Spring Wildflowers are Nature's Gems

Dutchman's breeches mingling with wild leeks.

Bluets

HAMDEN, Conn. - Many of the wildflowers blooming at this time are small and unnoticeable. Take bluets, for example. The four light blue petals with a yellow center are beautiful close-up. These tiny flowers can be found in dry lawns or fields and are easily stepped on or even eradicated from lawns in the quest to be weed-free.

"Weeds are a name humans have given a plant they do not want," said Chris Fagen during the spring wildflower hike at Sleeping Giant State Park. Dandelions also fall into this category.

Fagen and Dick Majka, hike leaders from the Sleeping Giant Park Association, partnered up to lead a three hour tour through the trails of the park in search of wildflowers on Sunday.

Many wildflowers appear quickly in spring and disappear within a few weeks. Considered spring ephemerals, the entire life cycle of the plant occurs before the trees leaf out and block the sunlight from reaching the ground. The plants often go dormant during the summer. They are perennials and are an important food source to early emerging insects.

Skunk cabbage surrounding a tree.

While this winter lasted longer than usual, Fagen said springs on average are beginning earlier. "We are two to three weeks advanced because of global warming [than previous years]," he said.

"Winter was so lengthened that the flowers may not be out there yet," said Fagen. "Normally we find 30-40 species. It was just too cold this season."

Two species that were behind schedule included marsh marigold and false hellebore, which grow alongside skunk cabbage at the park.

Pussytoes

White Flowers Rule the Spring
Fagen recommended purchasing a guide that has the photos and description listed together, not in separate sections, to make identification easier. (New England Wildflowers: A Guide to Common Plants is designed this way.)

Besides looking up flower color, Majka recommended to "look at the habitat to help you identify it."

For example, if you find bluets in your lawn, this indicates the soil is a little more acidic. On the hike, bluets were found under the pine trees by the park's entrance. (Pine needles often increase the acidity of the soil.) Accompanying bluets were also pussytoes that were not yet blooming. They both share a fondness for drier soil.

Dutchman's breeches

Dutchman's breeches have little white flowers that resemble pants on a clothing line. They bloom April through May and like moist, rich soil. They were found nearby intermingling with bloodroot (which blooms from March through May) which has small white flowers that don't last long. "They do their thing and then they are gone," said Fagen.

The moist soil was also home to wild leeks, or ramps (which bloom June through July). "The flower spike will come up and the leaves will disappear," said Fagen. The leaves are popular in southern cuisine.

The yellow flower of the trout lily stood out in the sea of white flowers and fallen leaves. "Trout Lily is one of the most beautiful flowers you can see," said Fagen. The speckled leaves are similar to the speckled skin of trout, which is how it got its name (it also is referred to as Dogtooth Violet).

Blue cohosh gets its name not by the flower (which is yellow) but by the blue berries it produces. "It has a weird little flower," said Fagen. "Ten years ago it wasn't here." Now the park has a sizable portion, perhaps due to fallen trees that have allowed more light to reach the ground.

Trout lily

Another white flower that was just beginning to bloom was wood anemone. "Wood anemone comes out in patches," said Fagen. "Usually it is out the same time as trout lily." Saxifrage, which looks similar to pussytoes, is also referred to as "stone splitter" since it grows in dry rocky areas.

Red trillium was the star of the hike, due to its almost maroon flowers. Did you know that trilliums are one of the most stolen plants from the woods? Only purchase from a reputable source. Fagen recommended purchasing wildflowers through White Flower Farm or Natureworks.

Wildflowers make great additions to the garden because they are native plants. Majka recommended minimizing the use of "alien" plants, such as yellow iris which originates from Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa but can be invasive in aquatic settings. "You have to be careful when you choose plants," said Fagen.

The Connecticut Botanical Society has a helpful chart to help in identifying wildflowers here.

Carole Seville Brown also spoke about the importance of native plants during her lecture at the CMGA Symposium in March.

Bloodroot

Blue cohosh

Trillium

Saxifrage

Floral Friday

I missed last week's Floral Friday because I was working so many hours at my job. The days leading up to a holiday are always hectic at the bakery, and I realized on Monday I missed my posting.

But this week has so much more to offer in the garden anyway. All that work planting bulbs in November paid off, with the daffodils peaking this week. I also have my first tulip in that planting blooming as well.

In addition, one of the plum trees has started to bloom. It seems a bit early this year, and it's partner, the Shiro plum, doesn't have many buds that are even open yet. It will be interesting to see how this pollinates this year, since my honey bee lures from Peaceful Valley are taking their sweet time to get here.

There are pretty yellow flowers everywhere, too. This split daffodil from out front is one example, as is the little primrose from the back garden.

What is blooming in your garden today?

'Gardening in Miniature' Scales Design Principles Down to Size

Book Review

Courtesy Timber Press

Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World
By Janit Calro

Creating a tiny garden, also known as a fairy garden, has skyrocketed in popularity over the last year and a half. Calro's book is full of photographs to inspire and motivate you to create your own lilliputian world.

She emphasizes that scale is one of the most important elements when creating a garden scene. If the accessories are too large for the plants, or vice versa, the garden will not look balanced. She applies three main dollhouse miniature scales to her gardens: 1 inch (large), 1/2 inch (medium) or 1/4 inch (small). Giving examples in the book, she illustrates how each would look to help the reader decide which they prefer.

Calro also reminds the reader that design principles that would apply to (regular-size) gardening also apply in the tiny world.  She explains why it's important to keep in mind anchor points, layering, balance, form, texture, color and focal points. Sound complicated? Her easy writing style will give you the confidence to go forth and experiment, either in pots or outside in your main garden. Intermingled with her recommended plants are also examples of miniature gardens you can replicate on your own.

While reading (and skipping ahead to look at all the colorful photographs), I kept finding that I wanted elements that were featured in the book. Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center is Calro's website and offers plenty of figurines, plants and accessories for sale. Now there's no excuse to experiment with miniature gardening.

Gardening in Miniature retails for $19.99 and is published by Timber Press.

Holy Hellebores

I can't get enough of hellebores. They are also called Christmas or Lenten Roses, since they are one of the earliest spring blooming flowers to appear in the garden.

I started out with one hellebore four years ago. The idea of an early blooming flower sounded good to me, so I planted my first one. I planted it in the back of my garden and honestly forgot about it. The first year it didn't bloom since it was establishing itself in the garden. I had even forgotten about it by the next spring and almost missed the flowers entirely. This is because the flowers of the hellebore dangle downward, like little bells. I did a double take and realized there were wine-colored flowers amid the foliage. I was immediately hooked for life. I needed more hellebores, and I needed them to be closer to the house so I could enjoy them from the windows.

I grow mine in part shade/part sun, but I've had luck with some hellebores with a bit more sun. They are pretty low maintenance when it comes to watering and care. They seem to enjoy organic matter added to the soil.

There are so many hybrid hellebores available at garden centers. The top photo, Sparkling Diamond, is an example. If you have a rose bowl, hellebores are perfect to cut and place inside to float on the water.

The leaves of hellebores are evergreen. In the late winter, I cut off the previous year's growth so that the new emerging flower stems will stand out. This year I have a kaleidoscope of colors ranging from the palest whites to pink to wine.

Hellebores are also welcome in my garden because the roots of hellebores are poisonous to voles. In the last year and a half, I have been battling voles in my garden. These little rodents look cute, but use underground tunnels to nibble on roots of plants. Since hellebores deter voles, I've been adding more of them to my garden. I specifically surround plants that have fallen victim to voles in the past with hellebores to help keep them away.

So far, it seems to be helping.

Soil Test is Key to Unlocking Great Lawns

Grass emerging from its winter slumber.

DURHAM, Conn. - The most important step to having a lush, green, organic lawn is to have your soil tested.

"You have to know things about your soil in order to take care of it," said Diane St. John during her talk on organic lawn care for the Coginchaug Area Transition lecture series. St. John is a NOFA Accredited Land Care Practitioner and retail manager at Natureworks in Northford, Conn.

Here's an example of the paperwork UCONN will
return after analyzing your soil. Click to enlarge.

Lawns like a neutral pH between 6.5 and 7. If the soil is not near that pH, the lawn will not do well no matter what you do, said St. John.

The University of Connecticut offers a basic soil test for $8 for homeowners. (I had several samples done back in 2011, as seen in the example to the right.) Using a small trowel or bulb planter, take samples of soil from 10 different spots in the sample area. Mix the samples in a container and then take a one cup sample to send out for analysis.

Once your test results return (the website estimates 7-10 days) you can use the information to determine what the soil needs for correcting.

For Connecticut gardeners, a grass blend which includes tall fescue grass will perform well. The best time to renovate the lawn is in the fall, but "spring is OK too, but you need to water more," she said.

Mowing the lawn on the high side (four inches) not only helps shade itself but also the weed seeds. St. John recommended leaving grass clippings on the lawn to be mulched back into the soil since the clippings are full of nitrogen. "It's like free fertilizer."

Reading the Weeds
You can also determine what is wrong with the lawn by "reading the weeds."

"Crabgrass usually grows where soil is really compacted," said St. John. "If you are living in a semi-new development (in the last 30 years), you probably have compacted soil." To help correct the problem, she suggests aerating the soil (using a pitchfork to poke holes in the ground helps with this).

"If you can ID the weeds in the lawn, you can see what the soil needs," said St. John. Here are five of the most common weeds found in lawns:

• Crabgrass: low calcium, high potassium
• Dandelions: low calcium, low pH, high potassium
• Creeping Charlie: low nitrogen, high calcium, poor drainage
• Plantain: poor drainage, very compacted soil
• Wild Onions: low calcium, poor drainage

Clover, considered by some a weed, actually feeds the lawn by fixing nitrogen in its roots. "The part I really enjoy is the [white] clover and [the oxalis with] the little yellow flowers - I actually kind of like some of the weeds," she said.

St. John said pests can also be an indicator of what is wrong with the soil. "Patchy spots in the lawn mean roots are being eaten by grubs." The grubs are the larvae stage of Japanese beetles. To get rid of grubs in the soil (which also attract moles, who prefer to dine on them), St. John recommends applying beneficial nematodes to the lawn in late May/early June and again in mid-August/early September.

Life Without Pesticides 
Now is the time that pesticide warning flags begin to appear in neighborhoods to warn that spraying has occurred. St. John tells her children to stay off the lawns that have chemicals applied. "I worry about them walking on those lawns," she said.

The premise of organic gardening is to feed the soil, which will produce healthy plants. The soil is alive and filled with bacteria, fungus and protozoa, she said. "All these little guys you can't see [...] the whole web of life starts with life in your soil."

However, microscopic life is killed off by chemicals. If your lawn was previously treated with chemicals, St. John suggests replenishing life by applying a thin layer of compost to the top of the soil or by using a compost tea. (She recommends Organic Plant Magic, which is a dehydrated compost tea.) The transition from a chemical lawn to an organic lawn may look worse for a little while until the life kicks back in.

St. John originally started off with 1 acre of lawn at her home. Not only does St. John have chemical-free, gorgeous green grass that her children can play on, but she has removed 7,426 square feet of lawn from her original acre. She replaced the lawn with trees and plants to provide a place for wildlife to reside. Now instead of a monoculture of lawn, she has a more welcoming habitat.

"The lawn is part of your ecosystem and your yard as a whole," she said. "It's amazing when you stop using chemicals, what comes to your yard."

Floral Friday

I came home from work today and found blooming daffodils scattered throughout the front garden. Nothing makes me smile more than this flower.

What is blooming in your garden today?

April Garden Chores

A little late in posting this month's chores, since I've been trying to get to them myself.

Garden cleanup is in full swing. Here is a corner of my
front garden on my property line.

Cleanup
- I'm still cutting down old growth from last year and raking up leaves. (I'm a little behind on the leaves part because I never had time to rake this past fall.) Try not to walk on soil that is too wet because this can compact it.

- You can create new paths (and even garden beds) by layering cardboard on top of grass and then covering with mulch. I am in the process of collecting cardboard on my back patio. It looks strange, but it will have a home soon.

Seeds
- Sow peas! I still haven't sown mine as I type this. The weather was too cold up until a few days ago. I plan to soak mine in water overnight (this helps germination) and then plant them in the soil. The time window for getting peas in the ground is small because they stop producing when the temperature gets too warm.

- Tomatoes and peppers, oh my! I'll be starting these seeds this week (week of April 6). I try not to start them too soon or they get leggy.

- Keep sowing seeds as the month goes on. I have all my seeds sorted into file folders so I know what to plant next. I've fallen behind with some, but I just keep on sowing.

Pruning
- As soon as the buds begin to swell on the roses, I trim them. (I've also heard it's safe to prune with the forsythia blooms.) I trim out old, diseased or damaged canes and try to remove canes that will impede air flow.

- Prune out old, dead branches on honeysuckle vines. When done in spring, the plant sets new growth more easily.

- Prune clematis. Margaret Roach has advice here.

Fertilizing 
- Scatter bulb fertilizer around emerging bulbs. I like to use Espoma's Bulb Tone.

- Top dress roses and other perennials with compost. Top dress rhubarb with well-rotted manure.

Mason bees help pollinate in the early spring.

Fruit Trees
- I have better luck with my fruit trees if I purchase honey bee lures. These use a pheromone to attract bees to the flowers (especially important for my pear trees, which aren't as attractive as apple trees blossoms).  Last year I used Peaceful Valley's lures, and they worked really well! I also have a mason bee house to encourage these non-stinging bees to set up residence in my garden. I found a few on my crocus blossoms today.

Garden Structures
- Now's a good time to put in or repair fencing and trellises. The garden hasn't grown in yet and areas are more accessible because of it.

Most importantly, it's easy to get overwhelmed this month. Remember: slow and steady. If you do a little bit in the garden every day or every other day, you'll have less work to do when the season kicks into high gear.

Onward!

Floral Friday

More flowers are starting to appear in the garden this week! This week's highlights include crocuses and the willow out back. What's blooming in your garden today?