April Showers, May Flowers
April Showers bring May flowers, and the Robins have returned to building their nest. The daffodils and tulips are blooming and though it has been a long winter, it is now time to turn those garden up. April is one of the busiest months, but to me it is the most enjoyable. I have always liked to start the season with planting a few seeds; it’s always great to watch something grow from a seed. I like to plant morning glories along the fence or on the mail box . Heavenly blues are my favorite. I plant my container pots with dahlia, cannas bulbs or my favorite elephant ears. If you are doing a vegetable garden, spinach or early radishes are always good earlier spring crops.
The weather in Chicago is still too unpredictable so I keep the pots in a covered area, like the garage. On warm days I set them outside, water them and let them soak up the warm rays of the sun. I am enjoying the bulbs that I planted in the fall that are now blooming. I like to find a crabapple or a plum or some other type of flowering tree, cut a few branches off, bring them into my home and put them in a big vase, just so I can have a little bit of spring in the house.
Now is the time to prepare the soil with diazinon, a weed and pest killer (Preen is very good). ALWAYS Follow the instruction. If it kills bugs and weeds, it could hurt you too. If you’re planting a vegetable garden, you may need to add some nutrients to your soil, such as lime. You can get a soil test kit at any local garden center and check your Ph levels. This will give you a better idea of what you may need to add to your soil. Usually every kit comes with a little booklet on what your soil may need depending on the Ph level. If you have trouble figuring it out, most garden centers will help you if you bring in a sample of soil.
Soil is the most important thing. If you read from Mark chapter 4, you will understand that if you take the same seed and plant it in the wrong soil you will receive nothing from it. Here’s an example: if you plant a cactus in rich black dirt, the cactus will grow, but it mill never produce seed. It needs sandy soil. I could give many more examples, but the best thing to remember is to read the package. For the most part plants that you purchase at your local garden center are those that will grow in your area.
The next thing to determine is deciding the type of plants that you want. Do you want annuals or pennials or tree or bushes? I will never forget this one lady who I was helping with her yard. She was so upset because she spent so much time and money on her garden and then the next year nothing came back . When I asked her what she had planted, everything she had planted was an annual. She thought that annual meant the flowers would come back year after year, and of course, she was mistaken. An annual is a plant that is started from a seed, that year; it will grow to full maturity, produce seed and will die with the frost. Annuals give flowers all summer long.
Perennials, of course, start out as seed, but mature at a slower rate. They bloom once in a season and produce seed. Perennials come back year after year and each year they get fuller and fuller. For example, tulips bloom in the spring, lilies in summer and mums in the fall. These are perennials. They have a season to bloom. Annuals, on the other hand, bloom from the time you plant them until frost and don’t come back the next year. Petunias and impatiens are annuals.
Most tree and bushes are perennials, but they are really in a class by themselves. There are bushes like a sprida that will bloom over and over if you keep trimming it. Flowering plants and bushes need a little more care for them than annuals. For example, roses need pruning and a little more TLC at times. In the long run if you stay with the flowers and plants that are grown for your region, you will be quite successful with your gardening with very little disappointment.
Planting time...yes or no? Now that you have prepared your soil and chosen the plants that you desire, all that is left to do is roll up those sleeves and put on those gloves and get down on your knees and start digging. Right? No! Remember it is only April, and even though it seems nice enough, our frost date is May 15. So let patience have its perfect work. Go ahead and purchase those hanging baskets, and pot up those container boxes and planters, because if we get a cold snap, you can cover them easily. Look for those bargains on tools and those cute little novelties that you put in the garden. Wash off the lawn furniture and replace the seed in the bird feeders. Have the lawn mower tuned up and rake up the sticks and leaves from last fall. Listen to the robin’s song and watch for the first bee. Take in the first rain shower and smell the sweet smell of spring. You may even get a glimpse of a rainbow, Gods sign of his promise. Before you know it, those seeds will start to sprout and those April showers will bring May flowers.
Until next time, go singing in the rain.
Monica Dunlap
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