Trellis - The New Garden 2014

Toronto Botanical Garden

Trellis • Spring 2014

Spring Program Guide Inside!

Choices for City-savvy Why kids veggie plots Need to Page 12 Get back Growing to Nature with nature Page 14

10 &

Projects, Activities

Page 16

Eat your The Best (homegrown) urban trees vegetables Page 21 Page 18

Ideas Fun shaping for our Kids!

Page 6 gardens Page 6 PLUS Viewpoints: What the experts say about eating local/native plants/migrating trees

welcome to choices for

The New Garden From the TBG

Harry Jongerden • Executive Director

Making informed choices

W

e live in a world of affluence and abundance where our choices are exhaustive to the point of exhausting. Some of us might even be wishing for a little less choice just to make life simpler. But there’s no going back now that freedom of choice has become an inalienable right. Who would want to return to the days of Henry Ford telling his customers that they could have their car painted any colour they wanted, “so long as it’s black”?

Going back even further in history, in 802 Charlemagne commanded the cities and estates of the Holy Roman Empire to establish gardens containing all the known useful plant species—all 89 of them! Not much choice in whether or not to obey, and not much choice in the prescribed list. We obviously lacked freedom back then, but we also lacked knowledge. The list of 89 known plants wasn’t arbitrary. It was truly the totality of the plants available. With the unparalleled freedom and knowledge of today, what will our choices be?

Until quite recently we were selecting plants mainly for aesthetic reasons, provided, of course, that they would grow where we wanted them: “Right plant, right place.” The tremendous increase in our knowledge of plant variety since Charlemagne’s day has taken us from 89 to many thousands of species and their cultivars. Many of us have experienced the great pleasure of setting out the plant and seed catalogues each winter, along with a variety of books and online resources to assist with our planning, before whittling down the thousands of options to an affordable and manageable few. I don’t recall if 30 years ago I ever made a choice that wasn’t based on aesthetics—“Wow, that’ll look good.”

How times have changed though, both for us as individuals making choices and also for us as botanical gardens helping people make choices. Botanical gardens have, in many ways, come full circle. We began as repositories of useful plants. Over the centuries we evolved into keepers of exotic species: “Looks good? We’ll keep it.” And now, we’ve almost returned to curating plant collections for their utility: eliminating invasive species, selecting for disease resistance and water conservation, planting for ecosystem benefit and growing for nourishment. By the 1950s we may have been rather smug with the plethora of species at our command—and then we started to realize what we didn’t know. Our choices today are informed by the certain knowledge that these choices matter. We’ll always want a beautiful garden, but now we know it needs to be in harmony with an increasingly precarious natural world.

We’re not here at TBG, like Charlemagne, telling you what to plant, but we just might tell you what not to plant. Please choose wisely.

Proceeds from the sale of The New Garden help support the programs and services of the Toronto Botanical Garden. We thank the following individuals for their generous contributions: Steven Biggs, Pierre Desrochers, Real Eguchi, Sara Elton, Theresa Forte, Belinda Gallagher, Jean Godawa, Shelley Hunt, Charles Kinsley, Cathy Kozma, Tony Spencer and Victoria Stevens as well as our team of Trellis proofreaders.

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the new garden • spring 2014

TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN’S 27th annual garden tour

THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

HOGG’S HOLLOW WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE RAVINE

SATURDAY, JUNE 14 SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2014 11 A.M. TO 4 P.M. A GASTRO-GARDEN EXPERIENCE INCLUDING 19 PRIVATE GARDENS AND FOOD TRUCKS

TICKETS One-Day Pass Public $45/TBG Members $40

Two-Day Pass Public $60/TBG Members $55

NEW Student Pass One-Day Only $25 (with ID) TAX INCLUDED

BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE www.torontobotanicagarden.ca/ttgg

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 416-397-1341 All proceeds support the Toronto Botanical Garden

Choices for

contents choices

TRELLIS • SPRING 2014 Editor Lorraine Flanigan

Design June Anderson

Trellis Committee Lorraine Hunter (Chair) Lorraine Flanigan (Editor) Carol Gardner Liz Hood Marion Magee Zachary Osborne Jenny Rhodenizer Paul Zammit

Volunteer Editorial Assistants M. Magee, S. Katz, C. Peer

Volunteer Proofreaders J. Campbell, L. Hickey, M. Magee, D. Puder, L. Skinner, L. Uyeno

ABOUT THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN

Trellis is published as a members’ magazine by the Toronto Botanical Garden at Edwards Gardens 777 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto Ontario, M3C 1P2 416-397-1340 Trellis welcomes queries for story ideas, which should be submitted to the editor for consideration by the Trellis Committee at least four months in advance of publication dates.

Opinions expressed in Trellis do not necessarily reflect those of the TBG. Submissions may be edited for style and clarity.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission.

Charitable business number 119227486RR0001 Canada Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40013928

Toronto Botanical Garden connects people, plants and the natural world through education, inspiration and leadership. The TBG encourages, stimulates and teaches countless adults and children with its innovative urban-scale garden plantings, nature-centred educational programs and environmentally friendly practices. We look beyond our borders to create strategic alliances that support our mission, extend our reach and strengthen our influence within the community.

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10 ideas influencing The New Garden

777 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto, Ontario M3C 1P2, Canada 416-397-1340 fax: 416-397-1354 info@torontobotanicalgarden.ca torontobotanicalgarden.ca

ISSN 0380-1470 Cover photo: Mark Bolton/Gap photos (gapphotos.com)

21 Trees for The New

Printed by Harmony Printing

Cert no. SW-COC-002063

Urban Garden

23 Viewpoints

By TTC: Exit the Yonge subway line at the Eglinton station and take the 51, 54 or 54A bus to Lawrence Avenue. The TBG is on the southwest corner. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Assisted migration

The New Garden • spring 2014

PHOTOs (THIS PAGE): Janet Davis, wl cutler/flickr (opposite): Theresa Forte, Janet Davis, Des Kennedy, L.F.

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forest

Advertising

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Volume 41 N umb er 2

12 The New Vegetable

16 Double duty

14 Viewpoints

20 Viewpoints

Garden: streetwise and city savvy

Native plants

Happenings

Harmonies

The food we eat

Gardens for wildlife (and gardeners, too!)

25 The buzz about bees

30 Who’s Talking

26 Get it fresh

28 Meet The New Gardener

TBGKids

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TBG Lecture Series

In Our Gardens

The New Garden • spring 2014

choices

10Ideas

Influencing

The New Garden As much as our gardens may be a reflection of ourselves, they also mirror our times.

The issues that confront the gardener of the twenty-first century are grounded in an awareness of the environment, an interest in what and how we grow the food we eat, our physical and spiritual health—and even what wonders technology has to offer.

Here’s how the world around us is influencing and shaping the way we garden today.

—Compiled by Zachary Osborne, Head Librarian, Weston Family Library

Gardens keep us in touch with nature, yet we often don’t know the origins of the mulch, topsoil or stone that we use. Here are some tips that can help save both the planet and your pocketbook.

• Shop Seconds: Repurpose timber, brick or pavers, or ask your landscaper about reusing materials from other job sites. Seconds or quarry surplus make lovely additions to your garden while keeping them from the landfill.

• Shop Savvy: On the labels of the gardening supplies, look for high levels of recycled content and seek out materials from sustainably managed timber and quarry sites.

• Shop Local: Resist using temptingly inexpensive materials from India or China. Buying local stone, timber or brick ensures that materials are sustainably quarried and harvested according to Canadian environmental laws.

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The New Garden • spring 2014

PHOTOS (THIS PAGE, FROM TOP): jaroslaw pocztarski/flickr, lorraine flanigan (opposite, clockwise): L.F., Janet Davis, Sarah Elton, L.F.

1. Sustainability

2. Urban Farming

The TBG’s Paul Zammit confesses to a high-school ambition to be a chicken farmer. To this day, he dreams of legally raising a few hens in his Etobicoke backyard. He’s not alone.

There are a growing number of backyard chicken farmers in the city, despite a bylaw that restricts the raising of chickens, along with other Galliformes, such as guinea fowls and turkeys! However, chicken farmers are welcome in other municipalities, including Brampton and Guelph.

3. Local Produce A growing awareness of the food we eat—where it comes from, its freshness and how it’s grown— influences whether we grow our own vegetables and herbs or buy from farmers’ markets. The Weston Family Library offers books on eating and growing local. Check these out on your next visit.

• Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet Sarah Elton

• From Seed to Table: A Practical

4. Pollinators

Bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds are among our most important pollinators. They thrive on a biodiverse universe. But did you know that the total surface area of lawns in the United States is between 103,600 and 194,249 square kilometres?

That’s larger than all of Canada’s Maritime provinces combined.

Lawns are monocultures, and as such they are food deserts for pollinators. Consider adding some biodiversity to your lawn by over-seeding it with white clover (Trifolium repens). Clover will tolerate close mowing, a wide range of soil types (but prefers clay), fixes nitrogen into the soil, which helps to keep lawns green naturally, and bees love the flowers.

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Guide to Eating and Growing Green Janette Haase • Locavore: From Farmers’ Fields to Rooftop Gardens: How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat Sarah Elton • Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew Samuel Fromartz • Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy Lyle Estill • The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading Sundari E. Kraft • The New Village Green: Living Light, Living Local, Living Large Stephen Morris

The New Garden • spring 2014

choices You don’t have to read Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to see which way the wind is blowing on the warming of our planet. No matter where you might stand on the issue, the debate is one of the top influences on how we garden. These four blogs provide food for thoughtful gardening.

Aquilegia canadensis

Verbena rigida

6. Native plants

Blogwatch

• My View on Climate Change

by atmospheric scientist Bart Verheggen (ourchangingclimate.wordpress.com)

• Simple Climate written by science journalist Andy Extance (simpleclimate. wordpress.com) • The Green Word with “information

and opinions about environmental issues from Canada and around the world” (jpgreenword.wordpress.com)

• David Suzuki Climate Blog (davidsuzuki.org/blogs/climate-blog)

7. Organic Gardening

Fritillaria

With the passage of the Pesticides Act in 2009, Ontario gardeners have been rethinking the way we deal with aphids, slugs and the lily leaf beetle. Organic solutions abound, but one of the most effective ways of controlling pests is hand picking. As part of their morning routine, gardeners at the TBG don gloves and pick and squish lily leaf beetles. For best results, monitor Fritillaria at the start of the season and catch and destroy the beetles before they move on to Lilium and even Polygonatum species.

The New Garden is a biodiverse one that supports a wide range of insects and wildlife visitors, so be sure to include some native plants that will attract and feed local wildlife.

Good Read

Taming Wildflowers Miriam Goldberger Just published, Taming Wildflowers is a seductive celebration of wildflowers overflowing with photos from the author’s 100-acre flower farm. This ultimate DIY book on wildflower gardening is jam-packed with practical information about wildflowers, including how to grow from seed, identify seedlings, build a cutting garden, harvest and dry flowers, design floral arrangements and create a magical wildflower wedding.

BRINGING THE BEAUTY AND SPLENDOR OF NATURE’S BLOOMS INTO YOUR OWN BACKYARD

taming wildflowers

Lily leaf beetle

MIRIAM GOLDBERGER

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The New GardeN • spring 2014

PHOTOS (THIS PAGE) Clockwise FROM TOP Left: Philippe2009/flickr, Lorraine Flanigan, Janet Davis, St.lynn’s press, Gilles Gonthier/flickr, gardenimport (opposite, From Top) L.f., Toronto botanical garden

5. Climate Change

9. Technology

8. Water Conservation

The ubiquity and innovation of smartphones and other handheld electronic devices have led to new and exciting uses in the gardening world. Mobile applications (or simply apps) are software programs that run on smartphones or tablets. They offer timesaving and helpful tools for all sorts of garden projects. Here are some of the best.

• Audubon Guides (audubonguides.com/ field-guides/mobile-apps.html). Field guides on mushrooms, insects, birds and wildflowers. This app helps identify species while you’re out and about.

• Florafolio (holimolimedia.com/florafolio).

A native plant resource for the northeastern regions of North America.

• Garden Compass Plant/Disease Identifier (24green.com/product/garden-compass-plantdisease-identifier). Packed with tools for identifying plants and plant diseases, organic pest solutions, design ideas and trends, this app also allows you to share photos on social networks.

• Gardening Toolkit (gardeningtoolkitapp.com). Ranked one of the world’s top 500 apps, Gardening Toolkit helps to keep track of the plants in your garden based on hardiness zone.

• Leafsnap (leafsnap.com).

With this electronic field guide for identifying trees, simply take a photo of the leaf and Leafsnap identifies the species.

Conserving our water resources calls for more than tossing out the water-gulping sprinkler. In the height of the season half of residential water goes to landscaping, with turf topping the list as the most water-intensive garden you can grow. Try replacing lawn with eye-catching ground covers, or drought-tolerant plants in the right place. Veggies are no angels either. They need between five and 10 centimetres of water a week. Solve the problem with one of the many self-watering containers on the market with built-in water reservoirs in the base, such as the EarthBOX or Grow Box. Many can go weeks without watering!

10. Wellness

Increasingly, gardens are becoming places for healing, fitness and spiritual well-being. At Canada Blooms 2013, landscape architect Shawn Gallaugher’s Otium display garden featured exercise zones for an outdoor workout program. In many parks and public gardens (including the TBG), yoga and dance classes are being conducted during the summer.

And gardening is central to horticultural therapy programs.

Margaret Nevett of Gardening For Life is a registered horticultural therapist who uses plants and gardening activities to help people “improve physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning.”

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The New Garden • spring 2014

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PHOTOS (from top): steven Biggs, Janet Davis, Chris Earley

features

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farm T h e n e w v e g e tabl e g a r d e n

Streetwise and City Savvy

Steven Biggs shows how vegetable gardening has come out of the backyard, into boulevards and front yards and onto balconies and rooftops.

Soil testing guide

Soil tests fall into two broad groups: tests for fertility and tests for contamination (e.g., former industrial land). From the Ground Up: Guide for Soil Testing in Urban Gardens, published by Toronto Public Health, outlines how to test your soil and how to deal with possible contamination.

least they wanted a fence to keep them out of sight.

I left that meeting wondering what I could do to help people realize that a garden with edibles can be attractive.

I decided the best thing to do would be to start a front-yard edible garden.

• Plants: changing attitudes

When I broke from the lawn-shrubbery-driveway aesthetic of my North York neighbourhood, I was worried about what the neighbours might think. Luckily, my wife said, “Just do it”. Nobody complained (at least not directly). Maybe aesthetic sensibilities had shifted.

David Cohlmeyer, a farm consultant and former market gardener, tells of a Toronto chef who said arugula back home in Italy tasted better than here, even though the leaves had holes.

Cohlmeyer isn’t surprised. In Ontario, hole-free arugula, Cohlmeyer explains, is typically grown under row covers to keep out gnawing flea beetles. But under a row cover, there is less light and more heat than in the open fields, conditions that can lead to flabby, bland-tasting arugula.

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Accepting that leaves can have holes is a good example of how attitudes have changed. Instead of being concerned about aesthetics, many new gardeners are more interested in the ideas of local, low-input food.

• Soil food

Ask three cooks how to make the best tomato sauce and you’ll get three different recipes. Ask three gardeners how to make the best soil and you’ll get three different formulas. But they all agree that the common ingredient is organic matter, sources of which include composted kitchen waste, leaves,

The New Garden • spring 2014

PHOTOS (Clockwise from top): Theresa Forte, Lorraine Flanigan, L.F.

“What would Jenny think?”

I wondered as I peeled back the turf in front of my house. She worried about people like me. When my parents bought the house next to hers more than 40 years ago, she thought my parents might be Italians who would grow tomatoes in the front yard.

They didn’t. I do. Times have changed.

Front yard and boulevard vegetable gardeners have made headlines for challenging city ordinances. Once thought of as a backyard, out-of-sight pastime, edibles are up front and curbside. With the new urban edible garden comes a shift in attitudes; yet a lot of what’s new is rooted in the past. Jenny had tomatoes, currants, plums, and apples—but they were in her backyard.

My new front-yard garden was borne of frustration after I attended a community meeting about turning an unused and overgrown piece of city land into a community vegetable garden. The consensus at the meeting was that the idea was good—but a couple of neighbours didn’t want to see vegetables in public view: at the very

manure and peat moss. These help hold nutrients while building soil structure and increasing the movement of water and air, conditions that promote plant health.

“A regular application of compost in the spring and fall returns organic matter to the soil,” explains Susan Antler of the Compost Council of Canada.

“It’s what Mother Nature has been doing long before anything was packaged,” she adds. Mik Turje, urban agriculture coordinator at The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto, is also a big proponent of organic matter.

“So many city soils are compacted and depleted,” Turje says. She’s a fan of sheet mulching and lasagna gardening, methods where organic matter is layered on top of rather than being worked into the soil. I used this technique on one-half of my front lawn, first laying down cardboard (a source of organic matter) and then covering it with compost and soil. It was much less work than peeling back the turf!

don’t have a yard or these are the only sunny spaces they have.

Johanne Daoust is one such gardener.

Her small yard is shady, so she grows edibles in containers on her rooftop.

She advises checking the condition and strength of a roof before attempting it, though: a typical potted tomato plant with water can weigh up to 27 kilograms.

Preserving can be many things, from cold cellaring to drying, to canning or freezing. In its simplest form, it might be moving a plant. For example, before a hard frost, I dig up a couple of celery plants (roots and soil included) and stow them in the basement cold room.

It stretches the celery harvest by a month or two.

• Yardless gardening

• A return to roots

• Rooftop edibles

• Preserving the harvest

If my front garden would have troubled Jenny, I’m certain my rooftop garden would have upset her, too. Before I made it, I looked at the flat portion of the garage roof and thought— tomatoes! I garden there for the heat, not because I lack space at ground level. But many people grow edibles on balconies and rooftops because they

No yard? No problem. The new edible garden can be a shared garden. For instance, The Stop Community Food Centre runs the Yes in My Back Yard (YIMBY) program that connects would-be gardeners with homeowners with unused backyard space. Also, the Sharing Backyards web site allows gardeners and homeowners to find each other by posting their locations and needs on a map. Another concept is the Parkview Neighbourhood Garden.

It differs from conventional allotment gardens by sharing the space, work and harvest amongst its volunteers.

With the renewed interest in growing edibles has come a resurgence in preserving food. The Compost Council of Canada’s Susan Antler has been conducting canning workshops at the Toronto Botanical Garden, including one for kids. During a recent five-day TBGKids camp, she says their favourite day was canning day.

When I was young, Jenny passed me Coffee Crisp chocolate bars through the fence; today my neighbours give candy and games to my kids, and they’re intrigued by the edibles in my front garden. The neighbours eagerly follow the progress of the giant sunflowers; my kids love to eat their seeds.

What would Jenny think of my new edible garden? I hope that if she were here today she would approve. But knowing that she was worried about tomato plants in the front yard tells me that my “new” urban edible front garden might not really be such a new thing, but more of a return to roots. If there hadn’t been up-front, curbside gardeners 40 years ago, she probably wouldn’t have worried in the first place.

Part horticulturist, part rabid gardener, Steven Biggs is the award-winning author of Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t and co-author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening.

Veggie garden shopping list: One of the joys of veggie gardening is growing ones that are hard to find at grocers, or difficult to get fresh. Here’s a list of veggies that are unusual or particularly perishable.

Crop

Edible part About

Bitter melon

leaves and fruit

Available in Asian supermarkets, but usually imported.

Cardoon

leaf stalk

A cousin to the artichoke; excellent ornamental plant.

Edamame

beans

Young soybeans, eaten as a vegetable. Even though soybeans are grown in southern Ontario, most edamame in supermarkets are imported.

Eggplant

fruit

In addition to the common variety found in supermarkets, there are many other shapes, sizes and colours.

Malabar spinach

leaves and stem

This vining plant with heart-shaped leaves is both edible (great in stir-frys) and ornamental.

Okra

young seed pod

Some farmers in southern Ontario are trialling this heat-loving crop.

Easy to grow at home too.

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The New Garden • spring 2014

V IE W POINTS

The Food We Eat

Food. Grow your own, buy local or support the most efficient growers, wherever they may farm. These are the choices we face in our daily lives. Two authors with different points of view set out the benefits and downsides of where we source the food we eat.

Sarah Elton

Pierre Desrochers

The miracle of nature

Global groceries

I

F

n late spring, I found three tiny blue potatoes that had sprouted in the back of my vegetable drawer. Rather than toss them out, my two young daughters and I planted them in my father’s garden. Over the next two months, we somehow forgot about the potatoes so when my dad invited us to dig them up we were surprised to see their bushy green leaves. My eight-year-old, who’s been digging spuds since she was one-and-a-half, bent down to collect the tubers as my dad worked the shovel.

Within minutes, they’d filled a basket. From those few tiny potatoes that would have been compost-bound, we grew more than ten pounds of small blue potatoes that shone like jewels when we cleaned off the dirt.

Something beautiful from earth, sun and water—that’s the miracle of nature that we gardeners are reminded of when we steward any plant through the seasons. And if we get to eat the product of that plant—taste its tubers or roots or leaves and nourish our bodies—then we are also reminded of our place in the cycles of life here on planet Earth. Just like the greenery and the flowers in our gardens, we too need earth, sun and water to survive.

We just take our food in a different form.

But we’ve largely forgotten about this connection to the earth. Much of our food comes from the supermarket, shipped from around the world, wrapped in plastic or frozen in a box. And that leaves most of us disconnected from the cycles of life, content to subsist on the foods that this industrial system produces, despite its toll on our environment and the atmosphere. In my book, Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet, I argue that for us to support a food system that is sustainable—that can feed us today as well as our children and our grandchildren in the future—we need to repair this ruptured connection to the earth. We need to remember that at base, we humans, like plants, need earth, sun and water to live.

So what better a way to engage with nature than to plant a garden? Grow some food. There’s an international push to planting school gardens, from Canada to Pakistan to Japan and Germany, where children have the chance to experience those miracles of nature. There’s a lot more reward than a good meal at the end of the season when you plant a garden.

resh vegetables and herbs that offer the best quality-toprice ratio have long been consumed both locally and in distant markets. Locavores, however, insist that the distance between production sites and consumers should trump all else. Unfortunately, they don’t consider why the globalized food supply chain was developed in the first place.

There were many good reasons to go beyond one’s food shed. Most crucially, the railway and steamship eradicated famines and malnutrition in advanced economies by making it possible to channel the surplus in regions with good harvests to those without. Putting all of your agricultural eggs in one regional basket remains a sure recipe for disaster, perpetuating waste in one region and famine in another.

Of course, no one would have bothered to move large quantities of food over long distances in the first place, if the transported goods had not delivered superior alternatives to local produce. Cheaper and more diverse imported foods, in turn, provided better nutrition to more people and created many new and better jobs by leaving more money in consumers’ pockets to be spent on other things.

Although cheaper labour costs are often a factor, the more competitive producers in other parts of the country or the world typically benefit from better soils and climate.

When this is the case, the great distances over which food is transported, typically in highly efficient container ships and by rail, is much less problematic than the extra inputs (irrigation water, natural gas-generated heat for greenhouses, greater volumes of pesticides, etc.) required to make up for local agricultural deficiencies. In this context, less efficient local production cannot be seen as more environmentally sustainable.

Local food activists should focus their efforts on problems such as eliminating agricultural trade barriers, subsidies to producers who would otherwise not be competitive and ethanol production that puts food in cars rather than in our stomachs. Food production would then migrate to the best locations the world over. Both humanity and nature would benefit as a result.

Pierre Desrochers is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Toronto and the co-author of The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet.

Sarah Elton is the author of Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet and Locavore: From Farmers’ Fields to Rooftop Gardens. She is also a CBC Radio food columnist. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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The New Garden • spring 2014

Bring Summer To Your Winter

PLANT SALE

PHOTO: PAUL ZAMMIT

PREVIEW DAY FOR FRIENDS/MEMBERS Thursday, May 8, 2014 FRIENDS BREAKFAST AND SHOPPING: 10 a.m. to noon MEMBERS: noon to 8 p.m.

Members enjoy a 10 percent discount.

Please present your membership card.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Friday, May 9, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Choose from top quality perennials, annuals, natives, herbs and vegetables, succulents, shrubs, vines, small trees and coveted plants from TBG gardens. Friendly gardening advice available.

All proceeds support TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN 777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto

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double duty Wildlife Garden Superstars Here’s a short list of plants that provide wildlife with many of the things they need to thrive.

• Junipers (Juniperus spp.), maples (Acer spp.), fir trees (Abies spp.) and cedars (Thuja spp.) provide not only shelter, but food in the form of bark, needles, twigs and the seeds from cones.

• Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina): nesting sites for bees as well as nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, flies and wasps.

• Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.): nectar for bees, berries for birds and winter shelter for chipmunks and squirrels.

• Honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata) makes ideal nests for thrushes and feeds hummingbirds and more than 10 varieties of insects. Birds eat the autumn fruit.

• Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina), Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and wild plum (Prunus americanus) are larval hosts for butterflies.

• Knapweeds (Centaure spp.): dead stems provide seed sources and refuge for insects.

• Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) fulfills an important place in the life cycle of butterflies as it acts as a larval host plant and its flowers produce nectar for bees, hummingbirds, flies and moths.

• Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) offers protection for toads.

We’ve all read the dire statistics about the threat to wildlife in Canada and around the world. The proliferation of alien plant species, increasing development of wildlife habitats and modifications brought about by climate change are driving our birds, bees, insects and small animals into an urban environment where food, water and nesting opportunities are scarce. There are a lot of problems in this world that we feel helpless to change but, happily, this isn’t one of them.

Honeysuckle

Milkweed

All it takes is a bit of a mind shift— from viewing our gardens as purely ornamental to considering wildlife needs as well. When I read scholarly articles about this topic, I get a headache. They make gardening for wildlife sound like brain surgery! Basically, critters need exactly what we need: food, water and shelter, so making your garden a wildlife haven is pretty simple.

Let It Be

Staghorn sumac

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We do, however, have to reverse some age-old practices, like the holy grail of gardening conventions: fall cleanup. In fact, that’s probably the worst thing we can do for wildlife, because a cleanup will take away valuable nesting materials and food. Seed heads from plants such as ornamental grasses, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and Joe-Pye weed are a rich source of food—if left untouched for winter. The cavities in

The New Garden • spring 2014

photos (Clockwise From TOP):jkirkhart35/Flickr, Jennifer Briggs/Flickr, In Awe of Gods Creation/Flickr (opposite): Tony Spencer

Carol Gardner explains how easy it is to create a garden for our enjoyment and the benefit of wildlife, too.

Milkweed provides food for monarchs

meadow

dead trees provide food and shelter, too.

Loose tree bark offers winter nesting for hibernating butterflies, and dead leaves afford housing for a large array of beneficial wildlife, including moths, insects, frogs and toads. Unclipped vines can provide both nesting sites and the materials to build nests.

Go Native

The next thing we can do is to consider what we plant. Nobody is suggesting that you root out every non-native plant from your garden, but rather that, as you replace plants, you do so with a thought to wildlife.

Food is the most challenging area, because native wildlife doesn’t feed on non-native plants and it’s estimated that 27 per cent of plants in Canadian gardens are alien species. Moreover, we have pretty harsh winters for small creatures. But some plants provide ready-made food. Dogwoods, elderberries, Saskatoon serviceberries (Amelanchier alnifolia) and hollies produce berries that extend through the seasons.

Plants that provide pollen and nectar, such as scarlet sage (Salvia splendens), red beebalm (Monarda didyma), Canada columbine (Aquilegia canadensis),

hyssop (Agastache), great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) and cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), are generally drop-dead gorgeous (just ask a hummingbird).

Quench Their Thirst

Clean water is essential for drinking and bathing. Providing a source of clean water in the summer isn’t too challenging—bird baths, fountains or ponds with running water all fill the bill. In winter, you can solve the problem by getting a heated bird bath or putting a bubbler into your pond so that the water doesn’t freeze.

container

crazy

No space for a full-sized pollinator-friendly garden bed?

Consider potting up a large container (18 to 24 inches in diameter) and filling with plants that support pollinator populations and provide fresh herbs and fruits for your family. You can place the pot in a sunny spot on a deck or patio, or site it near your vegetable garden or fruit trees to help entice more pollinators to your in-ground edibles.

Include the following: 1 African blue basil standard 3 Calendulas 2 Curly parsley 3 ‘Fragoo Pink’ everbearing strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) 3 Golden thyme (Thymus citrodorus ‘Aureus’) Excerpted from Groundbreaking Food Gardens © by Niki Jabbour, illustration © by Mary Ellen Carsley, used with permission from Storey Publishing.

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The New Garden • spring 2014

PHOTOS: Paul Zammit, Janet Davis, J.D.

Pollinator-friendly container

My Favourite Bug Parasitic Wasps Jean Godawa explains why wasps don’t always deserve their bad reputation.

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Photos: David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org; Ken Sproule; Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org; David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org

Give Them Shelter

Plant trees and shrubs for shelter and protection. Using trees and shrubs of different heights and widths caters to the nesting needs of different birds, some of whom like to nest high and others whose nesting preference is closer to the ground: the denser the cover, the better the protection. As a bonus, layering plants of different heights makes your garden look more artistic. If you feel you don’t have enough room, consider cutting back on your lawn area (husbands, calm yourselves).

Supplement shelter and food for birds in the winter with bird feeders (containing seeds or suet) and nesting or roosting boxes. (The Canadian Wildlife Federation web site (cwf-fcf. org) has instructions for making nesting boxes, or you can purchase them from wildlife and nature stores.)

At this point, I have to make a confession. When I first started hearing about planting native plants, I imagined my garden cluttered up with rangy, weedy, unattractive things tended by hippies with serious, yea maniacal, dedication. Mea culpa. I was wrong (it had to happen eventually!). Every plant in this article is a native Canadian plant, or has native varieties, and there’s not an ugly or weedy one in the group.

In fact, many of them are already in my garden—and I’m betting that they’re in yours as well. So keep fighting the good fight, and our garden denizens will thank us with song, beauty and adorable babies in the spring.

Carol Gardner is an award-winning garden writer and a member of the Trellis committee.

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1. A tiny scelionid wasp on stink bug eggs. 2. Adult Ichneumon wasp feeding on nectar. 3. Braconid wasp parasitizing gypsy moth caterpillar. 4. Braconid wasp cocoons on sphinx moth caterpillar.

The familiar black and yellow markings, the threat of a nasty sting and the curse of all outdoor fun in late summer—these are typical prejudices regarding wasps. Unwanted yellow jackets and hornets (Vespidae) have given a bad name to the thousands of other wasp species that we should encourage into our gardens rather than fear. Parasitic wasps are valuable insects; they destroy plant-munching pests.

The adult female parasitic wasp has an ovipositor designed for laying eggs and, in some cases, stinging. She finds a suitable host, whether it be the caterpillar of a gypsy moth, the egg of a stink bug, a live aphid or one of thousands of other pest species, and lays her eggs in or on the victim.

As the eggs hatch, the tiny wasp larvae consume their host, live, from the inside out. While gruesome to witness (it’s hard to watch a caterpillar struggling to move while wasp cocoons dangle from its battered body), do not try to intervene or put the creature out of its misery. Allowing the wasps to complete their metamorphosis will increase their populations, thereby preventing the further spread of pest insects.

Parasitic wasps follow schedules set by their hosts. The timing of their emergence is linked to the timing of pest emergence. Wasps that parasitize wood-boring beetles spend winter as larvae within the beetle tunnels. Some species overwinter as adults in protected areas such as under tree bark.

Others remain as pupae on cruciferous or aster plants, so leave some standing plants and fallen logs in your garden to provide shelter for wasps.

While their immature offspring feed on protein-rich insect flesh, most adults survive on sugary nectar. Plants with small flowers and open nectaries, including those in the carrot (Apiaceae), mint (Lamiaceae) and aster (Asteraceae) families, are most suitable for attracting parasitic wasps.

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The New Garden • spring 2014

V I E W PO I NT S

Native Plants

Much has been written about the benefits of native plants to wildlife, to pollinators and to our own well-being. In this column, a landscape architect points out the role native plants play in reminding us of our mortal natures, and a horticulturist demonstrates that native plants aren’t the be-all and end-all in our contemporary lives and urban environments.

Real Eguchi

Belinda Gallagher

Toward sustainable beauty and joy!

Natives are no panacea

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he native plant garden can inspire us toward positive change by helping us reconcile our decorative sense of beauty with our ecological awareness.

We decorate our environments and beautify ourselves in culturally superficial ways that distance us from nature.

For instance, in our temperate climate, exotic annuals mask our awareness of the changes of nature. A carefully planned sequence of bloom exemplifies the control we think we exert over time, just as products such as Botox seem to extend our own blossoming period.

But we are organic and as subject to decline and death as a fallen tree decaying in the forest. To live ecologically, we need to celebrate the full range of our biological development, which embraces not only youthful vigour but also the joys and beauty of our later years and our inevitable return to the earth.

Our native garden habitats can help us shift our current view of the garden as a symbol that deludes us into believing that we might be able to control nature.

We can appreciate the garden, not as an object to flaunt or a collection of prized possessions, but as a place where we co-emerge with the apparent chaos of nature.

Our relationship with the garden is sacred, but only if we embrace its life processes with the utmost respect.

The native plant garden is a luscious array of biological processes in which we can immerse ourselves as integral participants. Within it, we might feel melancholic about the butterfly larvae that eat our treasured native plants, yet joyful that they provide nourishment. These feelings challenge us to embrace the reality of an environmentally aware life. The native garden discloses intimate insights into natural processes and the nature of who we are— natural, mortal beings. It provides an inimitable opportunity to experience sustainable beauty that extends from the natural joy and melancholy that we embody.

t seems that going green now obligates one to grow native plants. This movement follows closely on the heels of the water gardening trend and we know what happened to that— backyard ponds built to soothe, calm and attract wildlife did exactly as promised. Unfortunately, the wildlife they attracted included mosquitoes and the consequent fear of West Nile virus. As a result, ponds were filled in faster than the growth of a kudzu vine.

Nowadays, champions of native plants are promoting features such as pest and disease resistance, drought tolerance, freedom from maintenance, pollinator sustenance and the aforementioned attraction of wildlife. However, as in everything termed green, all is not black and white.

Growing native plants is never a simple instruction.

Consider these points: • Native plants need native habitat. Our degraded and compacted urban landscape is neither the duff of forest floors nor the fertile organic soil of tallgrass prairie.

• Native plants need the same amount of care as alien ornamentals while becoming established.

• Native plants need tending in the anal realm of the tidy gardener and rule-laden municipalities.

• Native plants can attract munching native insects and ravenous deer—that’s the point.

• Native plants are as vulnerable to the extremes of recent climate change events as other plants in our gardens—adaptation and evolution being measured in epochs not decades.

Lastly, why is it green to endorse European honeybees and recommend foreign, heirloom vegetable cultivars but unacceptable to grow non-native ornamental plants?

I firmly believe we should plant more natives, yet we mustn’t think this is the end of the story. Including native plants is merely one of the ecologically responsible things we can do in our gardens. Avoid invasive plants (yes, that means Vinca), embrace biodiversity, conserve water and, most importantly, include more plants than patio furniture.

Only then will you have a garden that does double duty.

Real Eguchi is a principal of Eguchi Associates Landscape Architects. He is interested in the transformative qualities of cultural landscapes.

Belinda Gallagher, owner of Hooked on Horticulture Consulting, writes, lectures and teaches about the serious business of plants and deems humour the only thing lifting humans above the intelligence level of a hosta.

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The New Garden • spring 2014

forest

Trees For The New Urban Garden Lorraine Hunter taps into expert advice and research to discover the best trees for contemporary city spaces.

Paperbark maple

PHOTOS: wlcutler/Flickr, marc falardeau/Flickr

Top performing urban trees at the RBG parking lot test site 1. Amur maackia (Maackia amurensis) 2. ‘Wildfire’ blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wildfire’) 3. European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) 4. Hardy rubber tree (Eucommia ulmoides) 5. Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum) 6. Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata ‘Green Vase’ and Z. serrata ‘Musashino’) 7. Corinthian linden (Tilia cordata ‘Corzam’) 8. Paperbark maple (Acer griseum) 9. Silver linden (Tilia tomentosa) 10. Sweet gum (Liquidamber styraciflua ‘Moraine’) 11. Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna)

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hoosing the best tree to plant in The New Garden is no simple task. Not only must you consider its size and an appropriate site, but you need one that’s not endangered by any of the various diseases and pests currently attacking trees across the landscape, such as Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, European pine sawfly, mountain pine beetle or gypsy moth, to mention only a few.

The best way to avoid any of these pests is to use native plants because they have adapted to specific local conditions, have developed natural defences to withstand many types of insects and diseases and generally need less maintenance. But to keep trees and shrubs healthy avoid using only one species because they could all be wiped out by a single pest.

The city of Toronto has been treating diseased street trees and even chopping down those species with the potential to become infected and replacing them with alternatives that

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are better suited to the urban environment where soils are poor, space is limited and there are obstructions such as utility lines, says Ray Vendrig, supervisor of Tree Nursery & Natural Resource Management. The city strives to plant native species wherever possible, stresses Vendrig, “but because of soil conditions, space restrictions and a need to maintain species diversity,” it’s not always possible.

At the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, an experiment is underway to introduce more diversity in urban street trees. When 14 green ash trees (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) were removed from the parking lot because of damage from the emerald ash borer, RBG seized the opportunity to test some different ornamental trees. The criteria included those that would thrive in full sun, prove tolerant of pollution, wind, drought, adverse temperature and salt and be as maintenance-free as possible.

“We managed to find 19 different species and cultivars with a very diverse canopy, good for sustainability, with less risk of one thing wiping them

The New Garden • spring 2014

forest

Top urban trees

all out,” explains Alex Henderson, RBG’s curator of collections. Now, two years into the program, all of the trees are doing well with most showing superior performance.

An organization known as LEAF (Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests) offers easy guidelines for selecting the right tree. They also offer a backyard planting program at an approximate cost of $150 to $220 per tree. Available to all residents of Toronto, it includes a site consultation with an arborist, a 1.5- to 2.5-metre tall deciduous or a 60- to 120-centimetre tall evergreen tree and a full planting service.

Treeing the city doesn’t stop at your property line. If you care about Toronto’s tree canopy and would like to see more trees planted throughout the GTA, on both private and public land, you might be interested in Trees for Life, The Urban Tree Coalition.

Its aim is to double the tree canopy by 2050. “I became involved in Trees for Life when I realized the drastic need for more trees in our urban spaces,” says chair Mark Cullen. “In Toronto, for example, our tree canopy has fallen from the high point of 40 per cent cover in the ’60s to about 17 per cent today. The trend continues downwards in spite of best efforts on the part of many hard-working and dedicated notfor-profit organizations. Trees for Life marshalls the resources of all of these organizations and seeks additional financial support for tree planting and maintenance and the protection and celebration of heritage trees.”

Lorraine Hunter is a garden writer and chair of the Trellis Committee.

The city of Toronto plants these top trees that stand up to urban conditions.

1. Freeman maple (Acer x freemanii), a cross between red and silver maple trees 2. Accolade and ‘Valley Forge’ elms (Ulmus ‘Morton’ and U. americana ‘Valley Forge’), resistant to Dutch elm disease 3. ‘Shademaster’ and Skyline honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis ‘Shademaster’ and G. t. var i.

‘Skycole’), good under utility lines because they grow around the lines, requiring little pruning 4. Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus), good growth habit around utility lines 5. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), slowgrowing and grows well in urban soils

Freeman maple

Kentucky coffee tree

Ginkgo

Small Urban Trees

The city of Toronto chooses from these small trees that stand up to urban conditions.

1. Amur maple (Acer ginnala) 2. ‘Ivory Silk’ Japanese lilac (Syringa reticulata ‘Ivory Silk’) 3. Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) 4. Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) 5. Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)

6. Summer Sprite linden (Tilia cordata ‘Halka’) 7. Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea)

Eastern redbud

Slow-Release Watering Bags You’ve probably noticed those odd-looking green bags attached to newly planted young trees on boulevards around the city. They’re called Treegators and offer a simple way for homeowners and concerned

citizens to make sure newly planted trees get enough water.

The Treegator is a slowrelease watering system designed to deliver a high volume of water directly to the root system of newly planted

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trees and shrubs, both slowly and evenly, with no runoff or evaporation.

Just zip the bag around the trunk of your new tree, fill the bag with water once a week and that’s it.

The New Garden • spring 2014

V I E W PO I N T S

Assisted Migration

Grounded in the earth as they are, trees cannot adapt to climate changes as quickly as other species. Is the solution to help accelerate the movement of threatened tree species, or will this human intervention result in an unpredictable ripple effect? Here’s what two experts say.

Charles Kinsley

Shelley Hunt

If a forest falls to climate change…

Give species a chance, and they will adapt

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ver the past decade, the black ink on the bottom line of seemingly every knowing business and political venture has become lustrous with the green hue of environmental orthodoxy. Consequently, my passion for encouraging human effort to rescue at least some of our wild heritage has faded to the merest wash of pale jade. So much is touted, so little tested.

However, I reckon things still must be done.

There are small problems, and there are big ones. I don’t know where you stand on the issue of Anthropogenic Global Warming, and I cannot debate it here. I am, for the present, happy to accept the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth report, which is suffused with 95-per-cent confidence that things are indeed heating up due to our behaviour. As far as an environmental problem can be big, it is.

What can, or should, be done? Maybe we should look at mitigating some effects?

Assisted migration is the term given to helping to move those species with limited mobility to a new climate zone that will provide them with more comfort. Plants are an obvious group for such action. We know, through examples such as the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and the five insect species that were wiped out as a result of its functional extinction, that many species that depend on these plants will also disappear should they find themselves in an unsupportable climate surrounded by dead host plants. Pests, too, will likely do more damage in two ways: through changes in behaviour (for example, the mountain pine beetle which now can survive well enough in northern climes to kill vast numbers of its host); and through the swift migration of new pests into zones where plants are not adapted to withstand their predation. We are seeing the movement of insects towards both poles of up to 25 kilometres per decade, whereas their associated plant species may lag in migration times that are longer than their own life spans. Helping plant species overcome such disparity, which will almost certainly impoverish the biodiversity on our planet, is one thing we can and should do—because our actions are the cause.

Can we watch while whole forests disappear? We have condemned those in history who stood by and did nothing. How can we do nothing to help when we have done so much harm, unknowingly perhaps but certainly for the most selfish motives?

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wo wrongs don’t make a right. So why would we add another layer of human intervention to a beleaguered natural world already suffering from human impacts? Assisted migration is touted as a way to save species from decline or extinction in the face of climate change, but while this kind of action may satisfy our feelings of duty to step in when we see nature in crisis, it could make things worse.

First, there’s the uncertainty surrounding the risk to areas into which species are introduced. Conservationists have been fighting invasive species because of the damage they can do to native ecosystems. Deliberately moving species outside of their natural ranges runs the same kind of risk. Will the relocated species behave like innocuous guests, or will they trash the furniture and force others out?

There’s really no way to know for sure, short of trial and error, and this is hugely risky. Take for example a previous instance of a conservation-minded species relocation gone wrong. The introduction of red squirrels into Newfoundland to act as prey for the threatened pine marten likely caused the decline of the red crossbill through competition for food (black spruce seeds) and co-evolutionary changes to the spruce cones in response to squirrel feeding. This is but one example, but it illustrates the complexity of species interactions and the difficulty in predicting how each part of the system may react to a new species in its midst.

There are other problems with the idea of assisted migration, such as the value judgments associated with choosing which species to move, and the hubris of assuming that humans will make the best choices for nature. For this brief debate, however, I’ll argue one more point— that a focus on assisted migration diverts resources from less glamorous solutions such as restoring habitat, improving habitat connectivity across the landscape, and bolstering existing populations to create opportunities for species to shift and migrate on their own (i.e., giving nature space to do its thing).

Yes, many tree species may be slow to migrate and may encounter barriers that make migration next to impossible in some areas. I will not try to argue that all species will do just fine on their own. However, a holistic ecosystemcentred approach has the best chance of reducing climate change-induced losses of biodiversity.

Shelley Hunt is a forest ecologist, director of the University of Guelph Arboretum and an associate professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph.

Charles Kinsley is the former owner/manager of Ontario Native Plants Inc. and is an independent consulting botanist. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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The New Garden • spring 2014

classifieds Is Ireland on your bucket list? Then join Margaret as she discovers the fabulous gardens of Ireland, plus WAFA! Note tour is 70 per cent sold out! Other exceptional garden tours include: Hudson River Mansions and Gardens; Chicago—“Loving Frank” tour; the gardens of the Cotswolds. Is Savannah or France on your list? Call us for details. margaret@hnatravels.com; 416-746-7199; 1-877-672-3030; www.hnatravels.com Leaside Garden Society announces the Magical Gardens of Leaside annual garden tour, Saturday, June 21, 2014, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tour includes an exciting mix of garden styles and plants, particularly the smaller “city” garden. Meet and talk with our friendly gardeners.

Check www.leasidegardensociety.org for more information.

Make use of vertical space in your garden. Obelisks are superb structures to showcase vines or vegetables!

Powder-coated steel ensures these 6-foot obelisks remain smart and durable for many years. Locally made

by Eastern Precision Machining exclusively for TBG. Get yours now at the Garden Shop, $65.

a toronto master gardener

Josée Couture sales representative

tel: (416)486-5588 cell: (416)564-9450 fax: (416)486-6988 em: josee@joseecouture.net www.joseecouture.com

hallmark realty ltd, brokerage

Explore with us…

harmonies

The Buzz About Bees Without bees, Cathy Kozma explains, there would be no honey—or apples!

Photos: Lorraine Flanigan; Bottom: Cathy Kozma

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or years, bees and Rodney Dangerfield have had something in common. But now, bees are getting the respect they deserve. Recent groundbreaking Canadian research is increasing our understanding of the vital role bees play in our ecosystem and food chain, which will ultimately contribute to bee survival, especially in urban areas.

• Why bees are important Bees are the workhorses of the garden: more than 90 per cent of flowering plants need the assistance of a pollinator to procreate and, since bees are nature’s most prolific pollinators, they are essential to the survival of many plants. Without bees, one-third of the food we eat would not exist, including beans, tomatoes, onions, carrots, pears, squash, almonds, blueberries, oranges and apples. In 2010, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) declared that we must change our behaviour in order to save bees and that “pollination is not just a free service but one that requires investment and stewardship”. In Canada, pollination services performed by bees have been valued at $2.4 billion.

• There are bees, and there are honeybees Of the 18,000 species of bees worldwide, 900 are native to Canada and 250 species live in the Greater Toronto Area. Native bees are being studied by Scott MacIvor, a doctoral student at York University and winner of a 2013 Toronto Botanical Garden Aster Award.

His research focuses on how wild bees are adapting to city life, with special attention to their lives on green roofs. He has already found that above four to five storeys, bee diversity decreases markedly.

Although it has adjusted well to our climate, the world’s most important pollinator, the honeybee (Apis millifera), is not native to North America but was brought here from Africa and Europe. Honeybees are specifically adapted to pollinate plants—and as a bonus they produce a wonderful sweetener.

• The taste of honey Like fine wine or cheese, honey has a distinctive local flavour and colour, or terroir. These differences in the look and taste of honey, even among honeys from within an hour’s drive of Toronto, result from where and when

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bees forage for nectar and pollen, including the flowers in bloom and the mix of plants.

• Colony Collapse Disorder In the past decade the mass die-off of honeybee colonies has prompted concern among governments, conservationists, farmers and the public. In some parts of the world, up to 90 per cent of honeybees are dying. The cause of this phenomenon, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), remains controversial, but it is likely due to a combination of factors, including bee diseases, habitat loss and harmful pesticides such as neonicotinoids (a.k.a. neonics).

Fifteen European Union countries have imposed a two-year ban on three types of neonicotinoids that are predominantly used in the treatment of corn and soybean seeds. The Ontario government’s establishment of the Bee Health Working Group is bringing stakeholders together to develop better agricultural practices in the use of these pesticides for this year’s planting season.

Mélissa Girard from the Centre de recherche en sciences animales de Deschambault (CRSAD) in Quebec is at the forefront of research into the mix of pollens bees collect while foraging. When residing in monocultures (large swaths of the same plant), colonies can suffer from a nutritional deficiency, which leads quickly to a decline in the overall health of both bees and the colony.

• Keeping bees in the city As an urban beekeeper in Toronto I have learned a lot: Toronto’s microclimate is hospitable to bees; the diversity of our gardens offers the variety of forage needed for a well-balanced bee diet; and the cosmetic pesticide ban in Toronto and Ontario has improved local conditions for bees. Feeding the public hunger for locally grown foods means that the success of urban beehives will not only provide local honey but also improve the bounty of Toronto’s urban gardens overall.

Cathy Kozma is the founder of Bees Are Life Inc., co-chair of the Toronto Beekeepers Co-operative and a Toronto Master Gardener.

The New Garden • spring 2014

harmonies

Get it Fresh Victoria Stevens explores the growing popularity of farmers’ markets.

It’s really nice to support our local “farmers.

They are the stewards of our watersheds and our green space and they keep that knowledge bank alive. ” 1,000 customers, the market now runs year-round. Visitors can buy seasonal organic produce, specialty mushrooms, free-range eggs, goatcheese products, maple syrup, organically raised beef, pork, lamb and veal, and a variety of prepared foods using only organic local ingredients.

The market at the TBG is just one of 33 markets operating within Toronto’s boundaries and more than 100 in the

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agricultural greenbelt that surrounds the GTA, with more added each year.

Anne Freeman, a founder and manager of the Dufferin Grove farmers’ market, project director with the Greenbelt Farmers’ Market Network and a coordinator with the Toronto Farmers’ Market Network, says the growth in these markets stems from people’s desire to eat seasonal, locally grown food and to be able to ask

The New Garden • spring 2014

PHOTOs: lorraine Flanigan

Anita Foley came all the way from Whitby to the Toronto Botanical Garden’s farmers’ market. Asked why, she replied simply: “I can’t buy this kind of bread at the grocery store.”

The bread in question is baked by marché 59, a specialty food store in Port Hope that sources its fresh, local, organic and heirloom produce from P & H Farms. As well as selling breads made of spelt, rye, millet, flax and whole wheat in flavours like tomato and basil, onion and fennel, marché 59 runs the Garden Café at the TBG. It is one of 13 vendors who sell their fresh, locally grown, organic produce, meats and prepared foods at the TBG’s market, which operates on Thursdays from 2 to 6 p.m. And following a recent petition signed by

questions of the producer. “We had lost all connection to our food and that has really changed,” she says.

“It’s really nice to support our local farmers. They are the stewards of our watersheds and our green space and they keep that knowledge bank alive.”

Buying food directly from the producer benefits both the consumer and the farmer, Freeman adds. Because

customers are assured of the freshest, locally grown products, says Freeman.

Because of that, it’s important for the farmers to have loyal customers, she adds. “It’s what makes it work. If people come only on the nicest days, there won’t be a market for long.”

The other benefit, for both farmers and customers, is the sense of community that develops. Farmers make

there’s a direct connection, customers can make requests and provide feedback to the farmers so they can plan to grow the kinds of things they know will be in demand. And the farmer’s produce can be sold at retail prices without dealing with intermediaries or having to sign contracts with large grocery chains that only big farms can fulfill. It allows the small farmer to make a living.

“It’s the only place I would buy my vegetables,” says Pat Taylor, who lives near the TBG market. “I get grass-fed beef here. That’s not easy to get. And we get salt-free bread. We asked for that specifically.”

It’s a lot of work for the farmer, who must rise early, pick, sort, clean and package the produce before making the drive into the city, but

friends with their regular customers.

“Markets are very sociable places,” says Freeman.

Victoria Stevens is a retired journalist and amateur gardening enthusiast.

Meet the farmers: What does it take to get fresh produce to our kitchens? In our series of videos, you’ll learn about a day in the life of the farmers who set up their stalls at the TBG farmers’ market.

goTo torontobotanicalgarden.ca/organic market for candid conversations about the food we eat.

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Special delivery

For those who aren’t able to reach a farmers’ market, there are other options for getting local, farm-fresh produce, including pickup or delivery of boxes of seasonal produce directly from farms, buying directly from farmers through a farm shares program and some local initiatives growing food right here in the city.

Here are some of the best known programs: • FoodShare’s Food Boxes (foodshare.net/good-food-box) The non-profit organization operates what amounts to a buyers’ club, where boxes of local seasonal produce are dropped off at a central location for pickup by customers.

• Community Shared Agriculture (csafarms.ca) For a set fee provided prior to the growing season, customers get a share (produce) for pickup. Some farms also offer eggs, meat and dairy.

• Food box delivery or pickup Several companies offer flexible plans to deliver produce to your door on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis, mostly local and mostly organic. There are also some pickup services. There are too many to list here, but search Google for “Toronto farm produce delivery” to find many options.

• Not Far From the Tree (notfarfromthetree.org) This Toronto non-profit sends volunteers to harvest fruit from trees in people’s gardens. The produce is divided among the homeowner, the pickers and Toronto food banks, shelters and community kitchens.

• Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard (communityorchard.ca) Run by volunteers in Toronto’s west end, this orchard of 14 fruit trees was planted in 2009 and is starting to produce fruit which will be used by the volunteers and local food banks.

The New Garden • spring 2014

harmonies

meet the

New Gardener or a peek at what The New Garden looks like, you need go no further than the Don Mills, Ontario, garden of Siri Luckow. It’s not hard to miss: it’s the only one on the street with a front yard planted in a naturalistic style, with ornamental grasses, birdattracting wildflowers and a rain garden that sequesters excess water from the rain chains that hang from the eaves of her house. And that’s what you might see at a glance. A closer look reveals rain barrels, bee and insect houses, nesting boxes, a bat house, a veggie garden and a green roof atop the garage.

“As a race, humans are not that old,” says Siri, “so our connection with the earth is important.”

If tending The New Garden sounds like a lot of work, it’s not she says. But it’s important to do your homework. Siri did extensive research at the Weston Family Library before designing each one of her gardens, beginning in 1999 with the wildlife-friendly shrubbery border in the backyard.

“It starts with the plants,” she says. “If you plant it and have made the right accommodations, the wildlife will come.” In fact, Siri has spotted honeybees that she speculates must be buzzing through her garden from their hives at the Toronto Botanical Garden. The birds in her yard are so

at home they fly around her head when she tends the bird feeders. “Start in a small corner and replace some of your current plants with native flowers, shrubs, grasses and trees,” she advises. “Natives don’t need a lot: they want to settle in and see what’s there, so be patient.”

Siri used hula hoops to slowly transform the sod of her front lawn into circular beds filled with plants that attract wildlife. In one circle she planted ornamental grasses, in another she grew coneflowers, in a third she added butterfly bushes, and in another she started mountain mint. The change was so striking and so beneficial to wildlife that her garden garnered an environmental award.

Always looking for the next opportunity to attract the wildlife she loves to be around, Siri plans to talk to her neighbours about replacing an old hedge along the driveway with a mixed planting of bird- and critter-friendly shrubs.

Her collaboration with her neighbours has certainly worked in the past. The hoptree (Ptelea trifolia) she convinced one neighbour to plant in her front lawn attracted a rare giant swallowtail after five years of patient waiting. Grow the right plants, and they will come!

Garden writer Lorraine Flanigan is editor of Trellis and a Master Gardener.

Essential reading for The New Gardener • 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for • Growing and Propagating Canadian Gardens, L. Johnson Wildflowers of the United States • A Garden for Life, and Canada, W. Cullina D. Beresford-Kroeger • Keeping the Bees, L. Packer • Arboreteum America, • Landscaping with Native Trees, D. Beresford-Kroeger et al.

G. Sternberg & J. Wilson • Bioplanning a North Temperate • Native Alternatives to Invasive Garden, D. Beresford-Kroeger Plants, Brooklyn Botanic Garden • Bringing Nature Home, • Native Trees, Shrubs & Vines, D.W. Tallamy W. Cullina • Butterfly Gardening: Creating a • Planting the Natural Garden, Butterfly Haven in Your Garden, P. Oudolf & H. Gerritsen T.E. Emmel • Rain Gardens, L.M. Steiner & • Creating Small Habitats for Wildlife R.W. Damm in Your Garden, J. Briggs • Silence of the Songbirds, • Green Roof Plants, Bridget Stutchbury E. Snodgrass & L. Snodgrass • Small Green Roofs, N. Dunnett et al. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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• The American Meadow Garden, J. Greenlee & S. Holt • The American Woodland Garden, R. Darke • The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, R. Darke • The Natural Garden Book: A Holistic Approach to Gardening, P. Harper • The Natural Habitat Garden, K. Druse • The New Gardening for Wildlife: A Guide for Nature Lovers, B. Merrilees • The Organic Home Garden, P. Lima • The Weather-Resilient Garden, C.W.G. Smith —compiled by Siri Luckow, Weston Family Library

the New garden • spring 2014

PHOTOS: courtesy Siri luckow

F

Lorraine Flanigan talks with Siri Luckow, a TBG volunteer, who explains how easy it is to make a garden that nourishes both her and her family and the wildlife around them.

Jobs To Do

Tending The New Garden

Add a native plant to your collection.

Clean out birdhouses for new nesting tenants.

Install a bee house to attract solitary bees.

Install a rain barrel to capture precious drops of rainwater from your roof.

Leave a few bare batches of earth amongst the mulch for ground-nesting bees.

Look for early signs of insect damage from pests such as lily leaf beetles and slugs. Early removal of eggs or adults helps reduce future populations.

Place some rocks or branches in your bird bath where bees can rest and have a drink.

Share extra seedlings with a neighbour.

Use the cut branches from pruning shrubs as supports for perennials and small vines.

Watch for and remove weed seedlings to avoid dealing with larger weeds later on. —Paul Zammit

torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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the New garden • spring 2014

Happenings LECTURER: DES KENNEDY TOPIC: HEART & SOIL: THE REVOLUTIONARY GOOD OF GARDENS WHEN: THURSDAY, MAY 1, 7:30 P.M.

Who’s

Talking

PRE-LECTURE LIGHT DINNER AVAILABLE FROM 5:30 P.M. The creation of beauty and the growing of food is just what our beleaguered planet urgently needs. Accomplished novelist and environmentalist Des Kennedy takes a lighthearted and inspiring look at how working with plants is an exercise in harmony. An author and broadcaster with

a career spanning decades, Kennedy has told the story of his garden, gardening and life through his books and columns in the Globe and Mail, GardenWise and Gardening Life as well as on television.

His novel, The Garden Club, and two books of gardening essays, Crazy About Gardening and The Passionate Gardener, were shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

Members free (and bring a friend for $10), Public $25, Students (with ID) $15. Door sales only. Doors open 6:30 p.m. Lecture: 7:30 p.m.

TBG LECTURE Series — Generously supported by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and The S. Schulich Foundation

City Critters

May 1 DES KENNEDY Heart & Soil: The Revolutionary Good of Gardens Join accomplished novelist and environmentalist Des Kennedy for a lighthearted and personal look at how working with plants, in its most highly evolved forms, is just what our beleaguered planet needs.

June 5 Niki Jabbour Groundbreaking Food Gardens Niki Jabbour’s dynamic talk showcases just how easy it is to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs at home. She’ll offer great ideas for a year-round salad garden, a gourmet potted patio, a fairytale garden for kids, a pollinator plot and even a cocktail garden, demonstrating that food gardens can be just as beautiful as any ornamental space.

Members free (bring a friend for $10), Public $25, Students (with ID) $15.

Door sales only. Doors open 6:30 p.m.

Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. Come early to grab a light supper, served from 5:30 p.m. Visit shopTBG for great member discounts!

- TREE & SHRUB PRUNING -INSECT & DISEASE CONTROL - PLANTING & TRANSPLANTING - TREE & STUMP REMOVAL - DEEP ROOT FERTILIZING

Derek W Welsh President

I.S.A. Certified Arborist #ON-0129A

AUTHENTIC TREE CARE INC.

torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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TBG’s City Critters Series is back with a bang in 2014.

Each session introduces families to the animals that make Toronto’s parks and neighbourhoods their home. On April 6 celebrate the return of our raptors and meet live birds of prey; on May 24 discover the TBG honeybees and learn about the city’s important pollinators; on August 13 head out to howl for coyotes; and on September 17 release a live monarch butterfly and learn about its amazing migration.

NEW Night Critters! TBGKids will host a family slumber party—for one night only, Saturday, July 12. Take a nighttime hike, watch for bats, mix up some moth broth and roast marshmallows around the campfire. Bring your own tents and jammies—stuffed animals optional!

goTo

torontobotanicalgarden.ca/kids/ city-critters-family-series for more information or to register.

In our

Celebrity beds Look who will be in our Kitchen Garden beds!

Gardening celebrities Steven Biggs, Marjorie Harris, Liz Primeau, Stephen Westcott-Gratton, Paul Zammit and others have shared their garden plans, and they’ll be showcased in the TBG’s raised beds this summer. The designs take inspiration from Niki Jabbour’s new book, Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden. They feature a rich assortment of herbs, edible flowers, fruits, vegetables and berries.

Gardens

The New Garden • spring 2014

About The Toronto Botanical Garden

PATRONS

Honorary Patron: Adrienne Clarkson

The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is a volunteer-based, charitable organization whose purpose is to inspire passion, respect and understanding of gardening, horticulture, the natural landscape and a healthy environment. The TBG raises more than 95 per cent of its operating funds through membership, facility rentals, retail enterprises, program fees and donations. The organization relies on the generosity and financial commitment of individuals, foundations and corporations to help maintain the gardens and support the many horticultural and environmental services we provide to our community. Charitable business number 119227486RR001.

Brian Bixley, Mark Cullen, Camilla Dalglish, Sondra Gotlieb, Marjorie Harris, Lorraine Johnson, Michele Landsberg, Susan Macaulay, Helen Skinner

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Allan Kling. Co-Chairs: Allan Kling and Rebecca Golding. Tim Bermingham, Mark Bonham, Ellen Carr, Heather Cullen, Beth Edney, Colomba B. Fuller, Ryan Glenn, Cathy Kozma, Elaine Le Feuvre, Shelagh Meagher, Penny Richards, Judy Shirriff, Nancy Tong, Barbara Yager

STAFF DIRECTORY

GENERAL HOURS AND ADMISSION

Executive Director Harry Jongerden director@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1346 BUSINESS AND FINANCE Director of Business Initiatives and Finance Margaret Chasins business@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1484 Accounting, Nadesu Manikkavasagam accounting@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1352 Database & Technology Administrator & Social Media Specialist, Trish Cassling database@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1371 Marketing & Communications Department Marketing & Communications Director Jenny Rhodenizer communication@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Trellis Editor editor@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Development Department Director of Development Claudia Zuccato Ria development@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1372 Development Officer, Andrew McKay annualgiving@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1483 Special Events Coordinator Christine Lawrence specialevents@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1321 Rentals & Events Department Events & Facility Manager, Paulina Cadena events@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1324 Rentals Coordinator, Patricia Chevers rentals@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1349 Rentals Accounting, Christine Adamas rentalaccounting@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1359

Gardens: Free admission, dawn to dusk Administrative Offices: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Weston Family Library: Call 416-397-1343 or check www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca for hours of operation.

Garden Shop: Call 416-397-1357 • shop@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Master Gardeners’ Info Line: 416-397-1345, noon to 3 p.m.

(April & July, Monday to Thursday, Saturday; May & June, daily; August through March, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday).

Visit torontomastergardeners.ca and Ask a Master Gardener

Membership: $45 single, $65 family. Call 416-397-1483 or sign up on line at

torontobotanicalgarden.ca/join

SIGN UP FOR BIWEEKLY GARDEN ENEWS!

Receive the latest horticultural news and information on events, workshops, lectures and other horticultural happenings. Free registration at torontobotanicalgarden.ca

FRIENDS OF THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is deeply grateful to its Friends for providing continued and generous support towards programs and services. Our Friends enable the TBG to educate and provide the community with information on horticulture, gardening and environmental issues through lectures, courses and events.

The following individuals made their contribution to the Friends program between October 17, 2013 and January 20, 2014

Director’s Circle Geoffrey & Susan Dyer Sustaining Members Trudy E. Stacey Jane & Donald Wright Friends Carol & Gordon Bairstow Linda & William Brown Ron & Nancy Dengler Jennifer Ferguson

Janet & David Greyson Peter & Eleanor Heinz Jean Kitchen Kim Korinek Patricia & Douglas Markle Linda Peacock Joy & Jim Reddy Margaret Runcie Aldona Satterthwaite Eleanor Ward

goTo

torontobotanicalgarden.ca to learn about the TBG!

777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario M3C 1P2, Canada 416-397-1340; fax: 416-397-1354 • info@torontobotanicalgarden.ca torontobotanicalgarden.ca • @TBG_Canada

By TTC: From Eglinton subway station take the 51, 54 or 54A bus to Lawrence Avenue East and Leslie Street. The TBG is on the southwest corner.

Find us on... torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Education Department Director of Education, Liz Hood education@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1355 Children’s Education Supervisor, Josh Padolsky childrensed@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1288 Children’s Education Coordinator, Diana Wilson tbgkids@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-5209 Adult Education Coordinator, Michelle Kortinen adulted@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1362 Tour Guide Coordinator, Sue Hills tourguides@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-4145 Weston Family Library Head Librarian, Zachary Osborne librarian@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1375 Horticultural Department Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture Paul Zammit horticulture@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1358 Head Gardener, Sandra Pella gardener@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1316 Taxonomic Assistant, Toni Vella taxonomy@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Garden Shop Supervisor, Heidi Hobday shop@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1357 Head, Volunteer Services Sue Hills volunteers@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-4145 Maintenance Maintenance Manager, Walter Morassutti Maintenance Officers, Alvin Allen, Jonas Kweko-Teye, Marcos Tawfik maintenance@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1344

The New Garden • spring 2014