by Leslie Cox; Saturday; February 17, 2018

Another day of sunshine earlier this past week lured me out into the garden. A not-to-be-missed occasion. However, rather than spend a third day on the overgrown rhododendron…pruning it back under some sort of control…I opted for a session of cleaning up in my island bed. I was really in need of some horticultural surprises to boost my spirits.

Armed with the wheelbarrow, my small rake, and secateurs, I began gently pulling the leaf mulch off the primulas which I could see nosing up. Snipping the tattered older leaves off the clumps of pale yellow-flowered and white-flowered Primula vulgaris, they were soon looking spring-ready for their flower buds to appear. I was pleased to see there was no slug damage either. Always a dilemma if I am late in removing the leaf mulch. Slugs love to hide in it and can do a lot of damage undercover.

Was pleased to see my Asarum maximum, Panda Face wild ginger, doing well. (Bottom centre in photo.) Last year’s leaves were still in pretty decent shape and new buds were up about 1 cm, almost half an inch. Some of those buds would be flowers coming. I love this ginger as the flowers are a rich black-purple with a central white throat…looking every bit like a panda face, and hence, the name. (I must see if I can find the photos of the flowers in my files.)

 

Also unearthed tiny sprouts of my Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Woodside Gold’ (columbine) coming up. Love the spring colour in the whorls of tightly curled leaves…golds and shades of pink-purple-maroon.

Besides their early arrival on the landscape stage, Aquilegia species are a great no-fuss plant for filling in blank spaces in a garden bed, especially if you let them go to seed. They can seed around but are easily kept under control by plucking unwanted seedlings.

 

As the name implies, this particular columbine in my island bed has gold leaves…and the flower colour is a delightful pale pink. Interestingly, in sharing some of my seedlings with John, his ‘Woodside Gold’ flowers bloom a darker shade of pink…leaning towards what I call ‘salmon’. This is likely attributed to the difference in sun hours…mine get no direct sun, only filtered while John’s are in full sun for most of the day.

 

Moving over in the bed…I noticed tiny red nubbins of my Anemone nemerosa ‘Robinsoniana’ (wood anemone) just starting to peek up through the dark soil. Judging by the extent and numbers of red buds showing, I may have to curtail some of this delightful groundcover’s spreading habit. Hard to do though when you know what a lovely display the soft blue flowers put on in early spring. They are a great foil against the pale yellow of the primulas and the dark blue of my Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’.

 

I sure felt good getting some tidy-up done in the garden. At the end of the day, my whole island bed had been uncovered from its winter leaf mulch and most of the pruning had been done. Just have a bit more to do in my patch of Red Bloom heart-leaf, Bergenia cordifolia ‘Rotblum’,…snipping off the tattered old leaves. I also need to prune back my ‘Goldmound’ spirea shrub into a spherical shape. Not its typical shape, but one which I much prefer for where this shrub is sitting. Any of the cultivars of Spireae thunbergia shrubs are good for shaping, if that is your wish for your garden design.

My big wish is the -5.5 °C (41.9 °F) low did not happen that night after I had removed the leaf mulch. My poor Panda Face ginger is certainly not happy now. And I knew better. This particular species of ginger (Asarum maximum) is only border-line hardy in our garden. That low temperature really tested its mettle to the extent the leaves look like they have suffered frost-bite.

They will actually be snipped off eventually, the better to show off the fresh new growth…and to better showcase the flowers. In the meantime, I have placed a small bucket over the ginger and anchored it with a rock on top. Hopefully, this mini-greenhouse will protect the plant until the weather starts smartening up. It is almost March, for Pete’s sake!