Planting now for a colorful and festive garden

By Holly Glen Gearhart

Nothing brings me out of the doldrums of a Pacific Northwest winter than looking forward to the color of a garden in the spring, and on. Flowers are not my specialty but when I do plan this year’s garden I plan to do something a little differently.

For me, what works best are container flowers because I don’t have a way to start seeds inside during winter. I turn to the professionals for a little help.

This year, I decided to go with something that not only would spread throughout the garden but would serve to attract a little wildlife to it. For this I chose pink cestrum, which not only attracts hummingbirds to the garden, it also gives off an early evening fragrance akin to my childhood favorite, jasmine. I grew up along the Gulf Coast where Texas and Louisiana gardens were fragrant all summer with a mixture of jasmine and magnolia.

The cestrum can take some abuse but should be well watered and tended in the summer. It is a hardy grower in our climate, blooming from spring into late fall, and reaching as much as five to eight feet tall.