Trellis Magazine - Fall Issue by Toronto Botanical Garden

FALL 2019 â&#x20AC;¢ VOL 48 PROGRAMS PAGE 11

URBAN HARVEST | HOUSE PLANT TLC | ROSY APPLE TARTS

ORCHID SHOW & SALE To r o n t o B o t a n i c a l G a r d e n

FEBRUARY 8 & 9, 2020 SAT & SUN 11- 5

General Admission: $12.00 cash only

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Showy Lady Slipper by Bea Paterson

SOUTHERN ONTARIO ORCHID SOCIETY

inside FA L L 2 0 1 9 • V O L 4 8

UP FRONT

[4]

FROM THE TBG Enhancing the future

[5] THE EXPANSION Which plants, where?

[6] HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE An essential shopping list for gardeners

[8] THE EVENT Urban Ravine Symposium and Urban Tree Workshop

COLLECTIONS

[12]

WHY WE LIKE APPLES!

FEATURES

[14]

UP A TREE Helena Moncrieff discovers a backyard harvest.

[16]

HOUSE PLANTS ARE ALL IN THE FAMILY Blogger Darryl Cheng offers fresh perspectives.

[19] MAKE IT! Jenny Rhodenizer makes rosy apple tarts look easy.

[20] PHOTO: PAUL CHMIELOWIEC

MAKE IT! Millean Kung’s 5-spice apricot conserve

[21] FOOD BANKS GROW COMMUNITIES Agincourt Community Services Food Bank helps feed a community.

MOMENTS

[22]

PEOPLE, PLACES & PLANTS

FRO M t h e TB G

From Left: Gino Scapillati, Alex Risen and Cam DiPrata

ENHANCING THE FUTURE

THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN continues to implement the early stages of its exciting transformation. As you know, in April 2018 Toronto City Council officially approved the proposal to create a unified and globally acclaimed botanical garden. This project will encompass the current TBG footprint and the adjacent 30-acre property known as Edwards Gardens. First, let me report that the TBG is maintaining its high level of core programs in the areas of education and horticultural display along with its revenue-generating activities in retail, facility rentals, special events and development. Many highlights of 2018 are described in the 2018 Year in Review which is now available online at bit.ly/TBGYIR2018. The TBG has already started to benefit from increased revenues in a number of important areas: • Increased sponsorship and ticket sales for our recent flagship events: the Blossom Party and Mark’s Choice Through the Garden Gate. • The implementation of paid parking for non-members. Early results are extremely positive. • Increased rental income from our event spaces. • The 2019 ZimSculpt exhibition in our gardens. As a botanical garden open to the public without an admission fee, the TBG and its programs are heavily dependent on dona-

tions. You will continue to hear more about our development activities and how we are counting on the generous support of our members and donors. We continue to build and enhance our systems, policies and procedures to equip the TBG with the foundation on which it can expand operationally. These organizational enhancements are proceeding well under the leadership of David McIsaac, our Interim Chief Administrative Officer. Additionally, we are advancing various garden expansion considerations with the input and vision of Garden Director Harry Jongerden. All of our strategic decisions, operations and financial results continue to move forward with the sound governance provided by the Board of Directors. On behalf of the Board, I thank our staff for their tremendous dedication, passion and hard work; I thank the many volunteers who give their time and expertise; and I thank our cherished donors who support the garden, both our current operations as well as our inspiring vision for the future. We are grateful to be on this journey with all of you, as we build a world-class botanical garden together for the City of Toronto.

TORONTOBOTANICALGARDEN.CA

Gino Scapillati, President and Chair, TBG Board of Directors

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PHOTO: SVP MEDIA

We are building a foundation on which we can expand operationally while advancing garden expansion considerations.

SNEAK Peek

THE EXPANSION WHICH PLANTS, WHERE? Let’s talk about policy. Wait! Come back! Don’t run away! This is as interesting as it is important, says Garden Director Harry Jongerden.

e are about to add 30 acres to the TBG. That’s a lot of new plants and gardens, and we need to have policies to determine what those plants and gardens should be. Of course, we’ll be following basic horticultural practices such as “right plant, right place”, but a botanical garden does more than feature healthy, beautiful plants. There are reasons behind our plant choices. Like any other museum, botanical gardens have collections policies. Our living museum needs to decide what our focus is, and what’s allowed or not allowed in our garden. Here at the TBG, we have chosen to express a theme to encompass the entirety of the expanded garden—City, Country and Wild. What

do collections policies look like within that framework? First of all, the City section. In its four acres, the TBG is essentially City already. A few collections may move to the Country section of the expanded garden, such as Woodland Walk or Kitchen Garden, but the City section will be primarily ornamental, with beauty and variety and familiar and exotic plants that delight. There will be an educational underpinning to everything as we teach people to do it for themselves, but the City section exists to instruct and delight. The Wild section is comprised of a restored ravine landscape. Native plants, as opposed to ornamental ones, are needed here. A collections policy will be most relevant and needed as we restore

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Within our framework of City, Country and Wild, what will the plant collections look like? We have much work to do to make the right choices for each area of the expanded garden.

the Wilket Creek landscape. From a plant conservation perspective, we will need to consider native versus non-native and invasive versus non-invasive. Will “nativars” be allowed—that is, native species altered by plant breeding? And our biggest challenge: is it even possible to restore a self-sustaining native ecosystem in our ravine landscape? The western tableland Country section will be a more eclectic area, with ornamental components, but also importantly focused on agricultural and vegetablegrowing demonstration areas. Will we grow modern hybrids or will we focus on open-pollinated heirloom plants whose seed can be saved and re-sown? These are big collections policy questions that will need to be answered. Botanical gardens around the world debate these questions, and we will need to find the right answers for our garden. Starting from agreement on an obvious point: that our garden must exclude invasive plant species throughout. Staff have much work to do in crafting TBG collections policy. In future, everything that grows here that you and our visitors encounter will be based on those policies. So yes, policy is important!

AMARYLLIS BLING!

Select a stunning Amaryllis bulb, a gorgeous pot from the Garden Shop and we will pot it up and add the bling of your choice. Bulbs, $18 to $39, plus cost of lights and ornaments.

get it! do it! COUNTERTOP HERBS

Turn your kitchen counter into a herb garden with the self-watering Garden Jar Herb Growing Kit. $39.99

CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER

Celebrate the holidays with an early gift of spring-flowering bulbs. Swedish Sweets mix of tulips, muscari and chionodoxa, 50 bulbs, $16.99

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PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): PAUL ZAMMIT, DE VROOMEN BULB CANADA, DAVID YOUNGSON

The essential holiday gift guide for gardeners

UPFRONT

SAY, “NO” TO PLASTIC BAGS!

CLASSIC WATERING CAN

PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): CREDO BAGS, MARK’S CHOICE, THE NICHE MARKETING GROUP. ABBOTT COLLECTION, TBG, STOREY PUBLISHING, LUCIA HOME FRAGRANCES

Banish plastic with Credo reusable mesh cotton produce bags for fruits and vegetables. Medium $12.99, large $14

Mark’s Choice lightweight plastic watering can with interchangeable brass rose and teapot spout. Small $19.99, large $44.95

BAAA-NISH HIGH ELECTRICITY BILLS Reduce drying time with made-in-Canada wool dryer balls. 3 for $24.99

WALK INTO A PINE FOREST

Add the scent of pine to your home with this Lucia scented votive candle. $12.99

LIGHT IN A BOTTLE

GROWING BOOKWORMS

Kids on your gift list will want to get into gardening with a book or two from our collection of books for kids, including Gardening with Emma by 13-year old Emma Biggs. From $22.95

Firefly light kits turn an ordinary glass bottle into a holiday lantern. $15.99

HONEY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Honey from the TBG’s on-site hives. Limited quantities available at the Holiday Open House, November 28. 150 g $8.50

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FALL

at t h e TB G

Ramping Up the Focus On Ravines Keynote speaker, Henry Hughes

This year’s Urban Ravine Symposium, says Colleen Cirillo, is paired with the Urban Tree Workshop for two days of education and exploration.

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PHOTO: CATHERINE MAYO, PORTICO HOMEWOOD

his year, the TBG has ramped up its ravine exploration, education, celebration and partnership-building as well as related policy development. The TBG Urban Ravine Symposium promises to be better than ever with the addition of a nature art exhibition, a student science fair and an interactive session that will tap into the passion and expertise of participants. Scheduled earlier than in previous years, the symposium coincides with peak fall foliage colour, affording participants great views of the garden and Wilket Creek ravine. Henry Hughes of Birmingham Botanical Gardens will deliver the symposium’s keynote address, and he returns the next day to conduct an Urban Tree Workshop—a second day of interactive learning and sharing. Henry initiated Centennial Trees more than ten years ago and continues to co-ordinate this program despite his recent retirement. He will share the story of his highly successful work and provide detailed advice on the establishment and maintenance of a native tree seed bank, seed propagation, seedling care, planting with volunteers and long-term stewardship. This workshop will include a guided tour of native trees in Wilket Creek ravine.

THE EVENT SYMPOSIUM KEYNOTE Centennial Trees Henry Hughes, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATION: ALAN LI

CENTENNIAL TREES are planted in landscapes that once supported native forest trees but that now lack natural regeneration: neighbourhoods, tornado-damaged communities, city parks and urban waterways. Adapted to local soils, sites and climate, locally sourced Centennial Trees have the potential to live for more than a hundred years. Henry Hughes’ workshop will cover the practical aspects of identifying seed sources; collecting, storing, moist-chilling and propagating native forest tree seed; planting germinating seed; managing a seedling nursery; planting seedlings on restoration sites and field culture of seedlings as they grow into trees. Henry Hughes retired as director of education at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in 2018, where he began the Centennial Trees project in 2008 and where he continues to manage the program as a volunteer. He worked as a horticulturist in forest industry research and seedling production and in urban forestry for over 20 years. He has spoken extensively and led educational field programs on the protection and restoration of watersheds. At his home in Birmingham, he and his wife, Lois, have created a small forested nature sanctuary.

• MARK THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDER • URBAN RAVINE SYMPOSIUM

Thursday, October 10, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

URBAN TREE WORKSHOP

Friday, October 11, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Early bird registration (until September 20) Symposium: Members $100; Public $120; Students (with valid ID) $75. Symposium + Workshop: Members $163; Public $198; Students (with valid ID) $123. More information on these events can be found at torontobotanicalgarden.ca/symposium.

Sketching the Ravine With Alan Li JOIN VISUAL ARTIST Alan Li, founder of the League of Urban Nature Artists (LUNA), on Sunday, September 8 or 15, 1 to 2 p.m. for a sketching tour of the Wilket Creek ravine. Alan supports conservation efforts through the sale of his artwork and through volunteering. He believes that the act of drawing can open people’s eyes to the planet’s wondrous diversity and show them that it matters. Participants should meet inside TBG’s lobby by the Garden Shop and should bring sun protection, snacks and a drink and a small folding stool (optional). Paper and pencils will be provided. FREE. Registration strongly recommended. See torontobotanicalgarde.ca/learn/adult.

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THE EVENT TBG librarian Mark Stewart spent his first night as a Beechwood Wetland steward removing buckthorn with the aptly named, fun-to-use Extractigator. “It felt really good,” Stewart says of his efforts to remove an invasive shrub from this Lower Don wetland near Broadview Avenue and O’Connor Drive. A lifelong nature lover and ravine enthusiast, we asked Mark about his volunteer gig. How did you become involved with ravine stewardship and how can others do so? I’m part of the City of Toronto’s Community Stewardship Program. There are eight sites in the city where groups meet weekly to remove invasive species, plant natives and help maintain the areas. It’s open to anyone over 14 years of age (or accompanied by a guardian). Information on how to get involved is on the

website: toronto.ca/community-people/ get-involved/volunteer-with-the-city/ community-stewardship-program.

The berries ripen in late summer and are eaten by birds which then disperse the seeds widely in their droppings. Buckthorn is difficult to control because it re-sprouts easily when cut and produces a lot of seedlings.

What is an Extractigator? It’s a brand name weed wrench, which is a long-handled, levered tool that grasps shrubs and small trees at the base so you can easily uproot them.

What was the hardest thing you experienced? Walking through any of Toronto’s ravines and seeing how pervasive invasive plants have become. They are everywhere!

Why is buckthorn a problem in our ravines? Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) is among the first plants to leaf out in the spring which gives it an advantage over native plants. It forms dense stands that shade out native species.

How did you feel afterwards? I felt fantastic. I do a lot of education here at the TBG about identifying and controlling invasive species. It felt good to get out and actually pull some for a change. The experience was really “cathartic”.

classifieds

TBG GARDEN SHOP

TIMELESS GARDEN TREASURES

SALE

Find that special item for your garden at our recycling sale of gently used pots and garden décor. The sale runs in the Garden Shop for one week only, from Monday, September 16 to Saturday, September 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

GREAT DEALS ON MANY FABULOUS ITEMS! SHOP EARLY FOR BEST SELECTION.

GARDEN TOURS with Margaret Dailey-Plouffe. Tours that exceed your expectations. GARDEN Tours for 2020: Philadelphia Flower Show (March); Victoria/Vancouver Island (April); Poland (May/ June); Newport RI Flower Show and Mansions (June); Philadelphia and the Dupont Gardens in Brandywine Valley (July); Buffalo Garden Festival (July); Frank Lloyd Wright/Chicago & Wisconsin (August). PLUS Newfoundland; Agawa Canyon. International Tours to: Ireland; Sicily/Amalfi Coast; Croatia; Contact Margaret at 416-746-7199 hnatravels@gmail.com OR www.hnatravels.com. Make use of vertical space in your garden with a 6-foot obelisk. Made in Toronto exclusively for the Toronto Botanical Garden, these obelisks are superb structures for showcasing and supporting vines and vegetables. Black, powder-coated steel ensures that these towers remain rust-resistant and durable for many years to come. Available throughout the year at the Garden Shop, $89

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PHOTO: CITY OF TORONTO

RAVINE “STEWART”-SHIP

ADULT EDUCATION at TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN FALL/WINTER CLASS REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

For more information and to register, visit our website at:

torontobotanicalgarden.ca/adulted

Toronto Botanical Garden is a great place to learn about nature, food, floral and garden design, gardening, art, and more. Please note: In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, TBG will present adult program information online only. There will be no printed program guide.

COLLECTIONS

MUTSU (AKA CRISPIN)

Large and juicy, good for eating or baking

JONAGOLD Best for

baked goods and preserves

GALA Crisp and sweet, good fresh and for cider

MCINTOSH

Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national apple!

NORTHERN SPY

One of the best for baking

CORTLAND Use in salads,

snacking; flesh is slow to brown

YELLOW DELICIOUS Sweet-tart flavour, good for eating and baking

Why we like...

APPL ES

Crisp, crunchy, tart or sweet, apples make irresistible autumn treats. PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL CHMIELOWIEC PHOTOGRAPHED AT BRANTVIEW APPLES & CIDER, ST. GEORGE, ONTARIO

SNOW (AKA FAMEUSE) Originally

from Quebec, small, sweet table variety

WEALTHY Crisp, juicy, multi-use variety

HONEYCRISP

Sweet, juicy and refreshing eating variety

RUSSET One of the oldest Ontario varieties. Sweet, tangy flavour

EMPIRE Crisp,

sweet eating apple

RED DELICIOUS Mild, sweet flavour

EXPERIENCE

UP A TREE A

lyrical dee-dum signals a new email. It’s from Not Far From The Tree (a Toronto-based fruit picking and sharing organization) announcing another fruit pick. I’ve signed up as a volunteer to get a first-hand look at all the ignored fruit in the city. Someone else’s discards have become treasures to this band of fruit hunters. We’re after free, locally grown, probably pesticide-free fruit. There are plenty of heritage trees in the city and plenty of people who want to pick them. The stumbling block is the infrastructure and costs required to connect the two. I’m curious to see who these people are and whether it’s really the fruit they are after. I head up the asphalt driveway, carefully pushing my bike past a parked car and toe down the kickstand in front of the garage. Alison Smith meets me by the back door, buttoning her pea coat as she steps out. We sit together on an iron bench and I explain my project, how we’ve lost the knowledge about what to do with fruit trees. “I fit right into that category,” Alison shrugs. “I don’t know how to identify them.” Her apple tree reaches the eavestrough. It is laden with fruit, plenty of it half-eaten by raccoons and squirrels. “Honestly I’m not sure our apples are OK,” Alison says, adding that years ago she picked some for a pie but the experience left her wanting. “They’re tiny, so it’s really hard to cut them up and core them.

They’re super hard and super sour, so I had to add a lot of sugar. The pie was decent, but it seemed like three times more work than just buying apples from the grocery store.” The apples on the ground don’t match the oversized fruits we picked at the one-hundred-acre pick-your-own apple farm the weekend previous or most of the fruit I find in grocery stores. These ones are freckled with brown spots and the surfaces are uneven. “There’s not a lot of meat from these guys,” Alison says, flipping a hand at the animals’ leftovers, “so that was my one pie.” But she remembers it. Toward the end of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan prepares a dinner from food made entirely from meat, vegetables and fruit he has harvested himself. He knows it’s not practical for every day but, he writes, “no meal I’ve ever prepared or eaten has been more real.” That pie Alison made would have been all the more pleasurable, knowing the work it took to produce it. Alison didn’t plant the tree. It was here when she and her husband bought the house in the late ’90s from a couple who must have loved gardening. But, judging by the tree’s height and Alison’s recollection of that couple’s age, they wouldn’t have planted it either. So three families have watched it grow, I say, asking her what was here when they moved in. “The apple tree was here; there was a cherry tree in front of the shed.” She hesitates, drawing a breath and bracing

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PHOTOS: COURTESY HELENA MONCRIEFF

Author Helena Moncrieff gets to the core of the urban orchard with a venture into a backyard apple harvest.

for my reaction to her next comment: “which we cut down.” She looks away then tries a recovery. “It wasn’t doing very well, it was dying, I think, so . . .” She deflates with a big breath out. “Feeding right into your thesis.” I nod in understanding. Alison points to a second cherry tree at the back of the property that’s doing fine. It’s well past the roof lines and, without the fruit on it now, I wouldn’t have guessed it to be a cherry. “We don’t really pick those cherries either,” she confesses. “It’s a feast for the raccoons.” And the neighbour, she tells me, complains bitterly about the mess in her yard. Val Colden strides into the yard. She is also a volunteer and trained to lead harvests, a “Supreme Gleaner,” as Not Far From The Tree puts it. The supremes run the picks, make sure everyone is safe and carry the equipment in and the fruit out. After explaining the drill to Alison, Val heaves equipment into the yard: pick poles, canvas bags, a hand-held weigh scale, paper yard waste bags and white plastic buckets with body harnesses—so pickers can keep both hands free. Two more women slip into the yard. Val starts filling us in on the instructions. Clean up the windfall first, never use a ladder without someone spotting, don’t do more than you can, keep the fallen fruit separate. You can take it home if you want, but we can’t donate it. I remember the raccoon scat and think I might give it a pass too. “And finally,” Val says, “beware of fruit greed. We all know that the best fruits are the pieces just out of reach, at the top of the tree where there is more sun.” She tells us to go no higher than the second-last rung of the ladder. Don’t take risks for what may seem like the pick of the crop. If you want to see a natural apple tree today, head to a city. This one is virtually growing wild. It’s unsprayed, unpruned and unpicked but for the animals’ efforts. As we start reaching and

climbing, I think of the orchards we’ve visited where even the youngest kids can fill a bag without so much as a stepstool. Here in Alison’s backyard, we extend our aluminum poles to their full 10 feet. Two of us start on the deck. I hold the ladder, spotting for Heather O’Shea, another volunteer who is skilled with the pole. I watch her technique. Lift, twist, wait for the drop. The pick poles are lightweight, topped with claws fanging inward at the mouth of bright blue-and-yellow canvas bags. Two hours slip by quickly, but I can imagine the muscle tone professional pickers must have. All of the apples are spotted. Still, Val eats one and pronounces it good. I look for an unmarked piece and bite in. The flavour is sweet but the texture a bit mealy. Perhaps Alison picked too soon and we are picking too late. Heather goes back up the ladder. She tells me she travelled an hour and a half on public transit to get here. I think she must be disappointed in the quality, but I’m wrong. It doesn’t matter when you are making cider. “I’ve been holding on to batches all summer. They’re just waiting until I have enough volume.” She needs 20 pounds of apples to make a gallon, but she was yielding just one or two on each pick in August. She insists it’s worth the wait and patience. “From each pick you’re getting a different variety, so it’s a more complex-flavour cider.” I’m picturing the payoff in months of cider lined up on shelves to get through the winter. Heather sets me straight: “If I’m sharing, it might only last a night.” Wow. I’m doing the math on hours spent versus time consumed, but it’s a pointless exercise. We are all enjoying ourselves. Val calls it a day and ends the pick. She has to get the fruit to a neighbourhood food bank before it closes. It’s one of the many details that make this simple act of picking city fruit more involved than it seems. Alison rejoins us as we bag up the apples. Heather holds the scale, hanging each bag by the straps. Val directs the distribution and recording. Seventy-two pounds of fruit off one untended tree. Alison declines her share, so two-thirds will go to charity and one third to the pickers. We’ll each get six pounds to take home, roughly a $12 payment for two hours of work, but we’re not here for the cost benefit. We’re feeling good. Alison gives us a big smile. “That’s amazing.” Excerpted from The Fruitful City: The Enduring Power of the Urban Food Forest by Helena Moncrieff. Published by ECW Press Ltd.

HEAR MORE ABOUT THE FRUITFUL CITY IN HER TBG lecture, Helena Moncrieff examines our relationship with food through the fruit trees that dot city streets and yards. Helena asks how these living heirlooms went from being subsistence staples to raccoon fodder. Guiding us through her journey of slipping into backyards,

visiting community orchards and taking in canning competitions, Helena shows us that while the bounty of apples is great, reconnecting with nature and our community is the real prize. Helena Moncrieff is a writer, professor, former radio journalist and lifelong city dweller. Her

freezer is full of fruit collected from other people’s backyards. The Fruitful City was shortlisted for a Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Thursday, September 19, 7:30 p.m. Members FREE; Public $15; Students (with ID) $12. Book signing follows lecture.

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House Plants Are All in the Family

Blogger and Instagram phenom Darryl Cheng offers fresh perspectives on growing house plants with confidence.

he first tagline I used for my House Plant Journal blog was: “A journal for my house plants”. Although it was completely redundant, I wanted to emphasize that I would be documenting my experiences with my own house plants—I enjoyed watching them grow and change. Naturally, when I started out, I looked to books and the Internet for guidance. As I read more and more plant care advice, I found an imbalance where the appreciation of house plants was assumed to be mostly visual, while their maintenance was looked upon as a chore and focused on identifying and solving problems. Hardly anyone talked about the long-term satisfaction of owning house plants. Instead, there was an accumulation of “tips and tricks” that would lead one to believe that plants are either super easy to care for, requiring little consideration of environmental conditions, or finicky drama queens that keel over and die if you don’t mist them every five minutes. Most plant-care advice is given as a set of instructions tied to individual plant species. The advice reads like a baking recipe that advertises guaranteed results. At the same time, a plant’s supposed imperfections are highlighted, and blame is assigned for failure to overcome them: overwatering, underwatering and so forth. The expectation derived from such advice is that a plant should always look the same or even grow to a state of thriving perfection, except when it mysteriously fails to do so. Reading

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When a palm frond becomes yellow and you tried everything to stop it, does that make the palm a hard plant to care for? What if you knew to expect some leaf loss?

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Can you give it the amount of light it needs to survive or to thrive? Do you know how to assess soil moisture and how to water? When you understand your growing conditions and care methods, many house plant “problems” fall into the unavoidable and non-life-threatening category: They are your problems, not the plant’s problems. But if you can change your expectations and accept what nature has in store, you’ll get great enjoyment from your plants for many years. Snake plants are classified as “easy” because they can maintain their broad leaves for years even while living several feet from a window.

the reassurance that “this plant is easy to care for” only adds to feelings of being a bad plant parent when a few leaves turn yellow and fall off. I think a shift in the plant care mindset is needed. In documenting my experiences with house plants, I focused on understanding what environmental factors were most important for house plant enjoyment. I wasn’t looking for perfection—I just wanted to know that I was doing everything I could and that the plant was trying its best too. I applied my engineering thinking to the hobby, optimizing my care efforts for maximum house plant satisfaction. My goal is to empower you to understand your home’s growing conditions, to be observant and to accept what nature has in store. It’s about equipping you with the right knowledge and expectations, so you will know that you’re doing the best you can, given the conditions in your home. Finally, I want to help you break away from old habits and ways of thinking that hinder you from truly enjoying plant parenthood. Some plants demand attention to prevent permanent damage. Take wilting, for example. When their soil dries out completely, some leafy plants, such as the peace lily and the maidenhair fern, wilt dramatically. With a good soaking,

though, the peace lily will perk up and look just fine, but the maidenhair fern may not recover. A plant that you can easily kill can be reasonably described as hard to care for, and some plants require more vigilance to keep them alive. Fortunately, most of the plants you will grow are more forgiving. If you don’t want to put time and energy into plant care, growing certain kinds of plants will be hard for you. Growing lots of plants, especially large ones, can be overwhelming if you don’t enjoy the process of caring for them. If you need to spend an hour moving plants around simply to water them, you might consider them hard to care for. If you expect every plant to look “beautiful” all the time and never drop a leaf, then every plant will seem hard to care for. Truly, this is an impossible expectation to meet, so get used to removing some dead leaves. Older leaves must die off to balance the resources required for new ones. Most plants develop physical imperfections despite all efforts, and every plant will look different once it has adjusted to living in your home. If you know to expect this, you will learn to appreciate your plants’ resourcefulness and character. And, of course, any plant is hard to care for if you don’t understand its needs.

Pre-Lecture Plant Swap, Wednesday, October 23, 5 to 7 p.m.

for something new. Participants will receive one exchange ticket per plant (regardless of plant size). Prior to entry, plants will be screened for pests

Come to the TBG’s first ever plant swap! Trade your extra house plants

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Excerpted with permission from The New Plant Parent. Darryl Cheng is the creator of the House Plant Journal blog. With more than 350,000 Instagram followers, he is one of the most trusted resources in the Internet house plant world. Darryl has also published The New Plant Parent.

The New Plant Parent, Wednesday, October 23, 7:30 p.m. In his lecture, Darryl brings a fresh perspective to an old hobby. His science-based, practical approach has helped thousands understand the essentials of house plant care so they can become confident plant parents. In this lecture, find out how you can become a good house plant parent. Floral Hall. Members FREE; Public $15; Students (with valid ID) $12. Book signing follows lecture.

and diseases—only healthy plants will be accepted. House plant experts will be on site to offer free advice. Suggested donation, $5.

PHOTOS: COURTESY DARRYL CHENG

Older leaves on this Dracaena marginata naturally fall off as new ones emerge at the tip. Every line on this trunk is the scar of an old leaf.

DIY

Make It! These quick and simple tarts look like beautiful roses and taste like apple pie, says Jenny Rhodenizer ROSY APP LE TART S MAKES 6 TARTS 1 sheet ready-to-use puff pastry, thawed 2 red apples (Red Delicious or other Ontario baking apple) juice of half a lemon 1 Tbsp flour 3 Tbsp apricot preserve cinnamon icing sugar (optional)

Thaw the puff pastry at room temperature. Preheat oven to 375Â°F. Squeeze juice of half a lemon into a bowl and add an equal amount of water. Wash, then cut the apples in half, remove the core and cut the apples into paper-thin slices or use a mandolin. (Leave the peel on to give a beautiful red colour to the roses.) Place the sliced apples into the bowl of lemon water to prevent browning. Place the bowl of apples in the microwave for about 3 minutes to soften. (Cook them enough so they bend without breaking.)

PHOTOS: JENNY RHODENIZER

Roll out the pastry onto a clean and lightly floured counter, stretching and shaping the dough into a 30 x 22 cm rectangle. Cut the dough into six equal strips of about 5 x 22 cm. Place apricot preserve and two tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Microwave for about one minute. With a pastry brush, spread a thin layer of preserve onto each strip of dough. Drain the apples and arrange the slices so they overlap each other along the top half of the dough, allowing the red peel to overhang the edge of the strip. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Fold up the bottom edge of the dough. Then, starting from one end, carefully roll up the dough, keeping the apple slices in place. Seal the end by pressing it with your fingers. Place in a regularsized muffin tin greased with butter and flour (or an ungreased silicone pan). Repeat for all six roses. Bake for about 45 minutes. (The pastry should be fully cooked on the inside. If the tops of the apples start to burn after 30 minutes, finish baking on a lower rack or cover loosely with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.)

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Remove the tarts from the muffin cups and display on a cake stand or plate. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy! Note: Rose tarts are best eaten right after baking but may be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to three days. Warm in the oven before serving. Adapted from Cooking with Manuela (cookingwithmanuela.blogspot.com)

DIY

Make It!

Millean Kung’s 5-Spice apricot conserve WHETHER SPREAD on toast or croissants, served with cheese and crackers or even served with meat, Five-Spice Apricot Conserve has warm spices, typically a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Szechwan peppercorns, which add a refreshing taste. A conserve is a spread similar to jam and is usually

prepared in the same way using two or more fruits and nuts. This recipe calls for dried apricots and sliced almonds. It is ideal for gift-making and giving. Try your hand at making this and other preserves at the Make Your Own Preserves series of courses offered at the Toronto Botanical Garden.

INGREDIENTS

Place dried apricots in a pot of water. Boil, remove from heat and let sit for an hour. Meanwhile, toast the almond slices. Stir the five-spice powder into the apricots and then add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then simmer and stir for about 10 minutes.

Gradually stir in the sugar and return to a boil. Add the toasted almond slices, stir and then boil again for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

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Ladle the preserve into five to six 1-cup canning jars and then process the jars in a boiling water bath for five minutes.

PHOTOS: MILLEAN KUNG

1 pound of dried apricots 5 cups of water ¾ cup sliced almonds ½ tsp five-spice powder (available at most Asian grocers) ¾ cup fresh lemon juice 3 cups granulated sugar

FOOD BANKS GROW COMMUNITIES

E NJOY PRE PARING TH E SE RECIPES F ROM THE ACSA COOK B OOK

Christine Markwell explains how donations from the TBG’s Teaching Garden help feed a community. ST U F F ED P EP P ER S , P OTATO ES O R TO M ATO

THE AGINCOURT COMMUNITY Services Association (ACSA) Food Bank, located at the Dorset Park Community Hub (Kennedy Road and Ellesmere Road), has supported the needs of marginalized and underserved communities for more than 45 years. In response to the 2008 recession, ACSA’s catchment area was expanded from four postal codes to seven, and the food bank began serving individuals and families experiencing food insecurity more frequently—as often as once a week. Clients come from all walks of life. Healthy food can be expensive and inaccessible. Due to their reliance on donations and the limitations of storage space, typically food banks offer non-perishable foods. But in addition to these items, the ACSA Food Bank offers perishable items such as vegetables and fruit, dairy, meat and bread. In September 2018 donations of fresh produce from the Teaching Garden at the TBG enabled the food bank to provide our clients with additional fruits and vegetables for a week. The ACSA Food Bank has produced a cookbook, and in 2019 it includes recipes from clients and volunteers featuring favourite foods provided by the food bank. Some of our clients attended free Training and Small Business Support Services for Women at the Dorset Park Community Hub. These women are fabulous catering entrepreneurs and are launching their own small catering businesses in the community with opportunities provided by ACSA that feature their culinary talents. We thank the TBG for providing our clients with the physical rewards of your labours in the Teaching Garden as well as with a social and emotional connection to the work of your organization.

4 peppers, potatoes or tomatoes 1 small onion, diced 2 Tbsp tomato sauce or paste 1 lb ground meat Wash the vegetables and cut them in two. Mix the ground meat with the diced onion. Add salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp of tomato sauce or diluted tomato paste. Fill each half vegetable with the ground meat mixture and cook in the oven (350°) for approximately 45 minutes.

B EET SA LA D 4 to 6 medium beets Minced garlic or garlic salt Vinaigrette (oil and vinegar)

Christine Markwell (BA Psych, BMgmt) has worked in community services for 12 years and is Food Bank Coordinator and a Settlement Counselor at the Dorset Park Community Hub. PHOTOS: COURTESY ACSA FOOD BANK

Cook beets in boiling water until you can easily insert the tip of a knife inside. Peel and dice beets. Place in a bowl. Add a little bit of minced garlic or sprinkle with garlic salt. Add vinaigrette of your choice (oil and vinegar, or any other kind).

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MOMENTS

people, places & plants Goings On at the TBG

PHOTOS: 1. TIM FLEISCHMANN, 2. AILEEN BARCLAY 3. TBG, 4. COURTESY TONY SPENCER

4 1. Royal sighting Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson visited us to offer support for the TBG’s expansion plans while at the launch of the T.M. Glass exhibition in May.

2. Knock, knock Who’s the most photographed bird in the TBG gardens? Mr. Pileated Woodpecker.

3. She’s a winner! The TBG’s very own Susan Lipchak proudly displays her Community Volunteer Services Award.

4. Storm troopers Star Wars troopers took this year’s Blossom Party, and guest Tony Spencer, by storm.

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PATRONS