This year is a leap year, and this Saturday is our “extra” day! What is a leap year? As the earth hurtles through space and travels around the sun, the whole cycle takes 365 days, five hours and 48 minutes. But to keep our calendar lined up with the seasons, one day is added every four years, and that becomes our leap year. And why “leap” year? I did some homework, and learned that certain fixed holidays, which normally move forward one day each year, move two days (or leap over a day) in a leap year.
For gardeners, a “leap” year has a different meaning. Did you ever hear the expression “sleep, creep, leap” in reference to our gardens? This was new to me, but it’s a very interesting concept!
“Sleep, creep, leap” refers to the growing habit of newly planted perennials. The theory is that the first year we plant our perennials, they “sleep”. Not really: they are working hard, but all the activity is underground as they work hard to establish new root systems. A good root system is important to our plants because it enables them to take up water and nutrients.
If they are doing this successfully, they are stronger to fight off diseases. So in other words, we shouldn’t expect our perennials to out-do the picture on the label during the first year. We must be patient!
Year two: the plants “creep”. This doesn’t refer to them becoming ground-covers; it refers to the halting growth that is visible to our eyes. That shows up mainly in the growth of new foliage, which is absorbing the sunshine and working with those strong roots from year one to make the plant bigger. We might get extra flowers, if it is a blooming plant, but if not, the plants are still in the process of establishment and growth. We must be patient!
Year three: the plants “leap”. This is the year we’ve all been waiting for, when our plants might actually look like the pictures in the seed catalogue or on the tag that came with the plant. (By the way, save those tags, they have a lot of practical information you may need!)
The foliage and the flowers leap into garden greatness, giving us the visual display we’ve been dreaming of!
Plants have an age when they are at their very best and starting in years three and for a few more years, this is a wonderful time for our plants. They are glorious, full of life and energy! Then, we might start to slowly see a change. Does that mean our plants are dying? No, it means that they are reaching a time when they might have to be divided to encourage that vitality once again. And with proper care at the right time, they will be just as beautiful once again. Of course, there are always exceptions: we have all had perennials that we plant with great eagerness and hope, and can’t find even a trace of them the following spring. On the other side of the coin, there are some weak little perennials that we find on the greenhouse cart at the end of the spring buying frenzy, and buy them because we feel so sorry for the poor little things, and find that they show their gratitude by growing with great gusto! But either way, we know the number one gardening rule: be patient!
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their next meeting on Wednesday, March 18, 7 p.m. at SIGN on North Street. It will be nice to get together and “talk gardening” again as we look forward to the new gardening year! New members are always welcome, and you don’t have to be a member to come to the meeting.
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca to see what’s coming up, and have a great week!
