by Leslie Cox; Monday; April 17, 2017

A little bit more heat and there are more plants starting to stir in the garden. Picking my sweet violets, Viola odorata, to make some violet sugar to give as Easter gifts, I noticed the reddish tips of my Solomon seal plants, Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’, poking up about an inch (2.5 cm). I have quite a lovely patch of Solomon seals now…which I love.

There is nothing which mars the beauty of the medium green leaves running up almost the whole length of the stems. My patch receives a decent amount of morning sun before the intensity of the hot orb is blocked by the height and breadth of the chestnut tree canopy. It seems to work for the Solomon seal because the patch around the corner of the garage…in full shade…is not quite as robust as my patch in the front.

 

I am also excited to see many of my hostas nosing up out of the ground. These are one of my botanical loves. Who am I kidding?! I admit to having many loves in the botanical kingdom. However, I do have a substantial collection of hostas…fifty-four, if I have remembered to enter all of them into my Garden Inventory. And I will likely add at least a couple more, at least, to my collection this year.

This week my carpet of Anemone nemerosa ‘Robinsoniana’ is awash in medium blue flowers against the dark of the soil on the shoulder of my island bed. This plant is a spring ephemeral…comes up, blooms, sets seed, and dies back…all within the few months of spring. Other ephemeral plants in my garden are: Mertensis virginica (Virginia bluebells), Erythronium revolutum (pink fawn lily), Sanguineria canadensis (bloodroot), Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)…to name a few.

I am very, very excited to see my native bloodroot plant is increasing this year from one stem to three! It certainly has taken a while as I bought this at a plant sale about five years ago and installed it beside a large rhododendron where it is also protected by the Acer campestre (field, or hedge maple). I was beginning to think I had planted it in the wrong spot because it appeared to be struggling…up until now.

It certainly is a “live and learn” experience in the garden…not to mention a real lesson in patience. But I would not have it any other way for the intense pleasure my garden shares with me.

Happy gardening! May the Easter bunnies leave your plants alone in favour of chocolate!