Blooms and Some Lessons from the Spring Native Garden!
- Nuts for Natives
- Apr 16
- 4 min read
Cherry blossom petals took flight on the winds as the native spring arrived.
Gardening is a pursuit of patience without doubt. For gardeners nuts about natives, every spring requires an extra dose of patience as plants from lands afar burst into bloom just ahead of most of the native plants. For those who are out and about in the woods, the native spring can be seen early. Swamp cabbage emerging in stream beds is one of our first signs of spring. Most of us aren't growing swamp cabbage in our gardens though so we patiently wait.
The wait is over. I'm sharing what is blooming in my garden and I hope you will share what's blooming in yours!
Spring Ephemerals
Ephemerals emerge in early spring, bloom and then fade away. If you have witnessed any of our native ephemerals carpeting a forest floor, you know the magic they bring. Fortunately, so many grow beautifully in shady or dappled shade garden settings. Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are easy to grow, spread delightfully and bloom for several weeks.
This is my third year growing mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), another ephemeral. The original three plants are slowly spreading. To see the flowers, you have to get down to ground level and lift up the foliage. Really interesting foliage too. These are growing in heavily dappled shade in average soils.
Perennials
Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) is a spring flowering perennial that can only be described as, well, drooping! The stems are about two feet tall and bend over at the top and pale yellow flowers hang down. You can see them without getting down to ground level but you've got to know they are there first! This is one of those plants, since small in size, seem to work best in places in the garden where you are sure to pass by every day so you can actually see them.
Amsonia (Amsonia tabernaemontana) planted in full sun are beginning to flower. To me, the real reason to grow amsonia is the fresh green foliage that stays upright all summer long and then turns to a golden yellow in fall. Amsonia is also a patience plant. It take several years to establish and begin to bulk up.
Wild violets (Viola sororia) have been flowering for weeks. I have finally turned the corner on welcoming native violets everywhere. For years, I hand pulled them from grass, a futile task if ever there was one! Once you let yourself embrace them, they are beautiful.
Shrubs
Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus) is one of the earlier spring blooming native shrubs. The unique maroon flowers make it an unusual plant in spring. These shrubs are moderate growers in my experience and do well in part shade and part sun. I planted a gallon size shrub and the first couple of years only a handful of flowers appeared but once established, the number of flowers jumped to thirty or so and the shrubs are still only about four feet wide and tall.
Vines
This is one of my favorite native plants. Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is already blooming and once the big flush of spring flowers passes, this vine will continue to bloom sporadically all summer long. I have grown it along the top of a fence, up poles, on topiary forms, in the ground, in containers, in full sun and part shade. It does it all.
Trees
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) flowers have already begun to form berries but redbuds (Cercis canadensis) and dogwoods (Cornus florida) are still blooming like crazy. This trio of understory native trees is all any garden needs. Each unique, yet sharing spring flowers, different shapes of summer foliage and fall color.
Lessons
I always like to keep it real. Plants die ... all the time! Sometimes there are things we did or did not do to cause this and sometimes not. Some plants even get old and fade out. My garden was hit very hard by last summer's drought. I did no supplemental watering and it really showed. By fall, it was clear three trees did not make it: a persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) sapling, an established green hawthorn (Crataegus viridis) and a northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). The persimmon was not established so it's no surprise it succumbed to the drought without regular water. The hawthorn was established but located in the tree lawn, between the sidewalk and street. A tough spot and it just got too dry. This type of hawthorn grows naturally in swampy bottomlands so probably was not the best choice for the tree lawn. The northern white cedar was planted very close to a willow oak and a mature honey locust and did well for many years but, at the southern end of its range, lost out on the competition for water to the larger more mature trees. I should also mention the hawthorn and northern white cedar looked fine until, all of a sudden, they didn't. So best to follow the rainfall totals to determine whether trees need to be watered, rather than your eye. The failures are opportunities to learn.
Note to self as spring reveals this beloved dogwood also did not make it! The tree only very partially flowered and the bark on many branches cracked. There are no obvious signs of anthracnose or beetles; it just looks like it got too dry. Lesson learned on supplemental watering during droughty summers. It also was planted as a balled and burlap tree on the larger side. As experts tell us all the time, we are better off planting a smaller sized tree enabling the root system to establish more robustly. On the brighter side, all of the perennials that crisped up last summer are already emerging with fresh green foliage.
If like me, you will be looking for a few replacement plants this spring, please check out the recently updated page of places to find native plants. There are some new additions and updates on old favorites!
What is blooming in your garden?
Happy Gardening.
I, too, used to dig up the violets by hand, but they are so beautiful this year I'm kicking myself. My red columbine is doing very well as are my wood anemone. Just waiting for everything to bloom in it's turn.
Ugh, the drought! We live on a well, so we cannot provide frequent supplemental watering in the event of a drought. Also, the vegetable garden takes priority in that situation...........
Not much blooming at this time in my garden, except for the wild violets and my non-native hellebores. My golden groundsel (packera) will probably bloom in about a week or so.