It springs forth. It seems we have barely left the frost age, but are now catapulting into summer.
Almost all gardens are blooming with something: stately foxglove spires, irises, rhododendrons, wisteria, poppies, columbines, clematis, Solomon’s seal, or perhaps just a carpet of golden buttercups or dandelions. It all springs forth, and is wonderful.
Just part of nature
And speaking of wildflowers (a.k.a. weeds) emerging in the lawn, such as dandelion and hawkweed: For the past 10 years, a serendipitous clump of pink-flowered erigeron has sprouted in our lawn in May. We mowed around it, just to see how this plant would develop.
Now, whether due to No-Mow May or mere dilatoriness, the plant continues to emerge, nestled among grasses and other minor blooms that supply a great deal of insect support.
Spiders, small green caterpillars, and chewing insects abound. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for caterpillars that are lepidopteran; diatomaceous earth and ground limestone for earwigs and other nocturnal chewing insects. The cool spring weather favors them. Neem sprays and insecticidal soap are your friends, as are healthy populations of resident birds given nearby water, houses, or cover.
In the garden, a closer look reveals clusters of newly hatched orb weaver spiderlings. Those pictured, however, hatched on the back of a truck! All will be working hard before long, creating intricate webs and catching insects. The ground-dwelling wolf spiders carry their babies on their backs after hatching as they run along, even bringing them to water resources.
Counterintuitively, a recent post from Homegrown National Park (HNP) and Doug Tallamy points to the importance of protecting the pupation sites for caterpillars (bit.ly/HNP_SupportCaterpillars). HNP and Tallamy want caterpillars on our trees! Caterpillars are a major source of baby birds’ insect protein. Parent birds know how to catch and transport them to the waiting mouths of their young. Interfering with baby birds’ insect protein is a way of starving baby birds. Who wants to do that?
Boxwood anxiety
Boxwoods remain a concern of gardeners. The season of the almost endemic boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) is marked by whitish, waxy squiggles these small leafhopper-like insects produce. It provokes concern among boxwood owners and those who tend boxwood.
The problem, however, is not as severe as some fear. Missouri Botanic Garden has this information: bit.ly/MBG_PsyllidsOnBoxwoods.
Many boxwood plants are due for shearing or a trim; the result is the psyllid-affected growth is removed. Or treat it with neem, insecticidal soap, or horticultural oil.
More concerning are other, more recent fungal blights that afflict boxwood. Stress induces various forms of response in a plant. Below is my personal take.
In the case of boxwood, tight regular shearing produces thousands of cut leaf surfaces. The shearing creates stress for the plant, and produces a “shell” on its outer surface: whippy, bare limbs topped by dense “lion’s tail” tufts of foliage.
The leaf cuts may become entry points for disease organisms. Close burlapping over winter may also reduce airflow and create environments inside the shrub conducive to fungal disease.
I was introduced to the practice of boxwood plucking (sometimes also referred to as “punching”) a decade ago, and practice this way of promoting good culture and boxwood care (bit.ly/EB_plucking). It involves removing as much as one-third of the length of twigs or branches, leaving the outer surface with “holes” in the surface outline. More light and air penetrate the interior; the plant rearranges itself, and subsequent growth quickly mends the “holes,” producing renewed interior growth.
In lieu of burlapping, shrubs may be supported against snow load by light tying with twine. Boxwoods are plants with a network of fine roots not far below the soil surface; side-dress crowns lightly with compost or composted manure to support the plant’s health.
Spring bulb fantasies
Bulb catalogues are arriving. I should have been out digging and dividing daffodils already, which multiply like crazy. Instead I have been fantasizing and mentally putting together a bulb order of tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs to place early, to avoid disappointment. Somehow the Dutch bulb growers continue to keep on doing it, and somehow we gardeners continue to be kept in thrall to these addictive, enticing flowers — rabbits, chipmunks, and deer be damned.
In the garden
Not a moment to spare, everything is happening fast now.
The weekend Northeast blow plastered wads and gobs of oak tassels, pollen, leaf tatters, and tree-seed debris on the ground, in gutters, windowsills, and any other likely corner. Compost it all.
Apply once-a-month side-dressing of low number soil food to roses. Pinch (“Chelsea chop”) perennials and annuals, to produce bushy, stocky plants that require less staking and also to retard flowering slightly. This includes zinnias, asters, phlox, dahlias, euphorbia, platycodon, and Montauk daisies, and much more. Do not pinch bulb lilies, daylilies, or other plants whose physiognomy cannot sprout additional axial or flowerbud growth.
Deadheading early perennials, container plants, and annuals such as pansies, petunias, and pelargoniums keeps them looking and performing better. Bleeding heart may be cut down entirely once it has begun to yellow; plants resprout after an interval. Peony season coincides with rain, usually: Stake them.
Strawberries are throwing runners. Decide where you want plantlets to be located, or remove runners entirely. Keep garlic, onions, and strawberry beds weeded.
Allow self-seeding of herbs that are now beginning to bolt: cilantro, mache, chervil, parsley, also leeks. They provide the busy, or lazy, gardener’s next crop.
Squash/cucurbit family members like it really warm, conditions that have so far eluded the Island. Hotkaps or gallon plastic milk jugs with bottoms cut off may engineer those conditions for young plants.
Tick check: Don’t scratch — investigate!
