28 Mar 2012

Enchanted April (um, I mean March)

Photo by María Helena Carey

By Matthew Roberts of Ginkgo Gardens

One of my favorite movies, especially during the dark depressing days of winter, is Enchanted April. It’s mostly about the transformative powers of love, but also has a lot to do with gardens. Or more specifically one particular garden around a castle on the Italian coast in spring. During the stay of our delightful (yet at the outset, curmudgeonly) protagonists, the entire season of spring, which should last for three whole months from the vernal equinox on March 21st to the summer solstice on June 21st, erupts, entices, and ennobles all in one short month. Can you see where this is headed?

Washington DC (and we do have a castle down on the Mall) has been cast in that role for our own version of Enchanted March. Everything is blooming at once! Plums, that are the true first herald of spring and often confused by the unlearned as early-blooming cherries, are being nudged out of the picture by redbuds, forsythia, Japanese magnolias, and viburnums. The crocuses had barely faded when the daffodils burst forth and are now being eclipsed by hyacinths and tulips that haven’t been allowed to grow to full stature. They are stunted and squat lacking the long graceful stem we need to display them indoors in tall vases of crystal clear water. (Okay, exaggeration there – who among us really cuts their own tulips and brings them inside? Show of hands…I thought so, but I was waxing poetic).

Hey Spring! Just slow down. You only got here today and you’re already almost over.

So how do we as gardeners deal with this?

Try and squeeze in those winter chores you didn’t get around to (WHAT WINTER?), while doing the spring ones a little earlier than usual. Those roses you haven’t pruned yet can still be chopped back. Find an outward facing node around knee-high and give that stalk a slice. It’s okay if there are lots of bright red leaves that you have just lost. They’ll grow back. And you can go ahead and fertilize now while you’re out there. Remember we’re working on the two for the price of one deal here.
Haven’t cut back those grasses from last year or still looking at scraggly lilyturf (liriope)? Don’t sweat it (perhaps a poor choice of words when the temps are in the high seventies). Get out there and whack ‘em down. There will probably be some new growth creeping upward inside those clumps, but if you nick the young shoots, it’s not the end of the world. And while you’re mucking about out there; yank out as many weeds as you can and spread out a load of mulch to deter their reappearance.

If that’s not enough to do, here’s a simple trick to create some color and surprise in your garden this summer to make up for everything being bloomed and over with so early this spring. Try sticking some flowering bulbs in odd corners or add them to existing containers. Tall striking cannas in hot oranges, reds and yellows liven up any garden in the dog days of July and August and give a tropical flair to match the tropical heat. Regal Asian lilies add scent and substance and are reliably hardy in this zone. Little girls (and certain macho male gardeners heading toward fifty) love tiger lilies with their stippled peeled back petals. Calla lilies are surprisingly easy to grow and give you the right to imitate Katherine Hepburn (after the second martini on the patio in June), “Look Norman, the callas are in bloom!”  Tuck never-failing gladiolas in around other perennials for sharp spikes of bright color in the late summer. My neighbor plants them with her mums and they look amazing poking out through the soft green mounds of chrysanthemum foliage. And to help usher in the delights of autumn, nothing beats dahlias. Minis, cactus-petaled, red-leaved, green-leaved, or dinner plates; dahlias come in almost every color and height and will bloom from late summer through to the first frost (if we ever have one of those again).

So, be not afraid. After strolling down by the Tidal Basin this weekend return to your own castle on the Hill and turn your garden into an enchanted court where the power of love may transform you.  Not that any of you need transforming…..

Have gardening questions or planting needs? Matthew Roberts at Ginkgo Gardens can help you get started or keep your established garden flourishing with his knowledge and expertise.

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