Winterthur Garden Blog

There is one word to describe the garden this week and that is fleeting.  In a period of seven days we will have experienced relentless, driving rains, wind gusts to 40 mph and temperature swings that vary from upper 20’s to near 80’s. How are plants supposed to respond to that?  The nature of our spring flowers is truly ephemeral and completely dependant upon the whims of the weather.  I have seen the March Bank maintain its blue color for three weeks—when the planets had aligned just so—but this year it lasted only 4 days.  The sunny, near 80 degrees of the next few days will whisk away the flowers of the star magnolias (which escape the below freezing temperatures last weekend), cherries, winterhazel and the remainder of the glory-of-the-snow that are tucked in the cooler pockets of the garden. We will be jet propel into daffodil, saucer magnolia and quince season; all within a few days.  This is a perfect weekend to put away the gardening tools and enjoy the transition in flowers; there will be other great gardening weekends ahead but you will have to wait another whole year before seeing these spring flowering beauties again.