Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 6, 2025 Saugus Gardens in the Spring Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener B earded irises are still blooming all over town. They have been joined by Siberian irises (Iris sibirica), which lack the fuzzy “beards,” have narrower standards and falls, and narrower more grasslike foliage, and have fibrous roots rather than the starchy rhizomes that bearded irises have. Siberian irises don’t come in quite such a wide range of colors, but there are some dark purples, pinkish purple, whites and yellows. In Julia Aston’s garden near Saugus Center, there are three different varieties of bearded iris (Iris germanica hybrids) in bloom this week. She also has an unusual native groundcover known as green and gold peeking through the fence. Green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is a wonderful native groundcover for part shade that should be used more often. It blooms profusely in the spring, stops when temperatures get hot, then will rebloom a bit less abundantly in the fall. If the summer is on the cool side, there may be random blossoms in July and August as well. There are not many sunny yellow flowers that we find growing in the shade, but this is one that stands out and deserves to be grown by more gardeners. Admittedly, it is not widely available so you may have to seek it out from sources that specialize in native plants. While its native range does not extend into New England (it is more often found from Pennsylvania extending several states to the south and west), it is quite hardy. In fact, it blooms later into the summer in our area than it does farther south where summer temperatures tend to be hotter. It is a member of the aster or composite family (Asteraceae), like sunflowers and daisies. This month’s moon is fittingly called the strawberry moon, and the full strawberry moon will occur this month on June 11. While we usually associate strawberries with June in our climate, May is national strawberry month and, oddly enough, National Strawberry Day fell on February 27. National Strawberry Shortcake Day is next Saturday, June 14, but you will have to wait until June 21 for the Strawberry Festival in Saugus, since it is traditionally held in this town on the third Saturday in June. A few weeks ago I wrote about two species of dogwood that are commonly planted in gardens around town. Today I wanted to mention another dogwood tree that is far less often grown in gardens, but this native species has charms all its own. Pagoda dogwood, also known as alternate-leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia, sometimes called Swida alternifolia), is the hardiest of the tree form dogwoods, growing in cold areas down to zone 3. It is considered a small tree, growing 25-30 feet tall and about the same in width. It normally grows as an understory tree, beneath the canopy of taller species in the forest. The flat clusters of flowSeveral yellow bearded iris varieties in my garden, including the dark yellow “Harvest of Memories,” in the center of the photograph (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) ers are creamy white, looking a bit more like the flowers of red twig dogwood than either of the more familiar ornamental tree species. Another thing it has in common with red twig dogwood is that the branches have a somewhat reddish color in fall and winter. Like flowering dogwood and kousa dogwood, it has an attractive red fall foliage color. They also have clusters of bluish-black berries that are attractive with the red foliage. They are often eaten by various birds. In parts of the Appalachians, the fallen fruits are favorites of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). Around here, they can serve as food for wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). The dogwood genus (CorBeautiful purple and white irises bloom along Julia Aston’s fence. (Photo courtesy of Julia Aston) The native groundcover called green and gold delivers yellow flowers in early summer. (Photo courtesy of Julia Aston) nus) encompasses several different trees and shrubs that some botanists feel are too different to fit all in one genus, so several new genus names have been suggested. Depending on who you may talk to, the genus may be split into as many as six different genera. While those with large bracts like flowering dogwood are considered by some to be part of the new genus Benthamidia, pagoda dogwood and other “blue fruited dogwoods” are sometimes assigned to the new genus Swida. However, most plant tags still use the genus Cornus. Editor’s Note: Laura Eisener is a Flowers of pagoda dogwood look quite different from the more familiar dogwood trees: our native flowering dogwood and the Asian kousa dogwood. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) A small pagoda dogwood blooms in my backyard. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) landscape design consultant who helps homeowners with landscape design, plant selection and placement of trees and shrubs, as well as perennials. She is a member of the Saugus Garden Club and offered to write a series of articles about “what’s blooming in town” shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was inspired after seeing so many people taking up walking.
15 Publizr Home