When I venture into the garden on spring mornings, I’m generally looking at the big picture. What work requires immediate attention? Maybe it’s weeding or deadheading or cutting down cover crops, planting out starts or filling in holes dug by the squirrels, picking up trash or, more likely, all of the above.
Often I forget to be attentive to the subtle differences, noticing something has flowered only after the petals are wilting or the fruit is forming. There’s so much to do in a day that missing little details is easy. Having my camera in hand I find myself slowing down and seeing the changes.
Poncirus trifoliata (trifoliate orange)
The trifoliate orange in section D is blooming. It is extremely hardy and is commonly used as rootstock for commercial citrus trees and its bark, thorns and fruit are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s an attention grabber in any season, spiky and forbidding in winter but a joyous riot of shimmering, white, fragrant blossoms in spring.
Oplopanax horridus (Devil’s club) April 7
Oplopanax horridus (Devil’s club) April 16
Speaking of thorny, the spines on Devil’s club are worth avoiding. They detach easily and can become embedded in skin, causing real trouble if they become infected. This plant was started from seed I collected on a backpacking trip in the Olympic Mountains. Devil’s club roots and bark have been widely used by Native Americans to treat a variety of ills from headaches, colds and rheumatism to stomach and skin conditions. The spring buds, when 1″-2″ long, are edible. The endangered medicinal plant, ginseng (Panax spp.) and the unfortunately common ivy (Hedera helix) that blankets our urban green spaces, are both related to Devil’s club. They’re all in the same family, the Araliaceae.
Sedum spathulifolium (broadleaf stonecrop)
Broadleaf stonecrop serves as the host plant for the endangered San Bruno elfin butterfly of San Mateo County, California. It’s true. Humans, should the need arise, can eat the leaves. I haven’t felt the need…yet.
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary)
Rosemary flowers are sweet, aromatic and delicious. Some so-called edible flowers are just that and no more, but rosemary flowers are a special garnish, well worth the patience it takes to pick them, for they are small. Try them on a simple salad of greens with a light vinaigrette. The leaves help us digest fatty foods and make a healing addition to a hot bath, increasing circulation and easing aches and pains. Give it a well-drained, sunny, protected spot in the garden and it will do the rest. Our rosemary hedge in the Medicinal Herb Garden is covered with flowers right now. Bees love it.
Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely)
Sweet cicely is a graceful, ferny plant that does well in shade. The anise flavored foliage, roots and young, green seeds are all edible and delicious.
Erysimum asperum (Western wallflower)
If you pass through the garden or encounter a similar species of wallflower in the wild, kneel down and indulge yourself. The flowers have a fragrance that is worth a moment’s pause.
Ribes cereum (wax currant)
The insipid fruit of the western North American wax currant have been used as food and medicine by Native Americans. When gathering, insipid fruit is better than no fruit.
Prunus maritima (beach plum) What a floral display from such a small shrub!
While visiting Cape Cod last October I encountered beach plum in the wild but it was past the fruiting season. Beach plum jam is common in gift shops on the east coast. This shrub was grown from seed I received from Smith College in 2012. I trade seeds with roughly 200 botanic gardens around the world. Getting their seed catalogs each year is almost as exciting as getting seeds. Starting woody plants that will outlive me, from seeds received as gifts … it’s a hard feeling to describe in words, but hope for and solidarity with future generations is part of it. One day I want to travel to some of the gardens and meet the gardeners who are growing plants from seeds I’ve sent to them, especially seeds I’ve collected in the wild. And I hope some of the gardeners who have sent me seeds will visit the Medicinal Herb Garden and introduce themselves. I’ll write more about the amazing, heartwarming seed exchange program that has allowed the garden’s collection of plants to expand over the decades. Even at the height of the Cold War, friend and foe kept trading seeds.
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (blue brush)
Blue brush is the first Ceanothus species to flower in the garden. A green dye is made from the flowers and the whole plant is rich in saponins. When crushed and mixed with water, the flowers and leaves make a safe and gentle, aromatic soap. Many Ceanothus species are good, early-flowering bee plants. They’re drought tolerant and evergreen. If you don’t have one, get one. It’s another great bee plant.
Lewisia cotyledon (Siskiyou lewisia)
Finally, I’ll leave you with this beauty. It took ten years from germination to get this Siskiyou lewisia to flower last year and it is again flowering this year, as I write this post. In the Medicinal Herb Garden, Lewisias need the raised and well-drained gravel and pumice mix of this xeriscape to survive. Otherwise their substantial taproots tend to rot in our cool, wet winters. Not all Lewisia species are as amenable to life on the west side of the Cascades. But that is another story…
cool nights warmer now
as April flowers unfurl
winter fades away
See you in the garden.
I didn’t know that about rosemary flowers. I’ll have to try them on my salad sometime.