Seeking Solace This Spring
Carex plantaginea has decided it’s spring.
In our house we’re attempting to adapt to our new reality of a pandemic. I’m filling my Instagram feed with flowers as a balm for the stress and anxiety of the huge uncertainties we’re facing.
I’m attempting to take this as an opportunity to do some thorough observation in the yard as a way to savor the small wonders Mother Nature provides. The tail end of March in Chicagoland means the weather can shift on a dime from 60 and sunny to freezing and snow. The soil temperature has warmed enough that plants are starting to break dormancy and some insects are out and about. The migrating birds are starting to pop up. Our robin couple is back to stake out the lilac tree with its eventual view of the fountain. Mourning doves coo in the morning and tempt us to sleep in. Blackbirds are calling in the pond down the block. Sandhill cranes are flying north and calling cheerfully in the wind. I have cracked a window open just for birdsong. It is a good reminder that life will go on, even if we are paused.
My ephemeral wildflowers are starting to wake up now that the snowdrops are fading and the early crocus are scattered like forgotten fairy teacups in the lawn. The minor bulbs are zipping onto the scene with each warm sunny day. My favorite Iris reticulata just bloomed this week, which was an added delight because I’d forgotten I’d planted them. It happens. I tend to chuck bulbs in the ground in a fit of productivity in autumn and promptly forget where they are. That’s OK. More spring surprises!
One native plant that’s just about to bloom now is Carex or sedge. These grassy gems can be wonderful workhorse plants for shady sites of the garden. I’m letting my Penn sedge (Carex pensylvanica) slowly colonize under the beech tree. This little lovey in the photo is seersucker or plantain sedge (Carex plantaginea). I love its wide, flat leaves that pucker a bit. It is under the lilac and doing pretty well. I like it with my wild ginger to offset their deep green velvet leaves. It is semi-evergreen and held its leaves most of the winter to the delight of the bunnies. These wee new flowers are only an inch tall. This means getting down on one’s hands and knees and poking about. Why not go grubbing about the yard when you can be rewarded by little treasures like these?