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.