Garden Notes

Soft green leaves and delicate flower heads celebrate spring and renewal. Now is the time to renew gardens and home landscapes. One chore per week, just four per month, will keep a garden going.

Spring is indeed a wonderful time of year. Perennials that have been in a rest-and-relaxation mode suddenly burst into glorious color with no effort from the custodians of the landscape: the home gardener.

It is spring, and I can hear Lou Rawls on the radio in my mind singing You are going to miss my Lovage! While not late in the midnight hour (baby), if you have ever had it and now lack it, you are missing lovage.

Tree: Cercis Canadensis is Eastern redbud and it comes in a variety of cultivars. I had several trees at my previous home and they were old, 70 plus years and large 25 feet or more. They were lovely to enjoy each spring as the blooms are densely distributed and attract scores of bees.

Chill weather slows down grass growth in our lawns and we can notice the bright yellow flowers of Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion. In our mild climate, dandelions bloom nearly year-round. Even as they bloom, these weeds seldom rise above their basal rosette at the lawn surface.