Frozen Beauty

Early April is a perilous time to garden in the Midwest. We can and do have seventy degree days, and snow and hard frosts the next...only the hardiest plants can deal with such extreme temperature ranges. A recent morning proved to be fertile ground for capturing frost at it's crystalline best, just as the sun rose. The beautiful new leaves of the variegated Japanese Butter Bur hold their own in the frosted air. Thankfully, the early spring flowers can take the cold and revive with the dawn. The woodland favorite Mertensia-Virginia Bluebells take the cold in stride as do the regal Hellebore. I keep my fingers crossed when it comes to the fruit trees... A lite frost is fine, but a hard freeze will eliminate the harvest for another year. The fruiting pear blossoms have such rosy pollen,relished by Bees.

Scentimental Bulbs-The Antique Hyacinths

At this time of year, there are so many special things blooming in the garden. One of the most cherished Spring bulbs that I grow are the rare Roman Hyacinths, Hyacinthus Orientalis var. Albulus. An early bulb to cultivation, they have sprays of delicate fragrant flowers that you won't soon forget.. The most common form has pale blue flowers, produced in a sequence of two to six delicate stems per small bulb. White,pale pink and a darker blue variety are also seen on occasion. These are rare to commerce these days, but seventy-five years ago, they were a florist's staple for forcing out of season and Easter displays. The smaller stature, often over shadowed by the more robust standard Orientalis types, has led to their rarity. A cool moist spring, followed by a hot dry summer rest is the recipe for raising these heirloom beauties. Ironically, the very large flowered hybrids that over took the niche of the Roman Hyacinth are also becoming uncommon to the trade. Most of these larger forms have precursors that were unusual in color and fragrance. When you let the bulbs naturalize, they loose their club like look, almost appearing like husky, art shaded versions of the ancient Roman Hyacinth. Two of the antique standard varieties that add a special dimension to the early garden are the smokey lavender Splendid Cornelia, and the exquisite beet root purple Woodstock, along with the double white Ben Nevis. These hard to find bulbs are worth searching out and cultivating, the fragrance alone will happily haunt the garden as well as the Gardner! Purples, whites yellows and peach varieties exist to please any color palette.

Pelargoniums For Scent

When I first opened Bergamot and Ivy, I took a working vacation to the superlative Logee's greenhouses. A seminar on ornamental horticulture had been offered by Horticulture magazine, hosted by the wonderful Logee/Martin family. The snow was heavy, but inside the glasshouses, another world awaited the lucky participants. We were fortunate enough to have Joy Logee Martin give her recollections of another era in ornamental estate horticulture and specialty garden shows. She spoke of a particular show, I believe it was the Philadelphia flower show, in which she had a collection of scented Pelargoniums on display. By the end of the show, the greedy visitors had pinched cuttings off her show plants. She was so saddened by the state of her plants that she dumped the ragged pots in an unused greenhouse and forgot about them. The cool temperatures and short day length in the abandoned greenhouse spurred the Pelargoniums into full bloom. Nature took control and generations of hybrid ,fragrant seedlings where the lucky result. Most people in the United States call them Scented Geraniums, a separate family of mostly hardy garden plants. They should be called by their correct name to alleviate confusion. The gravel floor of the glasshouse provided the perfect nursery for all the cross pollinated seedlings emerging in the spring. This fortuitous accident has led to an amazing array of fragrances available to the hobby grower. There are gooseberry scented, nutmeg scented,old spice scented...along with the traditional rose and lemon scented plants. Along with the fragrances, floral forms were also created to delight the grower. Most scented Pelargoniums have intriguing, smaller blooms-the perfect compliment for the strong scents. Cool, bright conditions in the winter and a warm sunny summer spot will give you pleasure throughout the year. You can use the leaves to scent drawers, toss them in the dryer to freshen clothes--even bake with them for a special treat. I love to collect the more unusual forms, there's always one I've never seen before...the latest is an apricot scented plant that I just couldn't say no too...Even tossing them in a hot tub can give you a natural aromatherapy lift you couldn't get anywhere else. A sandy moisture retentive soil and a tight pot will do them fine, and if you're inclined, they can be raised from cuttings in no time. The popular Citronella mosquito plant is a member of this diverse family,and does indeed repel the nasty insects.