Now You See It...

Mother Nature is at her most playful in early Spring, as if the euphoria of regreening the earth is more than she can contain. Her exuberance spills over into impishness: “Pay attention to me or you’ll miss it!,” she says, often producing flights of fancy that last mere days. Here are some highlights from Bedrock Gardens, lest you miss the mischief:

The Syneilesis family of  long-stemmed, spiky-leafed perennials from East Asia is one such flash-in-the-pan, pushing up little fuzzy, ghost-like creatures that seemingly float across late April’s lackluster landscape. Only days later, the plants herald the coming season of sun-soaked leisure, turning into little cocktail umbrellas that could adorn the best frozen drinks of summer.

The umbrella plant pictured with the mayapple, above right, can be found in the Petit Pond area of Bedrock Gardens. Spring appearances can be deceiving, however, as the umbrella plant will, by late spring, tower over the large-lobed mayapple, creating a two-foot-high flat-topped canopy, best viewed in all its serrated splendor from the Tea House above.

Spring is the magical snake charmer of the stunning ephemeral, Arisaema ringens (cobra lily), coaxing the stalk and glossy green trifoliate leaves from their protective, dun-colored sheath. The cobra is the Japanese relation to the eastern North American native,  A. triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit)--the one that, if you were lucky enough to roam the woods as a child, was a delightful treasure when discovered. The cobra is as much as a foot larger though, emerging “much like a foal from a mare,” says Bedrock owner Jill Nooney. “You can’t imagine that all of that leggy plant could come out” of the delicate, dotted leaf base.
Next, from the center of the leaf stalk ascends the cobra head: a purple-and-green or green-and-white striped spathe with a black-purple hood. Most of the cobra lilies observe their predatory postures through May, only to emerge again for a glimpse the following spring. In yet another farcical twist, some Arisaema become hermaphroditic, producing a cluster of red berries in mid- to late-summer which become visible as the spathe withers.

 Another woodland sprite featured at Bedrock is Helleborus foetidus, an evergreen perennial whose chartreuse blossoms are actually long-lived. The trick to witnessing it is to be in the garden in late winter through April.

Like it’s cousin, the Lenten Rose (H. orientalis), H. foetidus often pokes through a blanket of snow, it’s bell-shaped flowers trumpeting the coming of spring. Unlike it, its leaves are spectacular: dark green, deeply lobed, and lance-shaped, even overwintering in milder zone 5 winters. Foetidus refers to “fetid,” but we can find no malodorous smell. Blooms can be cut for an early spring floral arrangement, but be sure to leave some faded flower stalks in place till early summer: “H. foetidus self seeds  respectfully,” says Jill, ensuring nearly year-round interest for generations to come. -- Lisa Peters O'Brien