The garden, for the most part, is a guilt-free zone, with no hint of accusation or reproach — except for Red Charm. The saga of its slow decline could well be titled “Guilt by Peony.”
Red Charm was one of the first perennials to be settled into the garden. I chose for it a place in a small oval bed beside the garden shed, next to an immense, immoveable boulder by the shed door. For years it yielded its beautiful spring and early summer flowers.
Red Charm peony is a neat plant, about 75 cm high with a spread of around one metre. The flowers, held on thick, strong stems, are dark red, formed in a fluffy, rounded mound of small, tightly packed petals surrounded by a circle of larger, single, “guard” petals.
More than once I’ve read this recommendation: If there is space in a garden for only one peony, plant Red Charm. A book I have on peonies comments, “Every gardener should have this plant.”
As the years passed, forest trees in and alongside the garden grew into giants, their thirsty roots infiltrating the soil. Red Charm’s flowering began to diminish, then stopped altogether as the plant became increasingly shrunken.
Last autumn, as I began planning for a revision of some of the more dishevelled parts of the garden, I cleaned out a long, south-facing edge of a woodland garden, removed as much tree root growth as I could, and plumped the soil generously with compost.
As I thought about what to plant along that edge, Red Charm came to mind. Perhaps I could restore it to lusty life in a new site. I carefully dug up the plant, then in its dying down stage, and was surprised to find four substantial segments of tuberous root, each with “eyes” that would be the source of new shoots in the spring.
I spaced the tuberous roots along the edge, marking each planting site carefully. As spring draws nearer, I’ll be visiting the site often, in eager anticipation of the first pink shoots nudging through the soil surface.
Mystery of the travelling plants. Most gardens host plants that “drop in” uninvited, either by running underground roots, like the adventurous Matilija poppy (Romney coulteri) or, more commonly, from seeds wafted in on winds or dropped by passing birds. Every year I have a regular roster of self-sown plants — peony-flowered poppies, larkspur, bronze-leaved sedge, peach-leaved bellflower, and Nicandra (shoo-fly plant).
I keep a selection of them all, where they plant themselves in convenient places. It is interesting to see the variations they present from year to year. Nicandra plants, for example, have grown into small trees in recent years.
The one that puzzles me is a tiny hardy geranium with greenish-brown leaves and white flowers. Planted years ago, it seemed to have disappeared. Then it began to pop up in odd places — once in the gravel by a water tap, more recently between larger perennials in a bed next to the greenhouse. Gerenium sessiliflorum ‘Nigricans’ (dwarf black cranesbill) is its name. I wonder where it will turn up this year.
GARDEN EVENTS
Hardy plant photo show. The Hardy Plant Group of the Victoria Horticultural Society will feature images of members’ gardens at the meeting on Sunday, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Horticulture Centre of the 91原创, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich. Photographer John Scratchley will present a short tutorial on how to take the best possible photos. All are welcome. Visitor drop-in fee $5.
Qualicum meeting. The Qualicum Beach Garden Club will meet on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the QB Civic Centre, 747 Jones St. Master Gardener Dixie Deans will explore the topic “First the Earth.” For success in the garden, first look after the earth.
Orchid show. The Central 91原创 Island Orchid Society will be celebrating their 50th anniversary with an Orchid Show and Sale in the rotunda of Nanaimo North Town Centre, 4750 Rutherford Rd. in Nanaimo, on Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entry is free. B.C. vendors will have plants for sale. Potting workshops (by donation) will be offered on Saturday and Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m. .
