Temperamental plants may challenge the gardener, but those that come up and flower every spring with cheerful determination assure even the amateur of the thrill of achievement.
Surely among the most delightful of these dependable plants are the spring-flowering bulbs. Many of the smaller kinds set out this fall will provide intimate pictures from the first warm days of January until the late tulips bring the spring bulb fiesta to its climax in May.
Near the winter-traveled paths around the property, the early flowers belong between the house and garage, beside the door, near the screen for the clothes yard, or at the corners of the front walk.
A snug location under the branches of the forsythia or other shrubs that screen the driveway suits the small, early blooms of winter aconite, Eranthis, with yellow cups that sit on a saucer of green foliage.
Winter Aconite and Snowdrops
Winter aconite will also flower and thrive in full sun to provide a patch of color at the corner of the terrace. But the early snowdrops, Galanthus, need cool, moist soil; they may even push up through the snow.
Planted in close mats along the base of a shrub border or under the lilac hedge, they will open one warm morning to sparkle like giant dewdrops in the warm and welcoming Winter sunshine.
In March, when the garden becomes the scene of early spring chores and the larger flowers start to open that can be seen from the window, further afield displays must not be overlooked.
A carpet of crocuses naturalized along the verges of a lawn where foliage may be allowed to mature uncut is a welcome and familiar sight.
In more protected sites near the house, small groups of varieties such as the bright yellow Crocus chrysanthus Canary-bird and E. A. Bowles will open earlier and be even more appreciated.
Stars of the April Garden
The bright blue Siberian squill, Scilla sibirica, the deeper-colored grape hyacinths, muscari, and paler glory-of-the-snow, chionodoxa, form a connecting link between the crocuses and the daffodils.
Scilla sibirica and chionodoxa scattered freely in full sun or light shade need no conspicuous location to attract attention. There is a white variety of the latter to mix with the bright blue, and they will colonize readily to come up year after year.
Planted among the daffodils, scillas, muscari, and chionodoxa will overlap the season of these stars of the April garden to make annual pictures among white birches, under a crab apple tree, or a white-flowering almond.
The early Spiraea prunifolia and S. thunbergii also offer backdrops for such a naturalized planting.
Queen Anne’s Daffodil
To my mind, everybody should have narcissus in his garden, and almost everybody I know seems to grow some of them. Too often, however, the small jonquilla hybrids are omitted from the shopping list.
Yet few flowers have a more charming fragrance than Narcissus jonquilla simplex, Queen Anne’s daffodil, with its tiny golden blooms, and few combine the qualities of delicacy and sturdiness with more grace than the new Trevithian.
The Species Tulips
With them in April are the species tulips, some of which are almost gaudy in color. But, in the soft sunlight of spring, no color seems too bright for the mixed border.
First comes Tulipa kaufmanniana, the waterlily tulip, with varieties of different colors.
Caesar Frank in clear red and yellow; Scarlet Elegance, brilliant on the inside of the petals and dull on the outside. And several others seem to be unmolested by the mice that often wipe out the tulip population of the garden.
T. fosteriana, Red Emperor, opening soon after, and 7′ feet. Clusiana, which looks rather like a red and white candy stick, stands nearly a foot and a half tall to top the developing perennial foliage in the border.
Another border candidate for April is the snowflake Leucojum aestivum Gravetye Giant. The white bells have the grace of lily-of-the-valley but are much larger and are borne on 12- to 15-inch stems.
This Spring snowflake will flower for two or three weeks each year if planted with some sun protection.
Late-blooming Scillas
Just as Scilla sibirica seems to go with daffodils, Scilly campanulata belongs with the tall Darwin tulips. Reaching 18″ to 20″ inches in height, their wide, grass-like leaves form a protective mat between muddy ground and the dignified tulip blooms.
A choice of colors in pink, blue, and white give a selection to combine with the different Darwin and Cottage varieties.
The common name of this scilla – wood hyacinth – is a reminder that it has far wider adaptations; even under the dense shade of fir trees, these bulbs will send up innumerable spikes of bloom each May.
These sturdy scillas exhibit all of the desirable characteristics that the small Spring bulbs can offer the gardener. Set out this month, and they will colonize readily to flower Spring after Spring with little or no care.
Although some of the other bulbs are not that obliging, none of them ask for coddling. Even on a small budget of time and money, they will get the garden off to a good start soon after the first of the new year.
44659 by Thelma K. Stevens