Signs of Spring

SEASONAL

ALL-STARS

DAFFODIL

TULIP

RHODODENDRON & AZALEA

LILAC

ALLIUM

PEONY

OTHER SEASONAL

HIGHLIGHTS

HELLEBORE

FRITILLARIA

BLUEBELL

COLUMBINE

LILY OF THE VALLEY

HORSE CHESTNUT

IRIS

For any gardener, spring is most likely the favorite time of the year. Certainly that is true for me in my Katonah garden. All the protective coverings from winter have been removed—the burlap wrapping the boxwood, the evergreen boughs blanketing the perennial beds from frost heaving, and the straw placed over outdoor, overwintering planters. The tender green leaves of azaleas and lilacs and the bright green shoots of all the bulbs and perennials emerge rapidly, day to day to day. Every bulb that was planted in the autumn is excitedly awaited, and the new varieties surprise and delight with their distinctive colors, shapes, and sizes.

Each year, I attempt to plant lots of new things and fill in where older specimens have weakened or died. One year, I will plant a bed of a few hundred tulips to try new types and singular offerings from my trusted suppliers, and I will be able to determine which will actually make it into some more permanent location. In the meantime, I have plenty to give as bouquets and to arrange for the house. And no matter how small the garden, there is always room for a few more fritillaria, a dozen or more blue Muscari, and some tender, tiny narcissus tucked into empty spaces among the later-blooming perennials.

I am always surprised at how quickly the gardens turn from large, brownish, sad-looking areas into verdant, lush, even colorful tapestries of healthy, vibrant plants. There is lots to do in the garden in springtime, and it is best to keep a calendar, year to year, of exactly what is necessary to accomplish and what is planned, and which chores are to be done when. The calendar also acts as a record of when things bloom, how certain plants behave from year to year, and of surprises as they occur. I like to know, for example, when to expect the tree peonies, or the approximate dates the herbaceous peony garden blooms so that I can plan a dinner in celebration. My annual peony party has become something of a coveted and highly anticipated invitation among my friends and colleagues. Of course, all gardening zones differ in terms of when plants grow and bloom, and since my gardens are in the Northeast, my focus is there. But a calendar is terribly important to keep blooming, planting, and maintenance timelines in order.

Spring in Katonah begins in early March, when the first tiny bulbs start to bloom and the witch hazels bloom with yellow, red, orange, and rust-colored flowers. By Saint Patrick’s Day, the edible peas are planted, and the gardens have been tilled and additional compost added where necessary. By the end of the month, the quince trees and forsythia will have bloomed and the ferns and hostas and other shade plants will have grown large from their dormancy. The boxwood starts to green up, and the pastures and lawns turn deep emerald.

April is full of activity: The daffodil borders start blooming in earnest, and the flower gardens begin to look like gardens instead of forlorn spaces. All winter rubble, fallen twigs, and forgotten leaves are removed to make way for the new growth.

Late April and early May herald the apple blossoms, the unfurling of all the leaves on the trees, the lilacs starting to bloom, and the irises beginning to open. Wisteria, paulownia, pear, pawpaw, almond, and cherry trees dot the farm with fragrance and delicate blooms. That is, of course, if we do not have a damaging snow or ice storm that renders the fruit trees fruitless or freezes the wisteria blossoms. And the hellebores, in an amazing array of colors—from white to burgundy to almost black—bloom profusely.

May is the most glorious time at the farm. Tree peonies come into their exotic bloom first, followed by herbaceous peonies in their very own bed and in the cutting garden. The tulips start a monthlong growing cycle, planned carefully by planting early, midseason, and late bloomers. The wild orchids, lily of the valley, Epimedium, and all of the other important shade plants bloom and loom large everywhere.

And then, it starts to become warm as the days grow longer. Summer approaches.

LEFT: Bell-shaped fritillaria has a natural checkerboard pattern on petals that nod gracefully on the stem. Kevin emphasizes its shape in this ruby Venetian glass bottleneck vase, which works well with long-stemmed flowers.

RIGHT: Wood hyacinth (commonly known as bluebells) turns a spring wood into a scene from a fairy tale as it creates 
a natural blue carpet. In an arrangement, its unusual color and fluttery blossoms beg to be left alone, without another shade or shape to moderate it. An armload of these woodland flowers looks polished in a footed silver vessel.

Its distinctive petal shape makes columbine (Aquilegia) a star of spring arrangements. Rather than surround the flowers with a ring of green foliage, Kevin instead started with a center of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla), studded the arrangement with leaves of the same plant, and then positioned golden columbine to form a cuff of butterfly-like flowers.

Spring is the season to celebrate flowering branches, like these pink-petaled beauties from the horse chestnut tree. The flower’s golden interior is reflected in the choice of a warm brass bowl for this arrangement, accented with the tree’s own foliage. As the flowers dry and fall, there’s no need to sweep them away; they form a pool of blossoms that 
adds another element to the display.

Here, Kevin combined hellebores in several shades in a large Venetian-glass vase, then added a grace note with a single stem in a smaller glass. A duplicate vessel stands alongside.

Using branches of fragrant magnolia cut at different heights, Kevin created a triangular shape in a silver pitcher, with buds jutting from the top right to give the arrangement pop.

Embrace the movement of flowering forsythia by letting the branches sway in one direction. Here, a sheet of chicken wire acts as a frog, inserted into a wide Korean hibachi fitted with a metal liner. (To do this, cut a circle of chicken wire slightly larger than the diameter of your vessel, fold the edges under, and insert it just inside the top of the container.) Then, the center of the arrangement is built, starting with taller branches bent in the same direction and filling in with shorter stems around the edges. Forsythia has the added advantage of being voluminous on the tree, so there are plenty of branches available for cutting.