There has been a four-letter word on northern gardeners’ lips: snow! Whatever assorted groundhogs from Winnipeg through Wiarton down to Gobbler’s Knob may have fondly imagined, an early spring is not likely this year. Thanks though to various and varied cultural celebrations, we celebrate through March with everything from leeks to lilies with shamrocks tucked somewhere in between.
The first day of the month is dedicated to St. David, the patron saint of the Welsh whose melodic voices may be improved by their national symbol the leek,
Allium porrum to botanists. Note that name. Romans called those fond of the vegetable
Porrophagus, or leek-eater. Nero was one such noshing down on platefuls in the belief they would sweeten his voice. They failed, however, his voice remaining weak and weedy although his poetry was said to be not at all bad.
Other Romans spread the member of the onion family across Europe and, eventually, into England and up into Scotland where it became famed cock-a-leekie soup and as such, was served on the RMS Titanic. Welcomed by the Welsh, legend has it that that in A.D.640 during one of the Welsh versus Saxon dustups, the Welsh plucked leeks from a handy field and stuck them in their headgear to distinguish them from the enemy. The tradition persists to the present on the day of their patron saint. Unfortunately, across the border to the east, irreverent English claim that once a year on St. David’s day, Welshmen have a leek in their hats.
Diversion No. 1
Urban backyards may be used for many, many things. South Florida authorities recently arrested a 23-year-old man who had been distilling and selling moonshine in his back garden and selling it out of his Lantana home.
Then across the Irish Sea there is St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March. Horticulturally, here it is the shamrock that is celebrated florally, a plant of botanical blarney discussed more extensively below. Coincidentally, the same day was celebrated in Rome as the feast day of the fertility deity Liber. Liberalia festivities are unlikely to see a revival. According to Charles Panati (1989), a six-foot-high wooden phallus was mounted on a wagon and drawn through city streets, later to be crowned with a wreath by a virgin. St. Augustine witnessed one such procession of “this disgraceful effigy” but could not dissuade the Romans from a form of worship he viewed as immoral and depraved.
Diversion No. 2
Tree branches, leaf litter and dog droppings have all been part of an escalating legal war between once-friendly, next-door neighbours in a semi-rural Brisbane suburb, according to that city’s
The Sunday Mail.
Easter, perhaps the most important date in the Christian calendar, finds floral offerings of white lilies, the
Lilium candidum also known as the Madonna Lily or Bourbon Lily, originating in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean region. It appears in ancient Cretan frescoes dating back to perhaps 3,000 B.C. They exude a delicious scent that in the past attracted perfumers. After the flowers fade, trim them off but keep the soil moist. Planted out in late spring, these lilies are reasonably hardy in southern Ontario and southwest B.C. – and worth a try elsewhere. Unfortunately there is some controversy as to whether or not they and their profuse pollen are poisonous to pet #.
Diversion No. 3
Will a soup made with more than 50 cloves of garlic kill your cold – or just your love life? Could it protect you from colds, flu and even norovirus asks Britain’s
Daily Mail?
Horticultural knowledge can prove invaluable. Over 60 years ago several balsa tree logs formed a raft that sailed with several Scandinavians across the South Pacific from South America. Last fall in Østerild, Denmark, the German company Siemens built the world’s largest wind turbine, writes Taylor Kubota in the current number of
Popular Science. Each of its three rotor blades measures 246 feet and is cast by Siemens in one piece thanks to their balsa-based blades, which are up to 20 per cent lighter than traditional ones.
Unfortunately the same magazine lauds the new Ryobi Backpack Blower. Thanks to a new design with tubes that stay below the 42cc two-cycle engine, it is claimed to produce more power, clearing the yard is faster. And with more noise and excessive air pollution than the modern professional choice of a four-cycle engine. Oh yes – a simple rake is a lot cheaper than the US$199 Ryobi are asking. Won’t disturb the neighbourhood, either.
Diversion No. 4
Why don’t spiders get stuck in their own webs? Good question and it has baffled experts for decades. The answer, Daniel Engher explains in his popular column in
Popular Science magazine comes down to hairy feet and oily legs. At least this applies to orb-weaver spiders. Arachnologists are still working on the others.
More good news for gardeners: on Sunday, 10th March Daylight Saving Time begins thus permitting more time cleaning up. That is everywhere except Saskatchewan, which valiantly continues to resist all such blandishments. However, on Saturday, 23rd March it is World Meteorological Day: “Watching the weather to protect lives and property.” Doubtlessly also time to make a splash . . .
Finally, this year Easter Sunday falls on 31st March. One of Queen Victoria’s beliefs was that those born on Easter Sunday could see fairies and discover treasure, so she was hoping her first grandchild would be so blessed. Alas she arrived a day late, on Easter Monday.
