Adding more native spring to your garden.
We are about to behold all the energy and beauty of the first flush of spring. Many of our most popular flowers were introduced from elsewhere. Can you have a joyous spring garden with native plants? Absolutely. Will that joyous spring likely start a week or two later? It's quite possible. Here are five ways to add more native spring to your garden.
Add Spicebush Instead of Forsythia
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is one of the earliest native bloomers. An understory shrub, it grows naturally in shade. In the wild, spicebush grows to 12 feet high and wide but stays smaller in a garden setting, typically growing 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. Several resources say it can be grown in sun with consistent moisture. Spicebush is also the host plant for the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.
Forsythia (Forsythia) are a group of shrubs from Asia and southeastern Europe widely planted as harbingers of spring. I have always heard farmers planted forsythia because when the forsythia bloomed, they knew the soil was warm enough to be worked. I have no idea whether that is true. I do know the gold masses of flowers, often in full sun, while ubiquitous, signal spring.
Spicebushes signal the native spring. While spicebushes are a little more subtle in their announcement, they bring their own glow to the understory. If you have partial shade, or a moist sunny spot, it's definitely worth giving it a try!
Add Virginia Bluebells Instead of Siberian Squill and Hyacinth
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are one happy spring plant. They make a verdant green and vibrant blue addition to any garden, formal, informal or in between. Virginia bluebells grow naturally in moist shade. I grow these plants in average soils in dappled shade and they thrive. They do seem to spread more readily in moister soil. Bluebells are ephemeral. The foliage emerges in early spring and the plants typically will flower for two to three weeks. Once the weather warms up, the foliage dies back until the following spring. One note, Virginia bluebells are easiest to find in nurseries in spring.
Virginia bluebells make excellent substitutes for bulbs like Siberian squill (Scilla siberica), and grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum). While these bulbs bring vibrant blue color, neither will have the size and presence in your garden as Virginia bluebells will.
Add Wood Poppies Instead of Daffodils
Bright yellow flowers of wood poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum) appear early and, as the plant grows, new flowers continue to appear. Wood poppies grow in dappled and full shade. They also self seed, often 40 or 50 feet away from the original plant. Seedlings can easily be moved. If grown in a shaded, moist location, the foliage may last through most of summer. The shape of the leaves is like a large lobed fern.
Daffodils (Narcissus), originating from Europe and North Africa, are available in a variety of colors and flower forms. Planted as bulbs, they gradually multiply. Daffodils add joy to many a garden. One big advantage of planting wood poppies instead of daffodils in your garden, is wood poppies have beautiful foliage, even without flowers.
Add Foamflower Instead of Snowdrops
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), a woodland plant, thrives in moist shade. In spring it bursts with white wand shaped flowers. Once established, foamflower will begin to send out runners which ultimately create a colony of plants.. Foamflower requires no maintenance after it establishes - another plus.
Snowdrops (Galanthus), native to Europe and parts of Asia, are often one of the first bulbs to appear, sometimes as early as February. There is no native plant I know of that can do that! Foamflower adds so much more to your garden though. The blooms, once they appear in late March or early April, are fairly long lasting and the foliage adds interest all summer long.
Add Trilliums Instead of Tulips
Native trilliums include yellow trillium (Trillium luteum), toad trillium with red flowers (Trillium cuneatum) and white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). Trilliums grow best in shade or part shade and moist soils. Trilliums can tolerate soils with average moisture once established. The plants typically bloom from April to May. The clumps of flowers are very slow to spread by rhizomes. Trillium are also ephemeral so the foliage will die back in late spring.
Tulips (Tulipa), native to Europe, the Middle East and Asia are said to come in every possible color but blue. It sure does seem like that is the case. The variety of tulips out there is dazzling. Depending on the type of tulip you plant and your garden conditions, your tulips may or may not come back in following years. Native trilliums will come back. And while the color palette is very limited, the foliage is exquisite.
All of this isn't to say you shouldn't have tulips or daffodils in your garden if that is what you like. It is to suggest maybe this year is one to make sure to add more Virginia bluebells or that spicebush shrub to your spring native plant palette! Spring is glorious. Adding some spring blooming native plants to your garden makes it all the more special.
Happy Gardening.
