The title of this column has a double meaning. First, “Starting Over” refers to the beginning of a new gardening season. But, perhaps more unusually, in this case it also means I am starting to write this blog over…for the third time. Hopefully, it will be the “third time’s a charm” and will be a blog worth publishing. Sometimes the words just don’t come as easily as they do most of the time. So here goes:
Now we are a couple of away from the first official day of spring. If you remember, it felt like spring in late January and early February and then Mother Nature said, “Not so fast!” and we were thrown back into cold weather with rain and snow flurries. Once the calendar says The First Day of Spring, though, I am more likely to believe nice weather is on its way.
As a gardener, Spring is my favorite time of year because it heralds new growth, rebirth, the return of the sun and warmth, and “starting over.” Driving along the Coast Range or into Portland on Route 6, I love to watch the change in the colors as we move from winter to spring. Take the red alders for instance. The branches that have been a dull gray-brown since October start to take on the slightest bit of color at their tips. When seen in large masses – like on the Coast Range – it looks like they have been tipped in a rusty sort of pink. If you look closely, you can tell the change in elevation by the colors of the alders.
But in a week or ten days, those rusty-pink tips will take on a green hue. Not the emerald green of May or the forest green of July, but a yellow-green that is only seen in March and April. This is not a lime-green but more of a chartreuse-yellow that makes me think of something sour.
Then at a special magical time that is only seen through time-lapse photography – and I swear only happens when I am not watching, like maybe at night – the leaf begins to unfurl. I imagine it is like waking in the morning with a good stretch of our arms. And voila! A green leaf. The size of the leaf at this point is smaller than a squirrel’s ear. At this stage, it is no longer chartreuse, but instead a neon green that seems to light the area around it. Pay attention as you drive Route 6 to or from Hillsboro when the alders first leaf out. The neon green is hard to miss.
But it’s not just the alders that are starting over. Hostas are poking their fresh new shoots out from the soil. Depending on the variety you have, start looking for these shoots in early March or even late February if the weather stays nice. When you first see those shoots, get out the slug bait because those darn ole slugs prefer the nice young, tender shoots.
And if you take the time to gently push aside the sword fern fronds from last year, you will see the tops of the new fiddles all crowded together at the crown of the plant. This is a good time to cut back those old fronds and give the fiddles a little more breathing room. It will refresh the fern and isn’t a hard job to do on a nice day in spring.
Almost everything green starts stretching for the sun. Boxwood and privet start their own fresh green growth, as will the native huckleberries. The boxwood’s new growth is neon green but the huckleberry has a reddish tint to its new leaves.
It won’t be long before the rhododendrons and azaleas start blooming as their buds have been swelling for several weeks. Try not to prune these spring-bloomers until right after the flowers die back and start to turn brown. They will bloom next year on the growth they put on over the summer. In fact, it is a good rule of thumb to prune almost anything after it blooms and not before.
We are so lucky to live in an area where hardy fuchsias grow almost year ‘round. I had blossoms on mine all winter long. Which meant the hummingbirds were happy to stop by for some nectar. I cut these fuchsias back to about 10 inches early each spring to control the growth. They will bloom on growth they will put on this spring and summer, so no need to worry about cutting them back now.
I also will be re-doing my annual containers and flower beds. I have been looking through catalogs all winter, wondering, “What I will find in the nurseries?” and “How can I change things around a bit this year?” All in the hope of keeping things fresh. In fact, I have now realized my favorite part of my favorite season is “starting over”… in more ways than one.
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