Gardening for Health

Look Who’s Blooming

By Maria Price

Spring has sprung everywhere. Most people’s yards already have a few blooming daffodils and maybe some forsythia. I like to push the envelope to have the earliest blooming plants in the spring and the latest blooming plants in the fall. This way, winter doesn’t seem to be so long.

A few hardy herbs are among the first plants to emerge in early spring. This time of year you can harvest chervil, parsley, rosemary and chives. If you chop this blend very fine, it’s great to sprinkle on eggs, omelets, or salad.

Chervil is a shade-loving hardy annual with a delicate anise parsley flavor. It re-seeds itself in the fall and is one of the first to come up in the spring. 

Parsley is a biennial and can survive the winter. When we have a harsh winter like this year, the above ground foliage might die back, but it will emerge with the first mild days. You can harvest its leaves until midsummer, then it will flower and go to seed. It’s best to treat parsley like an annual and plant it every year so that you don’t run out mid-season. 

The hardiest varieties of rosemary are ARP and Gorizia and can survive a winter like the one we just had. 

Onion chives are also early to come up. It’s great to be able to pick some fresh chives to sprinkle on sour cream and potatoes. 

Many different types of bulbs are popping up everywhere. Daffodils can be found in all stages of spring. They are not eaten by voles like tulips and naturalize beautifully. One of the first bulbs to flower is the tete-a-tete, a miniature yellow daffodil. They only grow about 6 inches tall and are great tucked into the edges of stepping stones or rock edges. 

Another early bulb to surface is snowdrop, which usually starts making itself evident around the end of February. Snowdrops are not bothered by snow or ice. They naturalize easily and can be dug up after flowering and replanted to other parts of your garden. There are double-flowering varieties and they have a wonderful sweet scent. 

You may see purple, pink, or yellow crocus popping up now. Hellebores start blooming in February and can be found in many colors from white to pink and burgundy. They are deer resistant since they are toxic. 

As far as early bushes, camellias are the queens of early spring, in shades from white to pink to red. Another early spring bloomer is the old-fashioned spiraea ‘Bridal Wreath’ with small clusters of bright white flowers. 

What’s blooming in your early spring garden?