GROUND COVERS

The good thing about ground covers is that they cover the ground. The bad thing about ground covers is that they cover the ground. Ground covers can be real thugs, climbing over barriers, working their way outside their boundaries into places I don't want them to go. Most ground covers are very attractive...perfect examples of "looks can be deceiving".

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever purchased a ground cover. They have been shared by well meaning friends. I'm sure I was very appreciative (at first). Okay, I might be a little negative right now, I spent a couple of hours today digging out an eight by ten plot of Lamium (dead nettle). Guess what, one of my neighbors has volunteered to take all the Lamium I dig out. I did warn him. This Lamium has very pretty variegated leaves and is especially pretty when it blooms in early spring.

My favorite ground cover, however, is Sweet Woodruff with it's dainty white spring flowers. It's perfect for filling shady spots but it's easy to pull out if I want to plant something else in it's place. Also, it's an herb. It was used in days of old to make a spring tonic. Lily of the Valley is another shade loving ground cover. It's in bloom right now and the flowers smell wonderful. Sun loving Sedum is about to bloom. Purple leaf Ajuga will bloom soon with a flower that is a beautiful shade of purple. Vinca has been blooming off and on since April. Hmm, maybe it's the flowers that make me tolerant of all those thuggish ground covers.

TOO MUCH TOO FAST

Don't get me wrong, I love this weather. Who wouldn't love a nearly eighty degree day in April in Michigan! But, remember what spring is all about. It's about a slow change. Plants slowly emerging from the soil, trees slowly leafing out, the temperature slowly rising from freezing to pleasantly comfortable. When we get too warm too fast all of nature seems to be on the fast track. A garden bed that is flat and brown in the morning is covered with three inch shoots by afternoon. The bare branches of the early blooming shrubs magically sprout flowers overnight. I want to shout, "slow down". I've been waiting five freezing, icy, dreary, snowy months for spring and I want to see and enjoy every single little change. I want the forsythia to take a few days to fully blossom. I want the crocuses to have their chance to shine before hyacinths and tulips overshadow them. Would it be too much to ask the lily of the valley and hosta to show restraint. Please stay put at least until I've raked away your dead leaves from last fall. Most of all I want the garden centers to slow down, stop teasing me with those frost susceptible pretties that should not be planted til Memorial Day.