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Winter is finally behind us, the soil is warming up, and my fellow Cottage Gardeners and I are knee-deep in preparations for our biggest event of the year: the annual plant sale on May 9, 8 a.m.-noon.
Nothing says spring quite like the promise of fresh plants, friendly faces and a car full of treasures — and this year the Cottage Gardeners have the perfect spot for it all. We are thrilled to be in a new location, the Marblehead VFW, 321 West Shore Drive. Plenty of parking means more plants in your car.
Local garden clubs’ plant sales are amazing for many reasons: These plants grown in our local soil are well adapted to your soil at home. The perennials offered are specifically intended for our growing zone and climate conditions and are the mainstay at our sales. The heirloom plants offered have been grown in members’ gardens for generations, some handed down from our mothers, and in your garden they will start your traditions.
We always offer loads of shade plants like my woodruff and hostas in much larger sizes. There are thoughtful gift ideas for Mother’s Day at our plant sale at reasonable prices. Speaking of prices, the prices at the Cottage Gardeners of Swampscott and Marblehead oftentimes cannot be beat. The proceeds of the sales go to a good cause, beautification of our town and education and scholarships. Cottage Gardeners are looking at a new project in Swampscott this year.
Going to our Cottage Gardeners plant sale is fun! In four short hours, you will be amongst the most knowledgeable group of gardeners ready to answer your questions. The Cottage Gardeners are looking for new members. Find our friendly membership specialist, Jocelyne Poisson, at the sale and ask her all about joining.
My sources tell me that our plant list at the Cottage Gardeners Sale is shaping up and we will be offering the following: anemones, astilbes, chrysanthemums, coreopsis, dahlia tubers, evening primrose, ferns, foam flower, ginger, goatsbeard, hostas, herbs, hellebores, lady’s mantle, lavender, Montauk daisies, sedum, Shasta daisies, speedwell, woodruff, yarrow, rosa rugosa and various ground covers.
There will be more added to this list. There will be a curated garden treasure table to discover gently used pots, tools, hoses and decor for your garden. If you’re looking for healthy, locally grown perennials that actually thrive in our Marblehead and Swampscott gardens, mark your calendar for May 9 — the Cottage Gardeners plant sale is back, and it’s in a brand-new, super-convenient location.
Pruning roses
It is time to prune roses in Marblehead. For shrub roses, take a look at the entire plant. Clear away the mulch and look for canes with damage, dead wood or disease. I have loads of rabbit chew marks about 2 feet high on my canes. I also have some dead wood. I do not see any disease yet, that shows up later.
The object of pruning now is to remove the damaged, dead and diseased canes. This allows the plant to have a fresh, healthy start to this growing season. Also, by pruning, you are encouraging it to grow. Pruning a rose cane sends a signal to the plant to send energy to the buds and get started. In lots of cases, this has already happened. But you will end up with twiggy growth and smaller flowers if you do not prune to a thicker cane.
Finally, when you prune a rose bush, you are giving the shrub some shape and allowing for light to reach all the canes. I go cane by cane. I also remove any growth that is less than pencil thick. The twiggy growth gets pruned completely off. I am brutal. If a cane just looks strange, I may cut a bit off to see what is under there. If the insides are not white or green, I am suspicious and cut further down until I come to healthy growth. I also remove canes that are too close and touching. I always cut at an angle and just 1/4 inch or less above new growth of a swelled leaf bud.
I made a video to help show you: https://youtu.be/K9GqQm8p_7M
Gardening tasks for this week
Now is a good time to transplant or divide perennials. I am digging up and moving my snow drops to new locations for next year. Water well after each relocation.
It is also a good time to buy a rose bush and plant it. They may not look like much at the garden center now, but look at the label and do your research and find one you like and in June it will be blooming. I prefer ones that have fragrance and have the old-fashioned English, lush, romantic, deep-cupped roses that look like a chalice. I am a devoted David Austin rose fan. Roses need four to six hours of sunlight, six is best, but we all stretch it a little on our square, suburban lots. The majority of mine face east, they love the morning sun.
If you have the indoor seed setup going on in your house, now is the time to start cosmos and zinnias! That way they will be ready for outdoor transplanting in late May.
I cleaned and turned on my outdoor fountain that I made myself a few years ago. I just love the sound of trickling water in the garden.
Start your dahlias once you see a pink knubby sprout called a chit or an eye. I am no expert, but I know enough that when I see this tiny growth, it is time to place them horizontally in soil with this nobbly or is it knobbly bit facing up. I don’t know what it is called, I just know it when I see it.
Mulch, start researching how much you need and where you will buy it. I love mulch. I like the look. My absolute favorite type of mulch is pine bark chips or nuggets. I buy the mini nuggets if I can find them. They sell out every year. They are super light and easy to handle and spread. I use about eight 2-cubic-foot bags.
My lot is a typical size, 6,000-9,000 square feet. These nuggets last about two to three years and help with weed suppression and help keep moisture in the beds. I called around and drove around, and the best price now, $11.97, for 2-cubic-foot bags of the nuggets are at the Marblehead Garden Center. I was delighted to see they have pallets full of these nuggets for the best price. Agway in Danvers was already out.
Don’t miss Marblehead’s best plant sale: May 9, 8 a.m.-noon at the VFW. Score locally grown, zone-perfect perennials, dahlias, hostas and more at unbeatable prices. Fill your car, support town beautification and get expert tips. See you there and make sure to say hi!
