Saugus Gardens in the Spring

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

By Laura Eisener

While the official holiday of Patriots’ Day has been celebrated on the third Monday of April for several years now, allowing us a three-day weekend, the traditional date of April 19 is the actual anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. We may remember the date as a result of Longfellow’s poem, though he took a few liberties with the details of the event. During the night before was the famous ride of Paul Revere (and Samuel Prescott and William Dawes) to Lexington and other communities to warn colonial troops to be on the lookout for British soldiers leaving Boston.

Saugus has two monuments that honor those men who went to Lexington and Concord on the 19th from what is now Saugus. One monument is in the traffic circle at “Sweetser’s Corner” – now more often called Cliftondale – and the other is near the back of the small Saugus Center cemetery beside the Saugus Center rotary. The Sweetser’s Corner marker reads, “This boulder is placed by the Parson Roby Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution assisted by members of the Sweetser Family to perpetuate the old village name of Sweetser’s Corner and as a memorial to honor the sons of Saugus who answered the first call to arms on April 19, 1775 (if you can peer between the daffodils blooming now). The Saugus Center marker is more easily read by people walking on Main Street or entering the cemetery and lists the names of those minutemen.

The Sweetser’s Corner circle also has other flowers in bloom, if you look upward. The branches of the cherry trees that were bare looking just a few weeks ago are now covered in pale pink blossoms, while its leaves will come later. If you manage to get a close look at the daffodils and cherry blossoms by finding your way into the center of the rotary during a lull in traffic, you may be able to look up through the branches to see the American flag waving through the blossoms.

Several kinds of cherries (Prunus spp.) are blooming all around town. Weeping cherries (Prunus subhirtella pendula) may be seen almost everywhere, especially the very popular white variety “Snow Fountains.” Other cherries will be blooming a few weeks from now, such as the double pink Kwanzan cherry (Prunus ‘Kwanzan’), which blooms after its leaves have already emerged. These ornamental cherries produce few if any fruit but produce abundant blossoms. Still other cherry tree species are grown for their tasty fruits, and they also may have attractive white or pink flowers within the next few weeks, but these are often a bit more maintenance to keep wildlife and insects away from ripening fruits.

This busy month of April finds us jumping into garden maintenance and will make this month and the next among the busiest in our gardens. Earth Month is the whole month, but Monday, April 22 is Earth Day, a time to appreciate and make efforts to protect the earth. This coming Friday is Arbor Day in Massachusetts, though some other states celebrate it on other nearby dates.

In addition to the daffodils that we have been seeing now for over a month, other bulbs continue to add color to the spring landscape. Oriental hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) are extremely fragrant and can be found in a wide range of colors, from several shades of blue-purple, pastel to jewel toned pinks, pale yellow and white. The strong fragrance deters many animals from taking an interest in tasting these flowers and may even be overwhelming to some people, while others love the fragrance and grow the flowers indoors to enjoy it even more. Hyacinth jars are designed to hold the bulb just above water in which the roots can grow – an interesting, soil-free way to enjoy the flowers indoors. However, those grown in soil are more likely to survive years in the garden.

  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.