Saugus Gardens in the Spring

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

By Laura Eisener

If you happen to “wander lonely as a cloud” around Saugus this week, you will enjoy the cheerful yellow site of many daffodils in every neighborhood. William Wordsworth’s poem always comes to mind at this time of year, as the golden blossoms can be seen “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” This is one of the most popular flower poems ever written, and there are several places in New England where masses of daffodils have been planted to recreate the scene. Nantucket’s Daffodil Festival may be the best known, where they have been planted along the roads to greet residents and tourists alike in the spring. In the poem, Wordsworth mentions that he often recalls the scene when he lies alone, and he appreciates the delight that the memory gives him. Many gardeners feel that sense of companionship when they see a familiar flower blooming, whether in their own gardens or elsewhere.

There are many kinds of daffodils, and some late bloomers are still to come, but two varieties stand out as being abundant this week in Saugus. One is the classic large trumpeted “King Alfred,” shown in the photo above at St. John’s Church, easily seen by anyone walking along Central Street. About a foot tall when in bloom, these are the ones that most often leap to mind first when anyone thinks of daffodils.

Another variety, found everywhere in early spring, is a dwarf variety with similarly shaped, but much smaller flowers, known as tête-à-tête. You may notice that the tête-à-tête daffodils are much shorter when they come up in your garden than they were when grown in pots, as you may see them in florist shops and supermarkets any time between January and Easter. In fact, most descriptions of the plants describe them as being 12″ tall, but if you expect that height outdoors in New England as they grow and multiply every year, you will be surprised when the blossoms open much closer to the ground.

I buy some every year to enjoy indoors when the weather is still too cold or snow-covered to spend much time with them outdoors, but I keep the pots growing on my windowsills after the flowers fade for a month or so until they can be planted out in the garden without too much shock from the difference in temperature. The ground may be sufficiently thawed at this point to plant, but the temperatures out there are still fluctuating too much for anything accustomed to 60-70 degree temperatures to adjust to, so it makes sense to wait a bit longer even if the plant no longer seems to serve a decorative purpose indoors.

The tête-à-tête daffodils I bought last year and the year before that were about 8″ tall when I bought them, but now the ones in the front yard are only 2″ above the ground surface, and one small clump in a different part of the garden is 4″ tall. The main reason is that the taller ones that you buy are grown in greenhouses, where the temperatures are kept at a steady temperature at blooming time, usually between 55 and 60, kept consistently watered and in ideal soil. By the time they have spent a year in our climate, the plant will have had to endure much colder temperatures, inconsistent moisture and in most cases less than perfect soil. As the flowers go by in the next several weeks, the leaves continue to elongate for a while. For the next six weeks or so, the leaves will be making carbohydrates to form flower buds and leaves for next year, until the plants go dormant in early summer.

Among the many signs of spring to be discovered this week are other bulbs blossoming, such as blue (or sometimes white) Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica), which is best in large groups that show off the bright colors of the small flowers. And in the bird world, male goldfinches are showing off their breeding plumage, changing from the more camouflaged buff tones of winter to the vivid yellows that just about match the daffodils. Females remain in the quieter feather colors, so it is easy to tell male and female birds apart now.

If the blossoms outdoors are not enough to satisfy you today and tomorrow, head over to the Saugus Public Library to enjoy Books in Bloom. Many Saugonians have been hard at work reading and thinking and arranging to create the display you will see there. Books in Bloom continues today through tomorrow at Saugus Public Library. And looking ahead, Thursday, April 12 is National Plant a Flower Day, though if you do decide to start planting outdoors this early it is best to stick to seeds or to plants already acclimated to our outdoor climate, since we all know there is still a chance for sudden frosts.