Pining for spring: budding clivia, robin sightings and longer days

After what has been a very long winter of much too much snow and ice and cold, way too many overcast grey skies, fog and rain, now that we are almost closing out the month of March, I feel there is now light at the end of that long grey tunnel. Or at least that is the idea, yet some days it’s questionable. Maybe winter is supposed to be just that, but it has seemed a relentlessly long effort this year.

March turns a corner. Or rather, some days it does, other days not so much, as I write this soon after another significant snowfall in mid-March. The days have been noticeably longer for some time now, and the recent switch over to daylight saving time makes them even longer. It’s all progress, and it’s all good. More snow in the third week of March, not so much.

Late winter brought an interesting mix of weather, including one of lingering fog this month, the snowpack generating sufficient moisture evaporation as the temperature hovered just above zero. It was an almost eerie picture with the sunlight attempting to penetrate the foggy cloud just as the sun was setting on the day. The result was some interesting diffused orangey-pink light, playing especially well with the structure of the bare tree branches. I imagined a prepared set for a theatrical stage creating the most unique lighting and atmosphere, yet as with all things magical, it was fleeting.

Winter gardening has meant ignoring what’s going on outside, and concentrating on indoor plants, where the focus is not only maintaining the survival of my house plant collection through too many months of winter, but enjoying and tending a house full of green planty things. Surrounding myself with plants is where I get to pretend that my indoor world at least is one of green, lush and living things.

Staying on top of plant care over the winter is never an easy task, but the idea for the most part is to simply keep them going – watered, draught-free, warm(ish), bug-free, and essentially alive. Mostly, there were in dormancy and not growing much, although a few still seem to defy this rule. Largely, they don’t need much water, but they do suffer from very low light conditions and low humidity, the furnace running constantly, no friend to plants, even with a humidifier running.

A few plants have struggled this winter in ways I wouldn’t have expected, where my theory is a lack of good light, where the bright sunny days that often accompany the coldest winter days are seemingly absent this winter. I’m wary not to overwater in winter even though the dry air does dry things out quickly, yet its also cold in parts of the house, some rooms obviously chillier than others, and so it becomes a challenge of balancing everything and getting it just right.

Windowsills, which offer by far the best light, especially through the darker days of winter, are mostly out of bounds at this time of year, usually too cold for plants, and draughty in some cases, and so the plants are moved around to more friendly spots, even if that means not necessarily securing the best light conditions.

What’s also been particularly noticeable this winter is the lack of performance of flowering plants. What’s odd is that usually by now plants are flowering, yet there is almost nothing in bloom that should be in bloom. Those usually reliably guaranteed to add a splash of colour in January and February, have done nothing. Maybe it’s the low light levels, maybe the cold, maybe something else entirely, but likely it’s just one of those winters. Mostly, I’m putting it down to a distinct lack of sunshine.

Clivia minata which reliably flower several times a year, often starting in December, usually blooming for weeks on end, have not flowered, and until this week, there was no sign of any emerging flower stalks. But nearing the end of March, I have one budding flower, something to look forward to with its delightful splash of orange.

Orchids are attempting to flower, producing a few buds, yet some haven’t materialized into blooms, preferring instead to simply drop off.

The same goes for amaryllis which can be relied upon for their blooms, if not around Christmas, then certainly in January, yet the two pots weren’t even putting out foliage. However, in the last few weeks, to coincide with longer days I figure, they are finally doing something as leaves are appearing, along with one small fattening flower bud.

Crown of thorns (euphorbia milii) has not stopped flowering in the five years since I got the cutting from a local sale, and while its not as prolific as it is in summer, it is blooming consistently.

And peace lily (spathiphyllum) managed one white bloom (spathe). A large half-dead yellow orchid came into my possession recently, brought at a knock-down price, still retains its few yellow blooms, and is covered in flower buds and now looking remarkably healthy.

In the absence of much indoor colour these past months, cut flowers have been the answer to getting a cheerful blast of colour indoors, filling the gap at least for a few weeks of gloomy winter. Cheerful yellow tulips did the trick, deep pink too, both an instant spirit-lifter in vases places around the house.

And if I needed some sign that spring really is right around the corner, early March brought many robins to the garden, starlings too, happy for the bare ground, although I’m not sure how successful their worm-hunting exercise was in the still-frozen earth.

Their presence, however, was short-lived once the snow and the chilly weather returned as they haven’t been seen since, but we take these moments of spring where we can. Along with some early morning vocal bird song most mornings now (at least on fair weather days), it’s a sure sign spring is eager to soon reveal itself.

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– A gardener all her adult life, and much of her childhood, Sharon Harrison blames her parents for this predicament, both of whom are life-long gardeners and growers of good things, nonetheless grateful for the gardening genes, and the growing passion.

While she has written on countless topics over many years for numerous publications and media, her heart remains rooted in her Prince Edward County garden as a grower of beautiful, strange and sometimes ordinary things, inspired and influenced by nature, wildlife and the fragility of environment.