Penstemon superbus) and sunset penstemon (Penstemon clutei) are putting on an abundance of growth. Two forms of Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla), Alexander’s giant and Jack Frost, are up and growing. These two are shade lovers and have done well in the garden where hostas have not. Alongside them, comfrey is up and growing. This herb has big leaves that lend themselves to the tropical-style garden I am developing under the shade of two large mulberry trees.
Other perennials that are up and growing are several different types of foxtail lilies (Eremurus species). I had good success with the relatively short Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Pinokkio’, so last fall I planted larger yellow and red forms of foxtail lilies. I’m anxious to see what they look like this year. Even the blooms of Pinokkio were quite tall so I’m excited about the taller forms when and if they bloom this year.
While aloes are generally not hardy here, I have three species that have done well for me for several years. The partridge breast aloe (Aloe variegata) is beginning to bloom already. The lace aloe (Aloe aristata) and the grass aloe (not sure of the species) are just waking up.
Last but not least, the various fruit trees are leafing out and/or producing lower buds. The red Bartlet pear did something unusual that is puzzling to me. It has leafed out but produced no flowers. It appears that it was going to have an extensive bloom, but the flowers never materialized. Perhaps the frosts of late winter and early spring did them in. The dwarf nectarine was in full bloom in March and was also hit by frost and probably will not produce fruit this year. It was disappointing last year as it had abundant fruit but the taste was awful. It was very disappointing after waiting several years for it to produce fruit. The European plum and apple trees also appear to be leafing out with no flowers this year. Again, I’m not sure why but I think it has been the up-and-down temperatures we have had this spring. We’ll see.
The pomegranate had begun to leaf out, but the last frost appears to have nipped the newly emerging leaves. I’m sure it will come back, but we are not out of the woods yet with frost. Hopefully, the hard frosts are over with, however.
That’s a quick look at what’s happening in the garden. As I said in the beginning, I plan on making this a monthly happening. It’s a record for both you and me.
Ted’s Universe: Travel, Art, Nature 