Of Daffodils and Hibiscus

The seasons march on. Soon, there will be late winter days with warm teases of spring. I guarantee it, so does the calendar. It is inevitable, and you may even miss winter one day this spring when it rains for days, or this summer when it is 96 degrees and humid as a wet mop. Well maybe.
So you hang on, maybe take a week or two away or maybe just project yourself forward and envision the garden and all the sweet changes you planned. Move this, cut that back, finally add some new plants. You might even be planning a veggie garden this year? Start now, compost ’til early, and add some peat moss. Beat the farm markets to the first Jersey tomato.
What may be emerging in your yards now are the first sprouts of the daffodil. The hardiest and best bulb you can have. While planting season was fall, you can find some left overs at Easter and set them out. These slightly fragrant bulbs will come back for decades. And they are a sure sign of spring. In my garden I have Mahonia bealei that blooms all through the winter, followed closely by Pieris japonica come March 10 or so. There are many others I have mentioned in past columns and they are all sure to give cheer on a late winter day.
We used to cut bunches of forsythia and bring them inside. They will bloom in short order, and there are others you can force too, so why wait?
I once knew a lady in our area who, when bored of winter, would go out and buy a few new tropical house plants, add them to her others and move them into the bathroom….turn on some Hawaiian music, steam up the room and sip a Mai Tai while reading a book, sun lamp at the ready. Not a bad idea, and gosh knows some of you have the time on your hands, and the big bathrooms to do it in!
Now, if I could find a daffodil here on Maui, that would be a treat. I’d surely post that on Facebook. I was fortunate enough to be asked to teach here in Paradise and I did one smart thing – bought a one-way ticket with no return date set. Yes, I will come home, even though Hawaii was my home as a child, I need to get the business up and running, help take care of an injured employee in his recovery and take the rejuvenated attitude and idea that a long sabbatical can provide, and lay them all out on you this spring. I have been blessed in my travels and teachings, but I assure you that the things I learn and experience, I share with you all through my art, my garden designs and storytelling. Stop on in and visit a spell; there will be an infusion of yellow Hibiscus this year, all my fault.
-Stan Sperlak, author, teacher, and garden designer/artist writes from Macawao, Maui in Hawaii at an elevation of 800 feet above the Pacific. He says he packed too many clothes and is trying to remember what socks felt like…