I never knew there was a second spring. I first read about it in a book about the Mediterranean climate, and now I am convinced that such a phenomenon exists right here in Serbia. Of course, the climate here is not Mediterranean, but this summer has been so hot that even the old-timers will not remember anything like it. All the grass has been burnt on the roadsides and lawns, and there is a layer of straw everywhere in the open areas where there was no irrigation. Under the trees it is better, but there are no forest plants there either.
The first rains in September brought moisture and coolness to the grass and made the fallen seeds sprout. Fresh greens began to rise from under the straw layer, chicory and some wildflowers bloomed. Usually in temperate climates and in Siberia we see the first greenery appearing in spring, in early May. Here it is indeed ‘the second spring’.
In Siberia this week, the first frosts on the ground mean that the foliage of most ornamental plants such as hostas, astilbes, peonies and lilies will wither. Roses and late perennials will stop flowering. Everything goes for pruning and composting. Annual Eschscholzias, which I love very much for their bravura colouring and delicate foliage, will remain in bloom until the snow. This persistent multicoloured annual is also good because it reproduces well by self-seeding, fills empty spaces in the flowerbed among perennials and stands well in the last autumn bouquets.
Eschscholzias among perennials in my Siberian garden works as a great filler
And here in Novi Sad, roses, architectural yuccas, delicate pink forest mallow bloom. You don’t see wild meadows here at all. We have travelled through the country and everywhere there are fields of corn and sunflowers stretching to the horizon. There are no forests, groves or meadows at all. Only in the mountains is there still wildlife and apparently insect pollinators as well. It makes no sense to compare it with the vast Russia, where everywhere stretches endless wild uncut meadows, which I love very much. Almost all the land here is given over to agriculture. And in the cities there are very few places with perennials and grasses. In the parks there is mown grass and rare flowerbeds.
I have seen a different trend in France and Luxembourg, where the idea of preserving wild meadows is being popularised, planting field perennials in cities, on roadsides, and reducing areas of mowed lawns. In the UK there is a movement to recreate wild meadows everywhere, including on private garden plots. All this is due to the catastrophic decline in the population of insect pollinators – bees and butterflies. The reason for this is the expansion of agricultural areas and the treatment of plantings with insect-killing herbicides.
The photo on the left is a park in the centre of Luxembourg as an example of meadow grass saving in the city. The photo on the right shows landscape design in Belgrade. Beautiful geoplastics, clipped hedges, but in general this design is no longer in trend.
In one of Luxembourg's parks, meadow grasses are planted in large areas and under fruit trees. A beautiful and useful combination of areas of mowed grass and wild species.
I think this problem exists everywhere in European countries and definitely in Serbia. I don’t see a tendency to reproduce wild meadows here. Everything is mown down to nothing. And on private garden plots you don’t see flowering plants either – bare lawns, fruit trees and evergreen topiary. This is very bad for nature and, ultimately, for humans. My appeal to my customers is to create wildlife corners, groves, beds with flowering perennials on their plots, which attract wildlife to our gardens and benefit our environment and us. We can only hope that the plants that have now started to grow will remain undisturbed and will beautify the landscape and provide food for insects until the real spring. We’ll be watching….
