-  Chinese Proverb 

 

When we are kids, little things can become big things. Big, life-shaping things. It's a big deal to hold a frog, to stand waist-deep in a field of tulips, to find a bird's nest or pet a baby animal...or to plant our first tree. Simple moments like these are often imprinted in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.

 

Every April, as the sweet fragrances of viburnum blossoms and fresh cut grass fill the air, my thoughts drift back to Arbor Day ceremonies at my elementary school. Every year, my classmates and I would line up like little ducklings and follow our teachers across the big green field to the edge of the schoolyard.

 

Our principal would kick off the ceremony by telling us how Arbor Day was started on April 10, 1872, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, by a man named Julius Sterling Morton. It all sounded like a bunch of dates and names, until he told us how on that first Arbor Day, one million trees were planted. Jeepers! One million trees! That certainly got our attention.

 

Then he would invite us forward to help him plant a little tree. It was thrilling. Some of us were practically down in the hole, making sure it was perfect. Once the tree was planted, the principal brushed the dirt from his hands and waited for us to quiet down. With just the sound of birdsong in the air, he gave a simple blessing for the tree, and  proclaimed us each to be a 'Steward of the Earth.' Gulp. A Steward of the Earth. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant but it sounded like the most important job I'd ever had in all my seven years.

 

After that, we each received our very own little seedling tree to plant at home. How exhilarating - first helping to plant the tree, and then being entrusted with a real tree of my own! I remember one year I was wearing my Blue Bird uniform on Arbor Day. Stoically stepping up to receive my little tree, I felt even more ceremonial than usual because I was in uniform. I was not only a Blue Bird - I was a Steward of the Earth. Those were responsibilities not to be taken lightly.

 

And here I am, many Aprils later, thinking about all the trees my classmates and I planted during those grade school years. How many trees have been planted because of that one principal and those teachers? How many kids have been inspired by that same experience, not just at my school but around the world?

 

We hope the trees we planted are doing well, but what about us?  We've grown up too, but have we served honorably as Stewards of the Earth? I'm sure those Arbor Days of my youth shaped the big part of me that loves to plant things and help things grow, but what have I done to hand that love down to the next generation?

 

Arbor Day is coming up on April 26, and I've decided that this is the year I will go back to my roots, wake up my inner Blue Bird, gather up the kids in my life, and start planting trees again. It's such a simple thing, but it really is a big deal. Even now.

 

Happy April, everyone!

 

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I love them all but especially 'King Edward VII' because it is one of the first plants to bloom in the spring. Flowering currants are easy to grow, the blossoms come in many colors (pink, white, red), many are fragrant, the foliage has great fall color, and they attract hummingbirds.

 

Viburnum 'Dawn'

Viburnum:

If we have a warmer-than-usual winter, viburnum 'Dawn' will bloom with fragrant pink flowers from fall through spring. For more great fragrance, Viburnum carlesii (Korean Spice Viburnum) and Viburnum x burkwoodii (commonly called Burkwood viburnum) are also fabulous.

 

 

Osmanthus: This is an amazing flowering shrub with great fragrance. Osmanthus x burkwoodii and Osmanthus delavayi are both wonderful April bloomers. They are easy to grow, do well in sun to part-shade, and can serve as a beautiful fragrant hedge - but plan ahead and be patient because they are slow-growing.

Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'

 

Bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis):

I love bleeding hearts for their heart-shaped flowers (in combinations of red, pink and white). The foliage is great too, and ranges from deep green to yellow-green. The critters (including deer) leave them alone. They are dependable, low maintenance, and brighten dark corners (they grow best in part-sun or shade). Bleeding hearts are especially beautiful in bouquets and work great as pressed flowers.

 

 

Primroses: I love them all - the fancy double primroses and the more-common garden primroses. These early bloomers come in an amazing variety of colors (blue, purple, pink, orange, white, yellow) and the deer, slugs, snails, and bunnies all ignore them (at least most of the time!). Best of all, they are a great investment.  Sometimes sold as annuals, they are really perennials.  

 

 

Grevillea: What a great plant! They have exotic orange-red flowers and the hummingbirds love them (the bees do too). If you haven't tried Grevillea, now is a good time to give it a try!

 

Rhododendron Loderi 'King George'

 

Rhododendrons:   

The Nursery just received its biggest shipment of the year so the selection is great! I am especially fond of the Loderi group, such as Loderi 'King George', with their tall, tree-like shape and amazing fragrance. The blooms are white to light pink and the fragrance is intoxicating! You have to wait five to six years for the first blooms but it's well worth it.

 

 

Other fragrant rhody choices include Polar Bear, decorum,

Azalea 'Gibraltar'

fortunei, glanduliferum, Lodauric Iceberg, and auriculatum.

 

 

Deciduous Azaleas:   

I'm a big fan of deciduous azaleas but especially 'Gibraltar' for its gaudy orange color and great fragrance. What can I say - it just makes me happy! On top of that, it's hardy and mildew-resistant.

 

 

 

Photo from The Co-operative Plan-Bee (click the photo to learn more)

'Save the Bees' - products and gardening practices:

There are flower seed mixes and products like 'Insectary and Soil Builder Mix' (from Uprising Seeds) that will provide flowering habitat and forage for bees, pollinators, and beneficial insects. Planting bee-friendly plants and a small patch of wildflowers that bees will like - such as zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers - and using our great line of organic products are ways we can help our ailing bee population.    

 

Here are two excellent articles about bees. These articles were written by Valerie Jean Rose and were posted on the WSU Skagit County Extension Master Gardeners website.   

 

Bee Aware - Part 1

Bee Aware - Part 2 

 

 

And last but not least...here are a few of Heidi's favorite trees:

 

Katsura: 

Great coppery-maroon new growth changes to green and it has such a lovely leaf!  

 

Acer Griseum: 

It has amazing peeling bark that is beautiful all winter and a smaller maple leaf that provides lovely, dependable fall color.

Magnolia sieboldii

 

Magnolias: 

These April blooming trees are gorgeous!  I especially love 'Stellata' (also known as star magnolia) for its fragrance and delicate star-shaped flowers. It starts blooming after others have finished.  

 

'Sieboldii' is also amazing with its white flowers with rose-red stamens and its wonderful fragrance. Plant at the top of stairs or the top of a wall so you can see the downward-nodding flowers from below. Stunning!

 

Saturday, April 6 

1 - 2:30 pm (reservations required - $40 class fee)

6 - 7 pm (reservations required - $5 class fee)

6 - 7 pm  (reservations required - $5 class fee)

6 - 7 pm (reservations required - $5 class fee)

6 - 7 pm  (reservations required - $5 class fee)