by James Edminster
Deep
as the snow is I still have Lords-and-Ladies growing green under the
snow, (You may know them as Arum italicum; they have mottled dark green
arrow-headed shaped leaves & orange berries. They like my yard so
I'm planting lots more.) Some off-the-top-of-my-head garden tidbits: I
left my goldfish outside in the pond (with an icemelter and a
circulating pump and so far no floating piscine bodies.) Am I the only
one smelling Spring in the air? I go outside to cardinals singing and
there are little green shoots at the edges of the snow
banks. The grand total of bulbs I planted was 750. We'll see how many
come up. (For procrastinators there are still perennial bulbs which
can be planted in Spring - primarily lilies and alliums.) You
want a free scarecrow line for the garden? If you have pets many cans
of pet food have pull tabs. Save and wash the tops & tie them to a
line - birds don't like them. Don't use cocoa mulch if you have outdoor
cats or let your dog use the yard. Chocolate is poisonous to them.
Pots of elephant ears make great punctuation marks around the yard - sun
or shade, just water them adequately. Someone gives you a baby shrub
or an offshoot of a perennial - stick them in fancy pot with good dirt
& don't plant them out till they're bigger. New plants to try:
"Spring Symphony" foamflowers (pink/shade); masterwort (Astrania -
pink/part shade); Salvia Cardona(sun/purple). "Marcesent" means when
plant leaves wither but stay on the plant in winter. Many oaks do
this. (There is a very fine row of fastigate [means "upright, like a
Lombardy poplar] oaks near my favorite bookstore. I
HAD to correct someone who thought they were diseased.)
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| PHOTO: Arum italicum courtesy Wikimedia.org |
Here's
this month's recipe in honor of my home state of Kansas: Sunflower
slaw - head of cabbage shredded (red is fun), 5 carrots shredded, can of
crushed pineapple, small 3 or 4 oz. pkg. roasted sunflower kernels, 3/4
cup mayonnaise, 3 Tb. lemon juice, 3 Tb. orange juice. Combine dry
ingredients in bowl; combine dressing ingredients & pour over
rest. Chill & serve.
Now is the time to dig out that
garden map you promised yourself to do for the last set of garden
resolutions so you can remember the blank spots, the flat-out failures,
the overly successful & those species you've always longed for,
since the garden catalogs are here! Time to order! Ahem, I suppose I
could get all superior and show you the map I did make (really!) except
.... I can't find it. So we're all in the same boat which reminds me of
one of the most
poignant garden stories I ever heard: a couple who had been married
many years found that the wife had incurable cancer. One of her
favorite winter activities had been ordering new plants for their
garden. It was this time of year and she was due to die in several
months - her husband found her in their den ordering plants as usual
& asked her incredulously what she was doing. She answered calmly
that she was plotting the resurrection. So all of you plot your plot's
new beginnings & we'll see you all at the next garden club meeting!
