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Five-part article series on flower-drying starts here Eight-part article series on vegetable gardening starts here Asian
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Four Early-Risers
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Welcome through Fred's Garden Gate! Color, color, everywhere! And I'm not just talking about daffodils and crocus here. The early spring bloomers are really beginning to show their "stuff." What better way to begin another new growing season than to enjoy some delightful color...fringed in a garnish of frost. There are quite a few perennials, besides spring bulbs, which flower near the first of May. Johnny-jump-ups (Viola tricolor) were there all winter, of course. When the snow finally melted, there they were - turning their cheery faces towards the morning sun. Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) are on the move now, spreading a frosting of tiny, bluish-white pearls across a blanket of fresh, green grass. Soon, cemetery lawns will shift from green to a palette-full of the delicate pink and white stars of creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera). This time let's look a little closer at four early spring border-perennials to brighten (and shorten) the still-frosty mornings of early spring. Arabis A member of the mustard family, "rock cress" is native to temperate North America and Eurasia. It's a short, small-leaved, mat-forming or mounding perennial very well suited to the rock garden or tucked away in dry stone wall crevices. The "wall rock cress" (Arabis albida var. variegata) is probably the most commonly seen. Velvetty-green leaves with serrated edges, fringed with creamy yellow margins and forming a mound which is dotted by early May with many, fragrant, white blossoms. Another, very attractive cultivar is "Compinkie." Blooming even earlier than A. variegata, this one sports 1/4-inch bright, rosy-pink flowers just above solid green foliage. Compinkie is among the earliest performers in our gardens. Finally, A. procurrens, a much denser, spreading ground cover will flower a little later in the spring with tiny, white blossoms on six-inch stems. Arabis prefer mostly sun, in a sandy (perhaps even gravelly) but otherwise average garden soil. They are hardy to USDA Zone 3. Bergenia Now here's one that puts on a real show! Bergenia (pronounced "ber-JEE-nee-ah") (B. cordifolia) originally came from Asia but has adapted nicely to North American gardens as far north as Zone 3. Large, heart-shaped leaves, which remain over winter, bronze as temperatures plummet in late fall, framing lovely, dark-pink flowers during the last week of April in our garden. Blossoms rise on thick stems, barely clearing foliage tops at about 15-inches. Bergenia makes excellent rock garden plants and would prefer deep, rich, very well-drained soil and a little afternoon shade in our area. Brunnera A native of Asia, Brunnera (B. macrophylla) (pronounced "brewn-ERR-ah) is commonly called "Siberian Bugloss" and "perennial forget-me-nots." An appealing complement for spring bulbs, brunnera flowers about the same time as daffodils and tulips. It can grow to 18-inches tall and sports a veritable cloud of tiny, blue flowers above coarse-textured, heart-shaped leaves which form a ground-hugging mound. Brunnera would like a spot in full sun with some afternoon shade, in average, well-drained soil. Really nice in a rock garden! They are hardy to Zone 3. Pulmonaria "Lungwort" (P. angustifolia and saccharoides) leaves and flowers pop out of the ground very early (last week of April) to add a bright blue sparkle to an otherwise still-drab landscape. Native to Europe and also a member of the Borage family, this handsome plant has silver-spotted, fuzzy leaves and very attractive 1/2-inch trumpet-shaped flowers at about10-inches. Pulmonaria can make a most effective ground cover in full to partial shade, and likes its home damp and cool. After the flowers fade and the now-bare stems are trimmed away, the graceful, overlapping leaves are appealing and dense enough to stifle most weeds. It can handle our minus-twenty-degree winters with no problem. Any good book on perennials will have photographs of these, and some other, early-risers. One of the best I've seen is "The Perennial Garden - Color Harmonies Through The Seasons" by Jeff and Marilyn Cox. (Rodale). Until next time, enjoy your early spring garden (and get ready for the blackflies). |
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