BY GLADYS JEURINK
The shady most
side of the yard is an ideal place for early spring flowers. In February
we begin to see life arriving and hope plants are not too cold. One of
my more aggressive ones is the Virginia Blue
Also in the
shade the dainty Shooting Stars come up about 8 to 12 inches tall. Mine
are a pale pink and occasionally I find a new one close by.
They like water or droop badly. The single stock of “stars” rise
up above the low plant base. The petals bend backwards from a sharp
nose. They are not large enough to be seen unless they have a clear area
away from taller plants. They do not last a long time and disappear like
the Blue Bells.
Lily Of The
Valley (Convallaria mojali’s) are small (to 12 inches) with dainty white
blooms. Their bells are waxy looking white and fragrant. If they are
happy they tend to spread rather rapidly like other spring bloomers it
tends to disappear when hot days arrive but next spring the clump will
be bigger. I see a pink one advertised in catalogs but mine are all
white with a neat odor.
Blood Root (Sanguinaria)
is one of my favorite earlies. It is named like it is because if you
break a root it will bleed “red”. It spreads very slowly into low
clumps. Books say it is
hardy to zone 3 so it has not trouble in
Jack-in-the-Pulpit comes a little later. I have many under shrubs and
trees, When “Jack” turns red in the fall I strip off the red beads and
toss
them into a shady place.
They form bulbs big enough to produce “Jacks” in a year or so
with shade and water. Writers caution that you must not
dig the bulbs and let them dry out.
My original ones came in slightly damp
peat moss to be planted immediately. What fun
to see Jack come up under his leaf and his pulpit curling over
his head.
Johnny Jump Ups
can fill in any small places in the sun.
They are easy to start from seed or get new plants that will
reseed for you. To me they
are tiny Pansies that survive a hot
summer. Most are only
about 12 inches tall but occasionally I have some 18 inches. (Viola
tricolor)
Pansies are one
of the first blooms to appear in garden centers and nurseries and are a
welcome sign of spring. I
have some large pots to fill up and since Pansies can not take heat, as
summer comes I re place them with seeds of Rainbow Colored Chard.
They come up at once and g row fast.
Sometimes they get 3 feet tall.
It does not mind your taking leaves for food as the slumps are
large and healthy. They are huge, striped, and many colors so makes a
background for shorter, less dramatic plants.
One of the
earlies shrubs to bloom is the Korean Spice Viburnum (Viburnum carlini).
You can small it before you see it in the garden. The blooms start out
pink and age to white. It likes part shade. Catalogues say it will grow
to 6 feet high but mine has never been over
There are
numerous varieties of Snow Drops (Galanthus sp.) ranging from 2 inches
up to 5 inches tall. They need to be near the edges of you paths or you
might miss them. Bulbs are
planted in the fall in loose, humus filled soil.
Sometimes they will come up in the snow.
Some people are allergic to the bulbs.
Eating them will
cause a stomach upset. Each
bulb has a single dainty white bloom. They can grow in partial
shade. Copyright 2015 |