Waking up the Garden

Hey! How’s your garden growing?

If you’re anything like me you’ve been out puttering in the garden, seeing what’s waking up and what isn’t. So far most of my perennials in the garden bed are up, except a couple of plants.

The daylilies haven’t shown any signs of life yet and my island bed in the driveway is a bit slower to look alive too.

When should my perennials come up?

There is no real answer to this question. Each perennial has its schedule for waking up and showing signs of new growth.

Most often your early spring bloomers will be your first perennials to come up. Think about Iris and daffodils.

I do know that Hosta’s are some of the latest perennials to emerge from the ground.

Right now (first week of May), I have Iris, Yarrow, some lilies, Sedum, Delphinium, Monkshood, Fern Leaf Peony (no other peonies) Alliums and Ornamental Onion up.

What causes my perennials to come up late?

The biggest reason plants take longer to come up is snow cover. If you have a north-facing garden that had deep snow drifts on the bed, the soil will stay colder longer.

Plants start to emerge when the ground warms up. This is why your shade plants take a bit longer to come up. They’re usually growing in locations that have more snow cover and less sun to warm the soil up.

Should I give up on my perennial?

No! Be patient. Some plants just take longer to come up than others. If you know that there should be a plant growing in a specific spot, but you don’t see any life, mark it with a stake and then continue in the garden.

Often when we start messing in and around where the roots of the perennial are, we can break off the new shoots that are coming up.

Give your perennials till at least mid-June before you give up on them. By mid-June, if you don’t see any signs of life go ahead and dig up your plant and see what’s going on underground.

What should I be doing in the garden right now?

You can start cleaning up any dead plant stalks and removing any annual plants you didn’t clean up in the fall.

I’ve started to cut off the old stalks of all my perennials. I leave them all in the fall to catch snow. I want to get those old stalks out before the new growth is too tall and I break off lots of the new stems.

You can also start removing dandelion roots. The ground is really dry right now, and it’s easier to get those perennial weeds out before they get established.

Should I be watering my garden?

Yes! We just came through a very dry winter and my garden is very dry.

If you have to ability to start watering your perennials I’d say go for it! Then pray for some rain. The last 2 years’ lack of rain is going to have a huge impact on our gardens again this year.

There is very little reserve of water in the soil. Pull out those garden hoses and give each perennial a deep drink.

When you’re watering give each plant a drink. This way you can focus on each plant rather than using a sprinkler that waters the air and not your plants.

Anything else I should do in the garden?

Now is the time to plan for dividing and moving your perennials. Give your plants time to come up before you start to move and divide.

Use this time to plan if you’re making any changes in the garden. If you want anything new in the garden, you can start wandering the aisles of your local greenhouse.

Enjoy this spring! There’s nothing better than emerging from our winter sleep and getting out into the yard and gardening.

Happy Gardening, and remember your SUNSCREEN!

Heidi