Common Ground – April 2022

“We are tired of Winter’s cold leftovers. Given a taste of spring in April, we want a full meal of it.”

Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons

The snow and ice still hanging around at the end of March certainly looked like winter’s leftovers. And I’m sure that we’ll get more snow before it really feels like spring.

But snow or no snow, the tops of some of the early bulbs appeared on St Patrick’s Day.

I put strips of bark from the ill fated ash trees over the spots where I planted crocuses and Iris reticulata. I was under no illusions that this would protect them from squirrels if they were determined to excavate them. The bark was just a marker. I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I lifted the bark the bulbs were already trying to shoot up.

The crocuses I planted in the lawn also survived. Another nice surprise. Snowdrops appeared about a week later than last year. Or maybe they were already up and it took all the snow longer to melt and reveal them.

Every year I am amazed by the toughness of the early bulbs. Not just the snowdrops pushing up through ice and snow but also the fact that they survive all the freezing and thawing that happens in the spring.

The melting ice and snow turned the quiet little creek into a raging torrent for almost two weeks this year. It usually only gets a week to show off a more aggressive face. Unfortunately it wasn’t strong enough to wash out the beaver dam. The empire of the beaver remains intact. But the beavers seem to have given up the idea of extending their dam across the whole valley. I wonder about the conversation inside the beaver lodge. Was one of them told by the others that an expansion of empire was a waste of time?

In the vegetable garden, I’m looking forward to planting the first snow peas sometime in April. The loose sandy soil is ready for peas soon after the snow retreats. Every spring I give thanks for the absence of clay.

Once the snow peas have been planted, I’ll think about where the warm weather vegetables will go. I’m trying to get a grip on what I really need as opposed to what has become habit to plant every year.

Even though I like to grow hot peppers, I should probably give them a rest for awhile. I have lots of dried peppers from the last few years of good crops. I got seeds for melons which I haven’t grown for years so I need to do some rearranging to make room for them. And I think I might give up large tomato plants and just have a few in pots. We will see if I can actually go through with that one.

I’m trying a new pole bean with peach coloured flowers, Sunset from Vesey’s. I won’t be giving up on the beautiful purple Carminat that I have grown for the last few years.  Somehow I will have to make room for both.

I will also need  space for new dahlias and I hope for the ones I kept from last year. I have always mixed flowers and vegetables together in the spirit of the cottage garden.

My garden journal tells me that I planted some blue Camassias in with daffodils on the hillside last fall. I have no recollection of this so it’s a good thing I wrote it down. I’m looking forward to seeing if these do well and if they look as good here as they do in the meadow garden at Highgrove. Time will tell.

I’m also looking forward to warmer days and the final retreat of the ice and snow.

Happy spring everyone.

By Jill Williams

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