Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MArCH 28, 2025 Saugus Gardens in the Spring By Laura Eisener ‘ Iron Cross’ wood sorrel (Oxalis tetraphylla ‘Iron Cross’) is one of the plants known as “Good Luck Plant” because its leaf arrangement looks like a four-leaf clover, although it is not actually related to clover. It is occasionally called pink flowering false shamrock or good luck shamrock. This species is native to Mexico. In the wild, most plants in this species have plain green leaflets, but this variety introduced in the late 19th century has maroon markings at the base of each heart-shaped leaflet, leading to the distinctive pattern. The five-petalled flower is very bright pink, and they may continue blooming for much of the summer. They can be planted outside as an annual here as they are hardy only to zone 7, or they can be brought back indoors for the winter. The name of this maroon-marked variety derived from a cross shape originating in Prussia during the Middle Ages symbolizing bravery, loyalty and valor. The species epithet “tetraphylla” means “four leafed.” Most species of wood sorrel have three leaflets. Most wood sorrels are poisonous to dogs, cats and horses if eaten so should be kept out of reach if used as a house plant. We usually consider Crocus “Iron Cross” wood sorrel, which is sometimes called “Good Luck Plant,” is one of the indoor plants sometimes used to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) (Crocus spp.) as one of the earliest harbingers of spring. While most years the snowdrop (Galanthus spp.) comes first, because of the lingering snow cover this year pushing the snowdrop blooms a little later, early crocus varieties are blooming concurrently with the snowdrops. The early spring blooming ‘Lilac Beauty’ crocus (Crocus tommasinianus ‘Lilac Beauty’) is often considered somewhat more squirrel resistant than most other spring crocus species. Known as “Tommies,” as a shortened version of their species epithet, these often bloom a couple of weeks before the larger Dutch hybrids and today are blooming along with the snowdrops in different parts of my garden. CroTulip, daffodil, grape hyacinth and crocus forced into early bloom indoors bring color to the front steps of an impatient gardener in Lynnhurst. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) cuses and snowdrops usually close their petals at night and in rainy, snowy or even just cloudy weather to protect the more delicate flower parts. Tulips and crocus are often eaten by rabbits, squirrels and some other small rodents, but snowdrops, Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica), grape hyacinths (Muscari spp.), oriental hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientale), allium (Allium spp.) and daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are not very appealing to these animals. If you have been observing shrubs and trees through the winter, the leaf and flower buds of many species are expanding as the weather warms and days grow longer. The swelling of buds on the lilac branches is especially noticeable this week. The buds of most common lilacs are green, but the common lilac variety ‘Charles Joly’ (Syringa vulgaris ‘Charles Joly’), which has very dark reddish-purple blossoms in May, has dark buds through the winter. At this point in spring, they are about twice the size they were two months ago but have not opened yet. Spring has officially sprung Buds on lilacs have enlarged considerably since warmer weather has arrived, such as these on the dark purple ‘Charles Joly’ lilac near my garage. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) in the northern hemisphere, since the vernal equinox was yesterday. Today, March 21 is the International Day of Forests, which was first proclaimed by the United NaBright purple petals and saffron-colored stamens of this crocus are among the first vivid colors of spring. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) GARDENS | SEE PAGE 15
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