Spike's Wildlife Almanac

Greetings from Susie’s Gardens

By Spike Knuth

 So much has gone on in Susie’s Gardens since mid-April that it would be impossible to get it all in. A number of days in the 80s have resulted in spectacular growths. Some things have bloomed and gone already, such as the tree peony.

It’s only about two feet high but had about four or five beautiful deep magenta blossoms with yellow centers. The leatherleaf viburnum,(rhytidophylum) which had actually bloomed a little during winter, surprised us with a whole new round of flower clusters. I would say the “stars of the show” these past few weeks has been the viburnums. Viburnum “Eskimo” (plicatum tomentosa had more blossoms this year. This is the one that also gives off a sweet scent, a plant to be considered if you are trying to create a “scent garden.”

Both the doublefile viburnum—also plicatum tomentosum but a different cultivar—either Cascade or Shasta, or it could be a trilobum, American cranberry bush, which the books say produces lacecap like flowers. We must do some more research—and the eastern snowball viburnums (opulus roseum) have been outstanding as well.

I have found that you can’t always trust the labels on plants you buy, depending on where you buy them. The doublefile has beautiful grooved leaves to go with the blossoms which are somewhat like lacecap hydrangeas, but all along the branch like a dogwood. From the side it forms sheets or strata of foliage and blooms—the “cloud effect” that bonsai lovers try to form on their plants.

I think we may have to add some more viburnum’s to the mix, especially those that flower and produce fruit, like arrow wood, nannyberry, or European cranberry, the blueblack berries of which the birds love—especially robins and cedar waxwings. I remember that there was a viburnum at the back of the parking lot at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries that produced the small black berries in fall. It was always full of robins and waxwings in September-October.

The mock orange is in full bloom now too, the best its been in a few years since I trimmed it. Susie has five different clematis in bloom, deep purple, white, reddish-purple and pink. She has many more that will be coming on. I’ll have to go over the different ones with her and make a proper list as we get farther into the year.

The rhododendron (Catawba) is in bloom as spectacular as ever, and we still have many azaleas beginning while some are bloomed out. Flowers making their appearances now are salvia “May Knight,” bearded irises (among them those huge white ones), Japanese irises, Siberian irises, poppies, Solomon’s seal, spiderwort (tradescantia), and lilies of the valley (Mayflowers). A new plant, wood hyacinth (Alba maxima scilla) has just finished blooming and it was a nice addition to the woodland garden.

More Siberian irises are beginning to bloom of the many clusters spread around in different places, and the peony buds are beginning to burst open on about two dozen plants. The pulmonaria still has blooms and the hellebores have put on some fantastic leaf growth. There are still pods of columbines all over the yard in different places. Ferns and hostas have jumped out of the ground in the woodland garden.

One of my favorites but invasive in some people’s eyes, the Mexican evening primrose (oenothera speciosa) are blooming out front around the light standard. For a flower that looks so delicate it is very hardy and will spread rapidly. I’ve seen it growing in median strip on the north side of Richmond. Some of those that are done include the lunaria (money plant) which is already forming its round, flat seed pods which will be about the size and shape of silver dollars later on; hence the name “money plant,” and the ajuga (bugleweed). “Sooz” has done a lot more cleanup, planting. and mulching during these past couple weeks. She did some trimming on the crapes along the south side.

We have been getting some decent asparagus the past couple of weeks—enough for one good meal, and I even had some radishes from last year’s seeds come up. I finally got the vegetable garden tilled up and will plant soon. I already have the plants; 12 or so tomatoes (Better Boy, Fantastic, Rutgers, Juliette, and a grape tomato), a couple California Wonder green peppers, a couple basils, some chives, and parsley.

In addition I’ll go with zucchini, straightneck summer squash, okra, green beans, and chard using seeds. I’ve planted a couple of containers with lettuces, and some herbs—borage in particular, which I’ll put out in the garden later in different places. I also picked up my usual red salvia, yellow marigolds, and white petunia plants to edge the garden.

We have at least four robin nests in the yard; one in the ligustrum, one in the holly tree, one in the roses on the south side, and one in the magnolia out front. Grackles are everywhere in the neighbors Leyland cypress, our large cedar, the columnar cedar at the southwest corner, and in the holly somewhere.

There are at least two cardinal nests somewhere—we think one is in the cherry laurel. We have young mourning doves in the hedgerows already. I think the nest was in the big cedar as well. The brown thrasher showed up and has a big bulky nest in the mock orange. The mockingbird is also somewhere near by. He was singing to us at 1:30 a.m. last night!

I finally got my hummingbird feeders up about April 18th—very late. A female showed up at one outside my workroom window on the 21st. The house wren showed up on the 22nd. Now only the catbirds are unaccounted for. I expect to hear them soon. The grackles are a pain. They dump the fecal sacks from their young in the birdbaths, and lately they’ve been skip-bombing them onto the patio.

The other day a young grackle ended up underneath the ligustrum where the robin’s nest was. Of course the grackle parents were keeping watch over it and trying to feed it while the robin felt its nest was threatened so we had a knock down, drag out fight all afternoon. I finally found the little feathered grackle which couldn’t fly yet and moved it away and peace reigned again for awhile.

Photos: Sixteen month old Zoe Knuth hugging statue. Amy Knuth photo. Two viburnum photos by Spike Knuth