Gardens Galore: Eh…What's Up Doc? By Karen Brewka

After this long winter and late spring, we need, more than ever, our flower friends to return and promise us that swimming pool weather is coming. So, who shows up first? Prairie crocus on south facing slopes and south flower beds is one of the first. In gardening circles, it's always a bit of a contest to see who finds the first crocus. A couple of years ago, my crocus bloomed on March 5th. This year, it is shyly popping up in the middle of April. The crocus and other prairie wild flowers like Prairie Smoke and Shooting Stars show up when weather permits. They don't care if a dump of snow buries them. They just shake it off and continue with life once the snow has melted. The genetic diversity of our wildflowers makes them able to adjust to wildly fluctuating weather patterns.

We know its spring when fresh grass draws the deer and we see that pale grey-green haze in our aspen forests. The haze is created by the flowers of the male aspen poplar. They are inconspicuous at first and then they elongate and sway in the breeze while releasing pollen. The female trees flower just a bit later. The study of when things appear is called phenology. Collecting bloom times of various plants provides data that is used in climate change studies, predicting pollen release for allergy sufferers and other applications. Many gardeners' schedules follow the phenology of bloom. For example, when crocus and forsythia are in bloom, it's time to fertilize the lawn. Or, tomatoes can be set out when lily-of-the-valley are in bloom.

Alberta Plant Watch has a great web page about phenology and the Alberta Native Plant Council's web page provides lots of information about wildflowers.

Other spring garden favourites brighten our lives: iris, spring bulbs, primrose, spurge, violets and forget-me-nots pop up when we need them the most. Some evergreen and semi-evergreen ground covers like candy tuft, lamium and creeping phlox green up quickly. Plants that form winter rosettes like oriental poppies grow vigorously in the spring.

As their energy is focused on making new growth and blooming, most of the early risers don't care to be moved or divided until later in the season when they go into dormancy. That's why we have to wait until August to move Oriental Poppy or Bearded Iris.

The Valley Neighbours Garden Club welcomes new members. For information call Susan at 403 – 933 – 7675.
The Horticultural Club meets every second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm. For information call Sheila at 403 – 931 – 3989.