The Garden Buzz

The Most Beautiful Flower I Have Ever Grown

Happy 22nd Birthday to my lovely daughter!
 

Spring Bulbs: Playing in the Minors

Here in the Twin Cities, everyone is all twitterpated about the Twins' new outdoor baseball field. I'm happy for them, but baseball seems so slow, you could probably watch the stadium's real grass grow.

The local channels did find time in the middle of all the breathless baseball coverage to plug a story about what's blooming at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, during which Interim Director Mary Meyers mentioned the "minor" bulbs in flower right now along with the daffodils and tulips.

A lot of the so-called minor bulbs are old-fashioned flowers often found in older gardens, I don't know if people plant them as much with all the flashy options available in bulbs today. There's also their ephemeral nature, it's a one-time show that you might miss if your spring vacation falls just so.

Yet they are little blossoms that arrive just when we are starved for color, and their diminuitive size just adds to their charm.

I like to think of them as bringing depth to a garden, much like a groundcover seems like good accessorizing. It's one more layer of interest that gives gravitas to the garden. But I think it's all in the placement.

Scilla siberica in my garden right now, I plan to move them from this backyard spot to the driveway area where I can appreciate them every time I pull up to the house.   The Garden Buzz
  

The whole trick is to go big when you go little. If possible buy them in bulk, by mail-order John Scheepers Bulbs and Flowers is a good source for large, reasonably priced quantities, better yet if you qualify for their wholesale price. Otherwise, nurseries often discount what's left in late fall. The next step is to let them naturalize, increasing in numbers every year.

Planted in mass at doorways, paths and other entrances they are like a little welcome mat. They can be planted in lawns and under deciduous trees where they will benefit before mowing starts or leaves appear. Smaller groups are set off when planted adjacent to rocks and other natural accents.

 
Buttery yellow crocus blooming in mid-March, a Minnesota miracle

Crocus: Come in purple, yellow and white; chalice-shaped flowers with cheery yellow stamens.
Scilla: Sometimes called squill, bright blue drooping bells, and fresh green grassy foliage.
Galanthus: Snowdrops are dainty and white, among the first to bloom in earliest spring.
Ipheion: Known as star flowers, little clumps of charming china blue upturned blooms.
Chinodoxia: "Glory of the Snow", more pale blue flowers with yellow stamens.
Hyacinthoides: English bluebells for a "bluebell wood", Spanish varieties are hardier up north.

 

Just some of 1000 Scillas planted in Victoria's lawn     The Garden Buzz
 

A friend, who is a landscape architect and cancer survivor planted these scillas on her elevated lawn area just before her diagnosis, and they have come back stronger, like her, each season since. They've been such a delight to her through her ordeal. Pretty major for a minor bulb, huh?

 

A healing garden planting, along with an inspirational borrowed view.
 

PS: The bees love them too.
 

  

Back to School Gardens

You've seen those bumper stickers that say, "My son/daughter and my money go to...insert place of higher learning here."

We have two in college at the moment, so it rings true. My daughter informs me as she is applying to grad school, that she wants to go on for a doctorate after that. She loves learning. She also told me she wanted to require her little brother to refer to her as "Dr. Hayes".

So here's a way to get more of your money's worth out of college. Many college campuses double as arboretums and botanical gardens. In many cases, plants are labeled and more horticultural information may be available for the asking. Experimental plantings, new varieties and demonstrations often are on display as well. Suprisingly ag schools are sometimes the best bet.

In addition, striking sculpture, art and atchitecture are a bonus of these visits. Some schools even give specific botanical tours. Check individual websites for more detailed information.

 
 
  

Florida Souvenir: Rosemary Worth Remembering

Make fun of me for my road trips all you want. Call it quaint, call it simple, but I can't see the stuff I want to see from 30,000 ft. Plus there's all that high-flying nausea, fear and claustrophobia that puts a damper on my idea of a vacation. It may be cliche, but I enjoy the journey.

After visiting all the grandparents, my daughter and I detoured to "The Forgotten Coast" of Florida. Highway 98 on the way to the old oyster town of Apalachicola takes you back in time to what people like to call the "real" Florida. The B&B we found had all the amenities we could want; a porch for porch sitting, proximity to beaches and good seafood plus a very old cemetery across the street.

Wild rosemary (Conradina canescens) in the foreground.  The Garden Buzz 
 

Winding through the piney woods, the forest is thick with squatty palms and brambles. Delicate rain lilies line the roadsides in the watery ditches. At the woods edge wild rosemary offers a lacy gray contrast to the tropical tones of green and gold.  

Calling it Conradina canescens or false rosemary seems like such an insult. It looks like rosemary, grows like rosemary, blooms like rosemary, smells like rosemary. And my yet research can't tell me the real difference. I thought back to my herb lectures where I talked about rosemary and its Mediterranean roots, and wish I'd known about this endearing herb.

WIld rosemary on St. George Island, FL   The Garden Buzz

Rosmarinus officialus along the streets of Apalachicola, Fl The Garden Buzz
 
Later on St. George Island, we were able to get up close and personal with this sweet rosemary. It grows in the sandy soil among the pines and oaks within the native areas of the state park. Like Rosmarinus officialus, it thrives on the salty and windswept margins of the seashore. Within a distance of twenty feet the scrubby little bushes bloomed a range of white to pale pink to milky blue.

In town cultivated rosemary grew like hedges along the streets and in the front yards of the rustic "cracker" shacks and hurricane-harried Victorians, blooming a brighter blue. 

Later that evening in the restaurant, our bread came with rosemary butter. Using rosemary calls for subtlety; too much and it tastes soapy. The single sprig did the trick; with resinous notes of citrus and Christmas tree. 

We skipped the usual souvenirs; opting for a few seashells, jars of tupelo honey and the faint fragrance of rosemary on our fingers. That must be why they say, "Rosemary is for remembrance".

  

Exciting News!

The Garden Buzz has received a Silver Award of Achievement for the 2010 Garden Writers Association Media Awards program. The award is in the category of Best Writing in Electronic Media. Woo-hoo!

This award makes The Garden Buzz a candidate for the GWA Gold Awards for Best Talent and Best Product. The winners will be announced at the GWA Annual Symposium held in Dallas this year on September 13.

 

Happy Easter, Passover and Spring!

The Garden Buzz will return from Florida just in time for spring clean-up, planning and planting!