Saugus Gardens in the Spring

Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable

By Laura Eisener

As May begins, there are still many daffodils and other flowering bulbs blooming in our gardens. May brings tulips, at least it will if we are lucky.

Tulips (Tulipa spp.) are members of the lily family (Liliaceae). Linnaeus gave them their scientific name in 1753, when they were already well-known garden flowers in much of Europe. The famous tulipomania in the Netherlands had occurred a little over a century before. Tulips remain among the most popular spring bulbs today, with public gardens in many parts of the world holding tulip festivals at blooming time. They are somewhat picky about location though and tend not to be as long lived as daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths and some of the other popular spring bulbs. In addition, various critters including rabbits and deer like eating the bulbs and blossoms and sometimes the leaves. While the color combinations that contributed to the 17th century frenzy were caused by a virus that ultimately weakened the plants, nurseries now sell flowers with colors produced by other natural processes, so you are assured of healthy plants.

One of the reasons tulips are so popular is that they come in such a wide range of colors. It doesn’t matter if you like reds and yellows or if you prefer pinks and purples, you can have a tulip bed or bouquet in those colors. There are no true blues, and breeders have historically competed to develop a truly black tulip by crossing extremely dark purple varieties together. In the mid-19th century, Alexandre Dumas wrote a novel called “The Black Tulip,” which takes place in the Netherlands with drama occurring between several characters attempting to create the first black tulip. White, pink, red, yellow, orange and purple have been available for a long time.

There are many variations in height and shapes as well. Fringed tulips look a little bit ferocious, with sharp pointed fringes on the edges of the colorful petals and sepals, reminding many people of shark teeth.

Local history tells us that the first tulips introduced to the United States were grown on the Fay estate on the border of Salem, Peabody and Lynn surrounding Spring Pond in the mid-19th century. Richard Sullivan Fay, Esq., imported many unusual trees and plants for his vast estate, and kept records of them. It is possible that they were introduced earlier, but not everyone kept such meticulous garden records.

The most abundant trees in Saugus, as in most towns in the Northeast, are Norway maples (Acer platanoides). They are blooming now with bright chartreuse flowers. From a vantage point like Vinegar Hill, you can see this bright color all across town. In the mid-20th century, these were the most popular street trees and were very heavily planted in most parts of New England, but they are no longer legal to sell or plant in Massachusetts and many other states because they are invasive. They have seeded themselves in natural areas, and while some were certainly planted intentionally as street trees years ago, many others “volunteered” in gardens and parks where they were not necessarily wanted.

Like other maples, they reproduce by winged seeds that botanists call samaras, and that many of us as kids called “helicopters.” On windy days you can see pairs of seeds, attached like a propellor with “wings” on the outside, spiraling down from the branches. The samaras have already developed from the early flowers of red maple (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum), but the presently blooming Norway maples will not have fully developed samaras until early June.

I knew Sofia Eon must have come to visit when I saw an assortment of bright flowers “blooming” on the sides of the rain barrel at the home of her grandmother and other relatives. Her artwork from previous years has enlivened a few outbuildings on the property, and I am happy to say the latest work is near the front of the house where many people can see it while passing by. Rain barrels are a wonderful way to collect water from rooftops that might otherwise pour off the roof and be wasted or that could erode soil away in a heavy rain. If a hose is attached to the barrel, the water can be directed to water the garden or at least directed away from walkways and into areas where it can be more slowly absorbed by the ground. Since it comes from the roof rather than the town’s public water supply, the barrels can store rainwater for use during a drought. Generally, rain barrels are not especially decorative, but this one now has beautiful designs inspired by the tulips and other plants in the actual garden nearby.

  Editor’s Note: Laura Eisener is a 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.