“Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.”
Walt Whitman
A passing walker asked me if I wasn’t depressed to be deadheading the last of spring’s daffodils. I replied that this has been the best daffodil year in decades so no sadness this year. It’s only sad when it suddenly gets hot and they don’t last any time at all. They lasted for a full month this year.
I have heard lots of complaints about the colder than normal spring but it was certainly good for the bulbs.
I remembered to mark spots to plant more daffodils in the fall. Almost every daffodil is beautiful but I have my favourites. I like the pure white Thalia which is a smaller daffodil with two or three blooms per stem. The catalogue says it’s scented but I can’t detect any fragrance. Another smaller daffodil that definitely is fragrant is Quail. It also has two or three blooms per stem and it’s particularly long lasting.
I have been looking at another bulb for naturalizing, Crocus tommasininanus. These are beautiful blue and purple early snow crocus. I have seen them in the English magazines planted in lawns. I’m hoping that they will like it under the small crab apple tree.
I have had very few failures in terms of trying new (to me anyway) varieties of bulbs. I attempted to grow blue Camassia a la Highgrove but none of them came up. These are a North American native so it’s probably worthwhile to try them again.
This year’s cool spring brought several hard frosts in May. I saw frost on the rhubarb for the first time ever. This didn’t affect the rhubarb in any way but the poor asparagus was not so fortunate. The sight of bent over frosted asparagus is a truly sad one. I have seen this maybe twice in a couple of decades.
In spite of the unusually cold spring I have still managed to start a few smaller dahlias in pots. I was disappointed last year that a couple of large dahlias were just about to flower when it got cold. They are so cold sensitive that covering them didn’t really help. So this year I’m growing smaller ones and will keep them in pots.
The idea of smaller dahlias in pots came from the Danish gardener Claus Dalby. His videos have lots of great ideas for pots and his garden is an inspiration. Sometimes going down the rabbit hole of watching garden videos is a time waster. The Dalby videos, however, made me want to go out and get something accomplished.
I also started some oriental lilies in pots which will soon get planted out. I did this with some trepidation since the last time I attempted it, the raccoons pulled them all out of their pots. They didn’t eat them; they just made a big mess. So if the lilies make it to the garden without being turned upside down it will feel like an accomplishment.
The phoebe show continues on the side porch. The baby phoebes are starting to look like birds. They start out looking like grey balls of fluff with contrasting yellow beaks. Both parents fly back and forth continually and feed the young ones. I have also observed them doing some house cleaning of the nest. By the time the young ones start to resemble their parents they will be ready to fly away.
Thankfully the woodpecker has stopped its hammering on the metal roof and has moved off into the woods. The grouse, too, is quiet and has stopped its drumming near the house.
I’m looking forward to a frost-free garden and to finally getting those tomatoes planted. Never mind that frost in June is possible. I’m doing the glass half full thing and only thinking about the positive.
Happy summer everyone.
By Jill Williams
