Organic Gardening

A hedge of forsythia tumbles over a wall along a road near us. In May it is a sheath of spun gold. Forsythia came originally from Asia, and is a member of the olive family. This indestructible bush whose flowers appear before its leaves makes a fine loose casual hedge. Under plant forsythia with grape hyacinths and scilla. To expand your forsythia planting divide the roots. Do this in spring, fall, or anytime. Merely loosen the soil at one side, and gently pull off a stem with some roots attached. Prune off half of the top growth when you set the new plant.

You can bring forsythia branches indoors in late winter or early spring and they convert your house into a private flower show. This picking also serves as important pruning; it keeps the bush open to sun and air, especially in the center. Flowers next year, as a result, extend down into the heart of the shrub. Lynwood Gold from Ireland is a deep shade and a wonderful variety.

Another good early-flowering shrub is Scotch broom which grows wild at the seashore, thriving in sandy dry soil. The branches are green to the ground, and in April and May golden pea-like flowers appear in the leaf axils. The foliage is straight but flexible and responds to a sweeping breeze in a most delightful manner. For a fine hearth brush, trim off some of the branches and bind them together.

Kerry Green

The double-flowered form of kerria bears rich yellow ball-shaped blooms. The stems are green all year and attractive standing in a winter snow, the only green in sight. In a vase, the arching branches in full blossom beautifully decorate the house. Kerria thrives in full sun or partial shade, flowers luxuriously in May and usually off and on the rest of the summer. The kerry bush, from the orient, is tough and hardy, and divides readily. Slice off a piece of root with two or three top branches intact and you’ve a new shrub, and the old plant soon fills in the gap.

Firethorn or pyracantha is hardy and vigorous. Espalier it against a wall or let it sprawl into a dense bush. It makes a fine massive dramatic hedge. Firethorn likes dry soil, a warm well-drained spot. Buy small plants. Those in six-inch pots transplant best, and will grow two or three feet the first year. Pyracantha is formed from the Greek words meaning fire and thorn. It has thorns always and “fire” all fall in the form of orange-red berries which take on their blazing colors in September and often last until January. The flowers in May are small but beautiful, and appear in loose clusters, milky white, each shaped like a wild rose, with five round petals and many yellow anthers.

Lovely Lilacs

What romance and delight spring from the lilac! A Viennese diplomat is said to have brought the first lilac seeds out of Turkey along with the first tulip seeds. Lilacs are native to Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In Devon and Cornwall a girl who bathes her face in lilac dew on May Day morn will be beautiful all year! The sturdy practical British farmer, years back, kept an eye on lilacs for a different reason. If lilac buds were plentiful there would be an abundant harvest of pears, apples, peaches, plums, and cherries.

I find nothing to equal the scent of white lilacs before breakfast when the dew is on them. Bury your face in their cool wetness-I would grow them for this alone.

You can plant lilacs almost anywhere, entirely forget them, and they will grow and be lovely. There are, however, a few tricks for a special abundance of flowers. Set plants in open situations, in rich soil (neutral to alkaline) in full sun with lime and manure. Feed in April. Lilacs thrive on pulverized lime, bone meal, limestone chips, and wood ashes. Mix several shovelfuls of rotted manure in the hole when you plant. Most lilacs you buy are grafted, and these should be planted six inches deeper than they grew in the nursery. If not grafted (called “own root” plants) set them three inches deeper. Occasionally cut some of the old branches to the ground to keep the clumps vigorous, and prune off suckers. To grow a lilac hedge, set bushes four or five feet apart, and never prune. For an appealing corner planting of lilacs, use Phlox divaricata, candytuft, and aubrieta around their bases.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 10:21 am and is filed under flowers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.