Northern Shade Gardening

Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgewood Blue' (lilac) June 2009

The lilac and lily of the valley are providing the sweetest scents in the garden this week. This is Syringa vulgaris ‘Wedgewood Blue’, a pretty bluish lavender colour. The buds which haven’t opened yet are the darker purple colour. The lilac fragrance is divine. There is a swirl of perfume that draws me to the flowers. It’s such a delight to wander over to this side of the garden and sniff these beautiful blooms. This is a shorter growing lilac, about 2 m (6 feet), so the blooms are at nose height.

This area around the lilac was a little sunnier a few years ago. I’m thinking of removing one or two maple branches that have grown to shade this area, to let a little more light in here. There aren’t as many flowers on this sun lover, and I’d love to have more of these sweetly scented blooms. You can read more about and view pictures of Syringa vulgaris ‘Wedgewood Blue’ in this followup post.

If you’re viewing on a smaller monitor, you’ll have to click to enlarge the photos, as the picture overflow doesn’t show.

Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) June 2009

This Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) is another of my favourite perfumes in the garden. A large patch of them create a drift of scent around the garden. Since I have a number of groups, the fragrance is never far away right now. When I close my eyes and inhale, it brings back wonderful memories. It’s such a powerful effect, for such a little flower.

When the most perfumed plants start to bloom, I am reminded of how a garden is experienced with so many senses. Viewing the lovely flowers and leaf textures, touching a fuzzy leaf or a soft petal, hearing the rustle of the willow branches, feeling a light breeze on your skin, smelling the fragrant memories, all create an uplifting experience, a warm envelope of peacefulness.

Muscari bulbs (grape hyacinths) add a lovely blue colour to the spring garden. The little bulbs bloom briefly in the late spring, and then they die back for the summer.  Their leaves often appear in the late fall again. These are tiny bulbs that can be planted close together to make a good show. Muscari are hardy in  a cold climate, and usually return each year, with the exception of one mysterious group in my front yard.

Muscari azureum May

Muscari ‘azureum’ flowers are a very pretty shade of  light blue. This is a new clump, planted last fall, and the flowers are a little sparse still. I hope they like this spot, and fill in the group more next year.

Muscari azureum in light

The clusters of Azureum open from the bottom. The top of these blue flowers are still tight, while the bottom are opening with frilly edges.

Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Spike' closeup

In Muscari armeniacum ‘Blue Spike’, the little clusters are extra thick, giving a frilly appearance. The texture of the blue flowers is very appealing. They appear to be twice as large as other Muscari, and show up better, for such a small bulb. The larger flower clusters are more noticeable across the garden.

Muscari armeniacum 'blue spike'

Muscari armeniacum ‘Blue Spike’ starts blooming a little after M. azureum. They bloom for about 3 weeks, and then die back for the summer. These petite bulbs work well next to perennials or shrubs that will fill in, after they fade away for the summer. I have some in between some daylilies and a royal fern that is always very slow to come up. The royal fern is the last plant in my garden to emerge, so the Muscari have lots of room still.

Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Spike' group

In the above photo, you can see how a group of Blue Spike makes a nice show, with the thick blue flowers, and good amount of blooms. This group was planted last fall. For some reason, one clump of Muscari in the front of my house has disappeared this year, after blooming there for the last five years. I’ll replant the Muscari bulbs this fall, probably with Blue Spike.

You can see how they look as a larger river of blue in spring , after I planted more Muscari armeniacum ‘Blue Spike’ in the fall.

I like the light blue of M. azureum, but particularly like the showier flowers of Blue Spike that are double the size of the regular grape hyacinths. Muscari are the last of the little blue bulbs to bloom in my spring garden. They follow after the tiny Scilla and Chionodoxa, and just as the early perennials, with their larger display start to bloom everywhere.

Scilla siberica (squills) blue flowers

Scilla siberica (Siberian squills) bring a true blue colour to the spring garden. Each plant is small, but each year as the patch fills in, the flowers make a better show. These bulbs are hardy, even in a cold climate, and tolerate a fair amount of shade.

Scilla siberica (squills) buds

Here are the buds a few days before the flowers open. These Scilla siberica bulbs are planted in a very shady spot, on the north side of my house. They get maybe half an hour of sunlight a day, but they do fairly well and are filling in. In the above photo they are enjoying their sunbath, while they can.

Scilla siberica (squills) May 24

You can see by the cones and needles on the ground, that these are located next to a spruce and pine. They have done well, despite the competition.

A plant with ‘siberica’ in the name always warms my heart. They probably won’t object too much at being exiled to zone 3. Some of these bulbs are Scilla siberica  ‘Spring Beauty’ and some are an unnamed Scilla siberica. The two groups were next to each other, and now they are one large group. I don’t notice much difference between them now, and I’m not sure which type the new plants in between are.

As with most of the smaller bulbs, the Siberian squill foliage dies back fairly quickly after the blooms fade, so the withering leaves do not look messy for long. The surrounding shrubs and perennials will fill out, and take their place. The Annabelle hydrangea to the side of these bulbs is just starting to leaf out now, so they make a good combination, time sharing the space. In the photo below, the Scilla are decorating the bare Hydrangea stems.

Scilla siberica and hydrangea stems

The Scilla have  a resemblance to Chionodoxa, which I wrote about last year. They bloom at the same time as the Chionodoxa, just after the Puschkinia, another related bulb. I have one group of Scilla planted with Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Alba‘ (white glory of the snow). In the above photo, you can see the stripe down the middle of each petal, like the Puschkinia (striped squills) flowers. The Muscari continue the blue flower show afterwards. They are all members of the ‘cute little blue bulb’ family.

Scilla siberica (squills) group

Scilla siberica are not one of the flashy spring bulb, but they have their own quiet charm. They look dainty in the garden, or in a woodland setting. The sky blue flowers combine beautifully with other spring beauties. They need to be spaced close together to have an impact, but if they like the spot they will fill in.