Although I try to put a good face on the winter garden, the first signs of spring always lift my spirits to a seasonal high. A month before the official start of spring my snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are in full bloom. The common name is an apt description. Pure white droplets are delicately tipped with a hint of green, the blossoms dangle like Lilliputian Tiffany lamps.
The stems of this minor bulb rise up out of the earth so quickly that they always catch me by surprise. Each morning the plant is in a new phase of growth. One day, the flat-sided stems break the earth’s surface. The next morning, they’re up an inch. The next, four inches. And all of a sudden, the delicately tensile stems are bowed over at the tips with the weight of a snow-white flower the size and shape of a large water drop. Despite the early winter date, this occurrence is a spring awakening for every gardener.
Use sprays with care
For those of us who encourage children and animals into the garden, the fewer sprays and pesticides we use the better. Lyda Rose is a single, pale pink-and-white bloomer with yellow anthers that manages to delight with a strong bloom and scent without the use of chemicals. Baby Blanket is covered with cheerful pink blossoms from early spring well into winter.
To control aphids, caterpillars, mite eggs and common types of scale on deciduous fruit and landscape trees, spray dormant oil just before the buds swell in late winter or early spring. The term dormant refers to the state of the plant at the time of spraying. Horticultural oil is one example of a winter-applied spray used to suffocate insects and larvae that are overwintering on the bark of dormant trees and shrubs.
Always apply dormant spray on a calm day when temperatures are above 40 degrees. Be sure to cover all the surfaces of the plant, from ground level to the topmost branches. This includes the crotch of trees, where the branches meet the trunk and the trunk of the tree itself. Always begin by using a product specific to your application.
For our benefit and the benefit of the environment, garden products are always changing. When it comes to chemicals, the most knowledgeable gardener relies on the latest information available, never on memory. One thing we learn in the master gardener program is to read the label instruction on every product, every time.
When using any garden chemicals, I always encourage checking in with an authority on the use of the specific product. WSU master gardeners are available for this type of information, as are reputable nurseries in our Southwest Washington area.
Prune away
Annual deadheading is normally the only pruning you need to do on heaths, heathers and lavenders. Trimming them like a short hedge will keep the plants compact, vigorous and heavy flowering. Without pruning, these plants have a tendency to spread open and go bare in the center of the plant. Use garden shears to cut away the spent flower heads and about three-quarters to 1 1/4 inch of the previous season’s growth. This will also stimulate dense new, spring growth.
Weather confuses
Many bulbs such as crocus and daffodils send up new growth in pre-spring. In a warm microclimate, they might already be in bloom. Grape hyacinths, in particular, sprout some of their grassy leaves in fall and carry them through the winter. One of my favorite sights in the late winter garden is the sunny yellow crocus blooming through a light blanket of frost or snow. The deep blue iris Harmony, with its diminutive blaze of gold, often blooms the morning after a freeze.
At this time of year, our variable weather and the effect it has on plants, confuses gardeners. I get e-mails daily in February wondering what to do with spring bulbs that are blooming too early. The daffodil “Tete-a-tete” blooms early, handling a frosty sunrise and an afternoon blast of sunshine with equal aplomb. Friends and readers call me, worried for these early bloomers. They ask, “What if winter returns?”
Here’s my annual advice, for this scenario is nothing new in the Northwest garden: Don’t worry. Let nature take its course.
Bulbs are resilient plants. Relax and enjoy this phenomenon of nature. Our job is to tend the garden, not control the results. Mother Nature knows more and has been gardening longer than any of the experts.
Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified Master Gardener. Reach him at Write2Robb@aol.com.
