| The Ozarks Home and Garden | ||
| Cover story |
The
Hill Country Gardener Will the real Easter Lily please stand up?… plus Gardening tips For
years I have heard many people call the yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers
that are now in bloom Easter lilies.
But I was raised calling Easter lilies the pure white,
trumpet-shaped flowers that are often used as floral gifts in the spring
and are also used to decorate many churches for Easter Sunday.
Hmmm…. I began to wonder what the true Easter lily is. To
answer the question once and for all I turned first to the
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Their
definition says, “Any of several white cultivated lilies (especially Lilium
longiflorum) that bloom in early spring.”
Since
there was no photo there I went to Wikipedia, the free online
encyclopedia, to see what they said.
For Easter lily they listed Lilium longiflorum as
mentioned in the dictionary and said it is “a
plant native to Easter
lilies are enduring, traditional floral symbols of Easter.
Throughout the ages this gorgeous white lily has represented
purity and grace, and is the hallmark of the greater meaning of Easter.
Millions of homes and churches decorate for spring and Easter
with Lilium longiflorum as the flowers tend to serve as a lovely
reminder of joy, hope, life, and that Easter is a time to rejoice and
celebrate. So
what is the yellow flower often confused with the Easter lily?
It is a Narcissus – common name daffodil.
Wikipedia says, “Narcissus is the botanic name for a
genus of hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs. Daffodil is a common
English name, sometimes used now for all narcissus. They are mostly
native to the Mediterranean region, but a few species are found through
Central Asia to
These spring beauties are Narcissus, or daffodils.
These, though are Easter Lilies.
For
more information on daffodils (Narcissus) check out http://daffodilusa.org.
For information on Easter lilies you can go to Easterlily
Research Foundation online at http://easterlily.org.
Now
for a few gardening tips for April: §
* *Begin
weeding now to avoid more work later.
In the spring when weeds are young and their roots are shallow
they are easier to remove. §
*
When selecting bedding
plants, be sure to choose plants that are healthy.
Look at the roots to make sure they are not overcrowded and
circling the bottom of the container.
Select plants that are not tall and leggy, rather choose ones
that are shorter and have more leaves.
Check for damaged leaves or the presence of insects both of which
are signs of an unhealthy plant. §
*
Annual blooming plants
are normally sold when the plants are not yet in bloom so the plants
will bloom after you get them home and in the ground rather than on the
shelf at the nursery. Choose
plants with buds, not blooms. §
*
When planting new
annuals, perennials, shrubs, or trees take care to leave enough room for
the plants to not become crowded when they mature. §
**Prune
rose bushes before they begin to leaf out and remove mounded earth and
winter protection from around their bases. §
*Prune
spring blooming shrubs such as lilac and forsythia as soon as blooming
ends. Flower buds for next
year set within 10 days of the end of bloom.
If you wait too long to prune, you will be cutting off some of
the flowers that would have bloomed next spring. §
*Rake
lawn to remove dead grass and other debris.
Re-seed bare spots by scratching the soil with the rake first.
Mix a shovel or two with a scoop or two of grass seed and spread
in bare spot. Rake level.
Water. Keep moist
until seed germinates and gets established. §
*When
raking debris from beds take care not to damage tender young sprouts
coming up. Also be careful
not to pull desired plants when weeding.
If in doubt, let it grow a bit more to be sure. §
*Existing
shrubs that need to be transplanted should be moved now before they leaf
out. §
*Apply
dormant oil to fruit trees when buds begin to swell but leaves have not
opened to control over-wintering pests.
Dormant oil may also be applied to magnolias, crabapples,
euonymus, and other shrubs to control scale insects. §
*Trim
back dead foliage from last season’s perennials and ornamental grasses
and toss trimmings into the compost pile. I
know there are lots of other gardening topics you may be interested in
that I have not covered. So
if you have any gardening questions or topic suggestions, email me at delaine@theozarkschronicle.com
or drop me a line at The Ozarks Chronicle, Until next month…. Happy Gardening! ! ! |
