Learning about horticulture

It was about 40 years ago that I began my foray into gardening. We planted two trees, an arctic willow hedge and we started some geranium cuttings that were quite successful. I read a lot, took some courses, subscribed to several horticulture magazines but it wasn't until I began rubbing shoulders with members of a horticultural Society and a group of Master Gardeners that I feel that I really began to learn.

But it wasn't just a matter of learning from experts, I learned from seniors in retirement homes and hospitals. A farmer at Freeport Hospital taught me about composting when he told me how he converted a really poor soil into a farm that was very viable. Mentally challenged adults taught me about their love for gardening. Gardeners on our garden tours talked about their experiences. I learned so much.

As I thought about this today, I began to think that our Horticultural Societies provide the perfect learning environment with a mixture of young and old together. The older members have a ton of experience that they are more than willing to share. The young are sponges, eager to learn.

It made me realise that we need to maintain this mix. We need to interest the young into joining our societies and we need to provide programs that will keep the older members of the Society active. We can do this through Youth Groups but even more, we need to garden with our children and grandchildren. Our daughter and her children have caught the bug and our grandchildren volunteer with me in horticultural activities - therapy programs, youth groups and horticultural society events.

Avocado Tree

Have you ever tried to grow your own avocado tree?

There is an excellent description of how to do it at http://www.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html

My wife decided to try growing one a month or so ago and today we have 6 leaves on our 'Tree' and it seems to be growing well but it is still in water. Today we will be transplanting it in soil hoping all the while that it will take well to the new conditions.

The whole thing reminds me of orange and lemon trees that we grew when our children were small. When the flowers would open, the kids would rush to get the cotton swabs so that they could make like bees and pollinate the flowers to make oranges and limes. It was always a surprise that we didn't get loranges or orimes as they seldom took care not to cross pollinate the plants. They would usually do both plants at the same time with little regard to changing qtips - but then again I guess that's what bees do with little consequence.

Anyway, try the experiment with your kids. It is always an interesting thing to do to get them interested in gardening and horticulture.

Orchids

Last March and then again in a recent issue of our Newsletter "Growing Thoughts", I wrote about our fascination and experience with the Phalaenopsis orchid. Well the fascination has grown. I did some research to determine what other orchids we might try and we decided to next try a Cymbidium and possibly a Cattleya.

A friend offered a Cattleya and we picked up a Cymbidium at a local Nursery. I then asked the friend what resources (books) she uses as references for her orchids and she gave me a folder containing all sorts of material on these wonderful plants. And then to Chapters to see what they had and I purchased a book on the topic.

Yesterday, Sheridan Nursery had a seminar on orchids which we attended to broaden our Knowledge and of course there was a variety that we hadn't yet acquired - a Spathoglottis.

Are you getting the picture yet? We seem to have gone a little overboard on the topic but it really is great fun!

Three of our orchids are currently in bloom and at least three others have spikes with buds and are about to bloom. The Phalaenopsis has been relatively easy to get to rebloom but I understand that the others will take some patience but we are anxious to try. The Cymbidium is currently in bloom and it really is lovely. We purchased it with a spike and buds on it. It took a while for the buds to open and I understand that the flowers could last for as long as 10 weeks. I've attached a photo to this posting. One book describes the Cymbidium as a beginner orchid and another says that one of the reasons for it's popularity is that it is difficult to kill - just the orchid for us.