The past four years of weather patterns here certainly made changes in my garden. Winter weather has been late in arriving the past years. Usually a killing frost arrives just about at normal time, but then it's back up to abnormally warm temperatures, while the week-to-week winter temperatures run up and down like a short string yo-yo. The peaks and valleys are not all that extreme, with the average temperature somewhat above normal for the overall season.
Spring has arrived early and proceeded to jump straight into early summer. We have had late frosts, or fairly hard frosts near our average last date. For some plants it has been a struggle. They break dormancy early, come into bloom and then are hit hard by a frost. Most of our native woodland wildflowers, however, seem to remember this kind of weather in their distant past, for they take it all in stride.
Global warming from the greenhouse gas effect has been the primary culprit in the news media. There is also argument that we are experiencing a short-term warming cycle. What ever the cause, the plants in my garden have adjusted themselves to a mild winter with an early spring. Most are blooming about one full month earlier than five years ago. A few are blooming close to six weeks ahead of their "old schedule". I can now count on a fairly decent early spring display of blooms in my garden by mid-March.
 Hepatica acutiloba |
There are two species of hepatica native to this region. The one most often encountered in the woods is H. acutiloba, or the sharp-lobed liver-leaf. The sites of preference in nature are woodland slopes rich in leaf mold and humus. H. americana, the blunt-lobed liver-leaf is normally located in sandy acidic soil. I also find that the blunt-lobed species is smaller in all parts by about one-half.
Both species can be found with white, pink, or blue blooms, with white being the most frequent in my experience.
All of my Hepatica are growing in raised beds containing heavy percentages of humus, and receive a mulch of chopped leaves each early winter.
Helleborus reach their peak during mid to late March. The show will continue into early May on a few species and hybrids. March and all of April the helleborus will shine through the gloom of winter's final days and the turbulence of early spring.
Helleborus are not difficult plants to grow. They are slow growing and take a few years to build into a large, showy, clump. In my garden they all receive as much light as I can provide in my shade garden without placing them in full sun. The soil is decent with humus added and well-drained. The Helleborus do receive mulch each fall. My soil is neutral to slightly acidic. The one hellebore requiring sweet soil is H. niger, the Christmas rose.
There are numerous species, hybrids, and cultivars that add color to my garden each March. Some of my favorite species are H. odorus with the gold-green blooms before foliage fully emerges, and H. torquatus with purple-green blooms with a plum dusting. There are many selections of hellebore garden hybridus to choose from. Pulmonaria, or lungworts, are not only great for early blooms in the garden, they happen to be extraordinary foliage plants
 Pulmonaria longifolia 'Majeste |
The variations in the leaf are almost endless among lungworts. They can be long and narrow, arching like fountains, or short, narrow, and sharp-pointed at the tips. Some have foliage shaped like a spatula or simple short and round in outline. There are clumps that reach eighteen inches in height, and there are dwarfs that reach less than six inches.
Leaf color can range from a soft mat-green to bright hard and shinny green, with or without spots. Pulmonaria are most noted for the white, silver or pewter spots in the foliage. Some of the named hybrids are entirely silver. The foliage of most hybrids and species are very nearly ever-green in this area.
Blooms are generally shaped like bells and hang in gently arching clusters at the end of stems well above the foliage, somewhat resembling Virginia bluebells. The blooms can be white, blue, salmon-red, pink, or in some cases, one color aging over to another.
Lungworts do need lots of humus or compost dug into the soil, good drainage for best performance. Also be sure and mulch as they prefer staying moist without being wet. Open shade and good air circulation round out the requirements for lungwort.
Primula came to my garden from a friend as a passalong plant. That was around eight or nine years ago and to this day, there is no name for the lovely little plant. I can not imagine my March garden without this unknown primula and the ones that have been added to the garden over the years since that date.
The early-blooming Primula are relatively small plants and best planted in drifts of no less than three for full effect. They do appreciate organically rich garden soils, open shade and a light mulch to maintain moisture levels. For vigor over the years it is best to lift and divide the clumps every three to four years.
Some of the easier species, cultivars and hybrids to begin with in the local gardens are P. vulgaris (common primrose), and Primula x polyanthus hybrids. Both of these are available in numerous bloom colors and forms. P. veris, the English cowslip, is another easy primrose with tubular-shaped blooms and is available in several named cultivars. There are also double forms of all the above primrose.