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The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 31 - April 6, 2005 Edition
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Garden Notes: Look hard, spring peeks through March 31, 2005 By Abigail Higgins Royal splendor. Photo by Susan Safford I can't remember too many recent Easters with snow on the ground; winter doesn't seem to want to relinquish its grip this year. The Island with its Atlantic coastal climate is not the place to be if one wants to revel in the glories of an over-the-top type of spring. That is the pleasure of those who dwell more deeply in the continent. Outside of the garden, Island spring is a series of subtler signs: the deepening green flush across a pasture, the reddening tips of maple and blueberry twigs, the voices of redwing blackbirds and doves, the change in light from the low dullness of winter to the penetrating, overhead ultraviolet of spring. No carpets of wildflowers here, but still - signs of spring are what we desire. Our gardens offer the chance to have more of what the continent enjoys, even though our weather may abuse the earliest plants and blooms that appear. Put your effort into the diminutive bulbs, the sort of thing that is happy in a rock garden (sandy soil, excellent drainage, and a south-facing exposure are ideal if you can create that). Utilize the spot on the sunny side of a stone wall, if you have that type of location. Snowdrops (Galantus spp.) and crocus, first the species types followed by the Dutch types, are harbingers of spring in the Island garden. My own place has loads of clay soil and is in the woods, so is not “early.” But I have had snowdrops in bloom since early February, (most of them submerged by snow, however) and the croci are open. The bulbous irises are another “first-signs-of-spring” plant. I stopped by the Polly Hill Arboretum quickly on Easter to check out the camellias, witch hazels, and magnolias. The camellias are not doing much but a small colony of Iris reticulata beneath one of the kousa dogwoods in the allee stood out, a bright blaze of blue against the muted wintry surroundings. (Also in the bulbous iris group are I. histrioides and I. danfordiae. For an in-depth look at winter-blooming irises, find issue number 78 of Garden's Illustrated.) Flowering spring shrubs By now many Islanders know that the yellow flowering shrub they see in February/March is not to be confused with the yellow flowering shrub they see in April. The latter is forsythia. Witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.), the former, is also a harbinger of spring though some years it may actually bloom from early February on, making it a winter bloomer too. There is a good collection at the Polly Hill Arboretum that anyone who plans to plant one will want to check out. Not only are the crinkly blossoms intricate and subtle, but they emit an evocative fragrance symbolizing many things to many people. There are several species but most of the Hamamelis we see are hybrid cultivars and not all are yellow. The reddish flowered kinds, I find, don't carry well visually from a distance and can be better appreciated when seen up close. Plant them in a more intimate setting. Yet another yellow-blossomed tree of the early spring is Cornus mas. It is another member of the dogwood family and well adapted to the Island. It develops into a rounded small tree or shrub, with a low trunk or multi-stemmed. Michael Dirr, in “Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs” (Timber Press, Portland, 1997) describes it: “Bright yellow flowers open on naked branches in March and are the only show in town.” It suckers and can form large colonies. There was such a colony near the gardens at Mohu years ago. On a grey March day it was like a ray of sunshine. A similar but less commonly seen species is Cornus officinalis. It blooms before C. mas. Early blooms brighten landscape Primroses are a spring classic. I always used to carry one home from the spring flower show when I went with my father as a child. They do well on the Island but one doesn't see them all that often, which I think is a shame! Rabbits and deer avoid them. A few years back I gardened at a place that had belonged to avid gardeners once upon a time though it had become a seasonal garden when I worked there. The primroses planted by the original gardeners had multiplied, however, and self-sown to cover several sizeable patches in an oriental carpet of color. In one of our current gardens there was a small planting of unknown primroses, which were there when we took it over. We let the seed heads develop each year and then sow them around the parent plants. We have a growing colony there. Primroses like a soil with lots of woodsy humus and a location near the woodland edge that will provide it. The Perennial Plant Association has declared hellebores the 2005 Perennial Plant of the Year©, and it is about time. They sent me an elaborate press release that I am happy to make use of since these are wonderful plants, mostly deer-proof and late-winter to early-spring blooming. (I keep checking mine and have only buds and no flowers yet this March.) Breeders have made tremendous advances recently, resulting in wonderful colors and flower forms previously undreamed of (except by a hellebore breeder). While there are several species, the most dazzling advances are in the hybrid forms grouped together for convenience as the Lenten rose. If you have different species in your garden you may find naturally occurring, unusual offspring. This is a plant for the woodland or shade garden and associates well with primroses and the later-appearing Epimedium (spp.,) Anemone nemorosa, and Hepatica (spp.) Give them woodsy humus and good drainage. All the above-mentioned plants are providing essential food for early insects, ensuring their survival. Look into any crocus blossom on a sunny day to see for yourself. We gardeners are not the only ones looking for signs of spring. As I do that myself I find I am fed up with the various Cornus that bear brightly colored young twigs: now they remind me of winter, when they brightened the landscape. Likewise with the ornamental grasses that seemed so wonderfully romantic and autumnal a few months back. Now they are smashed and sodden. Luckily this is the time to cut the grasses back to allow for new growth.

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