MAY GARDEN MAINTENANCE

I've found in my over 40 years of gardening that the following tips help me get through spring with a minimum of weeding and a maximum of enjoyment! Happy Spring!

·         Weeds! Those pesky plants that you don’t want where they pop up in your garden. Many may be perennials that we already have enough of, so that we can either share or compost them. Others are just plain invasive and might even crowd out or destroy our favored plants. (In the post below, you'll learn about my battle with lesser celandine.) So be sure to continue getting the weeds out as soon as you see them. There is no such thing as a weed that is too small to not bother removing. They will only grow larger, with more tenacious roots.

·         Continue dividing and spreading perennials for maximum color “punch.” As the weather gets warmer, be sure to keep the transplants watered until they “take.”

·         If you want to move your early spring bulbs, you may safely do it now. Three springs ago, I moved some tulips and daffodils while they were in bloom and put them among the daylilies. This year, they came up right on schedule with the added bonus that their leaves will be hidden by the iris and then daylilies, when the tulips fade. 

·         If you find that some of your perennials are invading others and you prefer to keep them in distinct clumps, now is a good time to separate them, before they get too intertwined. It’s best to do this task as soon as you notice a problem.

·         The question still comes up about those unsightly, yellowing daffodil leaves! My suggestion is that once the flower has shriveled up; remove its stalk to the base of the plant to prevent fruit formation. By removing it before it produces seeds, energy is not wasted, but instead food made by the leaves goes to bulb for next year’s flowers. In my experience, when they start to flop over, it is okay to cut off the top half of the leaves. That way, the remaining part of the leaves can continue photosynthesizing, sending food to the bulb (a storage stem) and, as a bonus, they spring back up. Eventually, when they are yellow, you can cut them to the base of the plant.

·         Pack them in. I’ve found that one of the best ways to cut down on weeds, besides a dense evergreen ground cover that allows perennials, etc. to grow through it, is to plant a succession of plants closely together.

NON-NATIVE BEAUTY - LESSER CELANDINE

When I started gardening around my home about 40 years ago, I spotted lovely early spring, delightfully yellow blossoms in nearby woods. I was told that they were probably marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris), a native in wetlands habitats of eastern United States. Being a novice and not having the wonderful availability of Google Search back then, I happily transplanted a small clump into my new woodland garden.

It’s now a love-hate relationship. I still love seeing these beauties bloom, but hate the job of removing them knowing that some of their abundant fingerlike tubers (up to two inches long!), produced by the roots, will remain behind to create new plants next year.

These lesser celandine, in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), are also called Fig Buttercup and Pilewort. They are perennial, herbaceous flowering plants whose native range is Eurasia (Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia, Caucasus, and Siberia). Originally introduced into the US as an ornamental plant, it’s still available here commercially (DO NOT BUY IT!). These invasive plants displace our native plant species that provide important nectar and pollen for native pollinators, and fruits and seeds for other native insects and wildlife species. They rapidly establish and overtake large areas of woodlands.

The plant used to be known as Pilewort, since it was used to treat hemorrhoids. The early leaves, which are high in vitamin C, were used to prevent scurvy.  In Russia, the dried leaves are brewed and used in baths to cure dermatitis.

The best time to try to pull or dig them out is after a rain. Grab all of the stems of the plant and gently, but firmly ease them out of the soil. Every time I have a seemingly successful “pull,” I think to myself that the lesser celandine is probably laughing (if indeed it could laugh!) that I’ve missed something and will see it next year!