Beware the siren’s call of spring
Published 1:30 am Saturday, March 24, 2018
By Beth Day Waters
WSU Master Gardener
Remember those mythical sailors lured to their deaths, unable to resist the call of the sirens? These alluring enchantments make their way to garden centers across the nation this time of year.
The siren’s call of spring has the power to ensnare us in her talons, leading us and our plans for a well-planned landscape down the garden path just as surely as those hapless sailors met their watery fate. It’s tempting to focus solely on the riot of spring and summer blooms as the earth explodes with buds, pollen and hay fever. Are you ready to take your allergy meds, resist the lure of “spring pretties” and do an about-face with me?
Though I wouldn’t give up my garden of pretties, I stray from my familiar comfort zone to venture onto a road less traveled to garden with native plants. I’ve experienced an epiphany: I’ve filled my garden with alien ornamentals, some that demand significant resources from me. As unaccustomed as many of them are to our three seasons of rainfall that leave the soil sodden and with an acid pH, they must then deal with our dry summers that leave them with an unquenched thirst.
Worse yet, one of my non-native pretties adjusted to our climate all too well, escaped its allotted space and ran roughshod over native plants on its way down to the creek, requiring additional resources for years till it was eventually eradicated. The siren call of spring had me by the jugular the day I purchased that wicked little pretty.
Any misinformed plant purchases I’ve made demand that these unsustainable resources continue, even as life plays a more sinister hand, dealing out arthritic joints and retirement rations. “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar” is quieted by the recognition that, as my personal resources dwindle, my garden will follow suit if I don’t put a more sustainable plan in place. The list of garden demands is long, and time is short.
Aesthetics has long been the bottom line for all that I do, so why should I care about biodiversity? I’ve come to realize that nature, left undisturbed, offers more breathtaking beauty than any composition I’ve designed in my garden of pretties, and that we need biodiverse plants and insects for our long-term human existence. Without pollinators acting on our behalf, what shall we eat? Sorry, Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake!” is not the right answer. I submit that she suffered from nature-deficit disorder. Look where it got her.
Master Gardeners are creating a native plant area within the demonstration garden at the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds. Through this work, I’ve come to recognize that the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the most beautiful native plants on the planet. I hope work done on behalf of native wildlife and the plants that serve them will turn your gardening world on its ear as it has mine. Check out local groups and websites that sell native plants that no longer grow naturally in disturbed ground that has lost its balance and its way.
The bling of spring relaxes its grip. The intoxicating siren’s call of spring grows faint as a call to action rings out. As natural habitat is diminished to make way for parking lots, pristine lawns and economic development, we can weave beautiful native plants into our garden spaces, each of us making a small but meaningful difference that celebrates all life on earth. Let’s you and I accomplish all we can to welcome nature back home.
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Mark your calendars for the 2018 Grays Harbor Master Gardener Show, May 19-20 at the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds in Elma. Garden and home vendors will fill the entire pavilion. Marianne Binetti will bring her “Container Wars” event to the show’s stage at 1 p.m. that Sunday.
Beth Day Waters retired last year from her position as art instructor at Aberdeen High School. She has been a Master Gardener since 2010. She gardens on the West Satsop.
