Geraniums - Pelargoniums

I recently had the opportunity to speak at an event honouring a group of people whose gardens were nominated for recognition. I was allowed to choose my own topic and I decided to talk on how I went about learning more on the topic of Horticulture. I then spent some time showing slides that illustrated what I learned from the sources from which I learned about the topic.

I didn't mention the annual geranium in my talk but this was one of my first ventures into the world of cuttings. When we were first married, we would take cuttings from the previous years supply of geraniums and tried to coax them through the Winter. We would often lose half our crop, probably because of the way we started the cuttings.

We tried rooting them in water but that just didn't work for us as the cuttings would rot and die. We tried putting them right in the soil and that worked to some degree but we again lost a significant number of the cuttings for some reason. It wasn't until years later that I mentioned my difficulty to a Master Gardener that I learned to allow the cutting to dry overnight in the refrigerator before putting them in soil that I was most successful. Now most if not all the cuttings survive. I learned too from the same Master Gardener that starting geraniums from purchased seed is almost always 100% successful.

I know that many gardeners will dry out their plants, hang them in a cold cellar and repot them the following year again with mixed success but I'm doing alright with cuttings now that I give them 24 hours to heal before potting them up.

Much to do in the next few weeks

Over the next few weeks, I need to save the annuals and tender perennials that I want to keep for next year. The Dahlias and Amaryllis have to be cleaned and put into the cold cellar, cuttings of Geraniums, Sweet potato vines and Plectranthus taken and Echeverria preserved. Once again I am going to try to overwinter some pond plants that include Colocasia (Taro) and Cyperus (Papyrus).

I still have some tomatoes to pick and some potatoes to dig up. There are seeds to collect as well. I tried growing 4 O'Clocks in a container this year and the experiment worked quite well.

And then there are some areas of the garden that I plan to change. This includes planting a Clethra that has been in a container for several years and a dwarf Elm that was purchased this Summer. There are still a few Jovibara and two dwarf Astilbes yet to be planted as well. I'll likely plant a few bulbs too (Tulips and Alliums)

After all of this has been completed, I'll begin the cleanup. I feel a little like Alice's white rabbit.

What's in bloom now?

It is always interesting at the end of September to do a review of what is in bloom. The other day I was at a fellow Master Gardeners place and she has a Clematis Josephine in bloom. While the flowers are smaller than they might be during the blooming seaon for Josephine, the flowers are nevertheless attractive.

While there are the usual Asters, Anemones, Sedums and Helenium, there is a clump of Iris Immortality that is reblooming along with several clumps of Spiderworts. My C texensis Dutchess of Albany still has some blooms on it too although they are much like Josephine mentioned above. The flowers are smaller and not as perfect as they once were.

An unusual occurence is a stand of New England Asters that when planted many years ago were crimson in colour. Now, the stand is as large as it was several years ago but now is completely purple. There is still a stand elsewhere in the garden that is the crimson colour but this one has changed.

Insect bites

A bee keeper was telling us last night that when he works amongst his bees, he works dirty. This to say that most soaps have a fragrance that attract bees (sounds reasonable doesn't it - the bees think flowers and pollen). So it would make sense that most pollinators would be attracted to scents from soaps and perfumes. That being the case, I guess that it would make sense not to be wearing perfume when you go out to sit in the garden.

I know that mosquitos are more attracted to individuals who eat bananas regularly than those who don't.

Being careful about wearing fragrances from perfumes or soaps in the garden might be a sensible thing this year given the population of yellow jackets this year. For some reason, the population is up considerably and they are building nests everywhere.

Clematis 'Summer Snow'"

I saw an interesting Clematis last night that was described as Summer Snow. From the pictures found on the Net this morning, I believe the Clematis in question is the Clematis Paul Farges 'Summer Snow'.

The site that I found the information on is an American site and they indicate that it is hardy to Zone 5 to 9. That means that Summer Snow should be hardy to Zone 5b in our area. The listing suggests that it should do well in part shade to full sun, moist but well drained alkaline or neutral soil and in a South or West facing location.

The one that we saw last night was in a somewhat sheltered location and is flowering now - the beginning of August. It had spent flowers on it which indicates that it has been blooming for some time. The listing gives indicates that it blooms July through September.

If you like the small flowered Clematis that bloom prolificly, this might be one to consider.

Agapanthus

I had seen some ads about Summer blooming bulbs and decided I'd like to try some. The Agapanthus columba (African blue lily) was described as a pretty impressive plant that produced 7" globes atop 27" stems but the thing that really attracted me was that they were featured in containers alone or with other plants.

I bought some and potted them up 2 years ago but nothing really happened that first year. I overwintered them in our unheated garage in the containers last winter and brought them out again this Spring. They immediately put on a growth spurt and today are over 3' with 7" to 9" balls on top. The flowers are quite attractive with "florets with light blue centres and violet-blue edges" (just like the catalogue said).

This year, I had them in containers by themselves. Perhaps next year, I'll add other plants to the container. If I add other plants to the container, I'll have to ensure that the Agapanthus is centred so that the container will look OK from any side as the container needs to be rotated to prevent the plant from leaning. I'm always a little reticent to mess with something that I thought was pretty good as it was, but perhaps I'll try it with one of the 3 containers.

I add a granulated slow release fertilizer twice a year and water when needed. Haven't needed to water much this year. I think overwintering in the garage is pretty critical as the Agapanthus is a tender perennial. I water plants in the garage a few times over the winter to ensure that they don't dry out.

Adenophora confusa

Confused? I don't think I am anymore.

Back in 96, I purchased a plant called Adenophora confusa from a catalogue service in the US. It was described as a plant that only a Botanist could distinguish from a Campanula. The catalogue described the flowers as "drooping and in racemes and the plants are even more durable and long lived than Bellflowers." The flowers are as the catalogue describes an excellent blue with no enemies on the colour chart. It goes on to say that it flowers in July and August and once established it does not like to be moved.

It has been in the garden ever since and began to spread, even into the lawn. I thought it would be easy to control given it didn't like to be moved but I discovered when I started to dig it up that it had tuber like roots and lots of them. I have been digging out for the last several years and I thought I might have succeeded last year.

Surprise, it is still there. At about the time that I started digging it up, I decided to check a book on weeds and I discovered a weed listed as Campanula rapunculoides (creeping bellflower). The description in the weed book is almost identical to the description in the US catalogue. The weed book goes on to describe the root system as "white creeping and the rhizome is thick and somewhat tuber-like making the plant somewhat difficult to eradicate." Hmmm sounds like my adenophora.

Still not convinced, I decided to check my copy of the Botanical Garden vol II by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix. Now I'm quite sure that my adenophora is truely a campanula. But it is so pretty, do I really want to get rid of all of it. Maybe I'll just keep a little clump of it - if I can keep it little ... It really is a great blue after all.

Plant material

Some of us are plant people - people who see an attractive plant that really catches our eye and we simply must have one or several. We don't know where we are going to put it but we simply must have it. And there are others that are more concerned with design, structure,or maintenance not that it is one or the other (plants or structure).

I was talking to someone on the tour and mentioned a majestic weeping Purple Beech near the front entrance to the house and the individual hadn't seen it. And then there was a gentleman that asked me about a plant at another garden that was nestled amongst the hostas - I hadn't seen it. Finally, it wasn't until we were well into sitting one of the gardens that I noticed a particularly attractive Tricolour Beech. We obviously look at gardens with different eyes.

It is always fun to tour gardens with someone else as it provides an opportunity to see more and to share while doing it. We can share with the home owner too as they too have problems or questions.

While the home owners were not having a problem with a bed or some plants, they were having problems with minx who were eating the koi in the pond. I was able to suggest that they try laying some weeping tile along the bottom of the pond to give the fish a place to hide. They told me that they leave the green algae in one part of the pond as food for the koi. I had known that koi fed on the roots of plants but never thought that algae might help to save some of the plants from the koi. This is what I meant by sharing.

Several people asked about a variegated willow on one of the properties, asking about height, spread and whether it could be pruned. It is always neat to see how a particular plant behaves in a particular setting and to think how it might perform in our own garden.

I love garden tours because I am a visual learner and always go home with some new ideas.

Design

I think that you can look at a good design and see what the purpose of a garden is and this is one of the questions that a good designer asks at the beginning of the interview with the home owner - "How are you going to use the yard? What activities do you want to provide for?" I think that you could look at each of the four gardens we saw last night and see what they were designed for. When I returned to one of the properties after the tour last night, a group of grandchildren were playing ball on the large lawn in the back yard. Play area was obviously important for this family.

The amount of 'play space, entertaining space, ...' and the style of space are really critical to the design. Several of the gardens incorporated the concept of 'rooms' into the garden. This is where the garden is seen as an extension of the house and actually incorporates design characteristics of the house into the garden.

I would have said in the past and particularly after the tour that a formal or somewhat formal garden works best on a large property and we saw some somewhat formal gardens Tuesday night but after the tour I watched a short gardening design program where they put quite a formal garden in a small property. So my perspective has changed.

Regardless of preconceived notions or garden preferences, I think we can learn something from every garden we visit.

Perspective

All of the gardens that we saw last night were on quite large properties. The trees incorporated in all of the gardens are really quite large, yet looked perfect in these gardens. They fit right in and didn't look oversized as they might on some of the smaller properties around our cities. It is unlikely they will ever be too large for the property. One house had a large weeping Purple Beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea-Pendula') that while large for some gardens will always look just perfect for this property.

There was a property not far from where I live in the Forest Hills area that had at least a half dozen large evergreens. I'm sure that when they were planted, they fit in quite well and didn't overpower the house but as time went on they became far too large for the space they occupied.

When choosing a tree for for our house or garden, we need to pay close attention to the size the tree will eventually become and the length of time it will take to reach that size. There are many dwarf, and weeping varieties of some of these very large trees that will look just right on many of our sub-urban properties.

Another perspective to keep in mind is that we all create gardens for ourselves. The garden that we create for ourself may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we like it otherwise we most likely would have created something else. We all have a favourite style but that doesn't mean that we can't learn from someone else. I invariably borrow ideas from many of the gardens I visit, my style or not.

So I was reminded last night to keep things in perspective.

Garden Tour (July)

We had our second tour of the Summer last night and there was lots to see and learn. I learned a number of things and will deal with them in separate posts. These things can be put perhaps in three categories
- Perspective
- Design
- Plant material

I'm sure that some of you lerned other things as well but I thought I'd try to get a few ideas down before I forget them.

Another thought, not something that I didn't know before, but something I think requires comment. The Kitchener Horticultural Society has a great bunch of volunteers, a great bunch of members, and a great bunch of gardeners willing to show their gardens and to share their expertise. I had a great time last night seeing the gardens and meeting fellow gardeners.

Thank you all!

Clematis

I'm often asked to recommend a Clematis that can fill a large space and is attractive as well. My answer invariably is to suggest the Clematis terniflora.

This plant is said to reach 20 feet in height. Mine is on a trellis that reaches about 8 feet from the ground and the terniflora goes up to the top of the trellis and doubles over. While I'm certain it will spread quite wide, I restrict ours to about 5 feet. It begins to flower in early July and often into October. It has masses of small cream coloured flowers with a touch of blue that have a really pleasant fragrance.

The terniflora prefers full sun but the location that I have it in is part shade. And if my soil is any indication of the type of soil it prefers, it takes a well drained soil and can handle a mild drought.

I've attached two photos to illustrate the size of the one plant and the type of flower to expect. The photos were taken this morning so you won't see a mass of flowers but the Clematis is impressive nonetheless.

Jovibarba

The photo in the last posting may in fact be a Jovibarba. I understand that the difference may be that new 'chicks' supposedly sit on top of the clump only to roll off and form new clumps. Sempervivum on the other hand produce chicks on the edge of a clump and immediately set roots.

Regardless, I quite like both and some of each in the garden.

Sempervivum

Like the Echeveria, I quite like this plant too. There are so many varieties. Up until last Summer, the only thing I didn't like about them were the flowers and then the Master Gardeners went on their summer trip. We visited one garden where the owner propagated many different kinds. Some were in flower and I took a few photos. Now I can't wait until mine bloom to see what kind of flowers they will have.

Who couldn't like the attached.

Echeveria

What a cool variety of plants. Ive always been interested in the Echeveria and last year saw a particularly nice one that I purchased.

Kept it outside last year in its own container and brought it in at the end of the season as I didn't want to lose it. A few years ago, I had another that I wanted to preserve so I saved plugs that I potted up and kept under lights in the basement. The patients all died. Haven't been able to figure out what I did wrong - well maybe I have, but that's another story.

So I decided to keep last year's purchase in it's own container in a front window that faces east. Not a lot of sun but hopefully enough. Over the winter, the plant got leggy and when Spring arrived, I rushed it outside. Kept it in the shade and gradually introduced it to full sun. It is still long and leggy and with all of the rain that we have been receiving, some of the stems are too heavy and have fallen over. What to do?

I dug out a couple of books and started to research the plant. It can be propagated by offsets and leaf cuttings. A colleague also suggested that they could be overwintered by making a small plug of the parent rosette. So I've tried two approaches. I took several leaves that I have laying on a bed of half sand/half potting soil. I've also taken a plug of the parent rosette, removed some of the leaves and potted it up too. I let them dry/callous for 24 hours (the book suggested 48, but 24 should do) and then I potted them. They are sitting in the shade on the deck and I am hoping for success. They will be misted from time to time and I'm told that roots should start to form by two weeks.

I'll keep you posted on the results.

Humility

One thing about gardening is that it teaches humility.

I do a lot of reading about horticulture (have a collection of over 200 books and 20 years of issues of 4 different magazines), attend technical updates, conferences and garden tours and listen to fellow Master Gardeners and excellent speakers. So I feel that I have some knowledge of plants.

Recently, after the Horticultural Society's Plant Exchange, I was pawing through the remaining plants and came across a plant that I thought was a variety of helenium. I could always use another so I purchased this one for a whole dollar (looney). I suppose that somewhat sums up my purchase - I was mistaken. The plant turned out to be one of those plants that turns up in your garden because the gardener down the street has thousand of them - a daisy.

I bought a daisy! How dumb is that? Who doesn't know what a daisy looks like? Who wants another in their yard when they come up like forget-me-nots?

I'm going to think twice before I attempt to identify another plant for someone.

Chinese Dogwood

So much for my research. The latin name of this tree is Cornus kousa var chinensis. Apparently it is hardier than the Cornus kousa which is rated as hardy to Zone 6. It will grow to a height of 15 feet with a spread of 20 feet. Grows in full sun in well drained soil.

Chinese Dogwood

One of the dangerous things about going on a Garden Tour is that you frequently see a plant that just knocks you out and you must get one. Several years ago, one of the gardens that we featured in the KHS Garden Tour in July had a gorgeous tree with pink blooms on it. I discovered it was a Chinese Dogwood and although I had no room for one, I made note of the tree and did a little bit of research. A year or so later, I moved a Weeping Spruce that was in the wrong place or maybe I just found a better place for it. Now there was room for the Dogwood.

A trip to John's Nursery in Waterloo and I was the proud owner of a Chinese Dogwood. Unlike the one that I had seen earlier, this one had cream coloured flowers. The tree has grown a bit in the last few years and is certainly healthy. This year it is covered with flowers.

Oddly, the Cornus Chinensis is not listed in Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs nor is it in Trevor Cole's Gardening with Trees and Shrubs in Ontario, Quebec and Northeastern US. I'll have to do a little more checking to get you some info on the tree. I have it growing in full sun in well drained soil and it has survived these last 3 years in our Canadian Zone 5b/6a quite well.

Iris again

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In a corner of the yard that receives somewhat less sun than others, a tall bearded Iris that I can't remember planting has bloomed. Given my aptitude for colours, I would describe it as a peach coloured variety. I think it is quite lovely and will make sure that the area around it is kept quite clean after it blooms to ensure that I can enjoy at again next year.

The Siberian Irises have started to bloom too. Several clumps of the standard purple variety have opened - actually two more clumps than I planted origially. I guess these guys self seed as well if you let them. Another variety 'Butter and Sugar' or 'Sugar and Butter' will bloom a little later in the season.


Have you ever noticed how much 'time in the sun' can affect when a plant will bloom. Knowledge of this effect can help you lenghten the season for one of your favourite plants. 'Butter and Sugar' gets fewer hours of full sun than do the other Siberians and as a result there are a few weeks between when it and the others open. This is true, at least I've found it to be true for many of the plants I have around the garden.

Summer is here?

Can't be sure given the weather patterns, but I think Summer is finally here. The Peonies are beginning to bloom and for me that is a sign that Summer is finally here.

The Peony that you see in the attached photo is Nymphe, a single. I like single Peonies as the flowers are not as heavy as the larger doubles and are more likely to stay upright after a rain. The Nymphe was planted three years ago and this is the first year for a really spectacular show. Nymphe is described as a pink Peony, although I think it more rose than pink, that will grow to a height of 30 to 34 inches in full sun and well drained soil. With all of the rain that we have had this Spring, it has reached it's full height.

The nice thing about Peonies is that after the flowers are gone, you still have this nice clump of darker green foliage that is attractive throughout the summer. We have three other varieties that are yet to bloom and a fringe leafed Peony that is a harbinger of Spring.

Evergreens

I like Spring for many reasons and I was reminded of one of those reasons yesterday as I was running around doing errands.

At this time of the year as Spruce, Pine and even Larch are putting on new growth, the trees look as if they have just come from the hairdresser and had some tints put in their hair. You see the light green on the new candles darkening to the mid to dark green of the older growth. How gorgeous is that! In the case of the Larch, it is all new growth but what really attracts me to the Larch is the strawberry looking cones (colour and size) that begin to show a little later in the season.

Everything is so new and fresh and the colours are so vivid. What a wonderful time of the year!

Fragrance in the Garden

At this time of the year, I find fragrances in the garden particularly noticeable and inviting - you just want to linger. The other night, I was visiting someone's garden and as I walked up to the house there was this really welcoming smell. It wasn't until I was leaving that I realised that it was coming from the Snowball Vibernum. Wow, how nice it was.

I realise that for some people with allergies and some with particularly acute sniffers, garden fragrance may be troublesome, but for me, I love it. Not only does the garden smell really fresh in the morning but fragrant flowers make the morning so much better.

If you are like me and appreciate the different fragrances, there are many plants to choose from. In the early Spring, while I find the Hyacinths overpowering (we don't include them in our garden) there are the narcissus that have different levels of fragrance. We particularly like the little Thalias and Tete-a-Tetes but others are equally pleasant. Then come the flowering trees and shrubs such as the aforementioned Hydrangeas.

The summer brings oh so many more fragrant perennials and shrubs. Have you ever noticed how nice some of the Echinacea smell? Everyone knows about Lily of the Valley, Daphne and Roses, but what about Sweet Woodruff, Summersweet (Clethra), even Wormwood (Artemesia). And then there are the 'Climbers and Twiners'.

If you like fragrant plants, there are many to choose from and if you are creative, you can have something different for each part of the growing season

Iris borer

So now, how do you protect your tall bearded Iris from being destroyed by the borer.

In days gone by, we might have sprayed the rhizomes with rotenone or pyrethrum but now with the ban on pesticides, we need to find alternative methods. Some of us chose not to use pesticides in the past and used preventative methods. The best thing to do is simply to clean up your Iris stands once the Irises have finished their blooming.

In the Fall, you need to cut off the dead leaves (give the plants a mohawk style haircut) throw the leaves in the garbage, not the compost, as the leaves can harbour insect eggs. You could even dig up the plants, cut out old sections, divide the rhizomes and replant. You might even move the stand to a different part of the garden.

During the course of the year, I also examine the leaves and visible parts of the rhizome to try to safeguard the plants. If I see a hole in a leaf, I squeeze around the area in the leaf to kill any borer that is active in the plant. I have even taken a thin wire and run it down as far as I can into the hole to detroy any borer at work in the plant.

Tall Bearded Iris

Yesterday, when I went out into the garden, the one remaining Tall Iris that I have was in bloom. We once had a number of different varieties but an infestation of Iris borer decimated our collection. Now we still have the early Iris reticulata,several stands of a dwarf iris and the tall white Iris that made it through the infestation. Oh yes, we also have a flag iris in the pond.

I think enough years have gone by for me to again try some other varieties. The one that made it through the infestation is a pretty white repeat bloome that I believe was called Immortality - good name given my experience with the borer. It is described as a "reblooming wonder" that "flowers heavily in the regular iris season and then again in late summer" (from the Cruickshanks catalogue Summer 1993). It has indeed lived up to its billing.

Other varieties that we purchased from Cruickshanks include Breakers ("bluest of blues"), Pink Capers ("perfect pink") and I believe, Thriller (wine coloured) - how I miss Cruickshanks although GardenImports has filled the gap quite well.

In addition to some of the really attractive colours that are available, I quite want to try some of the borderline hardy varieties for this area. I find Irises really attractive and they fill that little gap in time between the Spring bulbs and the Peonies.

Redbud

Meant to add the photo of the Redbud to the previous posting. Here it is.

Redbud

On the route I take to the downtown there is this really pretty tree at this time of the year. I wasn't sure what it was until a colleague pointed out a similar tree near Rockway Gardens. Apparently there is one at Rockway as well.

The Eastern Redbud or Cercis canadensis is borderline hardy in this area (Zone 5). It blooms near the end of April and is still in bloom today, May 20th. It can be really breathtaking and I'll attach a photo I took of one today. The flowers are described as a rosy pink in the texts that I read but they look almost like a light purple to me. The Cercis canadensis is shown in books as a single stem tree whereas the one that I saw was more like the Cercis chinensis which seems to be a multi-stemmed shrub.

The canadensis will grow to a height of about 20 to 30 feet with a spread of 25 to 35 feet. If you have the room for it, it is an incredible specimen plant well worth including in your garden. It adapts well to a number of soils and can even be grown from seed as a colleague has done.

Check it out.

emigration

Do you ever think that maybe nature has it right and we don't really have a clue what we are doing in this gardening thing?

I have been working for years to have the perennial border just perfect - no grass, no weeds and everything just bloomin perfect. Likewise the lawn that I try to keep weed free. But no matter how hard I try, the grass seems to prefer the good soil in the perennial beds and some perennials try to move into areas that have been dedicated to lawn. In weaker moments, I have thought that maybe I should convert the perennial borders to grass and the lawn to perennial borders. The resulting plan would look rather peculiar don't you think.

Then I think about what it is that is attractive to grass and what plants seem to prefer the open spaces of the lawn. We add compost to the perennial border every year to improve the soil - maybe we should be doing likewise for the lawn. Just a light top-dressing of compost will do wonders for the soil and should make that lawn better.

The plants that I have that seem to like to move to the lawn area are plants that seem to be able to handle any kind of soil - shasta daisies, rose mallow, sorrel and some ground covers. Some of these I understand as they can handle most any kind of soil and do well in full sun. Sorrel however, likes a rich moist soil but can do well in full sun.

I think maybe if I pay a little more attention to the needs of my plants they'll do better where they are but then again plants will tend to wander and I will always be working to keep the little lawn I have rich and beautiful and the perennial borders flowering and attractive.

What's in bloom now

I was gathering some flowers from the garden the other day for a show and tell at a local Retirement home and was quite surprised by the number of different types of flowers that I was able to collect. There were several different bulbs in flower, scilla, chionodoxa, tulips that included a species tulip (Tarda), and at least 6 different types of daffodils that included two multi-stemmed narcissus(Thalia and Tete a tete). Are your daffodils expanding as quickly as mine? Last year, I divided several clumps giving many away - over 100 bulbs in each clump. This year the bulbs that I left in the clump seem to have expanded again to the extent that the clump needs dividing again.

I also found several groundcover type plants (lamium, aubretia, arabis, sweet woodruff and phlox). There were also a few of the flowers that we all find in our gardens such as the Forget-me-nots, the violas and even a dandelion. Close to the house, the first anemone of the season had bloomed and it joined the rest.

Next to the retirement home, there were a couple of trees in bloom that I took samples of too. The worst smelling example was a cutting from an ornamental pear while the most fragrant was a toss-up between the Sweet Woodruff and some of the Narcissi.

What do you have blooming at this time?

What's your favourite perennial

Mine is the Fern Leaf Peony (Paeonia tenuifolia). I love the way it starts to come up in the Spring and then one day it just bursts out into bloom. It would be nice if it stayed in flower for a longer period of time but you can't have everything can you. I've attached a few photos.

This is the first of the Peonies to bloom and it frequently flowers when the tulips and some of the narcissi are still in flower. Mine grows to a height of about 2 feet. A source I use (Peonies the Imperial Flower by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall) describes it as "having the fragile beauty of a large scale anemone or pasque flower" and is apparently from the Black Sea area in the Ukraine. I liken the flower more to the poppy than the anemone but that's me. Regardless of what you think it looks like, you can't help but be attracted to it.

And even after the flower disappears, you still have the unique foliage to attract your attention for a good part of the Summer.

Daffodils

Up close to the house, there are three daffodils in bloom this morning. They appear to be the trumpet Narcissus Mount Hood which is one of the earliest to bloom in our garden. These daffodils are fragrant and when you go into the garden early in the morning, it is quite noticable.

Late last year, I had dug up an area of the garden that had several large clumps of Thalias in it and I thought I had replanted and given away all of the ones that I had dug up but I see that there are a few bulbs lying on top of the soil. What blows me away is that these bulbs are actually growing. They have all put out some greenery and a couple of them have put roots into the soil.

When we first planted the Thalia we planted a couple of dozen around the yard but these little narcissi are so prolific that we have large clumps now with at least 50 bulbs in each clump and have given hundreds away over the years.

Soil conditions in our yard must be perfect for the narcissi as the clumps have grown quite large and been divided many times over the years. There was only one year when the Spring was particularly wet and we lost some, primarily the white varieties, but since then they have multiplied quite prolificly.

In addition to the two varieties already mentioned we have, King Alfred, Stainless, Ice Follies, Tete a tete, and a few others. Mixed in with the tulips, they really brighten up the yard in Spring.

Scilla and toxic plants

I can't recall ever planting these bulbs but every year these bulbs are among the first to bloom. There are the light blue flowers with a splash of white and then too there are the very dark blue flowered Scilla clumps that appear throughout the garden. It is interesting to note that many of the earliest of flowers to appear in the yard are blue.

Last night, the Kitchener Horticultural Society heard Dr Jonathan Schmidt speaking at the Kitchener Public Library on Myth, Mystery and Magic in the Garden. He gave a very interesting presentation and answered questions for about a half hour.

He concentrated on some of the toxic plants in nature and in the garden and some of the myths that follow some of these plants. We learned about plants that could be hazardous to our health and others that could cause skin irritations and how some of these plants had been and are being used well and dangerously by medical practitioners. One plant for example that has been used to break down the skin cells in warts has also been used by one Doctor in the US on melanoma and not only did it have little affect on the skin cancer, it also disfigured the individuals on which it was tried. The Doctor is currently being sued by patients.

We also learned how some toxic plants are cleverly used by insects to make themselves distasteful and toxic to potential predators. One interesting tidbit is that sweet woodruff is toxic to rabbits. I think I'll enlarge the patch I have in the garden, put up a welcome sign for our neighbourhood rabbit. I may even crush some up and put out a dish for the rabbit too.

Two plants that he mentioned that we have eliminated from our home and garden because of the toxicity are Oleander and Monkshood. Two others that have never been introduced to the garden for the same reason are Datura and Castor Bean. We love our grandchildren and pets too much to take the chance.

Iris reticulata

The very first flower to bloom in my garden was the Iris reticulata. The cover of Patrick Lima's The Harrowsmith Perennial Garden: Flowers for Three Seasons is a photo of these little Irises peeking through the snow. Last week, prior to our last snowfall, when I went out into the garden I found some in bloom. As it was late in the day, I decided to wait until the following day to take a photo. During the night we had quite a snowfall and I thought that these little flowers would be done for but once the snow melted there they were.

Our irises produce a deep blue, almost purple coloured, flower that is really quite exquisite with its little strip of yellowish orange. Nature has a wonderful way of decking out its plants with colours that perfectly complement one another.

I can recall year's ago as I was just becoming interested in gardening, a colleague told me in April that she had some Irises blooming. I was adamant that they couldn't be Irises as Irises bloomed later in the Summer. Wrong, I discovered! What a lovely little flower to announce Spring. Now we have little clumps of these flowers throughout the Garden.

Like Patrick Lima, I keep planning to divide the clumps so that I can have even more clumps throughout the yard, but as the Summer rolls on I forget to follow up. One day perhaps. We have some planted in a small well drained rock garden while the rest are located in a bed in the middle of the backyard and come up through some very low lieing perennials.

Containers in the garage (cont'd)

No sooner did I move the containers out of the garage, than the temperature dipped again! Not wanting to drag them back into the garage, I put the containers close together and covered them all with a tarp.

It brought back memories of a local dentist who priveleged me with a tour of his garden many years ago. He had one of the largest collections of Hostats that I had ever seen with many of the hostas in containers.He had so many containers that they never would have fit in his garage, nor mine for that matter. When I asked what he did with his plants in Winter, he told me that he kept them outside. He said that he would put them all on the deck, cover them completely with a tarp, and either nail it down or tie it down so that the tarp would be held tightly over the containers.

He said that over the years, he lost only a couple of containers and plants and that was only once when the tarp had come loose and lifted off the plants. Snow has accumulated in the container, had melted a bit and then frozen causing the pots to crack and the plants to succumb to the elements.

The dentist claimed to have close to 600 different hostas and knowing that my hostas are often sought out by the neighbourhood slug gang, I asked how he protected his plants. Easy he said, I pick them off. 600 different hostas (and this was not counting duplicates) I thought. Pick them off, I thought. Hmmmm, I thought, I do not want to have more than about 50 hostas at the most and I will have to find an alternative to picking them off.

Containers in the garage

I have loads of containers that I store in the garage over the Winter that I haul out in the Spring. In addition to the containers that are used for tender perennials and annuals, there are a bunch that have perennials in them. There are even a couple that have shrubs and trees. As temperatures start to warm up, you can see the perennials start to show that they are waking for another year. I noticed some green a couple of days ago and so it was time to take them out again. This is the earliest that I have done this.

Most of the containers are light enough that I can carry them out but a few are quite heavy and I slide them onto an old plastic toboggan - they are even too heavy to lift onto a rugged metal dolley that I have. Once outside, I water them and leave them to deal with the weather. If I know that the weather is going to plummet for a few days, I get them close to the house where they will be somewhat protected and even cover them with black plastic.

Later in the Spring, I'll divide the perennials that need dividing and repot if necessary. One of the trees I had in a container was a standard Weigelia that I planted in the garden last year as it was getting too big to be continually moving in and out of the garage. Here's hoping it survived. Another that may be given a permanent location in the border this year is a Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet). It too is beginning to outgrow the container. Both plants had been in containers for at least the past 5 years without any repotting or change of soil without ill effect. Now, what to do with the Amur Maple.

Containers that I generally plant annuals in will have the soil changed in hopes that the plants growing in the basement will be ready for Spring and will provide another good showing.

The Horticultural Society is again going to run its container contest this year with the prize being a $50 gift certificate at the Nursery of your choice. Don't forget to take advantage of the Nurseries from whom we receive discounts. So get those thinking caps on, and plan that magnificent container that is going to WOW the judges.

Ponds

I don't know how hard you work at keeping your ponds clean but I actually remove the water lillies and other plants that I overwinter in the pond each Spring. I do this so that I can divide, repot, add more soil and fertilise the plants. And the first few times I did this, I had to drain a significant amount of water out of the pond so that I could reach down to grab the containers. "This is nuts" I thought, what could I do to make the job easier.

As a wine drinker, I have a good supply of corks that I could fasten to something that would make it easire for me to pull the containers up to where I could grab them. So I got some whipper snipper cord (won't deteriorate in the water) that I attached to the container (3 strands). I made the pieces long enough so that the cork I attached to the other end of the linked pieces would float on the surface of the pond. Ugly looking you say! Not so says I if you have 2/3rds of your pond covered with foliage. The corks are hidden and just sit there waiting for next Spring when it is time to clean up again.

Ponds

For the first time in my recollection, I started my pond pump on Friday. It appears that most or all of the fish in our pond have survived the winter and I was beginning to think that they might need some oxygen. The water in the upper pond was a little smelly (ammonia) given the detritus from decaying clematis and silver maple leaves. The fish seem a little happier right now but who knows for sure, they haven't told me so.

To overwinter our fish in the pond (we would bring them in each fall keeping them in 3 large aquaria - what a job!!), we heat a small area of the pond with a heater meant to keep water troughs for cattle free of ice. The hole allows gases to escape so that the fish could survive. Our pond is also 3 feet deep, the recommended depth if you plan to overwinter fish in our area.

In the near future, I'll begin repotting and dividing some of the water plants that were also left in the pond over the winter. We have some plants that I promised to share with colleagues. The folk at Sheridan's Nursery suggested last year that I add some watercress to the pond as it would help to clean the pond of toxins. In addition to the watercress I used barley pellets and other oxygenators to improve conditions in the pond. I hate to use chemicals.

I did get some green algae in the pond last year but it was relatively easy to remove.

Red Lily beetle

There were also a number of questions that came up recently both on the web and at Canada Blooms (most likely as a result of the seminar given by Gwin Brundrett, one of our Master Gardeners) about the Lily beetle that has moved into our area. Gwin suggested leaving Wasps alone as they are a natural predator of the beetle. But the suggestion that you hear most frequently, is simply to pick them off and squish them. Gwin says that they are fast little devils though and fly away if you are not fast enough.

On the Master Gardener list, there were a number of suggestions recently that centered around the use of coffee grounds. In addition to helping keep some rodents away from your flower beds, coffee grounds apparently help to reduce the lily beetle population. They also seem to protect your Hostas from slugs.

Now if you don't drink coffee yourself, you could try hitting up coffee drinking family members and friends for their grounds. I understand that at some Starbucks locations, it is possible to get some of their castoffs.

You would likely have to use a lot of coffee grounds to make an appreciable difference to the pH of your soil. In any case, coffee grounds may be something to consider in your battle with this threat to our lillies.

Roses

The Kitchener Master Gardeners (8 of us) went to Toronto's Canada Blooms for three activities on Friday - to answer gardening questions at the "Ask the Expert" booth, to make presentations and to attend the MGOI meeting. While somewhat dissappointed in the Show itself (that's another posting at some point), answering questions at the booth was fun. The types of questions we get each year vary rather dramatically.

This year, we had several questions about what we do now to treat black spot on our Hybrid T roses given that many herbicides, fungicides and insecticides are now banned in Ontario. As someone who ripped out a bed of Hybrid T's a number of years ago because of black spot, because of aphids, and simply because of the amount of work that I had to devote to caring for these roses, I was probably the wrong person to ask. I didn't really deal with black spot in responding to the questions, rather I suggested an alternative to Hybrid T's.

There are two series of Shrub and "Climbing" Roses that were developed in Canada that are very hardy in Canada and are somewhat disease resistant. Explorer's developed in Quebec and Parkland's developed in Morden, Manitoba have shown great promise. While the flowers are primarily red, pink, and cream coloured there are a few variant colours. The important thing however is that the plants are quite are hardy and are, on the whole, disease resistant and well worth trying. I put quotation marks around "Climbing" because they are more like very tall shrubs than climbers to my way of thinking.

There are other roses to consider as well that are disease resistant but I won't get into that in this posting.

If you are still interested in Hybrid T's, know that you will be at a greater disadvantage this year with the pesticide/herbicide ban. The following comes from a University of Maine posting. "Spores can be blown, splashed or ... carried to new tissue on the plant causing infections. The fungus survives the winter on fallen leaves and at infection sites on the canes. Spores will not survive in the soil and individual spores do not survive more than one month". To protect your roses they suggest that you rake up all fallen leaves as they are the main cause of infection in the Spring. They also suggest that you remove infected canes, avoid wetting the foliage as much as possible, grow plants in a sunny location with good air circulation, use disease resistant varieties and remove infected leaves as they occur. And then come the fungicide recommendations which no longer apply here.

Hope this is of some help.

Early Spring

We all know thatit is important to have a good snow cover if our plants are to survive our cold Winters. Therefore it is important during warm spells like the one we are going through right now, not to be too anxious to get out in the garden and cleam up those beds. The detritus still on the beds helps to protect the plants underneath and the seasons batch of insects that birds will need to survive.

There is an interesting article in the Toronto Star that on the topic that you might like to read. You can find it at www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/604009

Gardening and cooking

Yesterday as I made an Indian dish (Chicken masala) I once again thought about the number of gerdeners that I know that also have a passion for cooking. We often exchange recipes almost as frequently as we exchange gardening ideas. While at the Home, Garden and Cottage Show a couple of weekends ago, we were situated across from the lady that sells those Titanium pots - the really expensive pots - and I had a great time exchanging cooking ideas.

Anyway, after cooking the chicken, I decided to check out the spices that I used to make the dish. In addition to the ginger, garlic, onion, salt and pepper, I used spices that included corriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric and something called garam masala. We all know, I think, that the ginger comes from a rhizome, garlic and onion is from a bulb but what about the other ingredients? And can you grow them here?

The perrenial coriander produces two products that we use in cooking. The leaves are called cilantro, while the seeds and roots are used in curries. Coriander prefers a cool damp Spring followed by a hot dry Summer. If using the leaves for cilantro (not a flavour I favour) then the plants could use part shade.

The seeds are used to produce the spice cumin and the plants grow best in a well drained soil with full sun. The seeds may not ripen in colder climates so if you are going to try it in our Zone 5A, you might be advised to start the plants indoors to give the seeds a chance to ripen.

Turmeric like Ginger comes from the rhizome. Like the other herbs, it grows bst in well drained soil in full sun but it does need sufficient water.

Cayenne of course is a pepper and we all know how they grow. And Garam Masala is a mixture of several spices including cinnamon. Perhaps as an experiment, I'll try to produce a small supply of my own curry spices.

article from CBC website

There is an interesting article on the CBC website that may be of interest to the avid gardener www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/03/10/f-vp-handler.html

Phalaenopsis

I was asked last weekend about how to care for these gorgeous orchids. We currently have six of them and while I do most of the gardening, these plants are under my wife's care. They are pretty well constantly in bloom. All of the literature says that these are amongst the easiest of the orchids to care for.

Ours are kept in a north facing bay window in the kitchen where they get little direct light, which is good given that they are said to prefer low light levels. Temperatures in the house are no more than 20 deg C thoughout the day and lower at night, conditions that again are preferred by the Phalaenopsis. Located in the kitchen, they are in an area that has a higher humidity than the rest of the house which again is preferred by these orchids. The plants are watered regularly in the morning, fertilized weakly and do not sit in water.

We never cut spikes until the spikes are truly dead. At other times, when the last flower has fallen on a spike, we prune back to the topmost node on the spike.

The orchids all came in clear plastic containers and we left them in the same containers as the roots seem to like getting some light. The plastic pots also allow water to drain quicly and unlike terra cotta pots do not accumulate hard water salts. All our orchids came in a bark potting mixture which we have maintained.

Our orchids seem to like the conditions they are kept in as they are almost always in bloom.

Clematis

The other day as I was looking at the Spring 2009 GardenImport catalogue, I was reminded once again of the number of types and varieties of this amazing vine. Many people when thinking of the clematis will picture the large purple flowered Jackmanii variety but there are so many more to choose from. There are some that reach heady heights while others are miniatures or vines that ramble rather than climb. There is even a yellow variety - C. tangutica. Quite a few to choose from!

We currently have 4 varieties in our garden and my favourite is the Clematis jouiniana 'Praecox'. One description I've seen of it says that it can grow to a height of 10 feet. While our trellis only goes to a height of 8 feet, I'm sure our clematis would achieve its maximum height if allowed. This variety starts to bloom in June and continues through September. It gets hundreds of small fragrant cream coloured flowers tinged with purple.

Another favourite is a C. texensis 'Dutchess of Albany'. It is described as having apple blossom pink flowers that look like miniature tulips. As much as I like the flowers, I also like the seed heads.

One of the things that you need to take note of is the Group to which your clematis belongs as each Group is pruned a little differently. There are 5 recognized Groups that need somewht different pruning treatment. And if you plan to have a couple Clematis intertwine on a trellis or fence, be sure to pick Clematis that require the same pruning treatment. There are a few that will grow in the shade but most require full sun if they are to provide the showing that we have become accustomed to.

comments to previous blogs

Three weeks with a cold! It just isn't right!!!

One of our members responded to the note on water. She says that during the winter she keeps two pails in her laundry room. The first she keeps full of loosely packed snow and the second she uses to drain water from the first. Then when she needs water, she takes it from the water pail which is then at room temperature. She says this process is just like adding rain water to her indoor plants which they really like.

She then went on to mention that she is about to start her tomato plants for both her home and cottage gardens. By starting them now, she feels that she gets sturdy, strong plants that produce a copious amount of tomatoes for her. When it comes time to plant them, she plants half the stem of the tomato in the ground which givers her quite a sturdy root ball.

In response to some of my questions, Marlene mentioned that she keeps the plants under grow lights in the basement. Pre-used metal shelving from a garage sale and end of season fluorescent lighting units have made it possible to start plants indoors. She mentioned using Gro lights which usually meand putting out a few more bucks for full spectrum fluorescent bulbs. You don't need to do this if you alternate cool white bulbs with warm white bulbs (one of each in a 2 bulb unit and 2 of each in a 4). This is cheaper than purchasing Gro lights, the bulbs last longer, and the units work as well as Gro lights.

She starts the tomatoes in terrarium style units, transplants as necessary, pinches them back if they get leggy, and moves them to a sunny window as needed. The pinching back is a technique that she has perfected for herself over years of study. She uses kitchen compost mostly and at the cottage she works falls (rotting apples), leaves, ashes from their fireplace and cottage kitchen waste into the garden bed. The result is always lots of tomatoes and larger than expected tomatoes, Any variety can be grown in this fashion.

Seeds and seeding

It is that time of the year when we start thinking about starting plants from seed. The Master Gardeners are talking about it on their listserv and I know that a number of people have mentioned the topic to me. As you know, Seedy Saturday events are usually scheduled for February.

I don't start a lot of plants from seed but I do some. My favourites to start are tomatoes.

A few years ago, a fellow Master Gardener told us that she started her tomatoes in Milk bags. She would take one of the one liter bags and cut the top off. Then she would roll down the rim (unlike Tim's rims that are rolled up) in 1 inch increments until the bag was now about 1.5 inches tall. The bottom is then cut with 3 to 4 slits so that the water will drain but the soil will not escape. The bag is then filled with soil. Into this container, you plant 3 of your favourite tomato seeds. You can put the bags under lights or in a sunny window.

Once the second set of leaves have sprouted, remove the two weakest looking plants and center the remaining one in the bag. As the tomato begins to stretch out, remove the lower leaves, roll up the rim one turn and add soil. Keep doing this until the bag is fully extended and you will have a very healthy plant with a great root ball. You know that when it comes time to plant your tomato outside you will have to harden off your tomato so I won't go into that here.

We have followed this procedure in Horticultural Therapy programs that we participate in and have grown some really interesting heritage tomatoes that have peaked the interest of residents and staff alike. Real hits include some of the black varieties (Black Plum tomato), the red and green zebra varieties and some of the smaller tomatoes like the Yellow Teardrop.

Plants should be started about 7 to 8 weeks before the last frost. We usually start ours around the middle to the end of March.

Last Nights Talk

As I mentioned some postings ago, there are many ways to enjoy gardening throughout the year and last nights talk by Sean Fox of the University of Guelph Arboretum was one of them. Sean's talk focussed on Rare Trees and Shrubs of Ontario. Sean is an excellent speaker with an incredible knowledge of the topic. He is young too - well I guess young is relative given how old you may be. Sean shared his knowledge with confidence and humour.

He introduced us to about 20 trees that while Native to Ontario, are rare. In talking about these trees, he frequently showed slides from the Ontario Tree Atlas Survey that was conducted over a 4 year period. While many of the trees that he talked about were not a surprise, there were a few that we might not have felt were rare. Three in the surprise category were the Eastern Redbud, the Tulip Tree, and the Eastern White Cedar.

Sean did take a fair amount of time talking about each of these 20 or so trees. He spoke of their characteristics, showed slides of the leaves and fruit, indicated where they were most plentiful in the Province, and why they might be rare. For example, when speaking of the Common Hoptree (a shrub or small tree), he indicated that in Ontario, it is a host for the larvae of the Giant Swallowtail butterfly and is a member of the citrus family. He also mentioned that the Tulip Tree is a wild Magnolia found in Ontario.

Sean mentioned too that the Carolinean Forest found in Southern Ontario is the most biological diverse forest area found in Canada with more tree species than anywhere else in Canada. He gave me something to follow up on.

Winter Garden

As I let the dogs out into the backyard each morning, I often think about things that I might do to make the winter garden a little more attractive.

Three or four years ago, we added a Chineses Dogwood, and last year a standard Weigela but still the garden could use more shape. Our garden is tiered with a lower second tier as you move about 30 feet out from the house. This tier runs the width of the yard and is about 8 to 10 feet deep. An interlocking brick patio runs along this lower tier from a patio area with a patio set on one side to a gate on the other that opens into a naturalised area beyond the yard. A fence and retaining wall separate the lower tier from the naturalised area.

Between houses on one side there is a chain link fence that we try to hide with tall plantings and 2 very mature Red Cedars. On the other side of the yard there is a row of quite tall Pyramidal Cedars. At one time there was a tall Linden tree but that is another story. And throughout the yard, there are plants and things that add interest such as a Weeping Spruce, a grape cart (peeking through the snow), some lights, a patio set, an arbor, and a pond. Last years Clematis still hangs on the arbor and on the large trellis above the pond and a climbing Euonymus climbs one section of the fence.

I'm thinking that another small shrub or two and perhaps a grass or two might be something to consider. One listserv that I am a member of is currently discussing the perfect grass to add to the garden. Suggestions include the Calamagrostis 'Overdam' (similar to Karl Foerster) and a number of the Miscanthus sinensis varieties. But there are so many gorgeous grasses for you to consider. Be sure you have the room for them though.

Easy care plant

This morning as I came into the kitchen for breakfast, a bloom on one of our 6 orchids had opened. It is a beautiful white orchid with purple accents.

As newbies to orchid growing, we have only Phalaenopsis to date. This variety is said to be the easiest orchid for the beginner. They thrive in moderate temperatures and low light (can do well under fluorescent lights) and should not be allowed to sit in water as they can be infected by a bacterial rot. The Phalaenopsis has long lasting blooms and if pruned properly can reward you with more blooms on the same flower spike. One source indicated that you could get as many as 30 flowers on a healthy flower spike.

The Phalaenopsis is ideal for us as we have them located in the kitchen in a north facing bay window that seemingly gets the perfect light conditions for our orchids. In the early evening, the window is lit with fluorescent lights. Temperatures are fairly constant around 20 deg C and we water sparingly. We water usually in the morning letting the water run through and drain before putting them back in the window. And our orchids have rewarded us with almost constant blooms. When a spike dies off, after a few weeks a new spike begins to appear and it isn't long before the next spike begins to produce buds. We currently have four orchids in bloom and four of them are shooting out new spikes.

If you have admired orchids ever since your first corsage or the first corsage you bought for your girl, but thought that anything that produces flowers this gorgeous must be difficult to care for, the Phalaenopsis is the orchid to try. We have had great success, particularly as it is my wife that cares for them.

On-line Renewals

We are pleased to announce that renewing a membership or joining the KHS is easier than ever. You can now do so on-line with Paypal. Just go to http://www.kitchenerhs.ca/HowToJoin.html and click the link for on-line renewals. Please note that there is a $1.00 convenience fee associated with on-line transactions to cover our additional costs.

Email us at admin@kitchenerhs.ca if you have any questions or suggestions.

Gardening activities

While you can't work with plants every day, particularly in the Winter, you can be involved in gardening activities on a daily basis. This evening is the monthly meeting of the Kitchener Master Gardeners. Roughly 25 members get together to hear one of our members give a short talk on gardening/horticulture and then we get down to planning activities.

On tonights agenda, we will be trying to make a decision on the purchase of a laptop and projection equipment that will be used for our PowerPoint demonstrations planned for Seedy Saturday 2010. We will also be planning our participation in the KW Home, Garden and Cottage Show, Canada Blooms in Toronto and the Kitchener Horticultural Society's events (Plant Exchange and Bulb Sale). We'll also most likely be talking about our annual summer trip.

We won't be getting our hands in soil and rooting about, but this is the next best thing. We have an opportunity to learn from one another and to share our passion with others. Over the years, my colleagues in the Master Gardeners have increased my knowledge of gardening and horticulture immeasureably and through my membership I have seen gardens and nurseries, listened to speakers that I might otherwise never have seen or heard.

The Hardy Geranium

When we started this Blog, I mentioned how you can garden year round. For years now, I have overwintered the annual Geranium by taking cuttings at year end and grwoing them under lights in the basement. Another method of keeping your geraniums is to remove all of the earth from the roots in the Fall and then to hang the plant upside down in a cool place. I decided to do this for the first time this year.

In October, I took the plants out of the pots, removed the soil,trimmed of some of the branches and threw them into a box in the furnce room in preparation for hanging them up in the cold cellar. The other day as I planned for Tuesdays Horticultural Therapy session, I happened to glance in the box. In the past several months, the plants without water or soil had actually produced some leaves and even some sickly looking flowers. These geraniums are determined to survive so who am I to argue. The plants have been potted up, trimmed and placed under lights to see what will happen.

If you don't want to take cuttings or to go through the process of storing the plants in the cold cellar, you could always start some from seed. A colleague tells me that the geraniums are the most amazing plant to start from seed as every seed germinates. I couldn't believe that last year so I tried it. I took four seed packets (10 seeds to a package) and potted them up. I ended up with 40 plants to share with friends.

Geraniums are forgiving too as you can go for days without watering them. They might look a little wimpy, but they perk up almost immediately. Try them!

Trees with Winter Interest (contd)

In yesterday's piece about the Sycamore, I mentioned how much the branching in the tree reminded me of a schematic of the Internet and associated networks and then I added a picture of the bark.

The branching system of the Sycamore can be seen in the attached photo.

Trees with Winter Interest

In the next issue of the Horticultural Society's Newsletter, there will be an article focussing on Winter Interest gardening using some notes prepared by Kim Ball.

Yesterday, as I was crossing through the Parking lot at Freeport Hospital, heading toward the front door, I stopped to have a better look at a tree that has always been of interest to me - the American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). It is not what I might consider to be a pretty tree in the Summer, but I find it really attractive in the Winter. The tree is much too large to be considered for the average city lot, but on the Hospital grounds, it has the perfect location. It's the bark that attracts me in the Winter. The bark is patchy, peels and as it falls off it gives the tree a rather mottled look.

Yesterday however, it wasn't the bark that caught my attention so much but the branching system. It made me think of the Internet and its connected office and home networks. You'll see what I mean when I can get a picture of the tree that I was looking at. Yesterday the sun was shining but today the snow is falling and I will have to wait for another day when I can get back to take a photo.

There are many other trees and shrubs that can add to the look of your Winter garden that are much more suitable to the average City lot. An obvious choice is the Birch. While the Paper Birch can grow quite tall, there are varieties such as the Himalayan Birch or Whitebark that are much shorter. Another tree that I quite like is the Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum). And don't forget the crabapple and dogwood varieties.

Watering Plants

Do you ever have Hmmmmm moments?

As I traipse between the basement and the main floor of the house to water my plants, I'm having one. I began to think of the water I'm using. We have four types of water that are accessible in our house: hard water, soft water, reverse osmosis water and water from the furnace. Over the years, I have used all but the reverse osmosis water for plants.

What do we know? Well we know that plants require various amounts of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium. That wasn't all that surprising was it. We also know that they need trace amounts of calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron and a few others. We know that excessive amounts of these and other minerals such as sodium, potassium, chlorine and fluorine are bad for plants.

We know too that really hard water contains lots of calcium and magnesium; that softening the water replaces some of the calcium and magnesium with sodium or potassium; that reverse osmosis water has some of these minerals removed; and that furnace water has sulfur which causes the water to be more acidic.

Knowing all this, what water then is best for our plants. We seem to know intuitively that rain water is best for outdoor plants. When we do a quick search of the literature, it is difficult to find someone who will say definitively which water is best but there are some additional things that we are told. Plants take up nutrients best when the water is room temperature and that the best pH is between 5.5 and 6.5.

So now what? I guess that given all of the above, the best water I have available to water the plants is the reverse osmosis water, that has been left to warm up a little, because that is effectively rain water. The next best is the hard water as I believe ours is not excessively hard. Many garden writers seem to agree with this approach. And finally, for plants that need slightly acidic water (azaleas), the furnace water might be OK.

Back to my traipsing

Year round gardening

I frequently hear people lamenting that they can't garden year round.

For me it is quite the contrary. I find that seldom does a day pass that I am not doing something that involves gardening or horticulture. I may not be spending time in the garden but I am spending time on gardening issues whether it involves activities around the two Groups that I'm a member of (Horticultural Society or Master Gardeners) or tending to plants that are growing under lights in the basement, answering questions from colleagues and friends, reading newly received magazines, studying catalogues, planning changes to my garden (winter or summer garden), writing articles or planning horticultural therapy sessions.

This coming week for example, I have 2 horticultural therapy sessions planned and a Master Gardener meeting to attend. These three activities will require some research and planning that can be spread out over several days. There are 2 catalogues and 2 websites to check for new plants for this summer.

So if you are still lamenting the fact that Spring is still a few months off, look for related options to pursue your gardening passion.

KW Home, Garden & Cottage Show

KHS along with the Master Gardeners will have a booth at this year's show - Mar 6 to 8, 2009. Please be sure to stop by and say hello. Don't forget to take in one of our horticultural seminars. The show is at Bingemans. [more]

Welcome!

Welcome to KHS's new blog. Here you'll be able to find interesting tidbits and miscellaneous ramblings about horticulture, gardening and the environment. Stay tuned.