The Beatles sang out, “all you need is love, love, love,” an ancient philosophy not created by the famous band — and it can play out in our gardens. As Valentine’s Day draws close, the song is playing over and over in my head, combined with visions of Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, otherwise known as Polygonum orientale.
Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate is a fast- growing 5- or 6-foot-tall annual loaded with graceful pendant pink flowers. This is a bushy sort of plant that I can easily imagine twining around a picturesque garden gate, where a shy lady and a bold lover might share a kiss. This plant is not hardy, but it self-seeds and will come back year after year. It would do equally well against a fence.
Of course, if kisses at the garden gate turn sour, there is always Love-lies-bleeding, Amaranthus caudatus. I first saw this annual in bloom at the Wave Hill Gardens in Riverdale, N.Y. It was stunning, if not shocking, with its long pendant wine red blossoms drooping and puddling on the ground. When I found the plant label, I was distressed to find that I was looking at a visceral symbol of love gone bad. Having gotten over the shock, I now appreciate the drama of amaranth in the garden.
Last year, I admired the new amaranth that was planted at the Energy Park in shades of gold, as well as red. Both Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate and Love-lies-bleeding are substantial plants, tall and wide. Both need full sun.
Coming on Love-lies-bleeding as an adult was an unexpected shock, but somehow my young self found bleeding hearts, Dicentra spectabilis, delicate and charming. Maybe in my younger years, I could not imagine anything more tragic than a poet’s sigh when his beloved sent him away.
Dicentra is a modest plant, usually less than two feet tall, with attractive foliage. It will increase in spread over the years. An annual helping of compost is always a good idea. The name “bleeding heart” is clearly descriptive of the little pink heart-shaped blossoms, with their tiny white droplets of blood arranged on arching stems. They bloom in spring in damp, partially shaded areas — not shouting of a broken heart, but just whispering.
Roses have their own language of love and friendship. It all depends on the color. Of course, we all know that the red rose shouts out “I love you” passionately. The white rose has been known as the wedding rose, and white promises more than passion — it speaks of true love, reverence and charm. Certainly in a marriage we hope that, by definition, true love does not age, nor does the reverence and care each will take of the other, and that they will never cease to charm each other.
Roses do not bloom during New England winters, so Valentine bouquets must come from somewhere else. I found statistics that estimate 110 million roses are sent on Valentine’s Day in the United States. Not even California can supply all those roses. Over the course of a year, many of our roses come from Columbia in South America.
I am devoted to growing at least a few roses in my garden. In Heath, I wanted old- fashioned antique roses, even though they usually bloomed for only a short season, because they were naturally hardy and disease resistant. Now, I am looking for disease-resistant roses that will bloom for a long season.
I have included the very small Pink Drift, and OSO Easy Paprika with its small bright sprays. I have also added white Polar Express and Lion’s Fairy Tale with its peach blush, both by Kordes, a company that has been breeding disease resistant roses for 30 years or more.
We will never be able to buy local roses during the winter, but there are more and more local flower farms, like Wild Rose Farm in Florence, that grow annuals and perennials that they sell over a long season in mixed bouquets, or in arrangements for special occasions, like weddings.
One advantage to local flowers is that they are much more likely to be grown organically, which is a benefit to the birds and bugs of our environment.
Sometimes flowers are grown as an addition to the main crops of a farm. We once took a family trip to a pick-your-own orchard with our daughters and their children. We got a wagon ride, petted the animals, picked apples and then chose our pumpkins and a big bouquet of bright autumnal flowers that included asters, brown-eyed Susans, chrysanthemums, zinnias and big golden marigolds.
And that list of plants brings us to some of the results of all that love and romance — children. Flower names are growing in popularity for girls. There have always been girls named Rose, Violet, Lily and Rosemary, but flowers are claiming more girls. I have a friend whose daughter’s name is Hazel, back in favor, and my youngest cousin is named Zinnia.
Newer names gaining popularity are Petal and Iolanthe, which, besides being the name of the Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, is also the word for “violet flower.”
Boys are claiming the plant world, too. There is Fiorello — or little flower — Jared, which is Hebrew for rose, and Florian.
This Valentine’s Day, whether we give a bouquet or a living plant — or box of chocolates — the recipient will know the gift is all about love. And that, love is all we need.
Pat Leuchtman had written and gardened in Heath at End of the Road Farm since 1980. She now lives in Greenfield and is doing the same. Readers can leave comments at her website: www.commonweeder.com