The first time I planted a colony of lavender plants, I was dismayed to see the plants appear droopy and desiccated the following spring. They looked dead as a doornail. Oh well, I figured, lavender flourishes in places like southern France, and Amherst isn’t a whole lot like southern France. Not wanting to be reminded of my unsuccessful attempt at lavender, I trimmed them all back, thinking there was a remote chance they would rebound with new spring growth. “A chance to cut is a chance to cure,” as my husband likes to say.
Oops. It turns out that my lavender wasn’t so dead after all. It just looked dead. Like a possum playing possum, my lavender was just getting ready to spring into action. For lavender, this means producing new leaves on last year’s woody stems. Most of the plants did regenerate slowly. Now I know better than to rush in with the pruners on the first warm day of spring. Some plants just need to look messy for a while. Once the new leaves are well established, I can see where the truly dead parts are, and I can carefully prune those out.
Another plant that used to fool me with its possum routine was Heuchera (coral bells). It tends to heave out of the ground in winter, and it greets me in early spring looking like a mop of shriveled brown leaves poking head first out of the ground. Not exactly promising, compared with the spritely new green leaves of the nearby Alchemilla (lady’s mantle). But hidden at the center is a tiny bunch of new leaves. I have learned to gently press the plants back down into the soft earth, trim the dead parts and wait. Somewhat impatiently, I admit.
Buddleia (butterfly bush) also demands a bit of faith this time of year. Because it grows from new wood, unlike lavender, it needs to be cut way back in the early spring. This exercise leaves a circle of woody stalks like a naked lampshade in the garden. It also leaves me wondering if I’ve just killed another perfectly good plant. But sure enough, in the next few weeks, tiny gray-green shoots emerge from these dead-looking stalks and new life begins. By the time the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises in late summer, the bushes will be five feet tall and full of nectar-filled flowers for them.
As I gingerly poked about in the garden last week, bundled in multiple layers of Polar Fleece, I was immensely cheered by the sight of purple nubs of hosta, the fat daffodil buds and the tiniest suggestion of new leaves on the baby Kousa dogwood and redbud trees I planted last year. I prattle away — “Oh, you’re back. I wasn’t sure you’d make it. Yikes, I nearly stepped on you! Who are you? I have no idea what I planted there” — leaving my dog, Allie, wondering who I’m talking to, if not to her. Among the plants I find a bounty of Allie’s tennis balls that have managed to survive the winter just fine.
This year the arrival of new growth strikes me as particularly poignant. The world seems to be in such perilous shape in so many ways. But here are the plants, like old friends, just doing what they always do. Spring is such a busy time of year, and depending on the weather it can go by in a flash. I want to make sure I check out my garden beds regularly to observe their steady, dependable progress. Spring only happens once a year.
Mickey Rathbun, an Amherst-based lawyer turned journalist, has written the Get Growing column since 2016.
On May 10 and 11, Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge will hold its 42nd annual plant sale. This year’s sale includes more than 180 species/cultivars of native plants with more than a thousand woody and herbaceous plants displayed by habitat including plants for sunny areas, beds and borders, dry areas, and the woodland edge. There will be annuals, too, most grown at BBG. There will also be tropicals, vines, divisions of perennials dug from BBG display gardens, organic vegetable and herb plants, hanging baskets, and plants donated by nurseries from throughout the tri-state area. Featured are a selection of plants that attract bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths and other pollinating insects. Popular succulent tabletop containers will once again be available, along with BBG’s signature cone-shaped hanging container arrangements. Plant sales will benefit the BBG’s education and horticulture programs. New this year is the Plants-and-Answers Q&A booth staffed by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association as well as gardening professionals. The sale is open Fri. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free admission. For more information, go to: berkshirebotanical.org
This popular plant sale, which raises money for books for Northampton public schools, will take place May 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Smith Vocational High School, 80 Locust Street, Northampton. Last year’s plant sale raised over $11,000 for this wonderful cause. The sale will include a wide range of plants including annuals and perennials, vegetable starts, herbs, hanging plants, trees and shrubs, as well as organic lawn and garden products and compost. Also on sale will be treasures from local artisans, including handcrafted garden furniture donated by local woodworkers. The event also includes a raffle to win a handmade quilt and garden furniture made by Smith Vocational woodworking students.
Volunteers are still needed to donate plants and help with the sale. For more information about volunteer opportunities, contact: francie.m.lin@gmail.com.