Spring:  New, exciting and different

Romans celebrated the festival of Flora, goddess of flowers and the spring, in the last days of April and the beginning of May. This seems a more sensible date than 21st March, at least for northern gardeners. But can anything hold back gardeners: buds start swelling, bulbs busting into bloom and redwing blackbirds staking out their territories?

The garden promises to spring to life this season with new offerings galore. Garden centres being to gardeners what catnip is to cats, those possessed of twitching green thumbs will need no encouragement to make frequent trips to such local establishments. Sheridan Nurseries celebrates its 100th anniversary by introducing dwarf reblooming lilac ‘Purple Be Dazzled’ just 100 centimetres metres tall and wide – see a little more below. And if you’ve all but given up on raising roses, look for Sheridan’s ‘Anniversary Blush,’ an easy-to-grow scented floribunda, with a pearly blush 80cm tall, 60cm wide.

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Breeders have obviously scented an increasing market for compact plants suitable for city gardens. For example, floriferous ‘Sugar Baby’ Forsythia is a true dwarf 75cm tall by 90cm wide. In perennials the ever-popular Heuchera line is expanded by ‘Little Cuties,’ a series of seven, all very small. At the opposite end of the scale is yet another addition to Hosta selections – we lost track around 4,000 – with ‘Humpback Whale,’ a monster 90cm tall with a 2.1m spread of blue-green corrugated leaves, bearing spikes of white flowers. More modest in size but not appearance is ‘Rainbow’s End,’ a beauty with bright yellow leaves, green margins, lavender flowers with red scapes, some 28 cm tall by 52 cm wide. Then there are still more Echinacea, hopefully longer-lived than some recent much ballyhooed cone flower introductions: dwarf ‘Cleopatra’ sports yellow flowers with an orange cone while ‘Double Scoop Orangeberry’ (who thinks up these names?) has a double red centre fringed with orange petals. The month of April is famed for its showers. American physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-94) once opined that, “Easy-crying widows take new husbands soonest. There’s nothing like wet weather for transplanting.” Apparently he was also an observant gardener – such anticipated weather might make for ideal installation.

Diversion No. 1

Japan’s flower cherry trees may be viewed there by day hanami, or in the night, yozakura, explains Luna Shyr in National Geographic magazine. In the same article, ‘The Zen of Petals,’ Diane Cook explained that a hallowed weeping cherry tree in Kyoto’s Maruyama Park has its own sakuramori – cherry tree doctor – who tends to its care.

Although the newly arrived chain of Target stores may challenge the status quo, looking for trained advice let along for new plant offerings from big box stores is an exercise in futility. Nor is this limited to chains expanding from over the border. Enquiring if their perennials had arrived at a Canadian Tire alleged garden centre one recent early spring, the girl looked blank. “What are they?” she replied. Alas, she is not alone. What might be termed ‘The Big Box Store Syndrome’ is all too prevalent. The National Post last February noted that closures and staff layoffs in the sector results from a more fundamental problem: Lousy customer service. The big story in Canadian retail right now, said the National Post, isn’t really about the rise of e-commerce or a new competitor. It’s one of the central tenets of shopping – the customer is always right – is once again a life or death commandment. Care of living plants is also a matter of life and death but at many a big box ‘garden centre’ this obviously doesn’t worry management or their staff.

Diversion No. 2

Houseplants promote increased moisture levels in household air to offer yet another health benefit. Higher humidity levels indoors can significantly reduce the infectivity of influenza virus particles released by coughing, according to research published 27 February in the open access journal PLoS One by John Noti and colleagues from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although not the first in the field with a dwarf reblooming lilac, Sheridan Nurseries is celebrating its centennial year with the release of their own selection, among other introductions. ‘Purple Be Dazzled’ (Syringa pubescens subsp. patula), maturing at 100 centimetres tall with a similar spread, will make a welcome addition to small urban gardens. Planted close to a well-used path or patio, it will flood the vicinity with a delicious scent from late spring to early autumn Meanwhile, mail order specialist Gardenimport offers two new dwarf lilacs in addition to fresh stocks of the now-established ‘Bloomerang®’ which they suggest as a wonderfully fragrant hedge. At 120-150 cm it is larger than that from Sheridan as is Gardenimport new ‘Bloomerang® Dark Purple’ which is slightly larger still. From the same source comes yet another dwarf, 90cm tall with a spread of double that, ‘Scent & Sensibility™’ described as very fragrant, with soft lilac-pink blossoms but which apparently does not repeat bloom quite so profusely. Gardenimport ships through Canada Post, perhaps not the greatest recommendation, in litre, 4.5-centimetre pots so expect a modestly sized plant. Sheridan offers more established shrubs in larger pots – and far superior delivery.

Diversion No. 3

A recent study, published in Science, highlights the importance of the interaction between wild pollinators and production of animal-pollinated crops. The study, which includes field data from 19 countries and 41 crop systems, concludes that the benefits of pollination by wild insects to the numbers of fruits or seeds produced per flower cannot be replaced by managed honey bees.

Raised in Texas, where locals produced a rich array of vegetables and fruits from their gardens, Britta Riley attempted the same on moving to Brooklyn. Alas her apartment windowsill failed to equal her home state’s wide-open spaces while rooftops merely exposed the veggies to the vagaries of northeastern climatic conditions. Never underestimate the determination and enterprise of one from the Lone Star State. Ms. Riley turned to hydroponic turrets in the window of her apartment. According to a description in Popular Science magazine, Riley cobbled together a prototype from plastic bottles, a water pump and a bucket. With it, she raised a salad’s worth of greens per week. That was three years ago. Since then she has launched Windowfarms online inviting contributions to create a simple, economical and efficient system. Last year, a campaign led to the production of a consumer-ready hydroponic kit for about $179 for those who are not DIY enthusiasts. Further tweaking has developed at its simplest a model that can be built in an hour for about $30. Riley’s enterprise captured the imagination of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, which is featuring an enlarged version of her hydroponic home farm until later this summer.

Diversion No. 4

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation has apparently cut down a 500-year-old Kahikatea tree so it could extend a nearby tramping hut for back country hikers, noted the Greymouth Star.

In the novel Treasure Island, a character is tipped with the dread ‘Black Spot.’ Rose lovers experience the same feelings over their beloved plants most notorious disease. Take action now! Pick up every last one of last year’s fallen leaves and dump out in the garbage. Cut back canes to leave just three to five thick and strong ones spaces well apart. Cover the soil around them with at least three inches of composted cattle or sheep manure. You might be tempted to go down upon your knees and seek a little supernatural aid. Don’t. As a wit once observed, “The rosarian’s path is a thorny one.” So what weather can we expect for Earth Day, 22 April and the rest of the reputedly pluvial month? According to Environment Canada’s weather wizard David Phillips, folk wisdom has it that, “If the ash be out before the oak, then the earth will have a soak.” Since the wretched emerald ash borer is romping through the Fraxinus, this may become somewhat less than helpful. Phillips also notes that 16 April 1955 the worst April snowstorm on record dumped 42 centimetres snow on St. John’s, Newfoundland. A year earlier on 6 April, a farmhouse struck by lightning in Hanover, Ontario, was left a shambles of one room and threw flowerpots on the windowsill to the centre of the room.