Canada's Local gardener Volume 1 Issue 3

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Issue 3

2020 • 1

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2 • 2020

Issue 3

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Contents volume 1

Canada’s local Gardener

16 We’re looking for gardens!............................ 4 Houseplants: Monstera................................. 6 Hostas in my garden..................................... 7 Basil................................................................. 8 Mushrooms clean contaminated soil......... 10 Gardening luminary: Jim Hole.................... 11 Slow gardening............................................ 12 Growing figs in Canada............................... 14 Gardens of Spain.......................................... 16 Bachelor buttons.......................................... 19

ISSUE 3, 2020

40

28

What’s hot, what’s new...............................20 Columnar trees.............................................26 Beautiful Gardens: Wendy Mallard, Stony Plain, Alberta........28 Mary Wright, Denare Beach, Saskatchewan...........................................34 Brian and Linda Hetherington, Inverary, Ontario......................................40 How to get started........................................46

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2020 • 3

Canada’s

We’re looking for gardens! Local Gardener

W

e have three absolutely gorgeous gardens for your perusal at the back of this issue. Wendy Mallard has one of the most colourful gardens, simply chockablock with flowers, located in Stony Plain, Alberta. Mary and Edgar Wright spend their free time beavering away at a plethora of beautiful and rarely seen plants up in Denare Beach, Saskatchewan. And Brian and Linda Hetherington have pieced together countless rooms of flowers, plants and art on their acreage near Kingston. Choosing the pictures to include had me drooling with anticipation for the stunning gardening season ahead of us.

And this year does promise to be stunning.

With so many people home for duration of the pandemic, gardening has taken a big leap forward. The questions from new gardeners are coming fast and furious on Facebook groups, with old pros eager to help. The one disappointment I have—and it’s a big one—is that I won’t be able to see the gardens across the country myself this year to photograph and meet the stewards of them. This brings me to an important ask.

We know so many of our readers have simply glorious gardens, and so many of you are also photographers. How would you like to put the two together and send us some pictures of your garden?

Or have a photographing friend take some snaps and send us those?

Owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions, it looks like I won’t be able to visit very many gardens this year, and none outside of Ontario.

And we have a full year of gardens to put in our magazines.

Now, if you’re not sure what we’re looking for, here it is.

• Pictures need to be high-resolution. They must be at least five inches high or wide at 300 dpi.

• We need wide shots that show your garden, not just closeups of flowers. A few closeups are good too, particularly of mixes of plants.

• We need shots that are not touched up. Our graphic designer needs the original photo to touch up for publication.

• About 15 images go into one story for a typical-size garden, so we need more than that to chose from.

All types and sizes are welcome, and we’re interested in gardens from everywhere in Canada. Do you have a sumptuous vegetable garden in Saskatoon? A verdant balcony garden in Vancouver? A dazzling rockery in Cornerbrook? Send us pictures! We’d love to see them, and some of our favourites will be covered in the magazine this year.

For this issue, in addition to the gardens, it’s our annual What’s New, What’s Hot selection of introductions for this year. We have an article on growing figs—yes you can in Canada! A story on growing basil, one on growing hostas, and another on columnar trees.

There is a piece on one writers’ trip to gardens in southern Spain. We have a profile of Jim Hole, horticulturist and member of the Hole gardening family in Alberta. And a story on Slow Gardening, which is probably how you garden anyhow!

In this time of closing businesses and washing hands, our spirits are a bright as ever. We are so excited about the renaissance of gardening, and so grateful to be far ahead of the curve.

It’s time to plant!

Shauna Dobbie 4 • 2020

Follow us online at: localgardener.net Instagram:@local_gardener

Published by Pegasus Publications Inc. President/Publisher Dorothy Dobbie dorothy@pegasuspublications.net Design Cottonwood Publishing Services Editor Shauna Dobbie shauna@pegasuspublications.net Art Direction & Layout Karl Thomsen karl@pegasuspublications.net General Manager Ian Leatt ian.leatt@pegasuspublications.net Contributors Dorothy Dobbie, Shauna Dobbie, Gail Murray, Gillian Pegg, Wilbert Ronald, Felder Rushing Editorial Advisory Boards Ontario: Ben Cullen, David Hobson, Sean James, Tara Nolan

Manitoba: Michael Allen, Keith Lemkey, Jan Pedersen, Kevin Twomey Alberta: Stacey Mar, Cynthia Philp, Leona Staples Advertising Sales 1.888.680.2008 Subscriptions Write, email or call Canada’s Local Gardener, 138 Swan Lake Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3T 4T8 Phone (204) 940-2700 Fax (204) 940-2727 Toll Free 1 (888) 680-2008 subscribe@localgardener.net One year (four issues): $29.95 Two years (eight issues): $58 Three years (twelve issues): $80 Single copy: $8.95; Beautiful Gardens: $12.95 150 years of Gardening in Canada copy: $12.95 Plus applicable taxes.

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Canada’s Local Gardener is published four times annually by Pegasus Publications Inc. It is regularly available to purchase at newsstands and retail locations throughout Canada or by subscription. Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted. Publisher buys all editorial rights and reserves the right to republish any material purchased. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without permission in writing from the publisher.

Copyright Pegasus Publications Inc.

Issue 3

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Having trouble deciding what to do with your garden? Why not call us we know we can help!

Canada’s Local Gardener’s very own Dorothy Dobbie is here to help. Dorothy is selecting new gardens to help design and implement.

Her knowledge of all things gardening will inspire you to have the garden of your dreams.

A team of experts awaits those lucky few. We have the tools, we have the knowledge – all we need is you.

Call Ian at 204-940-2707 or call Handy Hands Construction at 204-999-8174 or www.handyhandsconstruction.ca localgardener.net

Issue 3

2020 • 5

Houseplants: Monstera

By Shauna Dobbie

S

ometimes a plant captures the collective imagination. Right now, that plant is Monstera deliciosa, sometimes called Swiss cheese plant. It’s sometimes called Swiss cheese plant because the leaves on an older plant have holes in them. (They don’t develop holes but leaves on an older plant will grow with holes; don’t worry, it means it’s healthy.)

Although it has a reputation for being difficult to grow, monstera is an easy plant as long as you fulfill a couple of basic requirements: bright but not direct light and above average humidity.

Bright light means it should be in a room with a big window. If the window is south facing, keep the plant out of direct sunlight. You can do this by placing it away from the window or using sheer curtains. This plant’s natural home is at the bottom of the jungle and direct sunlight will burn its leaves.

At the same time, they are climbers and put out aerial roots, looking for a tree or rock to hook onto. Your monstera will be happiest having a trellis to climb up, but it will not be unhappy with nothing to climb. They grow quite husky without climbing and if you have room, go for it.

Now, husky means five feet wide, so plan accordingly. When climbing, a healthy plant will get to be about three feet wide.

The aerial roots on a monstera aren’t cute little tendrils; they grow into big fat cords. In fact, the aerial roots have been used as ropes. The roots are for use in the jungle if the plant becomes an epiphyte, or an air plant. It grows up a tree, raising the plant out of the soil. At this point, the aerial roots will take in water and nourishment from the air rather than the ground, though the roots can easily grow all the way to the ground to suck water and nutrients out of it again. Don’t worry about this happening in your house, though. There isn’t enough heat and moisture.

The amount of humidity required is always a problem for indoor plants from Alberta through Quebec. Our houses in winter will never provide enough. A pot of water near the plant 6 • 2020

The Mosterera plant is known for it’s “Swiss cheese” leaves.

will help. Spritz your big beautiful brute a few times a week for a treat.

Your monstera will require cleaning periodically to keep dust off the leaves.

Use a soft, damp cloth and gently wipe. Keeping the plant dust-free will enable it to take in more light.

In the jungle, monsteras will flower and fruit, but that isn’t likely to happen indoors. The fruit is Mexican breadfruit (not the kind of breadfruit available in the Philippines) and tastes like fruit salad. In the jungle it takes over a year to go from flower to ripe fruit and monsteras don’t fruit very often. In your living room, the plant probably won’t even bloom.

On the topic of fruit, beware: except for the ripe fruit, the plant is poisonous to humans and pets.

This plant grows fast, so you’ll need to repot it every two or three years, though it does like to grow in a small pot for its size. When you repot, use a rich, loose mixture. You can add extra peat moss or perlite if you’re feeling crafty.

You can divide your monstera if you Issue 3

like. Cut the stems apart at the bottom, making sure each piece has root on it, and replant. You can also propagate from cuttings of the leaves. Cut a leaf with an aerial root just below a node and put it in water. After a few weeks, more roots should appear.

A couple of varieties of monstera have come to market: Monstera variegata has leaves splashed with ivory and green.

Monstera adansonii is smaller, with more pronounced holes.

Monstera obliqua, very difficult to find, is about the size of M. adansonii, but the holes are extremely large and the leaves paper-thin.

Monstera pinnatipartitia is like M. deliciosa, but the leaves have slits that go to the edge rather than holes.

Monstera dubia doesn’t look like other monsteras. As a young plant, it has small heart-shaped leaves of emerald green along the veining but lighter colour elsewhere. The leaves “shingle” against a post, growing flat against it.

In the jungle, mature leaves can grow to four feet! d localgardener.net

Hostas in my garden H

ostas are beautiful shade plants that can add depth and lush foliage to any garden bed. There are so many varieties, and these plants can grow large enough to make them staple pieces in your garden.

Planning a hosta garden Allow space between plants especially if they are mature for they spread out. Planting too close together can give a more unkempt look.

Allow plenty of shade if possible for your hostas, for most do best in shaded areas though they can survive with sun.

Hostas are quite hardy, and so will do well in most soil types, though they prefer well drained soil. I have grown hostas in rocky soil and they seemed to thrive just as much as growing them in unrocky soil.

Keep in mind that during the late summer, hostas will send up blooming stalks, so the visual interest will increase, adding height and more depth to your garden.

Hostas are great border plants, because they can bring unity to an area if you plant a few. They can grow large enough to help signify a break up in space and shape. I like to use some of my larger hostas as “showstoppers,” where the eye is drawn to a corner or a border or to the end of a pathway.

Transplanting and Dividing Hostas are very hardy and withstand transplanting well. If moving a hosta be sure to dig a deep chunk of the dirt and earth surrounding the roots to ensure you have as much of the plant as possible. Be careful as this can be heavy to move.

You can also give a friend a hosta plant by dividing one of yours. Alternately, you can increase your own inventory through dividing your plants. Hostas often do well for having room to spread out and so dividing is a bit like making cuttings from your herbs: they grow better and do well for it.

Varieties There are a number of varieties including those with light green leaves, some with a border of white around the edge of the leaf, some with white stripes on the leaves and

localgardener.net

Story and photo by Gillian Pegg

Hostas are a showstopper.

some with a slightly darker colour green leaf. Blooms in the late summer can be white or shades of purple, depending on the variety. Some of my favourites include one of the giant varieties, like ‘Elegans’, and the blue varieties, such as ‘Halcyon’.

Woodland gardens I love to put hostas in a woodlandthemed garden, often under shady or treed areas. Some of my favourite plants to add into a hosta woodland garden include bleeding hearts, coral bells, ferns, and ivy. I like to surround a woodland garden with mulch and add natural large stones peppered throughout the bed for visual interest. I also like to add a small naturallooking water feature like a pond to increase the lush feel of a hosta garden. Placing stone or ceramic figures of toads, gnomes or fairies add a little touch of magic, especially when tucked under a hosta leaf and Issue 3

left to poke out just a bit for some extra whimsy.

Preventing pests Deer, slugs, and beetles can be a big problem with hostas. One of the best ways to protect your plants is to monitor the leaves and stems for pests.

Critters like slugs are most active in the evening and nighttime. I find the best way to protect your hostas is to simply head out to your garden after sunset and collect the slugs or beetles by hand into a container and dispose of them. Deer like to nibble on hosta leaves, but the easiest way to prevent that happening is to have a fence in place. However, another way is to sprinkle some vinegar around your hostas, which deer dislike the scent of.

Hostas are a beautiful plant to add to any garden. There are so many varieties that everyone can find one they love. Hostas are hardy, lush and always a crowd favourite. d 2020 • 7

Basil

By Dorothy Dobbie

The basil patch in the herb garden is a favourite for many herb lovers.

B

asil was on steroids in some areas of the country last summer. The regular bigleafed variety, the common Ocimum basilicum, grew into shrubs with the warmth of the early summer. Maybe that is not surprising, since they hale from Central Africa and South East Asia where basil is perennial and grows anywhere from one foot to almost five feet tall!

Here in the north, though, it is an annual—it really hates getting a chill and any sign of frost kills it—and while it seldom grows to the heights of this summer, it is friendly to indoor spaces as long as there is enough light.

Growers worry about it bolting (flowering and going to seed) but here is a little secret: only the stalk that flowers turns woody and stops sending that lovely oil to its leaves. You can allow one or two stalks to go all the way to seed while still harvesting the tender leaves of the unflowering stems. You can also pinch out flowers at the first sign of their emergence.

Here’s another secret: you can easily propagate basil from cuttings.

A couple of weeks in some water and roots will emerge. A little rooting compound will speed things up.

(Some people add a single regular aspirin to a gallon of water to hasten rooting). Cuttings should be between three to six inches and have several 8 • 2020

Scan me Check out the kitchen counter top greenhouses made by Nullam here. https://localgardener.net/nugarden/

branch nodes. Remove all but the top four to six leaves. Plant the cutting up when the roots are well established.

Basil loves the outdoors but will do just fine indoors as long as you provide enough light: a sunny window or a grow light. There is a lovely little kitchen counter type greenhouse called Nullam that is perfect for growing this kind of herb. You can also collect the seeds and plant them next year, either starting them indoors about six weeks before the last frost or planting seed directly into soil after all danger of frost has passed.

Seeds take about 14 days to germinate and for the cotyledons to emerge.

Two to three weeks later, they should be six inches tall. If you want early basil, start the plants indoors or buy plugs from the local garden centre.

It is a good idea to start plants a few weeks apart to ensure you always have tender young leaves to pick for your fresh summer salads, pesto or other culinary delights.

Issue 3

Regular, well aerated soils with good drainage are all you need. And if basil dries out and leaves wilt, it is useful to know that you can rehydrate the plant. Water it heavily and it will recover.

There are many types and varieties of basil as you can see in the sidebar. An interesting variety is Holy basil (Ocimum sanctum), which is called tulsi in Hindi. It shows its relationship to the mint family with its serrated leaves and square, red stems (it can also have purple leaves). It is spicy, sweet and is used in teas and medicines as well as in cooking. In Hinduism, the herb is sacred to the goddess, Tulsi, and offers protection.

Hindu families often have a plant growing in their homes. It is said to help ulcers, joint pain and reduce stress.

When cooking with basil, add the leaves at the end of the cooking process. The sweet basils mostly lose their flavour at high temperatures.

To preserve basil, it can be frozen.

Drying is not very successful; makes it taste like hay.

If you have engaged in the old pronunciation wars about whether to say bah-zil or bay-zil, be advised that both are correct. The British usually say the word with the short “a” and Americans with the long “a”. As usual, Canadians are just confused. d localgardener.net

Photo by mokkie.

Basil ‘Mrs. Burns’ Lemon’.

Purple ruffle basil.

Sweet basil. This sweetest of the basils, it is the one most likely to be found at your local grocery.

Sweet Thai basil. Small, dark pointed leaves, it keeps it flavour at higher cooking temperatures.

Purple basil. Dark burgundy coloured leaves with a stronger clovelike taste. Often steeped in vinegar or oil.

Lemon basil. Smooth, mediumsized, light green leaves. Wonderful aroma. Great for fish grilled vegetables.

Lettuce basil. Crinkly leaves, good in salads. Mild in flavour. Sometimes used as a wrap.

Spicy globe basil. Small leaves in a mounded bush form. Strong, spicy odour and flavour. Use in soups and pasta.

Spicy globe basil.

Photo by Hari Prasad Nadig.

Sweet basil.

6 basil varieties & their properties

Sweet Thai basil. localgardener.net

Lettuce leaf basil.

Issue 3

2020 • 9

ike animals, fungi derive energy by breaking down large molecules into smaller compounds. They do so by secreting enzymes and acids onto whatever it is they intend to consume, and then absorbing the byproducts of this digestion process. While fungi primarily consume biological matter (like dead wood), their enzymes can also break down a wide array of manmade compounds. In fact, fungi are so good at this, we’re now employing them to clean up contaminated soils via a technique known as mycoremediation.

Of course, these fungi are just doing what they evolved to do eons ago. Underneath our feet, massive fungal networks run through the soil, with many fungal species developing a symbiotic relationship with plants whereby a part of the fungus (the mycelium) grows adjacent to— and sometimes inside of—the roots of the plant. The mycelium is capable of breaking down and transporting nutrients and minerals essential for the plant’s survival. After detecting and digesting these compounds, the mycelium ferries them to the plant’s roots, where they’re absorbed.

In exchange, the plant releases compounds that are vital for the fungi’s survival.

It’s the fungi’s ability to break down and transport compounds that make them useful for restor-

Photo by Tobi Kellman.

L

Mushrooms clean contaminated soil

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) mycelium.

ing damaged soils. Often, these soils have been saturated with compounds made up of dangerous—and relatively large—molecules. By breaking these molecules into smaller pieces, fungi help to reduce their toxicity. In other instances, soils are contaminated with fundamental elements such as cadmium, arsenic, and mercury, which can’t be broken down. However, fungi still have the ability to uptake and transport these substances, and to eventually concentrate them in their fruiting bodies (mushrooms). We can then remove the fruiting bodies, and the contaminated ecosystem will be one step closer to regaining health.

Fungi can break down or absorb a wide range of compounds, including oil and other petroleum products,

PAHs, PCBs, PCPs, neurotoxins, airborne pollutants, synthetic dyes, cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury, copper, dioxins and organophosphates.

If fungi are so effective at cleaning up our environment, why isn’t this technique more widespread? For starters, it’s a slow process. As with any biological strategy for environmental clean-up, mycoremediation is limited by the speed of metabolism.

If a polluted area needs to be cleaned quickly, other options may be better.

Another issue with mycoremediation is that it often fails to completely rid soil of a given toxic compound, instead simply reducing the concentration. It can also be hard to justify economically, as no one wants to eat a mushroom full of heavy metals.

However, the biggest reason for mycoremediation’s relative lack of fame and use might simply be a lack of data from field tests. It’s a relatively new technique, without many case studies to support its use (despite a good amount of lab testing). Thankfully, this situation is changing. In 2017, for example, a large batch of oyster mushrooms was used to remediate soil damaged by California wildfires. The same variety of fungus has also been used to clean up oil spills and other toxic messes. d EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss for the nonprofit EarthTalk.

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10 • 2020

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localgardener.net

Gardening luminary Name and garden job.

Jim Hole, previous partner in Hole’s Greenhouse, now Vice President, Cultivation at Atlas Biotechnologies.

How did you get this job?

Jim was born into it! His parents, Lois and Ted Hole, owned and operated Hole’s Greenhouse, which they started as a market garden operation on their farm in St. Albert, Alberta. They built the business from a roadside stand in the 1950s into a huge retail establishment, with Jim and his brother Bill joining officially in 1978.

What would you do if you didn’t have this job?

“I’d be a football player,” says Jim, who had tentatively signed with the Edmonton Eskimos before deciding to enter the family business.

How did you learn to garden?

Asking guys like Jim how they learned to garden is a little like asking anyone else how they learned to breathe. His lifetime of knowledge does include a degree in Agriculture

from the University of Alberta, and he is a Certified Professional Horticulturist with the American Society for Horticultural Science and a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture.

Earliest gardening memory.

“There’s a picture of me on my mom’s back while she was weeding,” he says. The garden had to be weeded, the kids had to be taken care of, so Lois just strapped the younger one to her back papoose-style.

Biggest ever gardening mistake.

Jim laughs a little. “When trees are grown in a pot the roots tend to wrap around inside,” he relates. He’s always told folks they need to unwind the roots when they set the trees in the ground.

One time, though, Jim didn’t follow his own advice and planted a row of cedars without loosening the root balls.

They did not survive. Some died and other blew over in a strong wind.

What would you love to do that you’ve never been able to in the garden?

“Fruit trees.” Jim has a big enough yard to have a vegetable garden, but not so big as to be able to keep the fruit trees he would love to have. “There’s something magic about grafting onto an apple,” he says, wistfully.

Question you’re tired of hearing.

He hates having someone come to him with a two-dollar packet of seeds and saying, if I plant this now will it survive? The answer is maybe, but why not give it a try? “People will spend four dollars on a coffee, but they won’t risk two dollars on a packet of seeds?” he says.

All time favourite gardening tool.

Nothing takes the place of a stirrup hoe, according to Jim. Shaped like a stirrup, with a thin metal kind of loop of a blade, flat on the bottom, he wouldn’t be without one. d Supplied photo.

Jim Hole

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From beginners to expert gardeners, our members benefit through:

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Issue 3

2020 • 11

Slow Gardening

By Shauna Dobbie

A

s a slow person, the idea of Slow Gardening has struck me as an ideal subject. First described by Felder Rushing, who published a book on the subject in 2011, it is more an attitude than a method of gardening, and it encourages folks to slow down and relish what they do in the garden.

The idea follows the slow food movement from 1980s Italy. Proponents of slow food, the opposite of fast food, eat food that is locally grown in season, prepared traditionally and enjoyed with loved ones. Slow food led to slow everything: slow fashion, slow ageing, slow parenting, and so forth.

To be a slow gardener, you need to garden a little bit here and there all the time rather than going crazy on the weekends. Rushing recommends certain tricks to make it a little easier, such as reducing the lawn and making edges easier to navigate with a mower by cutting them in gentle curves. Other pursuits he recommends to make it more enjoyable, such as photographing your garden, growing cutting flowers and keeping sitting places in the garden.

He also recommends against using power tools, like electric or gas trimmers and blowers, and chemical pesticides and feeds. These items were made for the convenience of people who view gardening as a chore, who want it dispatched as quickly as possible.

To be honest, Felder Rushing was recommending gardeners garden the way they do and calling it Slow Gardening. And he was aware of it. In his book, he says: “no matter what you do or how you do it, your neighbours are going to talk about you anyway. So get over it and start gardening according to your own standards—this is the essence of Slow Gardening.”

But then he goes further, inserting his personal preferences into what should be done. He recommends putting the sun to work by making sun tea and by drying clothes on a line, which seems a little counter to the do-your-own-thing mantra.

(I have seasonal allergies and I’ll be

12 • 2020

Slow Gardening

S

From a handout by Felder Rushing.

low Gardening isn’t lazy or passive–it actually involves doing more stuff, carefully selected to be productive without senseless, repetitive chores. By focusing on seasonal rhythms and local conditions, it helps the gardener get more from the garden while better appreciating how leisure time and energy are spent.

More than mere tips for easy gardening, it’s more about thinking “long haul” and taking it easy. Life has lots of pressures— why include them in the garden?

Some ways of slowing down in the garden: • Spread out your chores; do a little all along instead of overloading weekends.

• Stop planting like farmers, all at once; plant a little at a time when the season and weather are right. Plant raised beds and containers continually all year.

• Develop a long-term, relaxing garden pursuit such as bonsai or topiary, garden photography, growing cut flowers, collecting or hybridizing cultivars of a favorite plant, a manicured but small “hobby” lawn, composting, or beekeeping.

• Garden for all the senses—wind chimes are as important as nice fragrances.

• Right plant, right place—choose pestresistant plants well-adapted to your local climate and soils, plant them well, and let them grow without being pushed. Try untested new plants in a small area to see how they grow for you.

• Have something in bloom every week, if not every day, of the year. Include plants that bloom in the evening, and notice the moths that visit after dark.

• Carefully select and display sculpture or other garden art, for all-year inspiration.

Have local artisans create art or working bits.

• Grow your own—propagate enough plants for you and friends or neighbors.

• Grow your own fruit. Dry some or make preserves to share with others.

• Lose some of the lawn, making it smaller

damned if I’ll sleep on line-dried sheets.)

But Slow Gardening according to Felder Rushing is self-help. It’s the kind of book or website you peruse to confirm Issue 3

and neater, with edges and corners easier to mow with less backing up. Lighten up on fertilizers and pesticides, enjoy a few wildflowers. Let a small area become a “meadow” lawn.

• Let some hedges grow informally, instead of keeping everything tightly sheared. Or create a hedgerow with mixed plants and wildlife.

• Design your landscape for peoplecomfort. Include all-weather seating, dry paving, shade in the summer, and wind protection in the winter.

• Install a fire pit and waterfall, and use them as part-time relief from television.

• When practical, use quiet hand tools over noisy power equipment. Keep digging and cutting tools sharp and efficient.

• Get personal with your weather—use a rain gauge and outdoor thermometer.

• Enjoy and put the sun to work—hang a clothesline, make sun tea.

• Garden to encourage year-round wildlife.

Include a well-stocked bird feeder.

• Compost—or just a neat leaf pile, letting it work on its own schedule.

• Take it easy on vacation—visit public botanic gardens, and walk around older neighborhoods to savor what is grown locally by hands-on gardeners.

• Shop at a farmer’s market for in-season, locally grown produce.

• Take advantage of area garden lectures, seminars, and shows.

• Browse good gardening sites on the Internet. Check out recommended links.

• Ponder the mysteries of the universe in the microcosm of your own back yard.

• Keep a garden journal, including online with digital photographs.

• Share relaxing garden techniques and easy, rewarding plants with children.

Do better. As Steve Bender, senior garden editor for Southern Living magazine says, “Maybe you can’t change the whole world.

But by slightly modifying the way you garden, you can change your own back yard.

And that’s a start.” your biases and maybe come across some new ideas that you can use. Slow Gardening won’t change the world, but it will make a bunch of gardeners feel happy about what they do. d localgardener.net

localgardener.net

Issue 3

2020 • 13

Growing figs in Canada I

f you love figs, you might find it worth your while to try to grow them. And yes, you can in Canada.

It will take a bit of effort, but … well, you get figs.

The difficulty with growing figs comes in winter. Figs are hardy to -3 degrees Celsius—or at least, that’s the minimum temperature they can get to before they stop growing figs. The problem is, they won’t go into dormancy above about +7 degrees Celsius.

Fig trees need a period of dormancy.

What’s more, if you keep them growing when they should be sleeping, they’ll get leggy and weak because the sun just isn’t strong enough in Canada to keep them going.

Here are three ways to overwinter figs: 1. Potted figs moved inside.

Now, you won’t get much out of figs if you move them into your living room for the winter. They go dormant and they need to go dormant, sleeping while the temperature dips to below 7 degrees Celsius. The trick is to find a spot between -3 and +7 degrees. An unheated garage might do the trick, attached to your house in downtown Toronto; an unattached garage on the lonesome prairie is unlikely to stay warm enough.

If you have a cold cellar, that might work.

2. Bury your fig.

Plant the tree in a pot (or half a pot) next to a south-facing wall of the house.

This needs to be quite close to the wall, maybe 18 inches, and the wall needs to be in full sun all year long. In the fall, after the first frost when the tree goes dormant, tie the branches to the trunk, dig a trench alongside the house and lay the tree inside the trench. Cover it with a tarp then put soil over the tarp.

Mound this up with leaves.

3. Create a cold space.

This one is from a balcony gardener in Toronto, detailed by Canada’s figgrowing champ, Steven Biggs. Get a Styrofoam cooler or other insulated container big enough to fit your fig tree. Add a jar of water and an aquarium heater. Plug this into a thermostatcontrolled plug switch (he uses ThermoCube TC-3, which turns the heater on between 1 and 7 degrees Celsius).

14 • 2020

By Shauna Dobbie

It may take some extra work, but you can grow figs in Canada!

This should work on a balcony or porch in any environment.

Depending on your climate, you may be able to build an insulated hut around your fig for the winter; it will probably need a bit of warmth through the coldest part of the winter.

Harvest Figs will start producing fruit in their second to sixth year. Then they produce two flushes of fruit. The first crop is called the breba crop and grows on old wood. You’ll probably get this around July. The second crop, the main crop, will come in September or October on new wood.

Some people turn their noses up at the breba crop, but if your garden is in a short-season area, you’ll know to gobble these up because your “main” crop may never ripen.

The fruit is ripe when it droops or hangs down from the branch; you should wait for this moment because they won’t continue to ripen once picked. Cut it off with a sharp knife and wear gloves; there is latex in the stem, which can irritate your skin. Handle the fruit as little as possible because it bruises easily. Lay them gently in a single layer. They will keep in the fridge for about three days.

Issue 3

Scan me If you want to try growing figs, get the newsletter from Canada’s aficionado, Steven Biggs. https://stevenbiggs.ca/newsletter

Diseases Two problems you could encounter when growing figs are rust and mosaic virus. Rust starts as little yellow spots that get bigger as the season progresses, turning brown. You can spray them with nasty chemicals, but for the most part it won’t hurt the plant, so it’s best to ignore it.

Fig mosaic virus could get to your tree on a gardening implement or an insect, and once it’s there, it will kill the tree. You can’t do anything about it so it’s best not to worry about it.

It appears as yellowing of the leaves in a mosaic-like pattern; eventually the yellow is surrounded by brown margins.

Other than these two diseases, your fig might be subject to animal gnawing on the bark and the usual host of insects after the fruit or leaves. Accept localgardener.net

what you cannot change.

Fig blossoms and wasps Have you ever seen a fig blossom?

No, you haven’t. Figs have inverted flowers, with all the reproductive parts inside.

Traditional figs are pollinated by tiny wasps, inside the bulbous fruitflower. The internet is full of breathless stories about these wasps that go something like this: male and female wasps hatch in male (inedible) figs.

The male wasps impregnate the female wasps then dig tunnels outside the fig and die. The female wasps pick up pollen and leave the fig to find a new fig to lay their eggs. If the female goes into a male fig through the hole in the bottom, she lays her eggs and then dies. If she goes into a female fig, she brings the pollen, cannot lay her eggs,

and dies. “So, every fig you eat has a dead wasp in it!” the internet says.

Well, it isn’t true.

There are three types of fruiting fig tree, and only one, the caducous, also known as the Smyrna fig, requires the wasp to make fruit.

Unpollinated Smyrna figs will fall off the tree before becoming edible.

The other two types are intermediate, also known as San Pedro figs, and persistent or common figs. San Pedro figs set an unpollinated first crop but require the wasp for the second flush of fruit. Persistent figs do not require pollination; they are parthenocarpic and develop both flushes of fruit without pollination.

This is good news for us in Canada because the fig wasp doesn’t live here. d

Fig varieties for Canadian gardeners

Photo by Javier Martin.

T

‘Brown Turkey’ fig.

here are some hobbyists who will sell or trade more exotic varieties, but for the beginner, check out a really good garden centre near you. If they don’t sell Ficus carica, ask if they know who does.

You will probably get one of the following varieties: ‘Brown Turkey’: Brown fruit tinged with purple.

‘Chicago Hardy’: Small red fruit with rosy pulp known for hardiness.

‘Celeste’: Small fruit, purple when ripe, with red pulp.

Garden indoors with Nullam

Simple, elegant and stackable.

Three convenient sizes to choose from.

nullam.ca localgardener.net

1-204-899-9425 Issue 3

2020 • 15

Gardens of Spain Story and photos by Gail Murray

Central courtyard of Palacio de las Duenas, Seville.

Recently, Gail Murray was part of a tour of gardens in Spain led by Master Gardener Donna Dawson and Johnathan Lord. Here are some highlight from the first three days in Granada, Cordoba and Seville.

Granada I’ve dreamed of the Alhambra since Spanish class in high school. Granada’s Alhambra Palace, last stronghold of Moorish rule, remains an outstanding example of medieval architecture, a testament to the role of nature in everyday life of Islam. The Iberian Peninsula flourished under Muslim rule for 800 years—their influence runs deep.

According to Islamic tradition, the courtyard depicts the Quran’s symbol of paradise. The Alhambra’s fountains and reflecting pools provide solace.

The Courtyard of the Lions, with its twelve marble lions representing royalty and power, stands as a focal point and respite in the sultan’s private dwellings.

16 • 2020

Gail Murray on her Spanish garden tour.

I climbed terraced slopes on walkways paved with a mosaic of river pebbles, passing cypress hedges, velvet roses, lemon, orange and pomegranate trees and was entranced as we reached the Generalife, the sultan’s summer palace and retreat. The Courtyard of the Cypress is the best preserved medieval Persian garden in Europe.

Inside the complex, The Water Garden Courtyard—a long pool framed by Issue 3

flowerbeds and colonnades—delights with its tinkling fountains.

Cordoba In Cordoba, wandering the stately formal gardens of the Alcazar, I can imagine the reprieve Queen Isabel found as she read among palms, fountains, and neatly trimmed boxwood.

At the Mezquita or Great Mosque, a UNESCO world heritage site, I learn that the concept of a mosque originated localgardener.net

Alcazar Palace Gardens, Cordoba.

Palacio de los Viana, Cordoba.

Courtyard of Lemons, Palacio de las Duenas, Seville.

as Mohammed and his followers met for prayer under date palms to protect them from the scorching sun. The forest of columns strikes me as the most striking feature of this sacred place. For three centuries the Great Mosque of Cordoba held a place of importance amongst the Islamic community of al-Andalus. It is from al-Andalus that Spain’s southern region takes its name Andalusia.

A courtyard, fundamental to any localgardener.net

Palacio de Portocarrero, Cordoba.

mosque, functions as a place for ritual purification. At the Mezquita, the Courtyard of the Orange Trees with its palms, orange trees and bubbling fountain, not only serves this purpose but an aesthetic one.

The Moors ruled much of the Iberian Peninsula from 711 CE to 1492, during the Reconquista. It was their custom to carry a small bit of nature. From this ancient belief sprang the potted plant.

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In Cordoba bright blue pots with colorful plants climb whitewashed city walls creating vertical ‘gardens in the sky’. In a central square I come upon a whimsical sculpture of a young woman painstakingly watering each individual pot.

The megaron in ancient Greece and the atrium in Rome were open courtyards within the house serving as a place to socialize and enjoy intimate family space. The key elements, both 2020 • 17

then and today, include clay pots, vines, fruit trees, wrought iron grates, ceramic tile and a water feature. Water offers a visual and aural oasis in torrid summer.

The Palacio de los Viana, home to many noble families between the 15th and 20th centuries, remains a private residence with a dozen unique patio gardens open to the public. Some stunning plant material found in their designs are scented jasmine, pink oleander, blue plumbago and lemon and pomegranate trees.

Seville Bougainvillea covered Palacio de las Duenas, palatial home of the Duchess of Alba, recently opened in 2016 after her passing. Today it is a museum with exquisite Mudejar patios. Lavishly furnished rooms decorated with fine art, antiques, marble sculptures, and Flemish tapestries surround a huge central courtyard. Smaller courtyards, a total of six, run off the grand central courtyard with its palms, roses, boxwood allees and giant kapok tree.

In 1875 celebrated Spanish poet Antonio Machado was born at las Duenas. Along with lemon trees, Mudejar tile and an erotic statue of Venus in the Courtyard of Lemons stands a plaque I am drawn to. This plaque honors Machado with lines familiar to every Sevillano: My childhood memories are of a patio in Seville And a bright orchard where a lemon tree ripens.

Maria Luisa Park in Seville supplies a welcome greenspace acting as lungs for this thriving city of 705,000. It reminds me of Central Park in New York. The area is designed in Moorish paradisiacal style with ponds, fountains, lush plantings, Mediterranean pines, stylized flower beds and hidden vine-covered bowers. Not only is the park a botanical garden but home to doves, ducks, swans and parakeets. The statue of poet Bécquer and the octagonal fountains of lions and comical frogs spouting water provide interest and entertainment.

The Plaza de Espana, built for the 1929 Spanish American Exhibition, is a brilliant landmark in the North West area of Maria Luisa Park. Venetian foot bridges with bright blue azulejotiled handrails cross canals and colorful balustrades depict a historical scene from each province. d

Maria Luisa Park, Seville.

Cypress Court, Alhambra, Grendada.

Statue of a woman in a square in Cordoba.

18 • 2020

Issue 3

localgardener.net

Wildflowers and weeds

Bachelor buttons

By Shauna Dobbie and Dorothy Dobbie

Perennial bachelor button.

Annual Who doesn’t like bachelor buttons?

A tuft here or there growing out of the pavement reminds you that, no matter the will of humans, nature will always win in the end. They pop up in the most unexpected places, you think they must be native. But they aren’t.

Centaurea cyanus is a European annual. They like sandy loam soils and are often found in and around grain crops, giving the flower one of its many common names, cornflower.

Other common names are bluebottle, blue bonnets, brooms and brushes, corn blinks, ladder love, logger heads, miller’s delight and witch bells.

Natural occurrences of bachelor buttons, where the plant has long occurred and isn’t a garden escapee, have declined steadily over the past 100 years owing to herbicides used by farmers. The poor flower relied on its good looks for millennia and never developed such species-preserving traits as long-lived seeds. Nonetheless, it is pervasive in warmer temperate areas, even being called invasive in BC and a couple of states to the south.

One of the curious things about bachelor buttons is the cyan-blue colour in its Latin name. Many of nature’s blues are ephemeral: the blue of a butterfly’s wings is a trick of the light, the purply-blue of coloured localgardener.net

Annual bachelor button.

beans and broccoli disappears when you cook them. But the blue of bachelor buttons survives drying and maintains its blueness; dried bachelor buttons in King Tut’s tomb had lain there for over 3000 years and lost little of their colour.

They are edible but don’t taste fantastic; still, the flowers do add a striking blue to a salad. They can be used to make dye or ink, or they can be decocted to make a rinse for eyes. They do have some effect as an anti-inflammatory, but other plants are better for it.

There are cultivated varieties you can grow in shades from almost black to almost white, with pink and lavender in between. Often seed companies will throw them all together in one package or add them to a meadow mix.

If you decide to plant some bachelor buttons, sow seeds in early spring in a full-sun area. They aren’t fussy as to soil but do better in alkaline soil, and once established are drought tolerant.

Sow directly in the garden as soon as you can get a trowel in, about 2 inches apart, and cover seeds with ½ inch of soil.

Perennial Have you ever heard of the perennial Centaurea montana?

As lovely as the annual C. cyanthus is, the perennial might better be called enchanting with its delicate star-shaped Issue 3

petals reaching out in an airy circle above a darker, more violet centre.

Native to Europe, the perennial bachelor button has gained bad reputation in some parts of the country and is considered a noxious weed in British Columbia because it will self-seed and has persistent and stoloniferous roots.

It is hardy in Zones 3 to 8, although it is less invasive in colder regions. It likes a sunny location but will also survive in leafy shade.

Because this flower has escaped gardens in many regions, it is often thought to be a native plant but there are only two centaureas native to North America. One of them, C. americana, also known as the American starthistle and as basket flower, occurs in the South-Central United States and North East Mexico. C. rothrockii, its cousin, is showier with similar pink to mauve petals and a creamy centre, but it’s flowers are larger (five inches across) with longer petals that sometimes recline.

An unusual C. montana is ‘Amethyst in Snow’. It has a circlet of creamy petals surrounding blue-purple centre.

Unlike annual bachelor buttons, the perennials will not steal the show in the garden. Two- to three-foot stalks support a single delicate flower; the most rewarding way to see them is up close. d 2020 • 19

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Piccolima’ cabbage.

‘Scarrossa’ napa cabbage.

‘Fire Away Hot and Heavy’ pepper.

‘Burgundy’ broccoli.

Art Combe’s Ancient watermelon seeds.

What’s hot, what’s new

By Shauna Dobbie

Vegetables ‘Piccolima’ cabbage (Brassica oleracea). Small cabbages!

These adorable little guys max out at half a pound. They are sweet and tender, ideal for fresh eating. Plant height 12 inches, best in sun. Days to harvest: 40 to 60, depending on the size you want. Rijk Zwaan USA. ‘Burgundy’ broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica).

Purple broccoli amongst green leaves from beginning to end. It’s a sprouting broccoli, which means smaller heads of flowers on longer stems. This is a tender and sweet type that keeps its crunch for a crudite platter. Full sun, height 24 inches, spread 36 inches. 60 days from transplant to harvest. Bejo Seeds.

‘Scarrossa’ napa cabbage (Brassica rapa). Gorgeous saturated magenta napa cabbage with violet internal ribs 20 • 2020

and veins. It takes longer to head than green varieties and the heads are less dense, but oh, the colour! Bolts less than other purples. Will take partial sun. Height 12 inches, spread 12 inches. Days to harvest: 65. Osborne Quality Seeds.

‘Fire Away Hot and Heavy’ pepper (Capiscum annuum). A pretty little pepper that offers a bit of heat, just a little more than a jalapeno. Ripens to a deep red.

Plants grow to 24 inches and require full sun. Peppers are ready to harvest 65 to 72 days after they appear. Proven Winners.

Art Combe’s Ancient watermelon seeds (Citrullus lanatus). Growing up to 20 pounds in the right area! This oblong watermelon dates back to the 1920s when plant historian Art Combe found the seeds in an ancient vessel in a cave.

These are the descendents of those seeds. Sweet and red. 95 to 100 days to maturity. Heritage Harvest Seed.

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localgardener.net

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Pretzel bean.

‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’ basil.

Succotash bean.

Succotash bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). These dark purple seeds were the original succotash beans used by the Narragansett aboriginal people of Rhode Island. Heritage Harvest Seeds recommends you try them in soups. 105-110 days to maturity. Heritage Harvest Seed.

‘Dark Galaxy’ tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). ‘Dark Galaxy’). A gorgeous, masculine-looking tomato. It goes from all purple to the beautiful stripey rust colour as it ripens.

70 days from transplant to maturity. Heritage Harvest Seed.

Pretzel bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp.). This is a type of cow pea that grows in a charming curled pod on a twinning vine. You can eat them young and fresh or keep them until they’ve dried and cook them like black-eyed peas. 70 days to maturity. Heritage Harvest Seed.

Herb

Annuals ‘Plum Dandy’ alternathera (Alternathera hybrid). Alternathera is a classic foliage plant for pots. This one is a yummy plum shade that grows 10 to 16 inches high, 12 to 20 inches spread. Likes part sun to sun. Proven Winners.

‘Harmony Double’ anemone (Anemone coronario). Fully double red flowers that go white where they attach to a black centre. Wow. The corms are difficult to store, so plant new ones the next year. You can mulch well and try protecting them in Zone 6. Sun-loving spring plant. Plant them 5 inches apart and watch them grow to about 10 inches high. Sakata Seed America.

‘Funky White’ begonia (Begonia x hybrid). White begonia with the longer petal found in the Funky series. The singles are particularly enchanting for the veining on them that makes them look almost orchid-like. Doubles have a charming ragged look. Grows to 18 inches high and wide, preferring shade but tolerating sun. Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Sakata Seed America.

‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’ basil (Ocimum basilicum).

This basil has a fantastic Genovese flavour and is good for eating fresh in a caprese salad. Or you can chop it for pesto or adding to recipes. It is columnar and here’s the clincher: it flowers 10 to 12 weeks later than standard basil, which

is perfect, because you don’t want your basil to flower!

Plant height is 24 inches, spread is 8 inches. Sun-lover.

PanAmerican Seeds.

‘Plum Dandy’ alternathera. localgardener.net

‘Harmony Double’ anemone.

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Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Dark Galaxy’ tomato.

‘Funky White’ begonia.

2020 • 21

‘Heart to Heart’ caladiums.

‘Campfire Flame’ bidens.

‘Goldilocks Rocks’ bidens (Bidens ferulifolia). This plant is as tough as it is pretty. Yellow daisies up to 3 inches across bloom continually throughout the season. 8 to 14 inches tall, 10 to 20 inches across. Likes full sun. Proven Winners.

‘Campfire Flame’ bidens (Bidens hybrid). A filler for the container with deep orange flowers through the heat of summer and paler orange in the spring and fall.

Reblooms continually and no deadheading is necessary. 8 to 14 inches high and 10 to 16 inches spread. Part sun to sun. Proven Winners.

‘Heart to Heart’ caladiums (Caladium hortulanum).

A whole series of new caladiums in a variety of colours.

Plant them outside in part shade for the summer or keep them inside in a sunny window. They grow to fourteen inches high and across. Proven Winners.

‘Aloha Nani Calibash’ calibrachoa (Calibrachoa hybrid). Deep-orange splashed with yellow-orange flowers on a semi-upright calibrachoa. Compact form. Low maintenance. Full sun. Height of 12 inches, spread of 12 inches.

Dummen Orange.

22 • 2020

‘Double Blue’ calibrachoa.

‘Aloha Nani Calibash’ calibrachoa.

takes the filler role in a container and needs no deadheading. Up to 24 inches long with a spread of 12 inches. Sun to part sun. Proven Winners.

‘Double Blue’ calibrachoa (Calibrachoa hybrid). The colour on these double calibrachoa is just sensational. Running to a very blue shade of purple, it is joined by ‘Double Amber’ and ‘Double Orange’ in this year’s lineup. Up to 24 inches long with a spread of 12 inches.

Sun to part sun. Proven Winners.

‘Champion II’ Canterbury bells (Campanula annuum). Deep bell-shaped flowers bloom prolifically on each stem. Comes in deep blue, lilac, pink and rose.

A sun-lover, 36 inches in height and 10 inches across.

Sakata Seed America.

‘Maui Sunrise’ elephant’s ear (Colocasia esculenta). All elephant’s ears bring the tropics to your garden and this one does it with wide white veining. So beautiful. Almost 4 feet tall by 2 feet across. Happy in sun or shade. Proven Winners.

‘Champion II’ Canterbury bells.

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Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Skata Seed America.

‘Silver Falls’ dichondra (Dichondra argentea). An allsilvery green version of this spilling foliage plant, beloved for its toughness in a container. Spills to 48 inches, spreads 18 to 36 inches. Part to full sun. Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Blackcurrant Punch’ calibrachoa (Calibrachoa hybrid). A deep black eye around a yellow central throat is eye-catching in these fuchsia flowers. This trailing annual

‘Blackcurrant Punch’ calibrachoa.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Goldilocks Rocks’ bidens.

‘Maui Sunrise’ elephant’s ear.

‘Silver Falls’ dichondra. localgardener.net

Photos courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Diamond Snow’ euphorbia.

‘Mariska’ fuchsia.

‘Diamond Snow’ euphorbia (Euphorbia hybrid). The latest in the ‘Diamond’ series of euphorbia. This one is truly new, with double bracts, the little white “flowers” that cover these plants, instead of singles. Trails to 18 inches, spread to 18 inches, likes part to full sun. As a bonus, this plant will survive indoors in a very sunny window! Proven Winners.

‘Mariska’ fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrid). Big pink and purple blooms are an improvement on ‘Lambada’ (a similar cultivar), with blooms facing more upward and outward.

Likes partial sun to shade. About 12 inches high and wide. Beekenkamp Plants.

‘Tricolor’ sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas). Pointy green leaves with a creamy margin edged in pink. In a sweet potato vine! Wow. Trails as long as 72 inches with a spread of up to 36 inches. Likes part sun to sun. Proven Winners.

‘King Tut’ sweet pea (Lathyrus azureus). Sky-blue sweet pea flowers on vines! Heritage recommends letting them sprawl as a groundcover.

‘Northern Lights’ spurred snapdragon (Linaria maroccana). This relative of toadflax, the pretty yellow weed that is poisonous to livestock, comes in pink, yellow, red and purple. It has long nectar spurs, beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds and grow in sun to part shade. 18 to 28 inches.

‘Sunstar Lavender’ Egyptian star flower (Pentas lanceolata). Egyptian starflowers are from Africa, where they’re perennial. Those of us below Zone 9 or 10 will just have to make do with using them as annuals. Big clusters of five-petaled flowers. In addition to the lavender, Proven Winners is coming out with versions in pink, red and rose this year. Part to full sun, height up to 22 inches with spread up to 24 inches. Proven Winners.

‘Campion Sibella’ catchfly (Silene pendula). Actually a biennial, you’d be better to buy this one from a nursery and treat it as an annual. This is a new shape for Silene pendula; it works beautifully in a planter. Works in sun or shade, height to 12 inches, spread to 12 inches. Van Hermert & Co.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Patti’s Pink’ star flower (Isotoma axillaris). Such pretty pink flowers! Five-petaled stars on thread-like foliage dance daintily above whatever you mix them with.

Proven Winners considers it a filler in a container, but it could really stand on its own. No deadheading and continuous bloom. Height and spread to 14 inches. Needs sun. Proven Winners.

‘Patti’s Pink’ star flower.

‘Tricolor’ sweet potato vine.

‘King Tut’ sweet pea. localgardener.net

‘Northern Lights’ spurred snapdragon.

‘Sunstar Lavender’ Egyptian star flower.

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‘Campion Sibella’ catchfly.

2020 • 23

Alba variegated Chinese orchid.

‘SunSeekers Salmon’ echinacea.

Perennials

flowering sedum has variegated foliage. Green leaves with a yellow margin. Likes full sun and grows to 8 inches high and 18 inches spread. Listed as hardy to Zone 4. Proven Winners.

‘SunSeekers Salmon’ echinacea (Echinacea). Flowers emerge, semi-doubled, in salmon-pink with a few soft yellow petals in the centre, then mature to pale pink with a big, dark crimson cone. Fragrant and attractive to pollinators. Drought tolerant. Full to partial sun. Height 18 inches, spread to 24 inches. Zone 3. Breck’s.

Shrubs ‘Sunjoy Sequins’ barberry (Berberis thubergii). This barberry changes colour throughout the season, starting out white, pink and minty green and turning emerald in the summer. Proven Winners.

Alba variegated Chinese orchid (Bletilla striata). Is it a daffodil? Or an iris? No, it’s a gorgeous bletilla, almost pure white, with a hint of purple, and a kind of striated beard.

Oh, and the kicker? Variegated strappy leaves! One to 2 feet tall. Likes partial shade. Hardy to Zone 5. Veseys.

‘Golden Shadows’ pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia). Yellow leaves with a spot of green at the centre on this pagoda dogwood takes it from a typical (but nicely shaped) tree to a standout in the garden. Part to full sun. Height and spread of 12 feet. Proven Winners says it is hardy to Zone 4 but we’re betting it’ll be fine to Zone 3. Proven Winners.

‘Black Tie Affair’ hellebore (Helleborus). White petals edged in eggplant black surround yellow stamens. Likes sun or a bit of shade. Grows to 2 feet. Hardy to Zone 4. Veseys.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

Photos courtesy of Proven Winners.

‘Boogie Woogie’ stonecrop (Sedum hybrid). This yellow

‘Boogie Woogie’ stonecrop.

24 • 2020

‘Black Tie Affair’ hellebore.

‘Sunjoy Sequins’ barberry.

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‘Golden Shadows’ pagoda dogwood. localgardener.net

‘Flare’ hydrangea.

‘Winecraft Gold’ smokebush.

‘Ringo’ rose.

‘Winecraft Gold’ smokebush (Cotinus coggygria). A beautiful chartreuse tone for this tree. The flowers are a greeny-white. Grows 6 feet high and wide in part to full sun. Proven Winners gives it a hardiness rating of USDA 5, but we think it might survive in Canadian Zone 4 or even lower. Proven Winners. d

‘Emily Brontë’ rose (Rosa). Fully double that opens up to a nearly flat flower. The centre is apricot and the rest is a delicate pink. Blooms well from early summer until frost and has a strong tea fragrance with old rose, lemon and grapefruit. Needs 4 or 5 hours of sun per day. 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Rated to Zone 6 without winter protection. David Austin Roses.

‘Kolmavesu’ or ‘Flare’ hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata). These spikes start out white and transition to deep pink or even red at the end of summer. So beautiful! And so hardy; the shrub can handle temperatures down to -40 degrees. If you are a hydrangea collector, this is one to add to your stockpile. 2 to 3 feet wide and tall. Prefers part sun.

Hardy to Zone 3, maybe Zone 2. Van Belle Nursery.

‘The Mill on the Floss’ rose (Rosa). A full-bodied English rose with big pink blooms edged in red and a sweet, fruity fragrance. Likes part to full sun. 4 1/2 feet tall by 4 feet wide. Likes part to full sun. Zone 6 without winter protection. David Austin Roses.

‘Tottering-by-Gently’ rose (Rosa). David Austin’s first yellow single rose! It’s a beauty, with 5-petaled blooms that soften to a creamy tint over time. The flowers have a light musky scent with notes of orange peel.

The shrub grows to 4 by 4 feet. Grows in partial or full sun. Zone 6 without winter protection. David Austin Roses. d

Photo courtesy of David Austin Roses.

Photo courtesy of David Austin Roses.

‘Ringo’ rose (Rosa). A two-toned rose is not so common as to be unremarkable, but this one stuns on so many levels.

It’s a single rose that is yellow with a seriously red centre; as the bloom ages, the yellow softens to creamy white and the red to pink. Plus it’s a repeat bloomer and it’s diseaseresistant. Wow. Hardy to at least Zone 5. Grows to 3 or 4 feet high and wide. Likes full sun. Proven Winners.

‘Emily Brontë’ rose. localgardener.net

‘The Mill on the Floss’ rose.

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‘Tottering-by-Gently’ rose.

2020 • 25

Columnar trees C

olumnar accent trees have been popular in recent years. It could be because of the strong impression that a tall columnar form makes in the flat prairie landscape.

For many residents, it may reflect the longing for the statuesque, pillarlike forms of the Lombardy poplar, a tree which was so widely grown in Europe, eastern Canadian provinces and adjoining states with similar Zone 4 and up climatic zones but rarely survives in colder Zone 2 and 3 conditions.

For colder climates, the columnar Swedish aspen (Populus tremula ‘Erecta’) became the popular choice of northern gardeners as an accent tree for the past 35 years and nothing could remove it from its dominant position until the fungal bronze leaf disease (BLD) established itself as a major disease in the past 15 years.

Gardeners are now asking: “What alternative columnar trees are available for northern zones?” Here is what you can grow, where you should plant it, and how to maintain several of the newer alternatives of columnar trees.

Guardian aspen. Tree breeders have been searching for disease resistance in the aspen family and the newly released Guardian aspen, from Jeffries Nurseries in Manitoba, has shown good resistance. It is a complex hybrid of the columnar Swedish aspen and shows many of the characteristics of its parent including dark green foliage, columnar growth form, male seedless character and superb hardiness. It is becoming known and available as the alternative choice for gardeners who have a wish to have a tree similar to columnar Swedish aspen. It is available in a range of sizes at prairie nurseries and garden centres and there is no substitute for Guardian and its proven disease resistance.

‘Sundancer’ poplar. A recent introduction from the former PFRA Tree Nursery in Saskatchewan, ‘Sundancer’ has been growing in popularity as its features have become known. It is more closely related to the cottonwood poplars but has a totally different crown structure. It propagates well from hardwood stem cuttings, has rapid growth, excellent leaf rust

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Story and photos by Wilbert Ronald

‘Guardian’ aspen.

‘Sundancer’ poplar.

resistance, stem canker resistance and is not susceptible to the BLD affecting the columnar Swedish aspen.

It is capable of growth up to 6 feet per year as a young established tree and trees have reached 70 feet at 18 years of age in nursery plantings. The rapid growth rate and ultimate height dictates that this tree is most suited to larger acreages, parks and farms. It is widely available as smaller bare root or smaller container grown plants and the generally lower price point makes it suited for shelter and screen plantings. For a shelterbelt, trees should be planted 6 to 10 feet apart in the row.

‘Parkland Pillar’ birch. A new columnar birch tree known as ‘Parkland Pillar’, selected by Alberta’s Parkland Nursery and Landscaping in Red Deer, has become a popular accent tree in the last 5 years. It has grown to a height of 30 feet and width of 6 feet in 8 years in prairie landscapes. It is a mid-size tree with striking golden fall colour, white bark and healthy green Issue 3

foliage. Since it is in the birch family, it requires adequate moisture to grow well. Use this Asiatic birch with care in suitable planting sites and mulch it well to keep the roots cool and moist.

Birch trees are generally susceptible to bronze birch borer and leaf miners and require moisture in periods of drought. Good gardening practises will help you to enjoy this striking columnar tree and, while it may not be regarded as an exceptionally longlived tree, there is no reason why it cannot prove a valued accent tree.

Spire crabapple. Recently, dramatic progress has been made in the breeding of a new group of columnar flowering crab apples and gardeners now have several choices to draw from in various forms and foliage colours in the Spire series. These columnar trees trace to early breeding work by Dr. David Lane of the Summerland Research Centre who crossed ‘Thunderchild’ crabs with columnar apples.

Three cultivars are named and availlocalgardener.net

able with a fourth to follow in the 2020 growing season. They include the oldest cultivar Purple Spire, with purple foliage and the green-silver foliaged Emerald Spire, developed from Purple Spire. Both are dense columnar trees and have moderate flowering with fruit about 1 ½ inches in diameter. The ‘Thunderchild’ parentage imparts excellent fire blight resistance and hardiness to this group of trees.

The most recent columnar Spire introduction is the Green Wall cultivar, with its dense dark green foliage, showy white spring flowers and smaller bright red fruit which is held on the branches, a great advancement for the gardener who is worried about fruit drop. The superior flowering and smaller fruit size are a step up from earlier cultivars and as the name implies, this tree will make an excellent accent or barrier in the landscape.

Next year the shiny dark purple foliaged Indigo Spire is set for introduction and it likewise has smaller fruit and excellent disease resistance and hardiness. These trees have reached a spread of 6 feet and height of 20 feet at 20 years of age. The only downside to the columnar crab apples has been browsing deer which may eat low hanging foliage and fruit. This would not be a problem in most city landscapes but could be a problem in the country.

Green Spires and Sutherland pea shrubs. One other columnar tree that deserves mention is the columnar form of pea shrubs (Caragana hybrids). Green Spires is the newest pea shrub and trees have matured at 6 feet wide and 12 feet tall at 12 years of age. It has beautiful golden yellow flowers which are sterile, and the tree has dense green foliage. An older pea shrub, developed in Saskatchewan, is Sutherland. These are both tough, hardy trees and have a place in the prairie landscape as a unique specialty plant.

Columnar trees are generally low maintenance trees that have an important role as accent and screening plants for the prairie landscape.

They may require pruning to keep a central leader if the tree leader was damaged in handling or construction. Like any tree or shrub, watering and mulching are helpful in establishment. Although the day may be past for the columnar Swedish aspen, newer alternatives offer good choiclocalgardener.net

‘Parkland Pillar’ birch.

‘Green Wall’ crabapple.

‘Green Spire’ aspen.

‘Purple Spire’ crabapple.

es for height, flowering and foliage colour. Choose wisely to suit the tree to the specific location and you will not be disappointed. Remember the Issue 3

ultimate growing size of the tree you are buying and plan accordingly so that you have years of enjoyment in your landscape. d 2020 • 27

The front yard is prelude to the dizzying plantation of flowers in the back garden.

Beautiful Gardens Wendy Mallard Stony Plain, Alberta Story by Dorothy Dobbie, photos by Dorothy Dobbie and Shauna Dobbie

W

endy Mallard’s garden is a dizzying collection of flowers, colour and memorabilia. You can’t miss it from the street—the front yard, while neatly mowed and trimmed, splashes colour carelessly at all passersby. You cannot not look!

The tidy lawn edges a perfectly kept drive and walkway which give way to a glory of red roses, pink poppies, blue linen and purple lobelia, punctuated here and there

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These beautiful pink poppies somehow manage to stand out in the riot of colour that is the front garden.

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Overlooking the garden from Wendy’s deck.

The replica grain elevator on top of Wendy’s gazebo reminds her of home. localgardener.net

The garden shed resides in a quieter part of the yard.

Red coral bells, orange poppies and purple and pink pansies fight the lupines for attention.

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The view of the back garden as you enter it from the front. It appears cool and calm – until you round the corner.

Wendy makes beautiful quilts as part of her need to

by the fading spikes of an assortment of lupines. The green hostas strive to calm things down, the happy exuberance of the flowering garden provides impressive competition. Over it all, a pair of ornate lamp posts stands ready to shed light at the first sign of dusk.

Wendy’s colour sense is not subdued. She happily mixes the pallet, daring nature to prove her wrong. Her pots full of annuals assert their presence with as much authority as do the madly blooming perennials.

But this display has nothing on what awaits the visitor to the back yard of this corner lot. In a sunny corner, flowers rule the garden. You can see that they have been chosen carefully to keep the bloom going all summer long and, just in case they get tired, there are annuals to pick up the task. Pink and red astrantia (Hattie’s

There are quiet parts of the garden, where the shade calls for rest.

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Wendy, a woman of warmth.

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express her creative genius.

Wendy gets to play house in her garden. It is a child’s paradise with all sorts of lovely surprises.

pincushion), purple delphinium and veronica, more orange and red poppies, yellow and purple pansies and multi-coloured chrysanthemums (to name just some) are assisted by big containers full of annuals such as the orange and white firecracker flower, and fluorescent petunias, geranium, and salvias. Fat orange lily buds are ready to join the party any day. Occasionally, an exotic canna thrusts its brilliant blossoms into the air, its aggressive leaves pushing the less boisterous northern flowers to one side. The garden hums with bees and life.

A pot of strawberries hangs in the sun near a gazeboenclosed double swing, over which is spread a lovely quilt made by Wendy, the colours surprisingly less forceful than those in the garden.

Wendy also loves garden décor. She delights in creat-

Walkway to the back garden, every inch filled with plants. localgardener.net

Using found building materials as part of the garden decor is a hall mark of the garden.

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The perfect spot for afternoon tea or some of Wendy’s delicious baking.

Red roses in the front garden.

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Potted fllowers on the deck.

ing little miniature vignettes: a small farmyard here, a child-sized tea table (painted orange) set for tea, there.

Throughout the garden, there are all sorts of treasures: an iridescent gazing ball pretending to be a spider, an ornamental copper watering wand, a giant butterfly that could be a chair—or just an ornament, because a smaller replica hangs from a post elsewhere. In one corner, a large turquoise metal bird feeder in the shape of a rudbeckia flower lords it over the lupines and poppies and coral bells. A garden angel prays in the sunlight. An optimistic blue ceramic bird broods in a straw nest.

She also loves reminders of the farm and there are many, including a friendly metal chicken in the front yard and an old wheelbarrow overflowing with bright blue pansies and tradescantia. Abandoned metal wagon wheels appear from time to time. An old wooden rocker supports a basin of plants The shrubs are not quiet either. The brilliant, limecoloured leaves of golden ninebark are staged against their burgundy cousin. Beside a mountain ash, a dark

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Little vignettes such as this remind Wendy of her childhood home on the farm.

leafed crabapple tree offers fruit to the birds that flock here to enjoy the bounty.

In the shadier parts of the garden, near the roughhewn garden shed, giant hosta prosper. The shed walls support old wash basins and various farm objects. An ancient cook stove is now a place to put plants.

Wendy not only loves to garden but she also joined a photography club and she bakes mouth-watering goodies for visiting guests. She has a warm, comforting personality with a smile to match. Her garden reflects her joie de vivre. d

Wendy loves novelties.

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Beautiful Gardens Mary Wright

Denare Beach, Saskatchewan Story by Dorothy Dobbie, photos by Dorothy Dobbie and Shauna Dobbie

W

hen you think of Flin Flon, Manitoba, you mostly conjure up visions of a mine headframe or perhaps famous hockey players from the past such as Bobby Clark or Eric Nestarenko. Some might even have heard about Flon Flon’s amazing arts community – but the last thing you would think of is beautiful gardens.

Yet, Flin Flon is the home of many beautiful gardens, not the least of which is the garden grown, not exactly in Flin Flon but at nearby Denare Beach, Saskatchewan, by Mary Wright.

Mary is a gardener to the very marrow of her bones.

And how lucky was the day when she met Edgar, a geologist who also loves to garden. “We are both in the sciences,” says Mary, “so we like to experiment.” Mary is a medical lab technologist and Edgar is a geologist.

Their backyard is a natural amphitheatre, carved out of the greenstone in this Canadian Shield community.

The landscape dictates some of the garden design, but that doesn’t deter the determination of this gardener to impose her own understanding of nature on the terrain.

Nature benefits from the arrangement. For example, she loves the shape and form of the invasive but beautiful Phragmites reed grass which spreads aggressively.

She tames it in a large pot sunk into the earth.

This is not some country garden created in just any slipshod fashion. It follows a clear set of design parameters that include paved limestone pathways that lead one through the experience, raised beds and wellthought-out plant selections, each carefully nestled in a bed of nourishing mulch.

And here is where some of the wonder sets in, because Mary has an amazing collection of plants that one would scarcely expect to see in the Zone 2b garden, or even in a Winnipeg garden, for that matter. That’s because she really knows her plants and favours the hardier varieties that may seem exotic because they are often not carried by greenhouses further south. But Mary and Edgar shop all over the world for seeds that meet their needs. “I learned so much about growing in northern Canada through a company called Gardens North,” says Mary. Gardens North is no longer in busi-

34 • 2020

This is no slipshod garden. It follows a deliberate and well thought out design.

Garden as viewed from the street.

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An obelisk supports vines. localgardener.net

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The garden is well laid out and an ingenious greenhouse accommodates vegetables that need spring protection.

Phragmites buried in a pot to keep it under control.

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Sedums and rock cress grow in granite

The vegetable crop is springing ahead despite cooler temperatures of the early summer.

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crannies.

This lovely small, native maple is like an ornament in the garden. localgardener.net

ness, but they taught Mary how she could stretch the envelope. Indeed, she grows a Japanese maple in her garden, keeping it small and well protected through the harsh winters.

Mary is also proud of her primrose collection: she has drumsticks and others. Primroses are generally hardy to Zones 4 and up.

Some of the less common plants in the garden include a shrubby Clematis integrifolia ‘Caerula’, sold by one grower as bushy blue bell clematis. It is a clumping plant rising two feet tall on sturdy stalks with stunning blue flowers consisting of four narrow petals surrounding a protruding, pale-yellow centre. This native clematis will reward later in the year with silky seedpods that glow in the sunlight—and it likes full sun.

Ranunculus acris is often seen in Europe but less so here, although it is a happy Zone 3 plant. Called buttercup with several different descriptors, such as meadow and tall and showy, this pretty little plant naturally comes with a five-petaled, single flower head. ‘Flore pleno’, the type being grown by Mary, has a manypetaled, one-inch, yellow flowerhead. Its cousin, the glamorous hybrid ranunculus is often sold early in the summer at street-side flower shops in places such as Toronto, where its stunning three- to four-inch flowers come in many colours and steal the show. You can grow it here, but only as a summer flower.

Another little-seen plant that deserves more space in our gardens is Dodecatheon meadia, the shooting star flower. It, too, is native to North America, but has been bred and refined into a showstopper. The flowers look like little birds with laid-back, mauve petals surrounding a yellow corona that looks like a bird’s head with a sharp beak attached to it.

Those are some of the highlights, but Mary has a very large selection. She has Centaurea montana, the perennial bachelor button, and lupin and dianthus and, of course, rock cress growing from various crannies in the bedrock. Bright yellow leopard’s bane and species tulips stand out among the pink flowers of Allium oreophilum.

A pleasant surprise is a very large ‘Therese Bugnet’ rose with huge pink blossoms, in addition to a couple of Morden roses.

It is early in the year for Flin Flon—rather late June, but you can feel the energy waiting to burst forth into a riot of colour throughout the garden. The full potential lies still snuggled in greenery, with buds just beginning to form on many fascinating species. The saskatoon berries have already begun to swell and the spirea is in full dress.

In the vegetable plot behind some pea netting and lying low against the ground like a giant caterpillar is a little plastic greenhouse. It shelters the early-started veggies inside. When the days get warmer, the plastic will come down and the kitchen garden will be able to grow with all the vigour of a southern garden. The greenhouse is not the only nursery. Harboured near the house and waiting for planting out are numerous pots filled with new arrivals and some that have been in the nursery being nursed. Nothing is too good for Mary’s babies.

This is a lovely little garden, set to capture the sun, but the added warmth from the gardeners is the true magic. d Issue 3

2020 • 37

Dodecatheon meadia, the shooting star flower.

Allium oreophilum.

Highbush cranberry.

Ranunculus acris, ‘Flore Pleno’, really a double flowering buttercup.

Get social with Canada’s Local Gardener www.localgardener.net 38 • 2020

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Clematis integrifolium Caerula.

Clematis integrifolium Caerula.

Echium russicum Russian bugloss.

We only want to cut.

Take the yawn out of the lawn!

All you have to do is enjoy it!

204-999-8174 | www.handyhandsconstruction.ca localgardener.net

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2020 • 39

Brian and Linda Hethering

Beautiful Gardens Brian and Linda Hetherington Inverary, Ontario Story and photos by Shauna Dobbie

B

rian and Linda Hetherington have 20 acres, including a wood lot and 1000 feet along the shore of Dog Lake, near Inverary, Ontario, not far from Kingston. It is the site of their magical garden comprised of rooms and rooms of flowers, vegetables, trees and art.

The gardens are all centred around an old farmhouse, spreading out in rooms. In front of the house there is a big peony bed, or rather, peonies were still dominating when I visited, just starting to die down, with goat’s beard, balloon flowers and hostas ready to take their place. Around to the right is a rose garden, a potager, and a swimming pool. To the left of the house is the water area, with a waterfall that seems to come from the forest behind, into a stream and a pond down at ground level, all well covered by plants.

A big anthropomorphized frog with a human nose sits by the pond, wearing a yellow tee shirt; his hands rest upright in the om position, but his eyes are

The waterfall comes down from the forest.

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Peonies and a pink lupin in front of goat’s beard.

Clematis climbing an old antenna.

Frog, about to meditate, by the side of the pond. localgardener.net

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2020 • 41

A cool spot for a meal or some tea.

The greenhouse.

open, like he is about to meditate.

There are fairy gardens along a walkway, well-shaded but with lashings of light pouring down. Several scenes of tiny cottages nestle, not far from a brilliant blue waterway where one winged fellow fishes and another maiden dips her toes. Perhaps it’s Sunday in the fairy village because a few of the inhabitants sit on little Muskoka chairs or benches, soaking up the outdoors.

Along the back of the human-sized garden—not of the property, but the garden; the back of the property is well beyond the forest—there are some windows worked into a fence built of old barn boards. The windows were stained and painted by Linda, into scenes of outdoor life. She’s an artist, and though her work is mainly in rughooking now, it was painting in the past. The boards are from a couple of old barns on their land that fell in.

They kept the foundations and split some stones for walkways. The big metal hoops from the silo became metal sculptures, put together by Brian. Everywhere you look there are pieces of art: a cement rooster, a metal chicken, sculptures of old glass bowls, iron farm implements.

Continue around the house, past a pool, and you’ll come to Linda’s potager. Based on the 17th-century kitchen garden, the area is surrounded by a white picket fence and contains vegetables, herbs and flowers, all meant to need little care. There is a big, ornate birdbath in the centre and a couple of

A door to the fields beyond the garden.

An enchanted fairy village in the shade.

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A border next to the garage features foxgloves, smoke tree and glass and metal sculptures.

Scan me Here’s a video about the bullfrog and their diet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhywWia6II8

obelisks with peas growing on them.

Spokes of pathways radiate out from the centre. Only plants that behave themselves can grow in the potager.

A big greenhouse, heated with a wood stove in winter, lies dormant in the summer. Most of their plants are grown from seed they’ve kept, including the edibles in Brian’s big vegetable garden. Brian is the seeder and he gets things going in the greenhouse. Linda prefers to work with plants, and she gets things into the ground in spring.

Linda also loves to maintain plants.

She waters them when things get dry from big cisterns tucked away throughout the garden. It’s an enormous job because she waters them all by hand, with a hose, down at the root level; she notes that it gives her a chance to focus on every plant, though, and pinch off any bad bugs.

It also gives her a chance to find monarch caterpillars. She takes them into a habitat where they can eat and then cocoon in peace, then she releases them when they’ve metamorphosed.

Last year, the released over 200 monarchs.

Throughout the garden there are localgardener.net

An old wheel, a red chair, a couple of chickens.

Hostas and daylilies. There is an inuksuk at the fence line.

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2020 • 43

Foxgloves.

Peonies look up.

Roses, pink and hopeful.

Feverfew.

This girl sits after picking some flowers.

44 • 2020

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Clematis, allium.

places for sitting, both covered and open, for a single person, a couple or a group of people. Some seating areas aren’t meant for humans to sit but feature figurative sculptures. There is a solarium next to the pond for cooler evenings and days in the spring and fall. They sit and watch the big goldfish in the water sometimes. The goldfish breed in the pond and Brian estimates there are around 60 or 70 right now. One year a bullfrog took up residence and feasted on them.

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The land and gardens have taken shape over 46 years. Brian and Linda were into animal husbandry while their kids were at home, keeping chickens and pigs. They had a horse for everyone in the family. Linda took inspiration for her painting from the flowers and now she takes pigments from some flowers to use as dyes in her rug hooking. Brian expanded the gardens substantially when he retired in 2001, and now they live in a wonderland that sustains their bodies and souls. d

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•S ES CI

How to get started

A

re you starting your very first garden? Congratulations!

There are several little details to take you from the idea to your first year of blooms or food. Here is a primer that will get you through with most plants. This guide will be printed at the back of every issue of Canada’s Local Gardener.

May you have a long future as a gardener, during which you add techniques from others and elements you discover that work for you.

Happy gardening!

How to start a garden 1. Make it smaller than you think you’ll need.

2. Mow the area, then lay down 7 to 10 sheets of newspaper over the grass or weeds.

3. Water the newspaper.

4. Pile on four to six inches of triple mix soil 5. If you want, pile on four inches of cedar mulch.

6. Plant bedding plants.

Containers 1. Outdoor containers should be larger; smaller ones will dry out too quickly.

2. Hanging containers will dry out faster than those on the ground.

3. Drainage is important. If there are no holes in the container and you can’t put holes in it, put plants in a 46 • 2020

plastic liner pot and into the container.

4. Use potting soil for containers, not triple mix.

5. Feed container plants something like liquid kelp or Miracle Gro. They’re different from in-ground plants.

Bedding plants 1. Water bedding plants the day before you plant them.

2. Dig a hole a little bigger than the pot the plant is in.

3. Remove the bedding plant from the pot. Squish the pot to get it out.

4. Gently spread out the root ball on the plant, put it into the hole and backfill around the root ball with soil.

5. Fibre pots: remove the plant and compost the pot.

6. Cell packs: if a plant comes in four or six attached plastic containers, they are four or six small plants, not one big one.

7. When you are done planting in a bed, water it well.

Fall bulbs 1. Fall bulbs bloom in spring. They include tulips, crocuses and daffodils.

You can plant them until the ground is frozen.

2. Plant bulbs in a hole that is three times the depth of the bulb. If a bulb is one inch high, plant it three inches deep. If it’s three inches high, plant it nine inches deep.

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3. You can plant each bulb in one hole or plant more bulbs in a wider hole. Leave one to two bulb-widths between them.

4. If you have chipmunks or other animals that will disturb bulbs, put chicken wire over the bulbs before filling in the hole with soil.

Direct-sowing seeds 1. Prepare an existing bed by removing weeds and mixing in compost or topping with triple mix.

2. Either follow the directions on the seed packets, ask the person you got the seeds from, or follow the suggestions below.

3. Some seeds need light to germinate: ageratum, balloon flower, browallia, columbine, gaillardia, geranium, impatiens, lettuce, lobelia, nicotiana, osteospermum, petunias, poppies, savory, snapdragons.

4. Other seeds should be covered lightly with soil: alyssum, aster, balsam, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celosia, corn, cosmos, cucumbers, dianthus, eggplant, marigold, melons, morning glory, nasturtium, peas, pepper, radish, spinach, squash, tomato, zinnia.

5. Plant seeds about as far apart as you imagine the grown plant will need. Or plant them less far apart then thin them when they are too close together. Thin seedlings by snipping them off so you don’t disturb the roots of neighbouring plants.

6. Water new seeds with the mister on your hose nozzle so they don’t wash localgardener.net

away, but water them thoroughly.

7. Keep seedlings in a damp bed until they are one to two inches high.

Weeding 1. Weed the day after it rains or the day after you water. It is easier to pull weeds from damp soil than from dry soil.

2. Hoe tiny weedlings in the spring.

3. If you don’t know what it is, wait until you do know before pulling it.

4. If you can’t pull a weed out, cut it off at ground level. Do this as often as needed, which could be daily. Eventually it should die from lack of sunlight.

5. Mulching can control weeds and make weeding easier.

Watering 1. Always water new plants gently but well.

2. Water more deeply and less often.

3. Water the soil, not the plant, but don’t worry about plants getting wet.

4. Watering in the morning is best, but time of day doesn’t matter that much.

5. Outdoor pots need water frequently, possibly every day.

Pests 1. Don’t treat for pests unless they are truly decimating your garden.

2. Many insects are beneficial to the garden. Several non-beneficial insects will attract beneficial insects to your garden.

3. Funguses and insect-eating plants will usually go away if treated with neem oil.

4. Aphids can be kept under control by spraying them off with water. It won’t kill them, but it will slow them down.

Sun 1. Six or more hours per day of localgardener.net

Scan me Explore Canada’s plant hardiness site. http://www.planthardiness.gc.ca/

direct sun qualifies as full sun.

2. Three to six hours qualifies as part sun.

3. Less than three hours qualifies as shade.

4. Dappled shade can be any of these, depending on how dappled the shade is and for how much of the day.

5. Full sun is necessary for most vegetables. Part sun is acceptable for leafy vegetables.

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6. Pay attention to the tags on plants at the nursery. You can experiment with plants outside the recommended sun requirements, but be prepared for whatever the result is.

Zones 1. Hardiness Zone is a number given to your geographical area to indicate whether a plant will survive the winter. You can find the hardiness Zone for your area online at planthardiness.gc.ca. Or you can ask at your local garden centre what Zone you are in.

2. Zones don’t matter for annuals.

For perennials, they will give you an idea of what survives. For trees and shrubs, they are pretty accurate.

3. Canadian hardiness Zones and USDA hardiness Zones are different. A rule of thumb is to subtract one from the USDA Zone to get the Canadian Zone.

4. There are microclimates in every yard. Proximity to the house or a fence or position on a hill will change the climate.

5. Your local garden centre will not sell you plants that won’t thrive in your area. Or, if they do, they will issue a warning.

Fall clean-up 1. Rake leaves off lawns and into flower beds.

2. Remove very diseased plants.

Throw them out.

3. Everything else can be left for birds, insects and other animals.

Much of it will compost in the garden over the winter. d

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