slideshow: perennial stars of early may

For many gardeners the cold weather signals that the time has come to pack up their tools until spring, however that does not have to be the case.

Great plants for the herbaceous border, these hardy Geraniums are top notch plants that are easy to grow and cultivate.

Flush with cash reserves and a conservative spending policy, poor gardeners and horticultural workers should be able to feel some comfort. In a recent mailing I was solicited to donate £25, £50 or £100 in addition to supporting the (expensive) product catalogue. This request wont germinate and bear fruit with me until they are more down to earth and do more for the horticultural workers and families.

Earth stars (Cryptanthus species) are different from most bromeliads. They are terrestrial which means they are grown in rich, organic soil. Cryptanthus means “hidden flower” in Greek because the flowers are produced between the leaves and are not easily seen. The common name, earth star, was given because of the shape of the plant. They come in a variety of different shapes, colors, patterns, and sizes.

February is the time for planting early vegetable crops. Garden peas (Pisum sativum L), and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) can be planted in the Piedmont region from mid to late February and will tolerate freezing temperatures. Peas planted early can be hardened to withstand a frost. However, the flowers are still susceptible to freezing temperatures and will need protection. A row cover can be used to protect the plants. Choose a row cover made of a spun-bonded polyester material that needs no support above the developing plants. For example, a light to medium weight spun-bonded polypropylene row cover will provide 4 degrees of frost protection down to 28 °F. Remove the row cover before the temperatures get above 75 °F as high temperatures under the row covers may inhibit the growth of the plants. Spinach can withstand temperatures as low as 20 °F.

Do you have a shady garden where you would like to plant perennials? Hostas, ferns, and Lenten roses are the usual choices, but there are a number of wonderful perennial selections to choose from that will add bloom, texture, and color to your landscape. Here are several of my favorite early spring bloomers.

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” ~May Sarton~

Sarton, who today is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as phrases like “women’s literature,” or covered in women’s studies curriculums, wrote more than 50 books. She actually came to my attention thanks to two men, at different times in my life. I might have missed her altogether if not for a one-two punch by Sydney Schanberg, an ex-New York Times colleague who thirty-odd years ago offhandedly said, “You would like May Sarton,” and then years later my therapist (who gave me “Journal of a Solitude”).It wasn’t her emerging influence on feminism that provoked their decades-ago recommendations. They knew that the natural world, and specifically the garden, called to me, as it did Sarton.“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself,” she wrote.SARTON, A PROLIFIC POET and author of fiction, also wrote memoir

REPEAT AFTER ME: early, middle, late. That’s the secret.

IAM LOOKING FOR ANY BRIGHT SPOTS ABOUT NOW, as the mid-October-looking garden surfaces in this driest September.  A couple of easy, big perennials—Lespedeza thunbergii (above), the bush clover, and some favorite Aralias (including Aralia cordata and A.

If you’ve seen Amy’s previous books on melons and squash, which like the newest volume are collaborations with photographer Victor Schrager, you know they are somewhere between scholarly and scientific and sensuous (which means they cover a lot of ground).You can therefore go at reading “The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table” from any angle: Dip in, perhaps, to grab a recipe (Amy’s Cream of Tomato Soup is calling to me, as are Tomato Bread Pudding and her oven-dried Tomato Chips).At another sitting, learn to grow tomatoes as expertly as Amy does (she tested an astonishing 1,000 varieties and profiles 200 in the book), or how to save the seed for next year’s crop.Come to “The Heirloom Tomato” one day with a supply of envelopes and stamps (or logged into your computer) an

Neither one asks much of the gardener for nonstop April or May through December appeal, and the Hakonechloa even likes a semi-shaded spot.Profiles:Categories ..