I was just out doing some garden cleanup, cutting down last year's dead fern bracts, and as always in early spring I found a few surprises. The nicest was that the Pachysandra terminalis flower has a lovely fragrance. All these years, and I had no idea that such a workhorse of a groundcover had such an exotic smell. Opines the Missouri Botanical Garden: "Flowers are not particularly showy, but on close inspection are quite attractive."
The daffs are in full bloom, although some, I'm sorry to see, suffered from the late freeze, with brown-tipped leaves and soggy stems. The perennial tulips (pale yellow with a hint of red) are doing better than they ever have. The grape hyacinths, the rest of the tulips and the violets will have their turn to shine next.
(A reader just emailed me that Longwood Gardens is predicting their tulips will bloom earlier than usual, with a peak display in mid-April.)
The hostas are starting to show their pointed, tightly furled leaves above the ground. The periwinkle is already flowering and attracting bees.
Looks like it's going to be a banner year for the monkshood, which is spreading like crazy and may even be pulling ahead of the lamium in the west-garden challenge.
I don't have any forsythia, but they are a blaze of yellow everywhere else.
I'm glad to see the tiny leaves of the valerian emerging. Talk about a paradox: the flowers smell intoxicating but the roots smell disgusting (I'm sure I'll be able to use that as a metaphor somewhere). I've heard the smell compared to sweat socks, but it's actually far gamier and longer-lasting than that. Some people buy valerian leaves to brew as a sleep aid, and I've noticed that the box has to be double-wrapped at the health-food store to contain the odor.
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