AROUND THE GARDEN

The cool days of April have slid seamlessly into May, setting the stage for the best of all possible worlds: masses of flowering trees, shrubs, bulbs and perennials – all at once. So there might be a bright yellow daffodil a little too close to the magenta rhododendron, but much can be forgiven after the white-out of our winter past. And you can always cut the daffodil and bring it indoors.

Many garden writers have tried to tell us what will bloom when, but I have never found anything better than keeping a garden journal. Digital photography, of course, makes a painless substitute – those date-stamped pictures are wonderful, especially if you are religious about saving them to appropriate folders.

The slope of your property, the amount of sun, even those microclimates in front of a brick wall or in the lee of your garage – all can make several days’ difference in what will bloom when. For at least fifteen years, I’ve been waiting for a redbud and a saucer magnolia to pop out when the Japanese red maple is in leaf. This year was one of the winners – perhaps because no downpours knocked the petals off the magnolia.

Mothers’ Day when I was a child meant walking three blocks to an empty lot to pick violets and lily-of-the-valley for a free bouquet. In a banner year, there were lilacs, too. This year, the lily-of-the-valley is holding back its tiny scented chandeliers, but the lilacs more than make up for them.

Another heady fragrance comes from the Korean-spice viburnum. A beautiful, vigorous shrub, this viburnum casts a wide net and is usually covered in drunken bumblebees. Not all viburnums are as floriferous or as fragrant, (the double-file viburnum may out-do it, but they don’t bloom simultaneously), but they all offer moderate growth and nutritious berries beloved of native birds and butterflies.

Sadly, there is a bit of trouble in paradise: the rampant invasive, garlic mustard, is also in bloom. On the bright side, its distinctive white flowers make it easy to spot, and the roots part easily from the soil. Amazingly, there’s even better news about this garden thug – nutritionist Dr. John Kallas says it has the highest levels of nutrients of any leafy green ever analyzed.

Stay tuned for more – much more – on invasives in weeks to come.