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I am delighted with how many of last summer’s marginal perennials survived winter to bloom again this spring. It satisfies my thrifty nature to enjoy another season’s blooms from a plant sold as an ‘annual.’ Actually, quite a few of our ‘annuals’ are perennial a zone or two to our south.
With a little thought and effort, and a bit of grace, we can shelter them over winter and enjoy them again.
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Last year’s Lantana blooms for another season in one of our patio pots, alongside a favorite Clematis vine.
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I leafed through a book on container gardening this week which offered the sage advice to empty all of one’s pots before the first frost, composting the contents and storing the pots indoors. I’m sure many gardeners swear by a clean pot and fresh compost each spring, planted up with brand new plants from the nursery. If I had nothing to do with my time and loose change but garden, I might enjoy that approach, too.
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Dianthus and Saxifraga thrive in their pots near the back door, growing larger and giving more flowers every year.
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But I am hooked on the ‘Four Season Pot’ approach, and try to keep something interesting growing in most of my pots year round. Some may be growing in the garage, but quite a few weather the season outside with small trees or shrubs, bulbs, violets, perennials, and herbs.
I change out some of the upper layer of compost in some a few times a year, fertilize generously, and re-do the entire pot rarely. Our climate is mild enough that the plants generally live through the winter, and the pots don’t crack in the cold!
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‘Annual’ Verbena returns this spring from its roots, quickly filling its pot before I’ve had time to even plant most of my new starts from the nursery.
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And as we near the middle of May new plants are blooming even as earlier beauties fade. Our heat this week has taken the Iris sooner than I’d hoped. In fact, the heat has put a serious crimp in my plans to move pots back outside, and to re-plant many of our pots with summer herbs and perennials!
It has been too hot and the sun too intense to spend much time outside in the middle of the day. I’ve had to ration my morning and afternoon hours among several different ‘to-do’ lists.
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But time marches on, as native perennials grow at lightening speed, demanding a firm hand on the clippers or string trimmer to cut them back. Irises need trimming as their flowers fade, perennials need pinching back to make them bush out, and I have rows of sprouting Caladiums wanting to sink their roots into a permanent home.
Having a few marginal perennials return and fill their pots once again pleases me so much, as those pots burst into flower with little from me beyond an approving smile.
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The first Lantana bloomed this week, and all of our Clematis have covered themselves in flowers. What more could I reasonably hope for? Watching perennials emerge and bloom feels like greeting old friends after a while apart. I’m surprised all over again by their beauty and character.
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It will be June before we know it; solstice lurks on the horizon. I appreciate the longer evenings to wander in the garden, water a bit, and do a few more gardening tasks.
The sweet fragrance of blooming Ligustrum thickens the evening breeze, even as bats fly low over the garden catching their dinner. There are huge buds on the Magnolia trees, ready to open one day soon, releasing their nostalgic perfume.
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Oakleaf Hydrangea blooms with the foxglove.
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Time seems to evaporate when I’m engaged with the garden; and yet time governs its unfolding, the rise and fall of every creature and leaf.
Timelessness permeates the relentless waves of change, eternity lives in root and rhizome. Each flower opens in its own unique color and form, synchronized to the deeper rhythms that govern us all.
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Yellow flag Iris pseudacorus blooms this week.
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Woodland Gnome 2019
Fabulous Friday: Happiness is contagious; let’s infect one another!
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Forest Garden 