Spring Garden

After a long, cold, snowy, long, so long, winter, spring is finally, blessedly here. What a boon, to wake every morning to a newly greened world! What could be more soothing to the winter-weary soul than a walk in the spring garden?

Our weather has been variable. We had a ridiculously hot week recently, with temperatures exceeding 30C (86F), only to be followed this week by much cooler temperatures, dipping to near zero at night, with a frost warning in the forecast for tomorrow night. The 24th of May is generally regarded as the frost-safe date here.

Nevertheless, the spring garden is well underway. Of course, the spring bulbs are always welcome. My favorites are tulips. This year, I have enjoyed a new planting of peony-like blooms in brilliant colours.

Speaking of peonies, all of the dozen new peonies I planted last year are doing well and starting to bud. The first to flower, well in advance of the other peony varieties is the fern-leaf peony (Paeonia tenuifolia). It can be appreciated for both its fine foliage and brilliant red flowers.

Ornamental rhubarb (Rheum palmatum ‘Atrosanguineum’) is one of the first plants to push up shoots as soon as the snow melts back. The young leaves are a glorious red. By now they have settled into a more staid green, but are impressive in size, some nearly two feet across.

The stalks that will soon boost feathery plumes of creamy flowers are nearly six feet tall. The flowers are tenderly embraced in a red wrap that gently unfolds to release the plumes.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spp.) is a stalwart of the spring garden, an old-fashioned favorite that always pleases.

Here is my favorite tiarella, ‘Sugar and Spice’, putting on a terrific show. The common name for tiarella is foamflower, for the appearance of the light, foamy mass of flowers.

I’ve never had much success with the most commonly available primrose species, polyanthus (Primula x polyantha). They do okay for a year or two before fading away and disappearing. Last year I planted a different species, Primula sieboldii ‘Cover Girl’. I have been very pleased this spring as the two plants I acquired last year have reappeared as sturdy clumps. The dainty flowers have silvery white faces, but the reverse side of the petals is violet pink.

These Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) were new last year and are adding a pop of blue this spring. The long stems add movement to the flower bed as the stalks sway in any breeze.

Epimediums, with many different cultivars available, attract collectors. I just have three varieties. This is Epimedium versicolor ‘Sulphureum’, which features sprays of tiny, bright yellow flowers that look like miniature daffodils.

Here’s the brilliant flower head of Bergenia ‘Eden’s Dark Margin’ blooming against a background of the umbrella-like leaves of our native mayflower (Podophyllum peltatum).

So that’s a little taste of the May garden. I’ll close with this view of St. Francis marking the entrance to the woodland garden path, surrounded by still-emerging hostas and impatiens.

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Sunday Snapshot: Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart

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Monday Morning Garden Tour, May 16

A rainy Monday. Still, there is plenty to see in the garden and after months and months of a blanket of snow, the sight of green growth is a gift to lift the spirit. The photograph above shows the view from the front door. The yellow-flowered bushy plant is Euphorbia polychroma or Cushion Spurge. It would have benefitted from a division this year, but at the time when the plant was an appropriate size, it was raining, raining, raining. Maybe in the fall. Or next year.

Part of the garden is sitting on the porch! I have a selection of plants waiting to be released from their pots. Some I just purchased this weekend while on a grocery shopping trip. It seems every major store from Walmart to Canadian Tire has a tempting selection of plants available right now, and of course, nurseries are also gearing up for their traditionally busiest weekend, the Victoria Day holiday.

Scattered throughout the garden, an assortment of tulips and daffodils are blooming gamely, but the rain is taking a toll on their pretty flowers.

It’s so satisfying to walk through the garden and see plants that were new last year looking strong and healthy. These two geraniums are Geraniium phaeum “Samobor” (right) and Geranium phaeum “Springtime”. They are starting to form buds and will be blooming soon.

The new roses that I wrote about last July have survived the winter and are putting out plenty of new growth.

And here is Persicaria polymorpha, Giant Fleeceflower, off to a good start. I planted it late in the season in 2009. It grew pretty well last year, but only achieved a modest height of about 3 feet. I hope that this summer it will come closer to meeting its potential of 6 to 7 feet tall.

All of the heucheras that I wrote about last year in a post entitled “Little Gems” are doing well. This one is Heuchera “Tiramisu”.

This Astrantia major “Sunningdale Variegated” (Masterwort) was new to the garden last year and is looking very striking this spring, with its splashy leaves. I may have to look into adding a few more of these interesting plants.

Sadly, not everything survived the ravages of winter. These twiggy remains are all there is to be seen of Gaura “Karalee Petite”, which last summer put on a gorgeous display.

I devoted the few sunny days we had last week to cleaning up an overgrown patch of hostas, part of the neglected former garden that I have slowly been working on rejuvenating since arriving at Willow House. I added a path of wood shavings, weeded around the many hosta spikes, and laid down a thick layer of mulch. It looks much better. To the upper right, you can see the “before” version of this woodland patch, still waiting to be attended to. Some of the plants on the porch are shade lovers that will be added to this garden when the weather allows.

In the riverside garden, the ostrich ferns are unfurling their fiddleheads. In the foreground are some heucheras, and to the left, geraniums. The touch of pink behind the ferns is a patch of bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis).

I wrote about bleeding heart last May in an entry titled “Old Fashioned“.

Edging the patch of bleeding heart is a little cluster of primroses (Primula ‘Pacific Giant’). I was delighted with how well they have done this spring. Their colours, pink and purple and yellow are startlingly brilliant on a gloomy day.

I’ll end today’s tour with this view of the Solomon’s Seal, just about to open the dainty little flowers that line its arching stems. Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is native to Ontario and makes a lovely spring-blooming garden plant. It is appreciated by hummingbirds and they can be seen moving along the row of dangling flowers, visiting each one in turn.

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Old-fashioned

The first garden I can remember belonged to my grandfather. He was fond of roses, and his hybrid tea roses showed off in their own special display beds set out across the back of the yard in full view. Funnily enough, I don’t remember the rose blooms themselves. I remember the plants neatly trimmed and mulched, tucked into their beds for the winter, a tribute to my grandfather’s affection for his favorites. They weren’t my favorites, though. The perennials that I remember all these years later were relegated to the border that edged the two sides of the yard. One that was always special to me was the bleeding heart.

I have always had bleeding heart represented in my garden, and am pleased that the Willow House garden had a number of lovely, big plants. Although its graceful, arching branches of charming, heart-shaped flowers give bleeding heart a tender appearance, it is sturdy and easy to grow. If you’ve ever tried to move a bleeding heart, you’ll know that an established bush has a tap root that goes halfway to China.

In addition to the pink Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis), there is a white form, “Alba“, that is also very pretty, and good for brightening a shady corner. It is a bit more elegant and sophisticated, perhaps, than the pink.

Fern-leaf bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) is a dwarf version that is good for smaller spaces. It’s under a foot tall, and lacks the long, arching branches of its taller relative, but has attractive flowers and eye-catching foliage.

For me, though, ferny leaves or white flowers are just a diversion. I still like the old-fashioned pink-flowered plants best.

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The Flower Moon: May

The May full moon is called the Flower Moon, in recognition of the rising abundance of flowers. I think the Green Moon might be a better name, as the world is never so tenderly, startlingly, brilliantly coloured as when Nature dresses herself in her new Spring Green. However, I took a walk around the garden to see what flowers are celebrating the full moon. The yellow daffodils and white bloodroot are winding down and new flowers are taking over the spotlight. The first lush deep-purple iris has opened. Old-fashioned bleeding heart, both traditional (Dicentra spectabillis) and white (D.s. forma alba) are nearing full bloom. Cushion spurge (Euphorbia polychroma) seems to be competing with the sun itself, with it’s brighter than bright yellow flowers. Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) is woven amongst the newly emerging hostas. Finally, the flowers on the graceful Smooth Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) will be opening shortly, and not a moment too soon because I spotted the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubirs) of the season on Friday afternoon.

Iris

Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart

White Bleeding Heart

Cushion Spurge

Woodland phlox

Smooth Solomon's Seal

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