GARDENING : Color Can Pull Plants Out of Cool-Weather Slump
The green leaves of ranunculus, anemones and other fall-planted bulbs promise vibrant spring colors. But for the next month or so until their flowers form, the February garden can seem dull and listless.
Now’s the time for an instant splash of corrective color.
Cool-weather plants can still be placed in those bare garden spots. After all, this is one of the few regions in the nation where it’s possible to enjoy a garden in what is technically winter. Assuming our seasonal rains come without making the soil too soggy to plant anything, the determined gardener can choose from a good selection of flowering annuals and color foliage plants to brighten both sun and shady locations.
The key to successful spot coloring is to select plants in four-inch containers or larger, rather than the more economical ponypaks or flats, because there isn’t enough time for younger plants to grow and then flower.
Since the winter sun isn’t as harsh now as it will be in months to come, and the sun pattern changes in the winter months, many gardens temporarily have shady locations that will suit shade-loving plants like primroses and cyclamen. Although primroses are really perennials, here they’re treated as annuals and replaced with sun plants in late spring.
Phil Miller of Rogers Gardens in Corona del Mar is especially partial to some new primula (primrose) hybrids.
“The Julian strain is especially floriferous and very lovely,” he said.
Although primroses don’t like the hot dry climate of Southern California, they will put on a spectacular show for us when they are in shady, moist spots. The Julian primrose is a small plant, with colors ranging from white, pink and blue to hot orange and yellow. A more delicate variety is P. Malacoides, known as Fairy Primrose, which produces lacy whorls of flower clusters in pastel colors. P. Obconica has longer stems with white, pink, lavender or reddish purple flowers.
Pansies and violas are among the most popular plants for winter color. The most economical method of adding them to a landscape is buying them by the flat, or at least in ponypaks. But it’s too late for that fiscal strategy now. Instead, enjoy their funny faces in flower and select from the many varieties and colors still being stocked by local nurseries and garden centers. New this year is the Bingo series, with flower heads that stand erect instead of pointing to the ground.
V. tricolor, better known as Johnny-Jump-Up, look like miniature pansies with their purple and yellow flowers. The small plants, growing only up to 12 inches, have the added benefit of freely self-seeding, so they quickly spread throughout the garden bed.
A plant that is sometimes overlooked but makes a cheerful addition to the winter garden is Bellis perennis, better known as English Daisy. This, too, is a perennial in cooler climates, and here is usually grown as annuals.
If they seem somewhat familiar, it’s because they’re the little daisies frequently found growing in lawns. Hybridizers have transformed them into plump plants with flower colors in shades of pink, rose, red or white. They make very effective edging or bedding plants. Since they originated as meadow plants, they need rich soil and ample water, usually not a problem at this time of year.
Another lovely winter annual is Nemesia strumosa (commonly called Toad Flax), a fairly compact plant that grows up to 18 inches. Flowers are formed on three- to four-inch spikes, in almost every color choice except green. Pinch the stems back to make the plants bushier. They can also be grown in containers or hanging baskets.
If you’ve missed out on including ranunculus when the corms filled the nursery shelves last fall, you can still add them to your garden. By late February or early March, ranunculus plants should be widely available at local nurseries.
Foliage plants can also add dramatic hues. Especially noteworthy are the different varieties of ornamental kale. The leaves, which can be frilly or crinkly, depending on the variety, are richly vibrant in hues of reddish purple, pink or white.
“Ornamental kale makes a nice, colorful addition to gardens,” said Robert Callaham, assistant manager of M&M; Nursery in Anaheim.
By February, ornamental kale plants have already formed their rosettes, those swirling leaf patterns, so they can be dropped into a bare spot for interesting form as well as color. The colors can intensify as cool weather continues.
If nature cooperates and provides ample rainfall, there’s little to do for these plants but fertilize with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer every two weeks, and enjoy the flowers.
Snail sand slugs can attack them, but a saucer or two of beer will attract their attention more, and they’ll drown in contentment instead of devouring your garden.
Cool-Weather Hues
Some plants good for adding instant winter color to a garden:
* Alyssum, candytuft, calendula, cyclamen, English daisies, nasturtiums, nemesia, ornamental kale, pansies, primrose, snapdragons, violas.
