Garden of Rachael McLeod

  After a very strange but easy winter we start into spring wondering how our gardens will have been affected. One thing is certain, there has not been enough snow to provide water in the soil, nor has there been enough rain to make up the deficiency. So our garden plants may well be short of moisture this spring and summer, because of this they may have disappeared entirely or will not grow as luxuriantly as we would like..We may need some different plants to fill the gaps and this is where summer bulbs can be used very effectively.

  We are all used to buying bulbs in the fall to plant before winter and to be thrilled in spring when they appear and flower abundantly. However there is another collection of bulbs, corms and tubers which cannot take our cold winters and so are planted in the spring and give us very beautiful displays in our gardens from mid to late summer and then in the fall must be lifted and stored for winter. Many of them do very well in containers so are ideal for placing in a pot in a gap where the original plant has failed

The two best known of these plants are gladioli and dahlias both of which are essential in sunny borders .. Most of us know the beautiful large rigid spikes of the hybrid gladioli. These are often grown in rows for cutting but they have their place in the flowerbed where they should be planted in groups to soften the rigidity of their form. Interplanting them with bronze fennel or even dill will also soften their lines, the beautiful colour of the spikes shining through the feathery mist of fennel and dill. There are also smaller gladioli that add colour and grace to a flower border, which are not so well known but delicate and attractive and each corm produces two or three slender spikes. These are the Nana gladioli and one of the best is "Nymph". Another corm which has been popular for many years is the Acidanthera. This is in fact a gladiolus although it looks very like a lily with dancing white flowers and maroon centres; a further bonus is that it has a delicate scent. Both acidanthera and the small gladioli can be grown in pots or containers and then used wherever there is a gap in the garden

Gladioli can take a bit of shade but Dahlias must have full sun and given that and good soil there are few more rewarding plants. Like the gladioli the tubers (not corms) can be kept from year to year stored in a cool frost-free area. There are dahlias of all sizes, shapes and colours with the exception of blue. Some, like the giant cactus or decorative dahlias which may grow over four feet tall (1 to 2 metres), will fill any unsightly gap in the flower bed and provide endless bloom for cutting from midsummer to the frosts. Perhaps they are too big for easy container growing but there are others well suited for growing in pots. For example there are dwarf dahlias which will only grow one or two feet tall (20 cms to 40 cms) and star dahlias with shaggy flowers which are a little taller.

For gardeners who have only shade and no areas to accommodate either glads or dahlias there are begonias. How marvelous to find a plant that enjoys shady conditions and responds with the most beautifully coloured large flowers. Begonias are grown from tubers and started on a tray in damp peat moss, when they have a good root ball and 6 cm to 8 cm shoots they can be transferred either to containers or bedded out in the garden if all danger of frost is over. There are begonias grown for their beautiful large dark leaves, begonias with flowers like roses or some that come from California and are huge doubles as much as 12 cm across. All these will grow well in containers and there are more very beautiful ones grown to cascade out of hanging baskets. If the tubers are given plenty of food and moisture and lifted before the frosts in the fall they can be stored for a repeat performance the next year.

There are many more half-hardy bulbs, tubers and corms which will add interest and colour to your garden but I must end with one of my favorites. Some years ago I was given a pot of white calla lilies (Zantedeschia). They were beautiful with very handsome foliage. When they had finished flowering I put them in the garden for the rest of the summer and in the fall dug them up and stored them in the basement. I have done this every year for many years now and have a great many tuberous rhizomes which store easily and even if they don't all flower when I plant them out in the spring their foliage is rich and strong and very useful in a shady garden, This year I am going to treat myself to some of the new beautifully coloured ones and grow them in a large container on the patio. Hopefully they too will be with me many years. They are happy in partial shade and like rich damp soil.

  Rachel McLeod has many years of experience in gardening... particularly with herbs. She occasionally lectures on herbs and plants for natural gardens.
She can be reached at 905-659-1001

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