Hints of spring, courtesy of a shadowless groundhog, put me in the mind for a look to the future. We’re coming up on breaking the hump of winter, and this is the shortest month of the year to boot. One of the most exciting prospects of a spring to come is the return of Fargesia nitida, a clump-forming bamboo that is as functional and hardy as it is elegant and beautiful. For the past couple of years, this bamboo variety was finishing up its devastating once-a-century blooming wave, which kills off the plants in a widespread massacre. Our two specimens were part of this mass flowering extinction, much to our sadness and regret, but what luck to witness the once-in-a-lifetime flowering of the fountain bamboo. Now that the event is over, it’s once again safe to plant new bamboos, as the next flowering won’t happen for another hundred years.
It’s good to look ahead. While I’ve been trying to live more in the moment, in the winter a light ahead certainly helps, and I do better when planning and looking forward. For the gardening trajectory this year, there will be a lot of editing and paring down, a great deal of cutting back and opening spaces up. Since we’ve moved in we’ve done a lot of filling in, and the plants have taken a liking to where they are and are encroaching on living space. It’s lush and full, but I’ve come to appreciate light and air and space and expanse, something that can only be conjured through some judicious pruning and cutting back. That also means we will be making some room for a few new additions. I expect some losses due to the continuing cycle of heaving we’ve had of late – freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw – which is not good for the gardens. Fortunately, we are looking for extra room for a few Fargesia nitida bamboo plants, as well as some new roses for Andy.
The thoughts of bamboo swaying gently in a summer breeze, and leaning into the perfume of a precious rose, are enough to see us through the difficult days.
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