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Issue 4
2020 • 1
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Issue 4
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Contents volume 1
Canada’s local Gardener
28
ISSUE 4, 2020
40
34
On the cover: Dahlia growing in the garden of Ric Campbell and Keltie Jones.
Show us your garden!.................................... 5 Late summer blooms...................................... 6 Wildflowers and weeds: Pineapple weed....... 8 All about moss................................................10 My wisteria won’t bloom!..............................12 All about Japanese-style gardens.................14 Canada geese..................................................16 Jersey: a pretty little island from across the pond..............................................................18 Two outstanding flowering small trees – ‘Ming’ cherry and ‘Muckle’ plum............. 22
Growing cabbage and its friends................. 24 Lamium.......................................................... 26 Beautiful Gardens: Dave and Janice Morden in St. Albert, Alberta.................... 28 Beautiful Gardens: Michael Resch in Emerson, Manitoba................................... 34 Beautiful Gardens: Ric Campbell and Keltie Jones in Odessa, Ontario................. 40 How to get started......................................... 46
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Issue 4
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2020 • 3
Dear gardeners T
his issue marks the final in our first year as Canada’s Local Gardener, and I couldn’t be prouder. But people have been writing and asking, why is it only for Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario? Why indeed? If you’ve been reading us for a while now, you’ll know the answer is historical. We’ve decided it’s time for a change. So, with your next issue, we’ll be covering the whole of Canada. Plants and animals, people and gardens, from BC to Newfoundland, from Windsor to… well, let’s see how far north people are gardening! (Do you live in Zone 1 or 0? Do you garden? I’d love to hear from you!) We’ll also revive our Letters to the Editor page starting with the Fall. This is about having a conversation with you and you having a conversation with each other. For this issue, we’re taking a look at Japanese-style gardens and how you can build one for yourself. And if you like, you can try growing moss to complete the look—we’ll show you how. We also have a guide on growing Brassica oleracea, which includes cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. They are more challenging than some other vegetables, but folks across Canada have been growing them successfully for years. We have three beautiful gardens for your perusal, one near Edmonton, one near Kingston and one in Emerson, Manitoba. Dorothy Dobbie writes about sunflowers for one article and about Canada geese for another. Ian Leatt tells us about Jersey, the island in the English Channel where he is from, and the glorious plant life there. There is also a story about Gillian Pegg’s favourite late-summer blooms, and another about two under-used flowering shrubs from Wilbert Ronald. And if you have some time with your smart phone, do check out the video links on a few of the articles. Some are funny, some add more information, and all are worth the effort. Now it is summer. The garden is growing with or without you. Find yourself a cool spot and read your latest issue. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know! You can always email me at shauna@pegasuspublications.net.
Canada’s
Local Gardener Follow us online at: localgardener.net Instagram:@local_gardener
Published by Pegasus Publications Inc. President/Publisher Dorothy Dobbie dorothy@pegasuspublications.net Design Cottonwood Publishing Services Editor Shauna Dobbie shauna@pegasuspublications.net Art Direction & Layout Karl Thomsen karl@pegasuspublications.net General Manager Ian Leatt ian.leatt@pegasuspublications.net Contributors Dorothy Dobbie, Shauna Dobbie, Ian Leatt, Jim Leatt, Gillian Pegg, Wilbert Ronald Editorial Advisory Boards Ontario: Ben Cullen, David Hobson, Sean James, Tara Nolan
Manitoba: Michael Allen, Keith Lemkey, Jan Pedersen, Kevin Twomey Alberta: Stacey Mar, Cynthia Philp, Leona Staples Advertising Sales 1.888.680.2008 Subscriptions Write, email or call Canada’s Local Gardener, 138 Swan Lake Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3T 4T8 Phone (204) 940-2700 Fax (204) 940-2727 Toll Free 1 (888) 680-2008 subscribe@localgardener.net One year (four issues): $29.95 Two years (eight issues): $58 Three years (twelve issues): $80 Single copy: $8.95; Beautiful Gardens: $12.95 150 years of Gardening in Canada copy: $12.95 Plus applicable taxes. Return undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Circulation Department Pegasus Publications Inc. 138 Swan Lake Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3T 4T8 Canadian Publications mail product Sales agreement #40027604 ISSN 2369-0410
Shauna Dobbie
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4 • 2020
Issue 4
localgardener.net
Show us your garden! T
his summer will be fantastic for gardeners both new and old. With so many people at home during the pandemic, folks are gardening like mad. Veggie gardeners are trying flowers, flower gardeners are trying veggies and those who do both are doing more. We want to see it! Send us pictures, and we’ll feature some of your gardens—and your pictures—in the magazine over the next year. Tips for photographing your garden Time of day: The rule of thumb is to take pictures early in the morning. The lighting comes in at a low angle, showing texture. Cloudy days are also good because the lighting is even. After the rain can give beautiful shots of waterkissed plants. But you can even get a stunning shot on a blisteringly hot day at noon, so go ahead and try. Whole-garden pictures: We’re looking for pictures that represent your garden. We need some overall shots; these can often be taken from a window on a second floor. The pictures don’t give details but they give an impression of the entire garden. Include a couple of whole-garden pictures. Mid-range shots: These are the working-horse pictures of a magazine spread. Maybe it’s an interesting juxtaposition of colours in a shot, or a shed, or a bunch of tools. These pictures tell a story. Close-ups: Everybody can take a gorgeous close-up. We could fill numerous magazines with beautiful closeups. We love them. But these don’t tell us anything about your garden. Most of your pictures should be mid-range shots. Include a couple, but don’t make close-ups the bulk of your pictures. What kind of gardens? We’re looking for all kinds of residential gardens, from all across Canada. Cottage gardens, vegetable gardens, formal gardens, rock gardens, balcony gardens, permaculture, orchards, city gardens… what do you have? Does it have plants? If yes, we’d like to see it! Tell us who and where you are In your email, tell us your name and the city and province of your garden. j Email pictures to: shauna@pegasuspublications.net localgardener.net
Issue 4
2020 • 5
Sedum.
Zinnia.
Dahlia.
Late summer blooms S
Hosta. 6 • 2020
Story and photos by Gillian Pegg
ome of the prettiest blooms wait until the very end of the season to appear. Enjoy the summer season all the way to September with a variety of florals that help gardeners transition from the abundance of summer to the cooler autumn months. Sedum (perennial). Beautiful and bright, these plants are long lasting and hardy enough to survive through drought or overwatering. Sedums add a pop of rich colour to any garden bed and are a favourite for pollinators. Expect a show of bright butterflies and buzzing bees passing through your garden bed once you plant these low maintenance plants. Zinnia (annual). These fast-growing blooms attract butterflies, and can be classified as single, semidouble, or double. Zinnias are low maintenance but have high impact. Their flowers are bright and bold and stick around into the fall. Dahlia (annual; dig the tubers to overwinter). As vibrant as they are versatile, dahlias come in many colours, including sunset, deep purple, or white. These Issue 4
localgardener.net
Marigold.
blooms are real statement pieces and liven up any garden bed with their intricate petal design. Planted in late spring, these bulbs will grow into a garden favourite, lasting long into autumn. African marigold (annual). Like a collection of tiny sunshines in your garden, marigolds bring warmth and brightness late into the season. This plant is a great companion plant for your garden, as its roots deter pests and disease. Marigolds are often planted along the borders of herb or vegetable beds, for protection and also a little joy. Phlox (depends on variety). Both tall and ground covering varieties are sweet, gentle hints of colour in any garden. Phlox are some of the most versatile plants out there, and their low maintenance care makes them an easy choice. Phlox are also long lasting. The full moon in April is named for phlox, as they are usually the first bloom to show in spring. But these hardy plants last long into the season and are often still around at the end of the summer. Rose of Sharon (shrub). With their more tropical look, the rose of Sharon is a favourite among many gardeners. Despite their elegant look, this shrub is rather easy to maintain, and lasts through the summer and into autumn. Blooms can be red, purple, soft blue, or white. This one is not reliably hardy under Zone 5. Hosta (perennial) The hosta’s tall, stalky blooms may come as a surprise to some, but these plants flower over summer and into fall. Adding height interest and even a delicate scent, hosta blooms add variety to cool shade gardens. From purple to white, hostas give a boost of colour to otherwise quiet garden beds. j localgardener.net
Phlox.
Rose of Sharon. Issue 4
2020 • 7
Wildflowers and weeds:
Pineapple weed
T
here are weeds you see all the time but have no idea what they’re called. Pineapple weed is one of them. It grows in dusty spots where the earth has been disturbed. You can identify it by the small, yellow-green centre of a flower that never gets petals. Its Latin name is Matricaria discoidea and it is an annual, originally from north east Asia, but naturalized across North America. Some people believe it is also native to the Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to California. It does have a relative native to North America, from California and Oregon, called Matricaria occidentalis. They look very much alike, but M. occidentalis grows in wetlands and M. discoidea prefers it dry. As well, M. discoidea is far more fragrant, which makes it more useful. The fragrance is reminiscent of pineapple, some say, or chamomile. In fact, German chamomile is Matricaria chamomilla, from the same genus. Pineapple weed is edible. You can use the flowers in salads, and some use the greens, but only before the flowers appear. After they bloom, they become unpalatably bitter. The flower tastes, unsurprisingly, like pineapple. The plant has several purported medicinal uses, mostly the same as chamomile. It is a mild sedative and is also used to settle menstrual cramps. You can try it for stomach upset, too. As long as you aren’t allergic to it, it won’t hurt you and may help. Most people don’t mind letting it grow between the cracks, and those who do can just pull it out. As an annual, it spreads by seeding. j 8 • 2020
Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea). Issue 4
localgardener.net
Having trouble deciding what to do with your garden? Why not call us? We know we can help!
Canada’s Local Gardener’s very own Dorothy Dobbie is here to help. Dorothy is selecting new gardens to help design and implement. Her knowledge of all things gardening will inspire you to have the garden of your dreams. A team of experts awaits those lucky few. We have the tools, we have the knowledge – all we need is you. Call Ian at 204-940-2707 or call Handy Hands Construction at 204-999-8174 or www.handyhandsconstruction.ca localgardener.net
Issue 4
2020 • 9
All about moss By Shauna Dobbie
Japanese gardens are well known for their usage of mosses.
W
hat is more entrancing than a picture of a mossy ravine with a few shards of sunlight making fantastical shapes on the cushions of green? Moss is a goal for many gardeners, whether inspired by Japanese ideals or visions of childhood at the cottage. (My grandparent’s cottage in the Whiteshell, where the Canadian Shield scoots into Manitoba, is where my fondest memories of moss come from.) Perhaps you’ve read that you can grow moss where you want it, and maybe you’ve even tried it. But unless you’re determined, you probably gave up after the moss appeared and then dried out; perhaps the moss never even appeared. To grow moss, find some growing naturally in the woods and bring it home. Mix up a “milkshake” of the moss and buttermilk in a blender. Paint the mix onto the surface where you would like to grow the moss; acidic areas (for example, granite is 10 • 2020
an acidic rock, limestone is not) in shade that get a lot of moisture work best, but you can establish moss in other areas too. Some mosses like a little sunlight and some like a slightly alkaline environment. What is moss? First, Irish and Scottish mosses are not, technically, mosses. They’re just low-growing plants. Mosses make up the plant division Bryophyta. They are non-vascular plants, which means they don’t have the same parts to move water through them as do vascular plants. They take in water and nutrients through their leaves because they don’t have roots; they do, however, have rhizoids, which look kind of like roots, to anchor them to the surface they grow on. The do not have flowers, but, like ferns, reproduce by spores. Since they don’t have roots, mosses can grow on a wide variety of material, which is why you find them growing on trees, rocks and statues. Issue 4
Mosses that grow on trees are never parasitic; they don’t suck nutrients from the tree. What is it good for? Moss has been used since prehistoric times for its cushioning and insulating structure. Ötzi the Iceman, a natural mummy found in the Tyrolean Alps who lived around 3400 BCE, had moss stuffed into his boots. Indigenous cultures in Nordic countries and North America used moss for soft bedding and to insulate their dwellings. It was also traditionally used in diapers; it can absorb up to 20 times its weight in water. Peat moss is the decaying remnants of sphagnum moss and is used to condition soil for gardening. It’s used for growing some kinds of mushrooms for eating. And it’s used to smoke malt for making Scotch whiskey. Today, different mosses are being looked at for their ability to absorb pollution and various uses in biotechnology. j localgardener.net
Mossariums The middle classes of the 19th century were always collecting something and for a time they collected mosses. You could build a terrarium, called a mossarium, for enjoying indoors, or you could build a slatted structure with a flat roof, open to the north, outdoors for your hobby. I could find no examples of a mossery online, either current or from the Victorian age. If you’d like to build a mossery, send us pictures. We’d love to know how it works out! Mossariums, on the other hand, have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. They sound easy to make. For a basic mossarium, use a clear jar with a lid. Put some gravel in the bottom for drainage. Layer in some peat for the moss to grow on. Add a chunk of fresh moss and a bit of water. Close the jar and put it in a bright area but out of direct sun. Take the lid off for an hour or so once a week for fresh air. If the moss lives and grows, you have a good ecosystem. If the moss dies, you have either over- or under-watered it. Don’t worry about the jar fogging up; that means things are working. Start with a very clean jar and very clean contents, or you might get mould or mushrooms. If you get hooked, you can buy or trade different kinds of mosses online.
There’s been a rediscovery of moss terrariums, thanks to the fairy garden craze.
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Issue 4
2020 • 11
Buds of wisteria, fattening up. They’ll bloom in two or three weeks.
The wisteria at the beginning of blooming.
Once the wisteria is in full bloom, the leaves start to appear.
My wisteria won’t bloom!
A
nybody who has seen the long purple cascades of blooms understands the passion people have for wisteria: it is handsdown gorgeous. But the plant can take a long time to bloom, and even then, might not bloom much. Wisterias are hardy to Zone 4, but the buds that become blooms won’t survive a late freeze in spring. In Winnipeg, Zone 3b, you may keep a wisteria alive, but it probably won’t ever bloom. First, realise it can take several years for a plant to start blooming. From seed, it can take seven years or more before the first flowers are produced. Second, know that your wisteria
12 • 2020
must get full sun to bloom. If it’s planted on the shady side of your house, forget it. Third, don’t feed it and do keep it watered. Add compost if you like, but no chemical fertilizers. If your wisteria has been in the ideal, sunny spot for a long time with no extra food and plenty of water, make sure you’re pruning it. For pruning the tree or vine (depending on how you grow it), the hard part is done in late winter, around March. Prune out at least half of the previous year’s growth, leaving three to five buds per stem. Then prune it again in late summer to keep it under control. There are a lot of Issue 4
very detailed instructions out there for how to prune your wisteria, but if you follow these simple guidelines, it may bloom. Finally, if nothing else has worked, try root pruning. About 18 inches from the base of the vine, take a spade and sink it into the ground, through the roots, about 8 to 10 inches. Do this halfway around the plant; which half doesn’t matter. Damaging the roots makes the plant think it might be dying and had best get to work on reproducing, which it does with flowers. Don’t worry, you won’t kill it. If your wisteria still won’t bloom… well, green is a nice colour too. j localgardener.net
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2020 • 13
All about Japanese-style gardens By Shauna Dobbie
An example of the Karasansui, a dry stone garden.
T
wo kinds of garden from Japan are the karasansui, or stone garden, and the roji, or tea garden. There are more kinds of traditional garden in Japan, and the culture has a long history of honouring them. Canadians hoping to borrow from the customs of Japanese gardens risk fetishization, but not to worry; Japanese people tend to find it charming. Karasansui, the dry stone garden The dry stone garden has gravel and a few carefully placed rocks. Often, the gravel represents water and the larger, vertical boulders represent mountainous islands. There can be some studiously clipped shrubs or evergreens. Sometimes the garden is meant to evoke mountains reaching above the clouds. Sometimes it is meant to invoke nothing, to be simply a random-looking placement that is soothing. When the dry stone garden is built in Canada, it tends to be rectangular, but it doesn’t have to be. The gravel, which is often off-white, can be a different natural colour; there are 14 • 2020
Scan me
Here’s a guide to how to rake a Zen garden. https://www.wikihow.com/Rake-a-Zen-Garden
several beautiful examples in Japan of gravel in red or even black. If you’d like to construct such a garden, dig down about six inches and line the area with landscape fabric or you’ll be picking out weeds in a few months. Decide on the placement of your upright boulders and make depressions that will support them. The boulders should be placed before the gravel so that they’re in the display rather than on it. Spend some time to get the boulders exactly right. Moving them after the gravel is in will be a real pain. Choosing the boulders should be done with consideration. They should be the same kind of stone but vary in terms of shape and shading. For striIssue 4
ated rocks, make sure the striations go in the same direction on final placement. If you will have live material within the gravel, cut a hole in the landscape fabric and mound soil where the plants will be. Now go ahead and load in the gravel. Get it even and level around the boulders and any planting area. Then plant the planting area. To have Japanese flair, don’t overburden it with variety. Choose a ground cover that will mound over the border to the gravel, and a small shrub or tree. Good choices might be a Japanese maple or a corkscrew hazel. If you’re handy with topiary, plant a tree that can be shaped as a cloud tree, with bare branches and rounded tufts of leaves. The last step in installing your garden is to rake the gravel, paying special attention to the lines you leave. Typically, you will rake straight lines across, broken by lines circling around your islands. This will take great skill and practice. Consider it good for your localgardener.net
Japanese Garden Devonian Botanic Garden in Edmonton.
Stone lantern.
development rather than a pain. See the QR video; it’s long, but soothing. The garden will need to be re-raked frequently, depending on the weather, the leaf-dropping trees around and the level of neatness you require. These gardens are meant to be experienced from the sidelines. Perhaps a bench nearby is a good idea. Roji, the tea garden The tea garden is meant to be enjoyed as a transition from the outside world to the tea ceremony, inside the teahouse. It is meant to be designed with principles of rustic simplicity, to evoke a spot in the mountains. There must be a water feature, intended for washing the hands and rinsing the mouth. This can take the localgardener.net
Butchart Gardens bridge.
form of a dish or it can be more elaborate, with flowing water. Think of a hollowed-out rock with water trickling into it through a bamboo pipe, the water spilling over the dish onto smooth rocks below. There must be a path of steppingstones. And, if you’re building a tea garden, there should be some kind of teahouse, though it could be your house or a gazebo. You could build a Japanese-style tea garden, but a path leading to nowhere is anti-climactic. Trees and plants in this garden are essential and they need to have a natural look; this is not the place for a knot garden. Choose trees and shrubs to close out the world beyond your garden. Closer in, use lots of shady Issue 4
green plants and blooming flowers only occasionally. When a flower blooms, it will take centre stage and shouldn’t have other flowers to compete with. You can enclose the tea garden with a fence, perhaps a simple structure made of twigs or bamboo. A small simple but beautiful gate would look good, too. And this is the perfect spot for moss if you’re thinking of growing it. (See the moss story in this issue.) Other things Japanese you might consider adding are a round bridge along the path and some stone lanterns. To give you a reason for the bridge, you’ll need either a stream or a dry riverbed of stones. j 2020 • 15
Canada geese Dorothy Dobbie
I
n the springtime, Canada geese (Branta canadensis) are everywhere in towns and cities, but mostly were there is water nearby. They waddle here and there, seemingly unaware of our human presence, that is until we get too close. Then, if there are goslings involved, they can be quite aggressive. They may run at you, wings wide and menacing, while they honk and hiss and arrange their necks in a snake-like posture, bobbing their heads up and down. They are heavy birds, and strong. Their wings could break a bone if they connect the right way and their bites are painful and bruising. They also use their feet in the attack. If you are threatened by one, stay calm, stare it down. One goose will probably not pose a major threat, but they can call for reinforcements that could be dangerous. It is not just humans that are attacked. In one instance a smaller Canada goose inadvertently (one hopes) invaded the territory of another bird. It attacked the smaller bird
16 • 2020
Scan me Hinterland Who’s Who on Canadian Geese https://www.nfb.ca/film/hinterland_whos_who_ canada_goose/
and ultimately pinned its head in some mud until the smaller bird suffocated. Canada geese may have been forced to take this aggressive stand because they lose their flight feathers around the time their eggs hatch, so they can’t fly from danger. They regain their flight feathers about the time their goslings are ready to learn to fly. These aggressive tendencies are a demonstration of their family feelings. These intelligent birds mate for life and will visibly mourn a lost spouse if one of them is killed. There are numerous stories of these animals haunting a space where a mate was Issue 4
last seen. Some will mate again, but not all. Their nests are constructed on the ground, preferably near water and on a knoll or rise that gives them a view of their surroundings. The female goose lays two to nine eggs, which she cares for pretty much full time, taking only a little time out to eat or attend to other matters. Some will take a break all at once, covering her eggs with bits of grass and down, then going off with her mate, who has been faithfully guarding her and the nest, for a refreshing bath and something to eat. Otherwise they will take several shorter breaks of 10 minutes or so. And she doesn’t just sit there. She flips her eggs over from time to time to make sure they are warm on all sides. Even after the goslings, which she can communicate with in the egg, are hatched, she must warm them under her wings every 15 minutes. Being a female Canada goose is a big job, especially since the young remain at home for about a year. localgardener.net
At one time, Canada geese were prized as food for their high fat content—a goose can weigh eight pounds or more and most of that is fat. They were in such demand that they were hunted almost to extinction. Then back in 1962, an enterprising Minnesotan, Harold Manson, started a successful conservation program, and now estimates vary that there are between five and eight million breeding in North America. Geese are largely herbivores, eating grass, but they will eat insects and small mammals, even small snakes. In fall and winter, they concentrate on eating more berries and seeds, including grains. Blueberries are a favourite food, and they can remove dried corn from cobs. They have several predatory enemies including raccoons and coyotes that are active nest raiders. Coyotes will kill an adult goose and have the nasty habit of removing the heads and feet of
localgardener.net
their victims and eating the rest. Most very northerly geese migrate south for the winter, returning to the same location year after year. Migrating flights often begin at dusk, something pilot trainees are taught so that they avoid take-offs at that time. But they will also suddenly leave at other times, gathering in the famous V-formation headed, alternately, by experienced elders. People dislike the goose droppings that are part of being a goose habitat. For the most part, the feces are harmless, although you can get a condition calls cryptosporidium causing gastrointestinal distress if you breathe in bacteria. Want to keep them out of your yard? Lay down some plastic mesh on the lawn, adopt some goose herding dogs, find a way to create loud noises or other ways to scare them off, or build a fence. Good luck. They are pretty smart birds and they will remember you. j
Issue 4
2020 • 17
Jersey: a pretty little island from across the pond Story by Ian Leatt, photos by Jim Leatt
I
n the Channel Islands, just north of France’s Brittany and west of Normandy, lies Jersey, where I am from. Being governed by Her Majesty, the citizens speak English, but also many speak French. They do have their own language, Jerriais Francais, which you would hear mostly on the farms. The island is surrounded with so many beautiful walks from the headlands of the north, with their steep cliffs some 470 feet in elevation, to the south where you lay on the white sand catching some warm summer rays. I have come to learn that you never truly appreciate the place you live until you leave it and return for a visit. Jersey clearly has four seasons, unlike Canada where some would argue there are only two: winter and summer. You can travel to Jersey any time of the year and find spectacular gardens; the everchanging seasons leave your eyes wide open if you know where to go and what to look for. Let me explain. Spring arrives and blooms abound. The island comes to life with wallflowers, night-scented stock, tulips, crocus and fields and fields of daffodils. A visually stunning sight befalls your eyes no matter the direction you look. Fields and fields of potatoes in early spring are covered in plastic which, once removed, reveals the dark green leaf and the colour of life. When the potatoes are ready for picking in March, the island goes a little crazy. Everyone talks about their first batch of the year. I know it sounds a little odd to the uninitiated, but, until you experience the true joy of a ‘Jersey Royal’ potato you cannot imagine what it is like. The potato itself has a very white flesh. The “mids” (young potatoes) are typically the best, being small at one inch in size. Washed (no need to peel), boiled in salted water with heaps of mint and served with melted butter, they taste like heaven. The locals make a big thing about their potatoes and are very protective. They bear, after all, the royal stamp of approval. 18 • 2020
Issue 4
A view of the sea
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A field of the famous 'Jersey Royal' potatoes.
Heather by the seashore. localgardener.net
Walkway dripping with wisteria.
Early spring in a cemetery. Issue 4
2020 • 19
Field of poppies.
Cherries ripening in summer.
Wild headland, featuring buttercups.
Jersey calves.
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Issue 4
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Daffodils in February.
At the end of April beginning of May, the summer starts to show its true signs. Azaleas bloom, the large rhododendrons exploding with colour and a sweet lily-like scent. Magnolias fill some roads their long reaching branches decorated and characterised by large fragrant flowers which may be bowl-shaped or star-shaped, in shades of white, pink, purple, green or yellow. Throughout the headlands, wild heather perks up and carpets the landscape with its dark pinks and purples, contrasted with the green bushy stalks of gorse (also called Scottish broom). Their spiny prickly thorns are covered with a vibrant yellow flower. Wild crab-apples, elderberries and blackberries spring to life, producing a bounty of fruit when ripe. If you are ever there in late June or early July, take a drive down Hydrangea Avenue (Route du Marais), filled from start to end for over a mile on both sides of the road with huge hydrangeas in pinks, whites and blues; a visual feast for all garden lovers. With many local garden centres on the island the opportunity for the locals to dress their home gardens with beautiful displays is endless. Many locals divide their gardens into vegetable growing and displays of colour. localgardener.net
Camellias thrive on Jersey.
Scan me Watch a video to find out more about Jersey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsAZ7UG0wDo
No matter the size, pride is always very important. There are many beautiful parks to visit, from Coronation Park, to Howard Davis Park, all elegantly designed and maintained. A very famous garden is that of Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Park, cut into the hillside with water falls, rose beds and many, many trees. The lush, springlike lawns are there for all to use, from taking a nap to having a picnic. In the summer Jersey is like no other, with palm trees along the beaches, and promenades made beautiful by annual plants in full bloom: geraniums, impatiens, phlox and dracaena, to name but a few. One real beauty is that you can have breakfast and watch the sunrise on one side of the island then have dinner and watch the sunset on the other. Sometimes being small does have its advantages. Issue 4
The second Thursday of August, the island comes to life even more with the annual celebration, The Battle of Flowers. The island is made up of 12 parishes that all compete for coveted trophies like Prix d’Honneur, Prix d’Excellence, and Prix D’Honneur de Papie. Two events take place: the day show and the night show. The average attendance at the event is 20,000 people with the largest gathering in 1969 of 69,000. Not bad for an island with a population of just under 100,000. As fall starts to loom its inevitable head the island starts to gather its bountiful harvest. Name the vegetable and it probably grows there. Winter is a time of rain. The cold breeze from the Atlantic Ocean blows in and the island rests. The deciduous trees lose their leaves and the tall fir trees slumber. In early January, many local farmers and gardening enthusiasts go to the beach to gather vraic, a type of seaweed and a truly organic fertilizer that is spread over the soil in the fields and vegetable gardens. I am told that it is what makes the potatoes so perfect. Jersey is a beautiful island; it is where I am from. My heart, though, belongs to Canada. j 2020 • 21
Two outstanding flowering small trees – Ming cherry and Muckle plum Story and photos by Wilbert Ronald
‘Ming’ cherry.
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ome plants arise from years of dedicated cross breeding, selection and testing but others have come from unexpected sources. The two plants we are writing about both arose in unusual ways. Some breeders might call a new plant a “chance” seedling if it arose like the singular distinct ‘Ming’ cherry. In the case of the ‘Muckle’ plum, it appears to have arisen as the only seedling from a controlled cross or natural hybridization between two nearby plum species in the garden of the originator. Both 22 • 2020
‘Muckle’ plum.
the ‘Ming’ cherry and the ‘Muckle’ plum are therefore one-of-a-kind plants that really are garden gems. ‘Ming’ cherry ‘Ming’ originated in the fruit program at the University of Saskatchewan as an off-type seedling in the sour cherry program. It has been commercialized for close to 15 years and has shown potential as a small specimen tree. ‘Ming’ can be most usefully compared to the Amur cherry, of which it appears to be a hybrid. The second parent is presumed to be a Issue 4
sour cherry hybrid (Prunus fruticosa). ‘Ming’ has several outstanding traits which have been recognized and led to grower interest and a recent surge of landscape interest. • The trunk is sturdy and straight and has no winter bark splitting, which is seen in Amur cherry. • The branching form and branch sturdiness is noteworthy. • Dark green foliage and only a few small fruits mean the tree does not become messy or weedy. • White flowers appear in early localgardener.net
Bark of the ‘Ming’ cherry.
Flowers of the ‘Ming’ cherry.
spring that add to landscape interest. • Bark colour is a copper-brown colour which is unique for northern Zone 2-3 areas. • Fall foliage colour is golden and develops in early October. • Propagation by softwood cuttings produces own-rooted trees. • The tree does not sprout from the basal crown nor does it exhibit root suckers. • Winter hardiness has been outstanding, all testing would indicate at least Zone 2 hardiness. • There are no serious diseases noted such as stem black knot or leaf scorch. The ultimate size of a ‘Ming’ cherry tree is open to question as there are few specimens more than 15 years old, but it will mature to a small tree much like other prairie tree cherries. Under good nursery conditions, it grows quickly to a height of 12 feet in 3 years from a 6-foot liner tree. We expect it to mature to 25 feet in height with a trunk of 8 to 12 inches at 15 years. Because the tree is immune to any current disease and insect pests, we see no reason why the tree won’t have a long life span. The above features of the ‘Ming’ cherry are significant improvements and have taken some time to become known but with each passing year this cherry has attracted more interest from growers and landscapers. It has now become a reliable item in Zone 2-3 and should do very well in more favourable Zones as well. It is truly a garden gem in small trees. ‘Muckle’ plum The second tree is one we have grown for many years, but it remains
a collector’s tree even though it does have some very unique features. The Western Canadian Society for Horticulture in its 1956 history of prairie horticulture book, Development of Horticulture on the Canadian Prairies: an Historical Review, reports under the heading R. M. Muckle, Clandeboye, Manitoba: “Muckle plum, Prunus nigra x P. tenella. Named after the originator, following his death, by the Morden Experimental Farm.” Unfortunately not much more was said about the tree as to which species was the female parent in the cross or whether it was a chance natural hybrid or a controlled cross made by the originator. ‘Muckle’ plum has been totally sterile as far as is known so no further breeding work was done with it. To our knowledge no one has duplicated the cross in the intervening years. A list of features is not as extensive as for the ‘Ming’ cherry but there are several.
• Healthy green foliage and single pink flowers • No known disease or insect problems • Plant is sterile so there are no fruit, and flowering period is longer than in some plums • Propagation by budding on plum seedlings or by own rooted propagation The ultimate size of a ‘Muckle’ plum tree would be about 15 feet but the tree is so uncommon that mature specimens are rarely encountered. The Jeffries Nurseries company has been responsible for bringing this tree into production in the nursery trade. We would like to see some enterprising plant breeder make further gains in the pink-flowered plum family. Apart from flowering crabapples, ‘Muckle’ is your one option for a pink flowered small tree in northern 2 and 3 Zones and with its single pink flowers it stands unique among prairie plums. While not as strong growing as the Japanese cherries used in very favoured climatic zones such as Vancouver and Washington, DC, ‘Muckle’ has the pink flowers that mark out the tender Japanese cherries. ‘Muckle’ plum will give the gardener a most unique pink flowered May bloom which has no peer in tree form pink-flowered cherries for the cold zones of the northern US states and Canadian prairie provinces. If you are searching for a unique small tree then either the ‘Ming’ cherry or the ‘Muckle’ plum will give that special plant for the garden. Both are still relatively rare plants which we expect to see more of in the future as gardeners learn their good qualities. j
Fall foliage of the ‘Ming’ cherry.
The flowers of the ‘Muckle’ plum are similar to Japanese cherry flowers (shown here).
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2020 • 23
Growing cabbage and its friends
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roccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale… they are all varieties of the same species, Brassica oleracea. So are cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi and gai lan, also known as Chinese broccoli. Mustard, turnip and bok choy are in the Brassica genus too, but they are not in the species oleracea. Does it matter? Not really, but it’s oleracea were talking about here. Folks started cultivating wild cabbage, perhaps as long ago as 5000 years, and definitely by 2000 BCE. By selecting seed from those with the biggest leaves or stems or flowers, all these different sizes, colours and shapes of vegetable came to be. Cabbages and their ilk can be grown anywhere with good, fertile soil, so long as there are enough frost-free days (or days with just a little frost) for them to reach maturity in the garden. Most like long days but prefer cooler summers and won’t do well when the thermometer goes above 26 degrees Celsius; they tend to bolt. How do they grow them in the hot US South? In fall, not in summer. Although brassicas are cool-season crops, they need warm soil to germinate from seed. The solution a lot of gardeners use for all but kale and collards is to start plants indoors and transplant 24 • 2020
Wild cabbage (above) has been bred into a wide range of cultivars, including broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi and gai lan.
This family of vegetables has a shallow root system, so you need to keep the area weeded. Remove weeds by hand, not by hoe, to avoid damaging the roots. And, of course, keep it mulched. When you plant them out in the early spring, consider a row cover or some other protection. This will keep a number of pests out and keep the temperature more consistent. Water is of great importance. These vegetables like a lot of it and they like the same amount of it from day to day, until they’re getting ready for harvest. Planting cabbage and broccoli for the Issue 4
first time? It’s a good excuse to invest in soaker hoses for watering because brassicas would rather stay dry above their feet. Also important is pH. Brassicas grow best around 6.8 or 7. If you don’t know what your soil pH is, pick up a test at the garden centre. It’ll be a fun experiment. Then amend your soil to suit. And while you’re at it, add plenty of compost because brassicas are heavy feeders. Kale, collards, kohlrabi and gai lan These are the easiest brassicas to grow. You can seed them directly into the soil and harvest in 60 days or less. For kale, collards and gai lan, harvest the leaves as needed, choosing the outer leaves first. Once you cut the innermost leaves the plant may stop producing. For kohlrabi, harvest when the bulb gets to be about the size of a tennis ball. Don’t wait too long because older plants have an unpleasant texture. Broccoli There is a critical point of 10 days while growing broccoli, during which if the heat goes and stays above 35 Celsius for 4 days the broccoli will have badly shaped heads. This critical point is between the vegetative phase, when the plant is gaining size, and the flower bud stage. localgardener.net
For your first harvest, cut the central head of broccoli low down on the stem. Smaller side shoots may grow from the leaf axils, so you can continue to harvest for a few weeks. Cut the broccoli when the little green beads are tight. Don’t worry if your broccoli isn’t so big as what you’d buy at the market. If the beads start to turn yellow, harvest right away. Cauliflower Cauliflower used to take even more work because you had to “blanch” it by tying the leaves over the head so that it would stay white. To avoid the chore, look for self-blanching cauliflower. Depending on the cultivar you get, cauliflower can take up to 100 days from seed to harvest. It doesn’t care for sudden change, not in temperature, water or nutrition. Start with your planting site well fed. If you start plants indoors, which you should because it needs heat to germinate, harden seedlings off before planting them out. In addition to the usual cabbagefamily problems, your white cauliflower may turn brown, which means it’s low in boron, or pink, which means it’s had too much sun or the temperature has fluctuated too much. Either is fine to eat, though. Harvest your cauliflower when the heads are tight. If they start to open, they won’t get any bigger and should be harvested immediately. If it starts to look kind of coarse, it’s past ripe and should be pitched. Cabbage The ability to grow a perfect cabbage is a sign of vegetable-growing competence. Aside from various diseases and pests that afflict cabbage, it feeds heavily and requires soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7. Keep cabbages consistently well watered but do not over water. A cabbage can look ready to harvest before it is ready. Squeeze the head, looking for firmness. If it isn’t firm, leave it to grow a little longer. Check it regularly; if it is over-mature, the head can split. It will also split if the plant gets too much water or food. Cut the watering a week before you plan to harvest and give the heads a twist to break some of the roots. This will prevent splitting by slowing the water uptake. When it is time, cut the cabbage from the plant. If there is still growing time in the season, leave the plant in the ground; little cabbages localgardener.net
Harlequin bug (Bagrada hilaris) on pakchoi.
may grow around the leaves. Brussels sprouts Brussels sprouts take four months to go from seed to harvest. If you don’t have more than four months frost-free in your area, start Brussels sprouts indoors. Winnipeg and Calgary, for instance, can only count on four months without frost and Saskatoon, even less. With these warnings, though, Brussels sprouts will benefit from some light frost before harvest. The sprouts mature from the bottom of the plant first. You can harvest these when they’re firm. Remove leaves, too, from low on the plant, when they start to yellow. As you harvest the lowest sprouts, more will grow and mature higher up on the plant. You can also cut the top of the plant off three weeks before you want to harvest them all. This will ripen up all the sprouts. Pests and diseases Aphids: These little bugs will line up on the stem of a plant and suck out the juices. Spray them off with a water jet from a hose. Pull up old plant material where aphids overwinter. Avoid spraying with soap to encourage ladybugs or lacewings, which feed on aphids, to set up camp. We have heard (but not tried) sprinkling flour in the area to lead the aphids to become constipated. Flea beetles: They look like specks of dirt until they jump. Grow mustard around your vegetable garden to Scan me Check out the Rocket Surgeons official video for The Broccoli Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-_G_Crh6ic
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attract flea beetles away from your plants. Try white sticky traps around the garden to catch the beetles when they jump. Use row covers and rotate plantings year by year. Harlequin bugs: Plant cleome flowers or mustard around the border to attract them away. Hand pick the bright orange and black bugs. Look on the leaf undersides for black- and white-striped, barrel-shaped eggs and destroy them. Cabbage root maggots: Plants will start yellowing on the outer leaves and eventually look wilted. Row covers will keep the parent flies from laying their eggs on vegetables. Cabbage collars are another solution, placed around each plant. Encourage ground beetles by using mulch. Cabbage worms: A caterpillar won’t crawl on your vegetables for the heck of it. Any there are chowing down. There are three different kinds, but all three are susceptible to the same treatments. Grow flowers nearby to keep the beneficial insect population high. Use row covers. Catch the adults that lay eggs with sticky yellow traps in mid-summer. Cutworms: These guys live in the soil during the day and come out at night to cut young plants down at the base. Include perches nearby to encourage worm-eating birds to hang out. One cutworm can do a lot of damage. Grab a flashlight and look for them after dark. Clubroot: If plants are growing fine then suddenly fail to thrive, dig one up and see if the roots have galls. This is clubroot, a soil-borne fungus. Add lime to the soil and rotate your crops. If it gets to be a serious problem, solarize the soil to get rid of the pathogen. Yellows: Leaves start to yellow at the base, usually on one side of the plant, and continue up the plant, turning brown. It’s a fungus in the soil. Plant resistant varieties. Changing the pH of the soil won’t work. Black rot: The margins of the leaves turn yellow first in a v-shaped pattern with this soil bacterium. Rotate crops, keeping brassicas out of this soil for three years. It can come in on infected seeds or seedlings or can infect plants by splash-back from the soil. Watering at the root level only is one way to prevent the disease, mulching is another. j 2020 • 25
Lamium I
t’s pretty, but it can be frustrating. Lamium is great for its toughness (hardy to Zone 2) and its quick spread, but if (when?) it gets out of control, watch out. You could be battling it for a long, long time. The wild plant, Lamium maculatum, is native to Europe and parts of Asia. It’s mostly green with some lighter spots and pink flowers appearing at the leaf nodes. Plant masters have mixed and morphed them into variegated leaves of two sorts; one is green with a silver or yellow stripe down the middle and the other is primarily whitish with a narrow band of green on the borders of the leaf. Flowers come in shades of purple, pink and white. If you have yellow-flowering plants, they are Lamium galeobdolon, or yellow archangel, native to Europe, which is similar but more invasive. If you’ve ever tried to get rid of it, you’ll know what I mean. It does best in light shade in soil rich in humus that drains well, but you can plant it just about anywhere. Mine escaped my garden and is popping up around my driveway, which is covered in limestone screenings. The plant increases by aboveground runners. Wherever a basal stem (one without flowers) touches the ground, it will root. It also will seed freely, but seedlings won’t be the same as the parents. Watch for these volunteers and pull them out because they can increase and overwhelm the cultivars you are growing. Here are a few common cultivars you can try. ‘Album’ has dark green leaves with a silver stripe and white blooms. ‘Anne Greenaway’ has dark green leaves with chartreuse margin and silver stripe and pink flowers. ‘Aureum’ has chartreuse leaves and light pink flowers. ‘Beedham’s White’ has leaves that are quite yellow with a white stripe and white flowers. ‘Chequers’ has green leaves with a silver stripe and dark pink flowers. This one is particularly vigorous. ‘Cosmopolitan’ has small silver leaves with a very fine green border and pink flowers. ‘Orchid Frost’ has silver leaves with a blue-green border and pink flowers. 26 • 2020
By Shauna Dobbie
Lamium ‘White Nancy’.
Lamium ‘Pink Pewter.’
Lamium ‘Orchid Frost’.
Lamium ‘Anne Greenaway’.
‘Pink Nancy’ has silver leaves with green margins and light pink flowers. ‘Pink Pewter’ has small silver leaves with a green border and pink flowers. ‘Purple Dragon’ has small silver leaves with a green border and big pinky purple flowers. ‘Red Nancy’ has silver leaves with green border and purple flowers; it’s Issue 4
called ‘Red Nancy’ because the stems have a reddish tinge. ‘Roseum’ has dark green leaves with a silver stripe and rosy flowers. ‘Shell Pink’ has green leaves with a silver stripe and pink flowers. ‘White Nancy’ has silver leaves with a thin green border and white flowers. j localgardener.net
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Issue 4
2020 • 27
A bench near this pond for a place to sit.
Bellflowers and hens and chicks around a pond.
Beautiful Gardens
Dave and Janice Morden St. Albert, Alberta Story and photos by Shauna Dobbie
Dave and Janice Morden.
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n St. Albert, Alberta, just beyond the northwest corner of Edmonton, is this sweet and pretty little garden and the couple who take an equal share in tending it. Dave and Janice Morden have lived here for 23 years and they’ve chipped away at what started as a dull landscape the whole time. They’ve added a couple of ponds and lots of fish. They have a number of roses, too. Dave likes the Morden roses, owing to the association with his last name. 28 • 2020
Dave is the plant picker. He chooses which of their many heart’s desires they should buy. Janice mows the lawn, in a reversal of the usual roles. And both love to deadhead, fussing around the garden making it perfect and tidy. Their favourite thing to do, though, is relax. Dave loves to sit and watch the fish in his ponds and Janice enjoys relaxing with a book. “I like just sitting and reading, just enjoying looking at the flowers, just walking around the yard.” Issue 4
Dave is a builder. He’s spent last winter building about 14 bird houses and once they paint them and put them up, he’ll have more birds to watch. He’s also a collector; he’s been collecting petrified wood since he was a kid, and now he has 40 to 50 pieces around the yard. They love to watch the birds that come to their yard year-round, either for the water features in the summer or the treed and peaceful surroundings in the winter. They localgardener.net
Whimsical frog recirculates water.
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Fish in one of the ponds. localgardener.net
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2020 • 29
Some of the things that make Janice and Dave happy.
A wide view of the back border.
have Hungarian partridges come at that time of year. When it’s warmer out in spring and summer, their little budgie, Peaches, watches birds from the sunroom and sings and sings. One bird is not a welcome sight, though; the great blue heron who came to visit one year got quite a few fish in the pond. Birdie thought he’d found a goldmine and would come back for a snack pretty consistently, but then Dave got a statue of another heron and put it in the yard. He has to move it regularly to keep real bird convinced, but he hasn’t lost any fish since. Dave would love to move further out, to the country, “so I could have a big garden, bigger flower gardens, but…” Janice cuts in here to explain: “It’s too expensive.” They finish each other’s sentences like that, like long-married couples often do. Neither set out to learn gardening, it’s just something they always did. Dave’s parents were farmers, as were his aunts and uncles. One aunt in particular, who’s 88 now, always had beautiful gardens. “That’s where all the irises in our garden came from,” says Janice. “They’re irises that her parents used to have,” Dave picks up; “they would have been my grandparents, passed down through the generations. She kind of split them and gave them to family members.”
Petunias and one of the ‘Diamond’ euphorbias.
Hens and chicks all flowering. 30 • 2020
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Dave needs to move this heron statue regularly to keep the real heron away.
Sedum looks lush and healthy after flowering.
‘Morden Blush’ rose. localgardener.net
A rustic bird house. Dave built new ones for this summer.
‘Morden Cardinette’ rose. Issue 4
2020 • 31
Dragonfly wind chime.
Fuchsia.
“My mom is a really good gardener,” Janice adds. “She has beautiful flowers every year that grow magnificently. And my grandma, she used to have a beautiful rockery in her yard. My grandma and I would always have a sweet pea contest every year. Who could grow the biggest batch of sweet peas! We’d plant those ‘Spencer Giant Mixed’ then we’d have a contest to see whose sweet peas were the best.” The back yard is about how they like it now. This summer they may begin on the front yard. They aren’t sure what they’re going to do with it, but Dave says they’ll start with a chainsaw and a bobcat, digging the whole thing up. j
A healthy growth of carrot greens.
This rubber duck loves the back yard as much as the other birds! 32 • 2020
‘Morden Centennial’ rose. Issue 4
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A crop of vegetables in a container.
Pots of tomatoes.
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2020 • 33
The front of Michael’s restored house.
Beautiful Gardens Michael Resch
Emerson, Manitoba Story by Dorothy Dobbie, photos by Shauna Dobbie
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M
ichael Resch’s GARDENS in capital letters. Sure, he has his perennials and some annuals, but the real point is food! As always, Michael is a man ahead of his times. While the rest of the COVID-19 weary world is looking to the production of own nourishment as a welcome relief to concerns about the future food supply chain, Michael has already been doing this for years. And not only does he grow his own food, he preserves much of the harvest in his cool stone cellar, also the home of some very fine wines. This is a man who is in the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame. Michael Resch opened the first land bordercrossing, duty free shop in the country, creating a whole new retail sector in Canada. He has bred world champion Arabian horses. He loves and understands stonework and restored an 1882 stone house in Emerson—in short, there is not much Michael cannot do
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Walkway from Michael’s house to the garden.
Spireas against Michael’s house. localgardener.net
The pizza oven on the patio. Issue 4
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Fresh and healthy lettuces.
Vegetables in another plot across the street from Michael’s house.
Pheasant’s eye looks like chocolate cosmos.
A boy and his dog, waiting for the vegetables to grow.
Marigolds stand guard in the vegetable garden.
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Clustered bellflower behaves.
when he sets his mind to work. And he is hands on. Take the house. He looked at it with sensitivity, realizing just what it needed to bring it back to life. He understood the love that George Pocock had put into creating an exact replica of his wife’s family home in England back in the 1880s, and grasped the attention to detail it must have taken to please the former Eliza Janes Weekes, who refused to join George in the New World until a suitable home was ready for her. When Michael bought it, the home needed expanding and refurbishing according to modern standards and Michael undertook the task with precision and care. His son, Simon, was just a kid. He remembers sorting stone for his very particular father who had strict rules of size, colour, shape; Michael wanted the stone for his addition to the house to blend in seamlessly with the original construction. Today, you would have to have a very well-trained eye to tell the difference. And it wasn’t just the house. The stone construction carries into the garden, past a stone fireplace and pizza oven, down a stone path to the kitchen garden. Here, as you wander down the flower-scented walkway lined with gold mound spirea in full bloom, you pass wellgroomed lawns and planned vistas. The destination is a perfect little vegetable garden where bright green lettuce is protected by the blazing orange blooms of marigold standing guard against the insects that plague leafy greens. Marigolds are, after all, the source of the most common garden pest remedy sold today. This little garden is positioned against a background of well-tamed perennials that would be rampant in any other garden. Anemone canadensis stand sedately flanked by unusually well-behaved Campanula glomerata, the scourge of the careless gardener. The furry, star-like blue blossoms of borage catch and reflect the early summer sunlight. A row of healthy potatoes is already in bloom. The dill and green onions are well up as are the beans and Swiss chard. Tomatoes are
A section for beets.
Blue pot filled with annuals.
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2020 • 37
A statue of Famira Ka, champion mare
Freckled horse, ready for a close-up.
Simon checks in with his four-legged friends. 38 • 2020
The pond outside Simon’s house.
fairly bouncing with energy. The scent of thyme tickles the nose. A swathe of bright red flowers mimics cosmos, a species of Adonis known as pheasant’s eye, unusual in local gardens. You discover a nice balance of local and exotic in Michael’s garden. It’s a pleasant journey of discovery in the afternoon sun, but there is much more in store. In the meadow beyond the neatly trimmed lawns, ferns and Engelmann’s ivy around the house, another surprise awaits: a pen filled with families of exotic ducks and geese and chickens, all roaming freely, safe from foxes as they scratch for grubs or tender tidbits of green among the grasses. There is an elegant sign on their domain, Pension zur Hen, which translate loosely into “hotel for chickens!” Then there are the paddocks which once housed a herd of beautiful Arabian horses, now reduced to a just a handful as Michael sells off his collection. The barn that saw so much excitement is now empty except for a brood of chicks. But near the barn, attesting to a glorious past, stands a bronze statue of Michael’s pride and joy, Famira Ka, a championship mare. Part of this memorial is a tree-lined pond that showcases the statue in tribute. This is all in the barnyard of the house that Simon now lives in on the property, and across the road from that there are more gardens, really works of wonder where many more vegetables can be grown, the big stuff such as cabbages and broccoli and cauliflower. Much of this ends up in Michael’s modern and industrial-equipped kitchen, where he chops and cooks and pickles himself into contentment, while Simon runs the enterprises that Michael has dreamed up over the years. The latest of these dreams is a port authority at border crossings, the same as we have at airports – it would make sense, cost the government nothing and bring in revenue and investment . . . Simon gets it and will get it done. j
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Fuzzy borage, nodding in the sunlight.
Clutch of chicks in the barn under a heat lamp
Some inhabitants of the Pension zur Hen.
Enjoy summer blossoms!
Join us for the 2020 Garden Celebration tour! Beautiful gardens await you in Carman & the RM of Dufferin. When: August 15, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (registration is from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.)
Where: Dufferin Historical Museum
For more details visit: carmanmanitoba.ca/plan-your-visit/explore localgardener.net
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2020 • 39
The front of the home.
Beautiful Gardens Ric Campbell and Keltie Jones Odessa, Ontario Story and photos by Shauna Dobbie
O
n one hand, they paid very little for the property; on the other, it was a wreck, with boarded up windows and surrounded by overgrown lilacs. But Ric Campbell could see the potential in the old Odessa Continuation School as a place to live and garden, so Keltie Jones agreed. That was 20 years ago. Today, the home is 4,000 square feet of comfortable glamour and the garden is a half-acre of verdant gardens, thriving trees and raised boxes bursting with vegetables. Sadly, Ric died last August, but Keltie is learning to manage the place on his own. Ric was the driving force behind the design of the garden. He had been gardening since he was a kid and put his artist’s eye toward the layout. (A retail manager, Ric became an artist at retirement, taking up a paint brush.) As for the garden, he would look out at the yard from the second-floor balcony and tell Keltie what he was going
Stepping stones through the garden. 40 • 2020
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The perennial gardens and a sculpture of rusted wheels and gears.
Raised vegetable beds as seen from the balcony.
The circular tree garden. localgardener.net
Border of hostas. Issue 4
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to do. Keltie was unsure about the vision but went ahead with it and was rewarded. “Despite working very hard, and he loved the garden, he always felt that he could have and should have done a little bit more to make it even nicer.” On one side of the garden there are raised beds for vegetables. This gives them all the root area they could want, since Odessa is built on limestone. And the veggies grow with vigour, more than a couple could use, never mind one man. Nonetheless, Keltie is thinking about adding more raised beds next year; he will give the excess away to neighbours and friends. Keltie and Ric have always been generous with both flowers and vegetables, and that will not change. In the centre of the yard in back is a 30-foot stone circle with huge blue spruce in the centre. The spruce are underplanted with annuals and there is gravel around the stone circle, and plantings of cedars and perennials around that. It’s a slightly wild garden with formal accents that you enter under a white-painted, wrought-iron archway. On the other side there are a couple of borders of perennials interrupting the gravel, and a smaller stone circle with a sculpture fashioned of rusted iron wheels and gears in the centre. Ric made that after they saw something similar. He was always scouting antique stores for “junk” that he could turn into something for the garden. Some of the things he found at the property. Flowers grow in and around a cement structure; you don’t think about what it is until asked, and Keltie is delighted to tell you that it is the urinal from the school. The garden is useful as well as beautiful; Ric and Keltie entertained there. The Kingston Symphony played for one tour and the Ontario Horticultural Society visited when they had their annual meeting in Kingston. Seniors homes and churches have included them on tours. In 2009 they held their wedding there and people still talk about what a wonderful day it was. Last summer I visited the garden twice. The first time, near the end of June, unseasonably cool weather had stunted the growth. The peonies were fat and the vegetables were
Archway to the circular tree garden.
Sedums getting ready for fall. 42 • 2020
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The old boys’ urinal.
A scarecrow hiding in the shadows.
A lush flower border.
Glads. localgardener.net
A tomato cage holds back deep red dahlias. Issue 4
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getting started, but you could tell it would be really something in about a month. My husband and I took a daytrip in August to see the garden again. The vegetables now filled the containers and flowers bloomed everywhere. Glads and cannas soared big and bright and zinnias poked through dense greenery with their colour. Ric was feeling poorly but Keltie gave us a tour of the gardens. We could sense the magic, the love that had gone into the place. Keltie is making things simpler now. “Ric had a yellow dahlia on the left-hand side and a yellow dahlia on the right-hand side. When I took them out, I just dumped them all in a box and wherever they end up they’ll be beautiful.” “In September I bought some chrysanthemum because it was important to me to say, okay, this is my garden, what do I want?... I’m planting more hostas around the house because I know that will be easier than planting the begonias that he’s done in the past.” In this way Keltie can keep the garden while honouring Ric’s memory. j
Lettuces at the end of June.
A jungle of rhubarb.
Weigela. 44 • 2020
Globe thistle.
Lush-petaled peony. Issue 4
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Yellow coneflowers.
Tomatoes in mid August.
Cleome.
Zinnias.
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How to get started
A
re you starting your very first garden? Congratulations! There are several little details to take you from the idea to your first year of blooms or food. Here is a primer that will get you through with most plants. This guide will be printed at the back of every issue of Canada’s Local Gardener. May you have a long future as a gardener, during which you add techniques from others and elements you discover that work for you. Happy gardening! How to start a garden 1. Make it smaller than you think you’ll need. 2. Mow the area, then lay down 7 to 10 sheets of newspaper over the grass or weeds. 3. Water the newspaper. 4. Pile on four to six inches of triple mix soil 5. If you want, pile on four inches of cedar mulch. 6. Plant bedding plants. Containers 1. Outdoor containers should be larger; smaller ones will dry out too quickly. 2. Hanging containers will dry out faster than those on the ground. 3. Drainage is important. If there are no holes in the container and you can’t put holes in it, put plants in a 46 • 2020
plastic liner pot and into the container. 4. Use potting soil for containers, not triple mix. 5. Feed container plants something like liquid kelp or Miracle Gro. They’re different from in-ground plants. Bedding plants 1. Water bedding plants the day before you plant them. 2. Dig a hole a little bigger than the pot the plant is in. 3. Remove the bedding plant from the pot. Squish the pot to get it out. 4. Gently spread out the root ball on the plant, put it into the hole and backfill around the root ball with soil. 5. Fibre pots: remove the plant and compost the pot. 6. Cell packs: if a plant comes in four or six attached plastic containers, they are four or six small plants, not one big one. 7. When you are done planting in a bed, water it well. Fall bulbs 1. Fall bulbs bloom in spring. They include tulips, crocuses and daffodils. You can plant them until the ground is frozen. 2. Plant bulbs in a hole that is three times the depth of the bulb. If a bulb is one inch high, plant it three inches deep. If it’s three inches high, plant it nine inches deep. Issue 4
3. You can plant each bulb in one hole or plant more bulbs in a wider hole. Leave one to two bulb-widths between them. 4. If you have chipmunks or other animals that will disturb bulbs, put chicken wire over the bulbs before filling in the hole with soil. Direct-sowing seeds 1. Prepare an existing bed by removing weeds and mixing in compost or topping with triple mix. 2. Either follow the directions on the seed packets, ask the person you got the seeds from, or follow the suggestions below. 3. Some seeds need light to germinate: ageratum, balloon flower, browallia, columbine, gaillardia, geranium, impatiens, lettuce, lobelia, nicotiana, osteospermum, petunias, poppies, savory, snapdragons. 4. Other seeds should be covered lightly with soil: alyssum, aster, balsam, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celosia, corn, cosmos, cucumbers, dianthus, eggplant, marigold, melons, morning glory, nasturtium, peas, pepper, radish, spinach, squash, tomato, zinnia. 5. Plant seeds about as far apart as you imagine the grown plant will need. Or plant them less far apart then thin them when they are too close together. Thin seedlings by snipping them off so you don’t disturb the roots of neighbouring plants. 6. Water new seeds with the mister on your hose nozzle so they don’t wash localgardener.net
away, but water them thoroughly. 7. Keep seedlings in a damp bed until they are one to two inches high. Weeding 1. Weed the day after it rains or the day after you water. It is easier to pull weeds from damp soil than from dry soil. 2. Hoe tiny weedlings in the spring. 3. If you don’t know what it is, wait until you do know before pulling it. 4. If you can’t pull a weed out, cut it off at ground level. Do this as often as needed, which could be daily. Eventually it should die from lack of sunlight. 5. Mulching can control weeds and make weeding easier. Watering 1. Always water new plants gently but well. 2. Water more deeply and less often. 3. Water the soil, not the plant, but don’t worry about plants getting wet. 4. Watering in the morning is best, but time of day doesn’t matter that much. 5. Outdoor pots need water frequently, possibly every day. Pests 1. Don’t treat for pests unless they are truly decimating your garden. 2. Many insects are beneficial to the garden. Several non-beneficial insects will attract beneficial insects to your garden. 3. Funguses and insect-eating plants will usually go away if treated with neem oil. 4. Aphids can be kept under control by spraying them off with water. It won’t kill them, but it will slow them down. Sun 1. Six or more hours per day of localgardener.net
Scan me Explore Canada’s plant hardiness site. http://www.planthardiness.gc.ca/
direct sun qualifies as full sun. 2. Three to six hours qualifies as part sun. 3. Less than three hours qualifies as shade. 4. Dappled shade can be any of these, depending on how dappled the shade is and for how much of the day. 5. Full sun is necessary for most vegetables. Part sun is acceptable for leafy vegetables.
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6. Pay attention to the tags on plants at the nursery. You can experiment with plants outside the recommended sun requirements, but be prepared for whatever the result is. Zones 1. Hardiness Zone is a number given to your geographical area to indicate whether a plant will survive the winter. You can find the hardiness Zone for your area online at planthardiness.gc.ca. Or you can ask at your local garden centre what Zone you are in. 2. Zones don’t matter for annuals. For perennials, they will give you an idea of what survives. For trees and shrubs, they are pretty accurate. 3. Canadian hardiness Zones and USDA hardiness Zones are different. A rule of thumb is to subtract one from the USDA Zone to get the Canadian Zone. 4. There are microclimates in every yard. Proximity to the house or a fence or position on a hill will change the climate. 5. Your local garden centre will not sell you plants that won’t thrive in your area. Or, if they do, they will issue a warning. Fall clean-up 1. Rake leaves off lawns and into flower beds. 2. Remove very diseased plants. Throw them out. 3. Everything else can be left for birds, insects and other animals. Much of it will compost in the garden over the winter. j
2020 • 47
WEST NILE VIRUS
What you need to know to protect yourself and your family What are the symptoms?
When is the risk highest?
• A severe case of West Nile virus (WNV) can be life-threatening and may result in long-term disability.
• The risk of WNV infection is highest during late June, July, August and early September.
• Some people develop an illness with symptoms such as fever, rash, headache, fatigue and body aches. • Most people infected with WNV have no symptoms and do not become ill.
Who is at risk? • Everyone is at risk of coming into contact with the virus. • Severe illness most often occurs among older adults or people with chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems. However, severe illness has occurred in all age groups.
• The risk varies from year to year based on temperature, precipitation, mosquito population and other factors.
How do I protect against WNV? • Reduce the time you spend outside between dusk and dawn. • Apply an appropriate mosquito repellent. • Wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing with long sleeves and pant legs. • Get rid of standing water around your home. • Make sure your door and window screens fit tightly and are free of holes.
For more information, visit our website at manitoba.ca/health/wnv. For questions about WNV health concerns, contact your doctor or call Health Links – Info Santé at 204-788-8200 (in Winnipeg); toll-free 1-888-315-9257.
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