Welcome Back Spring
Three gardeners tell us how they know spring has arrived where they live.
Photography by Allen Rokach, Chas Campbell, James R. Anderson
Showy 'Annabelle' smooth hydrangea dries beautifully and is great for indoor flower arrangements.
Minnesota, Zones 4-5
Connie Erickson
After years of watching the hummingbirds just passing through, Connie has finally convinced some of them to stay awhile. When they do, she knows that spring has come to her garden.
"Winters here are very cold. We really have only four months maximum for gardening season," Connie says. "It begins with a frenzy around May 15."
Her medium-size suburban yard is bright and sunny in the front, shady in the back. It's filled with flowerbeds and rustic antiques. She especially enjoys growing roses, which she feels are worth the extra care they sometimes need.
Her casual, cottage-style garden is also filled with more than enough hand trowels: her tool of choice.
"I have many of them scattered throughout the garden in hopes that I can always find one when I need it," she explains.
"The hummingbirds begin to linger."
After danger of frost has passed, Connie sows zinnia and Mexican sunflower seeds directly into her beds. Zinnias make great cut flowers, and butterflies love them.
Connie's Rose Recommendations
- Feed regularly. Fertilize roses every four to six weeks during the growing season, beginning in early spring. Bayer Advanced 2-in-1 Systemic Rose & Flower Care granules (#67672) feed the flowers while protecting them from insects.
- Toss the peels outside. Connie gives her rosebushes an extra treat by digging in banana peels around the base of the plant. The roses get a boost from the potassium.
- Provide more vitamins and minerals. Roses also benefit from magnesium. In early spring when leaves are forming on the bushes, Connie sprinkles a couple of teaspoons of Epsom salts at the base of each rosebush, scratches the salt in a little, and waters well.
- Let them sunbathe. Plant roses in a sunny location: The more sun the better, but they need at least six hours each day of direct sun in the morning or afternoon.
- Give them some space. Benefiting from air circulation, roses do best with a little room to breathe.
Washington, Zone 8
Peggy Franklin
While warmer spring rain is a good clue, Peggy also knows her gardening season has begun when the crocus bloom. In her region of the Pacific Northwest, this usually happens in late January.
Peggy and her husband own about five acres and actively maintain two. Their rural property's location--near Puget Sound and on the western foothills of Mount Rainier--offers moderate weather, making it easy to grow a variety of plants.
After successful careers in computer software, the Franklins realized their true passion and became owners of a large landscape company, Lifestyle Landscapes, Inc. They have installed various gardens on their land, and all are wheelchair-accessible.
"I am happy to say that a person in a wheelchair can enjoy every part of my garden complex, even our fire pit and water feature," Peggy says.
"The rain turns warmer."
A wisteria-laden arbor shades a gravel path lined with perennials.
Creating an Accessible Garden
- Down the garden path. Consider all levels of mobility when designing garden paths and entryways. Make sure paths, gates, and entries are wide enough (around 3 feet) to accommodate a wheelchair. To allow a wheelchair to turn around comfortably, the path must be around 5 feet wide. Minimize uphill or downhill slopes in paths, and use materials that are firm and slip-free.
- Easy grows it. Choose low-maintenance plants, and consider placing them in raised beds, which minimize bending and stooping. Place plants at the right height for any person by gardening vertically: Mount hanging baskets on fences, walls, or trellises.
- Hands-free watering. Have an irrigation system installed, and set its watering patterns with an electronic water timer (#172428). This device can be programmed for specified days of the week, times of day, and lengths of time.
Florida, Zones 9-10
Aly Evans
Because Aly describes the style of her suburban yard as "tropical meets petting zoo," it's no wonder that for her, spring's arrival has nothing to do with plants, which flourish in her area almost year-round. Her four children care for an astonishing variety of pets in the midst of the family's gardening projects.
"We garden all year long, so I get to play all the time," she says. Spring planting in her part of Florida cranks up around March. Winters there have only the occasional cold snap, so most foliage is green in all seasons, and tropical plants overwinter easily.
Aly's handiest tool in the garden is her scissors: she uses them for clipping and trimming small branches that she turns into decorative arrangements. And what is the best gardening advice she ever received?
"Bunnies suddenly multiply."
Aly and her husband transformed this formerly sunken, unused corner of their yard. They created a patio, planting a dwarf selection of mondo grass between the pavers.
Aly's Tips for Tropicals
- Inside or out. Citrus selections love the outdoors in warm weather. When the weather starts to cool, bring them inside. Wipe dirt and dust from leaves using a soft, damp cloth.
- A drink of water. Most tropicals are fairly drought tolerant, but they prefer moisture, and indoor air during the winter can be too dry. Set pots atop saucers of pebbles and fill with water to add humidity.
- Let the sun shine in. Citrus plants love sunlight. When you have them inside, place them no farther than 6 feet away from a sunny window.
- Feed me. Give citrus and tropical plants soil and fertilizer that are made just for them. Try Miracle-Gro Cactus, Palm & Citrus Soil (#248406) and Miracle-Gro Fruit & Citrus Tree Fertilizer Spikes (#69689*). *Available only in Florida and California.
- Go for bulbs. Plant tropical summer-blooming bulbs after danger of frost has passed. Canna, lily-of-the-nile, elephant's ear, and fancy-leafed caladium do well in most regions.