Garden Dispatch

It's Spring, y'all!  

The sun was out ALL day today, which meteorologically we were owed because of the two snowfalls we've had in Chicago in April. I have nothing to report on other than the status of my perennials.  If you aren't in Chicago, you may have already seen some of these plants come and go.  

Here we go!

Forsythia: My neighbors across the street have a Forsythia, which is one of the earliest blooming spring plants.  The bright yellow flowers don't last long before they give way to a green shrub for the rest of the summer.  This is a small one, they can grow to be quite large. 

Rhubarb:  Remember that little egg shaped bud poking from the ground a few weeks back?  Well look at it now!  It's about up to my knees and the seed pods are under there somewhere, which is a signal that it won't be long until I post all my favorite Rhubarb recipes.  An Olde Timey name for Rhubarb is 'Pie Plant'.  Can't wait! 

Wildflower Tulips:  This tulip naturalizes easily, meaning it will multiply and spread, returning each year.  I have also heard them called Rock Tulips, Species Tulips, and this particular variety is apparently called Tarda. You'll usually see these 6" cuties before you see the more traditional tulips. 

Clematis:  another classic, the Clematis is a vine and while it's not much to look at now, it will produce flowers in mid-to-late May.  They come in all manner of pinks, purples, and white blooms.

Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum).  A classic midwestern wildflower, this low-growing plant produces whispy pink flowers in April and May.  Also apparently called Old Man's Whiskers! 

Lady's Mantle:  The Missouri Botanical Garden reports: "Alchemilla mollis is a clumping perennial which typically forms a basal foliage mound (6-12” tall ) of long-stalked, circular, scallop-edged, toothed, pleated, soft-hairy, light green leaves (to 6” across) each with 9-11 shallow rounded lobes. It is primarily native to mountain areas in eastern Europe (Carpathians, Caucusus and Turkey). Tiny, apetalous, star-shaped, chartreuse flowers appear in loose, spreading clusters (compound cymes) atop stems rising above the foliage to 12-18” in late spring to early summer. The tendency of plant leaves to retain moisture beads after a rain is considered to be a unique and attractive ornamental feature."

American Burnet: This does flower, but I planted it for the cute leaves:

Dianthus, aka "Pinks".  These are sold as annuals in the garden store but they will come back unless the winter is very severe.  They will be a bright splash of pink and fuchsia in the early summer garden. 

Peonies are another of my favorite plants!  The smell of peonies is one of the best things about the summer garden.  The plants as they emerge are nothing like the mature plant, and I love seeing them every spring.  

Lastly, the Trilium are getting so close to blooming.  Yay!

Many of my plants are native plants and wildflowers.  Why native plants?  So many reasons!  For one, the bees love them.  The bees will be all over the native plants in my garden and could care less for the latest hybrids I bring home from the garden store. It only makes sense:  the latest hybrids were bred for visual appeal or pest resistance, to the benefit of people.  But not so much for the birds and the bees and other pollinators.  And for a purely selfish reason, if I want my vegetable garden to grow, I need some bees to show up!

Other native wildlife such as birds and butterflies also benefit from native plants.  Most of you have heard the Monarch Butterfly is endangered. For several reasons, the numbers of butterflies have declined by massive amounts (80-90% depending on which species) since the 1980s.  Monarchs feed and lay their eggs on one plant:  Milkweed.   So the best way to help monarch butterflies is to plant milkweed, and big cities like Chicago can be an important link to this beautiful butterfly's survival.  Check out the Urban Nature segment from the local PBS station WTTW on how Chicago can help the Monarch: https://interactive.wttw.com/urbannature/can-cities-save-monarch#!/ 

As the name implies, native plants are native to the area, meaning they are well suited to growing here and use less water than non-natives.  They put down deep roots, and once established, I hardly have to water them even during periods with scant rainfall.  Those deep roots also help in times of large 'rain events' that we are experiencing more and more of as the climate changes.  If you have water in your basement, you could tear out your grass (I dislike lawns, they are an ecological nightmare) or for a less drastic step, take out some of your grass, and put down a native plant garden. Or plant them alongside the plants you bring home from the home store. I'm betting your basement water troubles will be less severe. 

For more info and to find some native plants in your zip code: https://www.audubon.org/content/why-native-plants-matter 

So plant some natives this year!  The planet will thank you.