MAY 2014

25TH ANNUAL

BEST OF LANCASTER READERS’ SURVEY

INSIDE!

Annual Garden Issue

Spring Beauty

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Brown-Bag Lunch Ideas

Ethnic Eats

It's A Spring Awakening!

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T here are ornamental gardeners who concentrate on one genus of plant. We all know someone who grows only roses. In the years of researching my books, I’ve met many collectors of dwarf conifers. Likewise, there

are dahlia societies whose enthusiasts display their blooms to be judged at shows.

On this journey, I'd like to propose that one could focus on one family of plants and have an interesting border in all seasons with none of the bother of cultivating roses or the tedium of a conifer collection. That group would be the Buttercup family, called in Latin the Ranunculaceae. This assemblage of plant relatives will provide flowers through all the seasons.

WINTER ACONITEAs soon as the

snow cover begins to retreat, the well-named Winter aconite, Eranthus hymenalis, will shoot forth with its bright-yellow flowers in full sun or part shade. After several weeks of flowering, it will go completely dormant in late spring. It will naturalize when grown in good, well-drained soil. The deer don’t touch it and it will grow under our native black-walnut trees.

PASQUE FLOWER Pulsatilla vulgaris (aka

Anemone pulsatilla) deserves that special place in your garden that has rich, humusy, perfectly drained soil in full sun or part shade. The flowers (usually purple, but other colors are available) emerge when patches of snow are still on the ground even before the foliage. They mature to six- to nine-inches tall. The stems and deeply divided, fern-like foliage are covered with silvery hairs. The flowers are followed by magical, plume-like, fluffy, spherical, silver seed heads. This is a plant whose subtle beauty can’t be described. Watching its life cycle is a meditative experience.

LOVE-IN-A-MISTAn easily

grown annual with the same typical feathery foliage of the Ranunculaceae family is Nigella damascena. Seeds can be planted

gardening journey B U T T E R C U P F A M I L Y

ALL IN THE FAMILYIt’s possible to plan an entire season of

flowers around one family of plants: Ranunculaceae, the Buttercup family.

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DR. RICHARD L. BITNER

Delphiniums

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in full sun as soon as the soil can be worked; areas with cool summers can be repeat-sown every few weeks until mid-summer. Once started, they will self-seed abundantly and bloom reliably in May. Seeds are available in blue or mixtures of white, pink, rose and blue. Each solitary flower appears to sit on a bed of lacy foliage. The frilly, post-bloom seed capsule is very eye-catching and terrific for dried arrangements. A typical plant for “cottage” gardens.

COLUMBINEAquilegia vulgaris is native

to our area’s rocky woodlands and is perfect for naturalizing in a shady, well-drained area. The flowers typically have pale-yellow petals with distinctive red spurs. It is an early-season favorite of hummingbirds (and rabbits), but deer do not bother it. This is a good choice to fill the spaces between hostas and hellebores and later, foxgloves could rise to take its place.

DELPHINIUMS

Yes, well … those British gardening books are filled with glossy pictures of their intoxicating blue colors – every blue of the pastel palette. Try it if you must … and if you favor plants that need coddling. It will prove to be a short-lived perennial – if it survives at all after the first year. Delphiniums need staking and protection from wind, plus they dislike the hot and humid summers we invariably experience. They’re also prone to powdery mildew, and attract slugs and snails. I could go on.

LARKSPURConsolida

ambigua is unquestionably not quite as alluring as those delphiniums. But, its smaller spikes of blue-purple flowers are just as vibrant and it’s totally trouble-free. This late-spring flowering annual is easily grown from seeds and thereafter will self-seed. Various selections and mixes are available in shades of pink, salmon, carmine, white, violet and lavender. It goes dormant after setting seed.

MONKSHOODBlue in the

late-summer garden is not common, but Aconitum napellus is exceptional with its mysterious blue-hooded flowers and dark-green leaves. Displayed on the tall stems, the intensely blue colors combine nicely with the oranges and yellows so prevalent that time of year. Monkshood will grow in sun or shade in well-drained soil and spreads slowly. A common selection is ‘Bressingham Spire.’ Rabbits and deer do not browse since all parts of the plant are poisonous. Best to wear gloves when working with the plant since some people experience skin sensitivity. It’s obviously not suitable for a children’s garden.

BUGBANEWith its fluffy spires

of creamy-white, fragrant flowers towering to five feet or more, our native Actaea racemosa (aka Cimicifuga racemosa) is suitable for the back of the fall border or as an architectural accent. Bugbane is superb in its normal habitat, which is the edge of woods, where it establishes happily and benefits from the darker background. Despite its height, it does not need staking. Rabbits do not lay a paw on it.

JAPANESE ANEMONEThis fall-blooming plant

looks great in any spot you have organically rich, humusy, well-drained soil to site it, although best in part shade away from wind. Anemone x hybrida is slow to establish; its rhizomes eventually spread to form large colonies. A number of hybrid pink or white-flowered single and double cultivars flower into October. Good choices are ‘Queen Charlotte,’ ‘September Charm’ and ‘Honorine Jorbert.’

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CLEMATISEvery

garden should have the best-known and vining genus of this family. Ideal for covering a patio arbor, border fence, lamppost or any vertical space, there are countless selections of clematis. Plant clematis to sprawl over and through large shrubs. Check out the mail-order nurseries that specialize in this genus and you can have flowers the entire growing season (be sure to follow the notes on which types should be cut back annually and which should not).

for those who have a hankering for even more members of this interesting family, other cousins include Baneberry (Actaea), a berried woodland plant; spring-flowering anemones; Marsh Marigold (Caltha) for the bog garden; tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum) for a narrow space; and Globe Flower (Trollius), a late-spring flowering bulb.

HELLEBORESRegular

readers are already aware of the many reasons I love hellebores: evergreen, easy to grow, shade-tolerant, poisonous to deer and self-seeding if not mulched. Add to this list that they flower soon after the snow melts and continue their display for two months. Named selections in specific hues are available. Mine are nameless and range in color from pale creams to soft roses and mauves (H. orientalis), and chartreuse (H. foetidus). If you find it, Helleborus argutifolius (aka H. corsicus) is a luscious apple-green color with sharply toothed, pewter-veined foliage.

DR. RICHARD L. BITNER is a horticultural lecturer and photographer. He is the author of three books on conifers, most recently Designing with Conifers: The Best Choices for Year-Round Interest in Your Garden. His website is ConifersForGardens.com.

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