The Wonders of Spring and of our Flowering World
As we unpack the nursery for the 2026 season we are excited to be back to nurturing and selling plants, helping populate our world with flowers to please our senses and keep the birds and the pollinators healthy. My reading this winter has helped me appreciate how flowering plants and insect co-evolved rather late in the life of earth. First, it was ferns, cycads, and evergreens that ruled the plant world for many millions of years and did a great job populating the planet early on. They didn’t need insects because they procreated by wind pollination to spread their pollen to other plants. This was a bit risky but they produced copious quantities of pollen with hopes it would find the opposite sex to mingle with.
Once flowering plants exploded on the earth, insects were used as vectors to move pollen from plant to plant. This was the new way to fertilize, using insects. Insects, being mobile, were able to cross pollinate many plants of the same Genus continuing the ever growing diversity of life, not having the throw their pollen to the wind and hope. These new plants – angiosperm – exploded on the evolutionary scene because of their collaboration success using insects. And coming back to the 21 century we are still enjoying the plant/pollinator collaboration.
Tom, Earl and I, as we unpack the plants notice some plants still with tight buds and others exploding to get an early start. These are the plants that give the early emerging insects food to help pollinate other plants. As we have been pulling plants from their winter slumber to repopulate our empty retail space we have been putting early to bloom plants in our display garden; Viburnum farreri 'Nanum', also known as Dwarf Fragrant Viburnum, is one we set in the display garden. The earliest blooming Viburnum stays small at 4’ with a very fragrant flower and deep burgundy fall leaf color; also, Pussy Willow, bursting with flowers now, a native and great spring pollinator harboring hundreds of pollinators; of course, Forsythia…doesn’t help pollinate but gives us hope of the season to come. Fothergilla is another plant we set in the display garden because of its early bloom time and they are in full bud now. It’s a lovely plant, small stature, great spring flower, somewhat deer proof, likes shade with a beautiful autumn leaf color. It’s native to the southeastern states but I had this plant in my garden for many years with no problems with winter kill. And we can’t forget the lovely flower of the serviceberry, blossoming about the same time as Forsythia, however, a native that the early pollinators love and with a fruit that ripens in June to feed our wildlife.
I love getting back to work, touching and seeing the plants again. Each with their unique habits, each with a gift. Each year I wonder if I’ll ever lose this joy but what a silly thought. I think I will go to my grave loving each season and each plant that helps me appreciate what these plants bring to my life and to share with all that visit the nursery.
