Trellis Shop Assistant Manager: Mrs. Barbara Stephenson
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G Perennial > Flowers
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:/" Since 1975, we have 3 been committed to producing a collection " of perennial flowers second to none. Visit our nursery or order by mail. Our descriptive illustrated catalogue
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Civic Garden Centre
GENERAL INFORMATION
Vol. 17, No. 7
EDITOR: Iris Hossé Phillips
ADVERTISING INFO: (416) 445-1552
Registered charity number 0228114-56
TRELLIS is published ten times a year as a members newsletter by the CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, North York, Ont. M3C 1P2. Tel. No.: (416) 445-1552. Manuscripts submitted on a voluntary basis are gratefully received. No remuneration is possible.
Lead time for inclusion of articles and advertising material is six weeks: manuscripts and material must be received by the 15th of the month to insure publication. For example, material received by October 15 will be included in the December issue of Trellis.Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre.
The Centre is located in Edwards Gardens, at Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East. It is @ non-profit, volunteer-based gardening, floral arts, and horticultural information organization with open membership.
Printed by York Printing House Ltd.
SUMMER OPERATING HOURS
The Civic Garden Centre is open from April 1st to October 31st.
During the third week of May, my family visited Washington D.C. and toured a number of gardens. Unfortunately, we were unable to see Dumbarton Oaks as it was open only in the afternoon. However, Washington has many public gardens, museum gardens, and small mews gardens.
Over the past year | have developed an interest in herbs (mainly culinary) and was surprised at the many herb gardens in and around Washington. The National Arboretum includes the National Herb Garden which is reputed to be one of the largest formal herb gardens in the world. The large knot-shaped garden is of particular interest. A smaller herb garden is attached to the Washington National Cathedral in the Bishop s Garden and is medieval in style and features herbs that are found on a check-list of Charlemagne s garden.
On one of our walks, | found a lovely mini-hedge planted with germander, Teucrium chamaedrys. The leaves were a glossy dark green colour. Also, there was a clump of T. canadense which was a striking bright green. When | am next in the Centre s library, | will refer to one of the herb reference texts to see if germander grows in our climate.
In a previous editorial, | wrote about the number of new books that stress ecological appropriateness when designing a garden. | approached the idea as novel and exciting; however, the concept has been around for a very long time. Charles Spague Sargent, founder and first director of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston stated make the plan fit the ground and not twist the ground to fit the plan.
We publish again in September. Happy summer and good gardening.
Iris Phillips
A Walk in the Park
Visit Edwards Gardens and enjoy a free guided tour through the park gounds. Tours are available from May through September every Tuesday and Thursday. Meet in the main lobby at 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. and a guide will lead you on an enjoyable one hour tour. Come and enjoy nature in the heart of the city. We advise you to wear comfortable shoes. Group tours can be reserved in advance Monday to Friday by calling Helen Craig at the Civic Garden Centre 445-1552.
Drought-proof Gardening
by Anne Marie Van Nest
Conserving water through creative landscaping has become the newest style of gardening. As Mother Nature sends drought conditions to many parts of the world, many gardeners are considering xeriscaping. With the focus on reducing the amount of water used in the landscape, a drought-proof garden does not have to contain boulders and cactus. Many typical garden plants are drought tolerant. A very pleasing landscape can be created using these plants.
How to drought-proof your garden
1. Improve your soil. The addition of compost, peat moss and organic material to the soil will increase its water holding potential (as well as increase its nutrients).
2. Reduce your lawn size. Use alternative ground covers in areas where turf will not perform successfully, such as under trees and on slopes. Grass requires considerable water reserves during the summer months to keep it green . To reduce the amount of water needed, raise the mower blades and water deeply to encourage the roots to grow downward.
3. Water efficiently. Group your special care plants together. These can be irrigated when necessary without watering the whole garden. Irrigate during early morning hours so that less moisture is lost to evaporation. A rain guage will confirm that the garden has received an adequate supply of water. To increase water conservation use a trickle or underground watering system.
4. Use mulches. In addition to stopping weeds, mulches are excellent for conserving moisture and moderating the soil temperature. Some suggestions for mulches are leaves, peat moss, bark chips, grass clippings, cocoa mulch.
Some Plants for a drought-proof garden
Acer negundo, Manitoba Maple
Acer saccharinum, Silver Maple
Aesculus glabra, Buckeye
Ailanthus altissima, Tree of Heaven
Catalpa species, Catalpa
Celtis species, Hackberry
Cercis canadensis, Redbud
Chaenomeles species, Flowering Quince
Corylus species, Filbert
Crataegus species, Hawthorn
Eleagnus species, Russian Olive
Fagus sylvatica, European Beech
Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgo
Gleditsia triacanthos, Honeylocust
Juglans species, Walnut
Juniperus species, Junipers
Lonicera species, Honeysuckle
Picea pungens, Colorado Spruce
Pinus species (most), Pines
Populus species, Poplars
Prunus species, Ornamental Cherries
Quercus species, Oaks
Rhus species, Sumac
Robinia species, Locust
Sedum species, Sedum
Spiraea species, Spirea
Yucca species, Yucca
List of drought plants from Landscape Plants for Eastern North America, by Harrison L. Flint. Located in the reference section of the CGC library.
Letter to the Editor
| would like to comment on Mr. Tomlinson s reference to landscaping at the National Gallery. (June Trellis) If recreating a Canadian landscape is pointless because there are thousands of miles of it; recreating an English garden might be just as pointless , when there are already thousands of them in existence. It is all a matter of preference.
| wish Mr. Tomlinson, when he gets to see it, would try to visualize the garden through the eyes of someone who is born, lives, works, and dies in a city. When | visited the site early last summer, there was no evidence of impatiens or geraniums, and that would, indeed, be sacrilege.
Instead of simply viewing beds as subject and object, | became part of the garden environment, surrounded and overwhelmed by the simplicity and power that integrated perfectly with the imposing building. Rarely do landscapers consider the building so skillfully. And in case
Mr. Tomlinson hasn t noticed, typical Canadian landscapes are vanishing faster than he can plant a hybrid delphinium.
Gloria Marsh
Catalogue available on request
o DwarfEvergreens e o Heathers ®Japanese Maples o ® Rhododendrons ®
(416) 562-4836
P O Box 98 ® Martin Road Vineland Station, Ont. LOR 2EO
For the love ofgardens.
When you re at work on the garden you love, A remember Sheridarf Nurseries. At Sheridan, we have the finest selection of nursery stock in
Canada, including over 750 types of plants and trees grown on our own farms. And all of our nursery stock is guaranteed for one full year. If you need any advice to help make your garden even lovelier, just ask. Advice is free and our staff is expert. They ll help in any way they can all for the love of gardens, at Sheridan.
LANDSCAPE DEPARTMENT: Metropolitan Toronto,
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606 Southdown Rd. Mississauga L5J 2Y4
Tel. 822-0251
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Unionville L3R 1L5
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A Tribute To Fred
by David Tomlinson
Over thirty years ago the Park Superintendent at Manchester, England arrived at the greenhouses where | was working as the propagator s assistant (a plum job), to ask me if | would do him a great favour and leave the comparative warmth and comfort of the greenhouses to work outside in the grounds as assistant gardener to a highly skilled but very individualistic gardener called Fred. In those days it took several years of routine outside work, and many classes at night school, before you were offered a job in the greenhouses, and to be asked to leave normally indicated that you had committed some unforgivable error, or had in some way or other upset the powers that be.
Mr. Harding, the Superintendent, assured me that this was not the case. During the last year he had asked three other young gardeners to work with Fred but Fred had quickly found fault with each one and treated them so abysmally that each in turn had asked to be transferred. Mr. Harding said that he had discussed the matter with his Head Gardener and they both thought that | would get along with Fred, and he assured me that | would not regret changing jobs.
Fred had the reputation for being difficult, but everyone | talked with agreed that he was probably the most skilled and knowledgeable gardener in the Parks Department. After much deliberation, | eventually agreed to give the job a try.
Early next Monday morning | reported to Fred in the old boiler room in the cellar of the 16th century Elizabethan hall which he used as a tool shed. When | walked in he did not even greet me with the usual good morning, he just nodded and continued to de-clinker and re-stoke the boiler with coke. When he had completed this task he pointed to a whitewashed wall covered with gardening tools hanging neatly from or between nails. Those tools are yours and pointing to the opposite wall those are mine, and don t let me catch you using
mine . His tools were worn, mine were much newer. After digging all day it didn t take to long to realize that a well-used work tool is twice as easy to use as a new, shiny one.
Fred told me to put my dubbing shears, rake, and garden fork into my wheelbarrow. Our first job was to trim the two specimen golden yews which stood sentinel on either side of the carriage entrance to the old hall. We walked round to the front of the hall in silence, then he spoke again, that s your yew, this is my yew". Then without further comment he began to trim his yew into a perfect cone. put my dubbing shears under my arm and walked around my yew a couple of times. | then asked if the aim of the exercise was to end up with two perfectly matched cones, Yes was all he said, and | replied, Well if you intend to turn me loose on this one | can t see you achieving your objective . | suggested that he cut out a series of circles and that | would knock out the centre. He smiled and said, Well if that's the way you would like to do it that s alright by me . That established the pecking order and over the next few months we gradually got to know and like each other.
| owe much of my skill as a gardener to Fred. Although | had apprenticed to several gardeners before | met Fred, he taught me many tricks of the trade which he said he learned as a boy from an old Victorian head gardener on Lord Tattern s estate in Cheshire.
The first and most valuable lesson Fred taught me was to strive for perfection. He did not mind how many hours | took to complete a task provided it was done to the best of my ability. Speed, he told me, comes with experience, if you learn to do it slowly and perfectly you will eventually do it quickly and perfectly; however, if you start by doing the task fast and slipshod you will end up doing it more shoddily with repetition. Fred s philosophy was much sounder than the
currently held view that time is money and speed is of the essence.
Aesop s fable of the Hare and the Tortoise contained Fred s other dictum. By maintaining a slow and steady working pace, you achieve far more in a working day than progressing by periods of hectic activity followed by longer and longer periods of rest. Dierdre, my wife, often comments on the fact that | never appear to hurry when she sees me working, and is surprised by how much have achieved at the end of the day.
As the seasons progressed, our daily jobs changed. In the fall we spent two or three weeks raking up every leaf in the four-acre flower garden. These were replaced with leaves composted from the previous year. After leaf raking, we spent several weeks rearranging the rhododendron collection. Over several years Fred kept notes of the colour and flowering times of individual bushes, and was gradually rearranging them into better colour combinations. Rhododendron, even when large, are easy to transplant. We would dig them up carefully, then excavate a large hole, add leaf mould and damp peat moss into the base. The bush would then be placed carefully into the centre of the hole. We would slowly turn it round with frequent walks back to the path for viewing until we both agreed that it balanced from the walk. Only then would we backfill the hole with more peat, leaf mould and topsoil.
Twice a year we would bed out the large rectangular beds on each side of the broad walk. First we removed the old plants, the bed was then manured and dug. We then raked it level and systematically tramped over it to firm it down. The bed was then raked again until it was perfectly level. We did not walk on the soil again. The plants or bulbs were put in place using a broad plank raised above the bed like a bridge on two boxes. We used to plant wallflowers or polyanthus in the fall. The wallflowers were individually selected from the nursery rows, then planted in the bed in a highly irregular pattern, and if more than three plants formed a straight line from any direction they were replanted no serried rows of
soldiers in Fred s beds. The tops of the plants were perfectly level. This was done by planting the tallest ones deeper than the shortest ones. Sometimes we planted them six inches deeper than they grew in the nursery rows. Hence we broke one of the cardinal rules of gardening, that plants should be set at the same depth as they grew in the nursery. When | questioned Fred about this unorthodox practise, rules are made to be broken but only by those who know what they are doing he retorted. Wallflowers don t mind deep planting, and | must admit that the beds looked immaculate when finished as if the tops had been trimmed level like the top of a hedge. The flower spikes also retained an even height, and when interplanted with even taller tulips, produced a stunning effect in spring.
Every day about 9:30 and 3 p.m. we stopped work for a brew-up and bagging (as sandwiches or to be more precise butties were called). We would walk over to the mess room to collect our brew cans and depending on the wind direction and weather, we would select one of a number of favourite spots. On warm sunny days we would sit out in the open on one of the teak Lister benches. In cold weather we would vanish amongst the dense rhododendrons. In winter Fred always carried a small bag of crushed Jacob s cream crackers in his pocket for the birds which he taught to feed out of his hand. He said crackers were better than bread as they broke up into such small pieces that the bird had to stay in your hand to eat. As soon as we sat down we were were surrounded by small birds, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, thrushes and the inevitable robin. In very cold weather the birds would become very bold and would often alight on our shoulders as we worked.
For every task we accomplished Fred taught me something. For example, we had a wide gravel path through the centre of the garden which was edged with a half moon turf knife every spring to give it a clean, sharp edge. As a narrow sliver of turf was removed each year, the path gradually got wider until there was a strip of three to six inches of soil down each side of the path. To correct this | would have put a six inch wide strip of sod
down each side of the path, but as the strip is narrow it would not knit well. Fred's method was to make a four inch deep cut in the lawn about twelve inches back and parallel to the edge of the path. He then undercut the twelve inch strip of sod using a turfing spoon, he then slid the whole of the strip forward until it covered all the bare earth and a couple of inches of the gravel edge. New sod was then laid and was held firmly in place between the edge of the lawn and the back of the grass strip. The sod that overlay the gravel was then cut with a half moon leaving a perfect straight edge.
Fred also required me to learn the Latin names of plants and the cultural requirements of every tree and shrub in the garden. This amounted to several hundred plants including many rare and unusual species this served me well when | became a student gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a year or so later. He taught me not to worry about pests and diseases. He believed that with ggood horticultural practises and garden hygiene (my word not his) that there would rarely be a serious problem. He was not against chemical control of pests; however, if insectisides kill insects they cannot do people much good (or their predators!) Time has certainly proved him right.
During the two years | worked with him, Fred told me remarkably little about his private life. | knew from other gardeners that he was a bachelor who lived on his own, and that he had served in the army during the Secon World War. | knew he did not own a television, and that his favorite radio programme was Friday Night is Music Night, that he grew lilies in his own garden. He never asked me round to his cottage, but on the last Christmas we worked together, he brought a Christmas card to show me from Sir Richard Gale, Commander of the British Sixth Airborn Division. Fred was General Gale s personal jeep driver during the war and he drove the General around the battle field. | would have loved to have heard about his war experiences as the Sixth Airborn Division saw much action in the latter part of the war. But alas, he never spoke to me about his war time service, and | will never hear
about it now as Fred died last winter. The world has lost a great gardener, and |, a good friend and teacher.
This article is not only a tribute to Fred, but to all those unsung gardeners whose technical skill has helped to produce and maintain so many of the gardens which interest and delight us. Without these gardeners, Sisinghurst Castle, Hidcote, Crathes, and Great Dixter, (to name but a few) would not have been possible. | was privileged to work so closely with such a craftsman in my youth.
ART IN THE LINK
August 7th to August 20th
Erika Youssef
Selected Memories
TOPIARIES ARALIAS
BRAIDED FICUS CACTUS
BOUGAINVILLEA ORCHIDS
BAMBOO HANGING BASKETS
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OPEN TUES. THRU SUN. (416) 686-2151
380 KINGSTON RD. EAST, R.R.1 AJAX, ONTARIO L1S4S7
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BONSAI
Botanical Hlustration in Watercolour.
September 24-28, 1990
The Civic Garden Centre is indeed fortunate in securing a teaching engagement & with the highly accomplished English artist and popular instructor, Dorothy Bovey. This five day art course, for students with-some experience, will allow for concentrated practice, reinforced by frequent critique from Dorothy Bovey. Output will be much greater than other lesson formats. &
A list of materials will be provided upon registration and a representative from Curry s Art Supply will be here on September 24th with all supplies at a 25% discount.
Dorothy Bovey is widely travelled and has served as botanical artist on expeditions to Africa, Asia and Australia. She has received five gold medals from the Royal Horticultural Society of London for her paintings.
This course will run daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. here at the Civic Garden Centre.
Please bring suitable, plant material, of your choice, as subject matter. #
Please register me for:
Botanical lllustration in Watercolour H
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 20, 1990
Registration is limited to 18 students
Members $125.00, Non-Members $150.00
Name Address City Postal Code Telephone
CreditCard No. VISA MASTER CHARGE #
DATE OF ISSUE DATE OF EXPIRY
The Flowery (Winter Bouquet Workshop)
The Flowery operated by The Garden Club of Toronto ceased operations at the end of March. The reason for closing were twofold:
a) The wonderful silk and dried arrangements both custom and ready made demanded a high quality of professionalism and a commitment of two days a week from the volunteers from September to May. The dedicated volunteers found it difficult to keep up with the demands of managing a small business.
b) The Centre s need for space as activities increase became acute; therefore, it seemed timely but regrettable to conclude this project.
The Centre is indebted to The Garden Club of Toronto for operating this special service to our members and the community for the past eight years. During this time The Garden Club of Toronto raised $54,861 and donated the full sum to the Centre.
From the Library
by Pamela MacKenzie Librarian
A Good Read Books for summer.
There are many kinds of gardening books: instructive, technical, beautiful, scholarly and trivial. There is a group of books, some of which have become gardening classics, which are simply a great pleasure to read.
Eleanor Perenyi 's Green Thoughts: a writer in the garden, and Katharine S. White's Onward and Upward in the Garden are collections from highly personal and opinionated writers who are also devoted and knowledgeable amateur gardeners.
Allen Lacy contributed to the New York Times. Home Ground: a gardener s miscellany is his first book on gardening, in which he claims that it is not, for the most part, a practical book on horticulture. But the reader learns a lot in the pleasantest way.
American Garden Writing: gleanings from garden lives, then and now, edited by Bonnie Marranca, is an anthology of material ranging from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.
In The Language of the Garden, Anne Scott-James has made a personal choice of garden writings, from Tennyson s Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal to Voltaire s We must cultivate our garden (Candide).
Gardens and Gardeners, compiled by Elizabeth Seager, is another collection, shorter but equally entertaining, with quotations from such unexpected sources as Punch and lan Fleming.
AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE
July 10 BASIC FLOWER ARRANGING COURSE
Registration Deadline: July 7, 1990
Members $45.00 Non-members $55.00
6 week course
12 KIDSUMMER '90 Nature Surrounds 'Us
Children 7 to 10 years
29 North Toronto Horticultural Society - Show 30, 31 Aug. 1,2,3
GREEN THUMBS CAMP
Children 8 - 11 years
Members $65.00 Non-members $75.00
August 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
GREEN THUMBS CAMP
Children 8 - 11 years
Members
1:00 pm - 3:00
10:00 am & 1:00 pm 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm 9:30 am - 12 noon and 1:30 pm - 4.00 pm 9:30 am - 12 noon 9:30 am1:00 pm7:30 pm 12 noon 5:00 pm
Questions and Answers from the Master Gardeners
Q. One side of my Boston Fern (Nephrolepis Exaltica) has the leaves dying and falling off. The rest of the plant is healthy.
A. Check inside the pot; there may be several separate plants potted up together, and perhaps one of them has died or has been crowded out by the others. The enquirer tested this and found she could remove the single dead fern from the pot.
Q. My Columnar Desert Cactus (Cereus) is too tall. It has grown close to the ceiling. How can | propogate it? Can | simply cut off the top?
A. Yes you can cut off the top. This is known as a cutting, which differs from an offset, in that they are pieces not naturally detachable and that consist of pieces of stem cut cleanly across their bases with a very sharp knife or razor blade. Take care not to crush the tissues when making the cut. If there is a joint in the stem, let the base of the cutting be at that constriction or joint. Dust the cut surfaces with powdered sulphur. Lay the cuttings in a warm dry place for a week or two before planting to allow the wounds to dry. Cuttings root readily in sand, perlite, vermiculite, or any similar material that admits air and drains freely, keep it barely moist. You may also select offshoots at the base of the plant for propogation.
Q. How can | start Species Iris from seed, and how do | open the seed pod?
A. The winged capsule of the iris opens like a beak when it is ripe. You can use a rubber mallet to open them; however, the seeds should be as free as possible from the stem. Species iris have a parchmentlike husk. Stir the seeds in a bowl to separate the hulls from the seed. Treat the seeds with a fungicide, and have the pan or flat (as well as the soil) as sterile as possible. You can use a 1:50 Chlorox solution for this. The seed bed must have a good drainage. Sow seeds at any time of the year: they do not need a frost to germinate. Be patient germination may take up to two years.
Q. /I'd like to dry some rosebuds in silica gel. How long do | leave them in the gel?
A. Roses and other complex flowers take between 4 to 8 days to dry. To check if
the blooms are dry, gently remove
powder from a petal with a small soft paintbrush.
Q. | burnt my grass by spilling fertilizer on it what can | do? | want a good-looking lawn in two weeks!?
A. For a quick cure, replace the burnt patches with new sod. Take up the dead grass, fork over the earth, add some fertilizer, and water well. When you lay the sod, tread it in well and keep it watered. If the weather is very hot, you should contrive some shade over the new sod.
Next time use a spreader! If you spill any fertilizer, water the lawn copiously to leech out the fertilizer.
BOOK REVIEW
The Garden Primer Barbara Damroch, Workman 673 pp, paperback. $24.95. Stan Etchelles
This book is an excellent buy. There are no colour plates, but the hundreds of drawings.
The chapter headings indicate the wide scope of the book. They are: Planning Your Property, What Plants Need, Gardening Gear, How To Buy Plants, Annuals;, Perennials, Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Bulbs, Roses, Lawns and Ground Covers, Vines, Shrubs, Trees, Wildflowers and Houseplants. There are four appendices and a 37 page index.
The author writes from Connecticut, which has a climate not too removed from ours. Cold-tolerance and planting temperatures are featured throughout the growing sections.
Mrs. Damroch is very sound on soil, nutrients and compost. Beginners and the more accomplished will find plenty of useful information on planting and propagation.
Vegetables, for instance, are broken down individually into Site, Soil, Planting, Growing, Pests, Harvest and Varieties. This is typical of the step-by-step organization of information throughout the book.
For people starting from scratch, the tables show what they can attempt themselves and what they shouldn t. The advice will prevent frustration in novice gardeners.
This book is a useful tool for people about to create a new garden, for those seeking to alter an established one and for those who like total gardening information collected in a detailed, organized form.
TALES of the EARTH
MEDITATION GARDENS
Places that help to clear one's mind from the turbulence of the day; places in which to reflect and focus peacefully in timeless surroundings.
Millbrook Crescent
(416) 469-9646
ke Garlan Cub of Tororts
The Gardens of Casa Loma
The 6 acres of renovated gardens at Casa Loma will open to the public this spring. The volunteer members of the Garden Club of Toronto supervised the research, design, fundraising and construction over 4 years of this $1,500,000 project. Additional planting will continue over the next 2 years tax deductible donations are still welcome.
Re-creating such historic gardens in the heart of Toronto is the latest in a long history of such innovative projects by the Garden Club of Toronto. Sir Henry Pellatt, the creator of Casa Loma, was a noted horticulturist. Seventy years ago, his gardens and greenhouses were show places. Visitors today will explore an equal variety of gardens with the assistance of a walking plan or audio headsets. They will enjoy the innovative plant combinations around the fountain in the entrance court plus the abundant urns spilling bloom against the south terrace walls. A pergola lush with flowering vines leads the visitor into the secret garden, where a dragon tree sculpture waits amid a wide variety of plants. Photos may be taken in the gazebo before strolling the long, rainbow-hued perennial borders to the computerized
dancing fountain. The newly-groomed hillside provides a complete change of scene. Here is a rhododendron and azalea dell ablaze with color in spring. At the base of the hillside a curving walk links two ancient staircases, and leads through a flowery, ferny woodland to a pool with waterloving plants.
The Kiwanis Club of West Toronto operates Casa Loma, and will maintain the gardens. Gardening techniques will reflect today s environmental concerns.
Come and be enchanted by this new green dimension to Canada s favorite castle.
Garden hours are 10 am - 4 pm, 7 days a week. Admission of $7.00 for adults $4.00 children and seniors, includes both Castle and Gardens, plus reduced entry for Spadina and Gardens. Gardens, except the hillside, are wheelchair accessible.
The " @ountry Squireo Garden
Steeles Ave. W, (2 miles west of Highway 10) R.R. 10 Brampton L6V 3N2
Knowledgeable staff
7 days a week (9-5pm) mid-April - mid-Oct, Over 3000 different hardy plants, alpines, dwarf conifers and shrubs, Hardt)_' ferns, vines, groundcovers and native wildflowers ca tes $10. up (10-15-20 etc.)
Gift Certifi
PERENNIAL PLANT SPECIALISTS by mail any time All Year
Send $2.00 for NEW (No.10) PLANT LIST by mail to above address
Volunteer Corner
by Carolyn Dalgarno
Consider becoming a volunteer at the Civic Garden Centre in September. We need people who are willing to work 2 day a week in the shop, horticulture, or reception. We also need volunteers to work on special committees for Mistletoe Magic. The craft workshops will need volunteers to help create interesting items for Mistletoe Magic. The group meets on Thursdays in September.
Mistletoe Magic
The volunteers for Mistletoe Magic need members and friends of the Centre to collect and dry grasses, pearly everlasting, tansy, dock, and cattails (small pencil thin ones). Tie in neat bundles and hang in an airy dark room until dry. To preserve beech, mahonia, yew and boxwood, mix 1 part glycerine (available in Trellis Shop) to 2 parts hot water and stand stems of beech and mahonia until leaves have changed colour. Submerge cedar and boxwood in a shallow container. Seed heads of garden plants are most welcome. Bring your donations to the craft workroom. The materials will be used in arrangements for Mistletoe Magic.
BASIC FLOWER ARRANGING
Fulfill your artistic needs by taking this comprehensive course. The emphasis is on plants, both cultivated and wild, useful for flower arranging as well as for drying or preserving for future use. The first session is a lecture and demonstration showing the principals of flower arranging. Please bring a notebook and pencil. The following sessions are practical work. Suggestions on the type of plant material that you should bring will be made at the first session. Containers and mechanics are available at the Trellis Shop.
Registration deadline: July 6th
Fee: $45.00 members, $55.00 non-members
Time: 1 pm to 3 pm
6 week course on Tuesdays, July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7, 14
Instructor: Pearl Wilby
Please register me for Basic Flower Arranging 4045A
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Major American Collection Acquires 3 Works
Pittsburgh s Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation has acquired a watercolour and two reproductions by Civic Garden Centre member Pamela Stagg. All three works were seen at the Civic Garden Centre in Stagg s one-woman show during the Great Gardening Conference.
The Hunt Institute, part of Carnegie Mellon University, holds the largest and most important collection of botanical paintings and prints in the United States. Although the collection is still being catalogued, it is believed to contain about 30,000 works.
Director James W. White was attracted to Stagg s reproduction, Tall Bearded Iris Gentle Rain which portrays a dramatic white iris whose petals are rimmed with thousands of tiny purple dots. White said that the painting had great verve and vitality for a picture with that degree of detail. The original of the reproduction is part of a private collection in Calgary.
Since Crown Imperial forms the Hunt Institute s logo, White chose a reproduction of an orange Crown Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis). The original of this reproduction was sold during the Civic Garden Centre show to a new collection of contemporary Canadian art which will be unveiled in 1990.
And the watercolour painting of Double Early Tulips James White liked for its glowing golds and yellows in the two tulip blooms, and for its intricate leaves. Many artists are only interested in the flower they don t bother much with the leaves. You've put just as much detail in the leaves as you have the flowers.
Stagg is delighted that her works have been chosen by the Hunt. * The Hunt Institute has an unparalleled collection that includes paintings and prints by every great botanical painter, old and new. I'm absolutely thrilled that my pictures will be in the company of original works by Redoute, Ehret, Anne Ophelia Dowden and Margaret Mee.
Sogetsu Ikebana
by Gregory Williams
What is SOGETSU IKEBANA?". The best way to explain what it is, is telling you what it is not. It is not a group of flower arrangers running around madly throwing flowers and branches helter skelter into a kenzan (pin-holder). It is not without rules concerning basic styles of arrangement and their variations. The basics must be mastered before one can move on to free style . Free style can only come once the artist is sure of his or her techniques and basic styles. Only then is the artist truly free.
As in the traditional schools of Japanese Ikebana, Sogetsu lkebana takes a number of years to understand. Many students who have studied at the Civic Garden Centre for the past few years acknowledge having changed their perceptions about Sogetsu lkebana, and now approach it differently and with great enthusiasm.
The Sogetsu School of Ikebana believes that anyone can arrange ikebana anywhere, and with anything. It should be part of a lifestyle to be appreciated by many people from all over the world, rather than being considered just an exclusive aspect of Japanese culture to be enjoyed by a limited number of people. Our school is encouraging ikebana students to be individual and imaginative.
Plants are beautiful as they are. But with the help of man, they can be arranged in an effective style to be even more appreciated. A Japanese theory of flower arranging has a philosophy which brightens, colours, and gives life to our environment.
Executive Committee
President: Mrs. Susan Macaulay
1st Vice-President: Mr. Klaus Bindhart
Treasurer: Mr. Kenneth H.C. Laundy
Member: Mrs. Cicely Bell
Member: Mrs. Heather MacKinnon
Board of Directors
1990: Mrs. Cicely Bell, Mr. Stuart Gilchrist, Mr. Alan Grieve, Mr. Kenneth H.C. Laundy, Mrs. Heather MacKinnon, Mrs. Doreen Martindale, Ms. Laura Rapp.
1990 - 1991: Dr. Brian Bixley, Mrs. Georgina Cannon, Mrs. Martha Finkelstein, Mr. William Granger, Mrs. Bayla Gross, Mrs. Judy Lundy, Mr. Robert Saunders, Mrs. Robin Wilson.
1990, 1991 and 1992: Mr. Klaus Bindhardt, Mrs. Mary Anne Brinckman, Mrs. Luba Hussel, Mrs. Susan Macaulay, Mr. Victor Portelli, Representative of Metropolitan Toronto Parks and Property.
A CREATIVE LANDSCAPE BEGINS WITH A PLAN... AND JUST KEEPS GROWING!
Have your planting plan prepared by a professional landscape consultant who will visit your home. The Landscape Consultant will listen to your landscape ideas and provide a scale drawing of your new landscape that isjded easy to follow.
This service is available for only $50 per front and back yard ($100 for both) within our designated area. Fee is refundable with purchase of Weall and Cullen nursery plants valued at $500 or more ($100 refunded with a minimum $1000 plant purchase). Ask at your nearest Weall and Cullen location for more details. 8 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU.
Bloomsaver
eand Bloomsaver Plus
The BLOOMSAVER is a tool specifically designed for the flower gardener to facilitate the gathering and proper conditioning of flowers. Fill the BLOOMSAVER with several inches of warm water and take it into the garden at cutting time.
Immediately upon cutting, strip the stems of lower foliage and immerse them in the BLOOMSAVER.
This handy tool enables the gardener to collect dozens of flowers at leisure, while protecting them from wilting, crushing and bruising. The three-section base allows for sorting of flowers by size, color or type.
BLOOMSAVER PLUS is a two-step system which maximizes the life of cut flowers and promotes more beautiful blooms.
BLOOMSAVER PLUS CONDITIONER, added to the water in the Bloomsaver at the time of cutting, provides optimum hydration solution for cut flowers.
Adjusts water to proper acidity
Neutralizes secretion products from flowers
Prevents obstruction to absorption caused by dirt and bacterial residues
BLOOMSAVER PLUS NUTRIENT produces a longer vase life for cut flowers by providing the nourishment necessary to stimulate full development of the bloom.
Assures absorption of food and water by keeping stem vessels open and free from clogging
Keeps water odorless and clean
May we invite you fo join us?
The Civic Garden Centre warmly welcomes new members. Join us, and you will make friends who share the same interest in gardening, the floral arts and horticulture that you do. In addition to the many exciting classes, garden shows, speakers, clubs-within-the-Centre, etc., that will be available to you, our membership fee entitles you to the following:
e Annual subscription to members newsletter e Free borrowing privileges from one of e Discounts on courses, lectures Canada s largest horticultural libraries and workshops * Discount on Soil Testing Service
¢ 10% discount on purchases over $10.00 . I at the Trellis Shop. (Discount not available ~ ® Frée Admission to the on sale items and some books.) Members Programmes
e Special local and international e Access and discounts at special Garden Tours members day plant sales
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
Mail to:
(PLEASE PRINT)
Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms
The Civic Garden Centre 777 Lawrence Avenue East North York, Ontario, M3C 1P2 New Member
Renewing Member
Single Membership $2500 0Family Membership $EGE0 e Gift Membership She Donation, Tax deductible
TOTAL: s
ADDRESS: APT.
POSTAL CODE
TELEPHONE (Home) (Business)
METHOD OF PAYMENT
[0 CHEQUE (Payable to the CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE) [J VISA [J MASTERCARD
