TRELLIS
The TORONTO GESNERIAD*
SOCIETY
*easy to bloom indoorplants
Welcomes new members with 1freeplant with every paid membership and includes
e plant sales/shows
e educational talks
® slide shows
e guest speakers
¢ advice on plants
e social activities
Meetingsheldthe2ndSundayofevery month at the Civic Garden Centre, in the auditorium, from 2 to 4p.m.
P1/C.OYVY' S
Specializing In The Unusual...
e VISAM/C ACCEPTED OPEN TUES. THRU SUN. (416) 686-2151 380 KINGSTON RD. EAST, R.R.1 AJAX, ONTARIO L1S4S7
Civic Garden Centre
GENERAL INFORMATION
Vol. 16, No. 1
EDITOR: Iris Hossé Phillips
ADVERTISING INFO: (416) 445-1552
Registered charity number 0228114-56
TRELLIS is published ten times a year as a members newsletter by the CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, North York, Ont. M3C 1P2. Tel. No.: (416) 445-1552. Manuscripts submitted on a voluntary basis are gratefully received. No remuneration is possible.
Lead time for inclusion of articles and advertising material is six weeks: manuscripts and material must be received by the 15th of the month to insure publication. For example, material received by October 15 will be included in the December issue of Trellis.Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre.
The Centre is located in Edwards Gardens, at Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East. It is a non-profit, volunteer-based gardening, floral arts, and horticultural information organization with open membership.
Printed by York Printing House Ltd.
WINTER OPERATING HOURS
The Civic Garden Centre is open from November 1st to March 31st.
Weekdays: 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Weekends & Holidays: Noon - 4:00 p.m.
In my February editorial, | wrote about the difficulty of selecting varieties of vegetables to grow in my garden. Little did | realize the true limit of my choices in 1989 when they are compared to the vegetable varieties available to the gardener over 100 years ago. In The Kitchen Garden, Charles Lyte explores the history and development of kitchen gardening and reveals the wealth of choices open to gardeners: twenty-eight varieties of carrots, twenty-three pumpkins, ninety-two cabbages, and one hundred and ninety-seven peas.
One vegetable that | did not mention is the spring perennial, asparagus, because | feel somewhat intimidated about creating a special asparagus bed. However, as soon as the frost is out of the ground | will have my soil analysed at the Centre. | will then prepare the proper mixture to add to the soil, plant the asparagus seeds, and wait the required three years for my first crop of succulent spears.
With the arrival of the odd warm day, | am getting impatient for spring and outdoor garden work. Preparing my flats to start a number of seeds indoors doesn t temper my urge to dig outdoors. In fact on warm days | check under the mulch to see if anything is foolish enough to poke through the ground. A good covering of snow would certainly discourage plants from showing their crowns; however, there is little to do but add another blanket of pine boughs.
| am looking forward to the Spring Pansy Sale and will increase my order as the pansies were a constant joy last year.
Iris Phillips
Appreciating Allan Gardens
by Ron Myhr
Located in the midst of downtown Toronto, at the corner of busy Gerrard and Jarvis streets, Allan Gardens might seem an unlikely location for a first class horticultural experience. The physical plant is aging, propagation facilities are virtually nonexistent, and the outside green-space has become notorious for various sorts of illicit night-time activity. Still, the staff of the City s Parks and Recreation Department have managed to create and maintain a real gem. An interesting and valuable collection of plants of real horticultural interest have been assembled, and are displayed in an accessible and instructive manner.
The six houses that make up the public display areas of Allan Gardens have their own unique characters. It is necessary to take each on its own terms to fully appreciate the overall facility.
The central domed pavilion is the most architecturally interesting section of the complex, and houses a mixture of large tropical trees, permanent plantings of tropical shrubbery and herbs, and a substantial proportion of seasonally changing display plantings.
To the south and west of the dome lie the cool house , where the principal displays of seasonal flowers are located; and two tropical houses holding, among other things, the excellent collections of gesneriads and bromeliads. To the north and west are a mixed tropical house and one devoted to an interesting and extensive assortment of cacti and succulents.
In this and two succeeding articles | will review each of the main display spaces, with particular attention to the plants in the permanent collection, and report on some of the issues that are now facing those who must decide on the future of Allan Gardens. Readers are encouraged to become aquainted (or reacquainted) with the pleasures of our only botanical garden, and to take the time to appreciate the diversity on display.
The gesneriad collection
My first introduction to the more spectacular gesneriads was at Allan Gardens. | don't think that I'll ever forget the baskets of Columnea microphylla and C. gloriosa, Central American species with stems trailing eight or more feet down from the basket, and covered along most of their length with orange and red flowers. Some of those baskets are still there, providing a reliable seasonal spectacle, along with a number of other, less spectacular but equally beautiful columnea species and hybrids.
A real effort has been made to establish a representative collection of the popular and often spectacular gesneriad family, and to display it in an effective and botanically correct manner. For the most part, the effort has been successful.
A number of terrestrial gesneriads are being used as ground covers. Notably successful are two African violet species, Saintpaulia hirsuta (which is unlabelled but instantly recognizable by the hairy leaves) and S. pendula Kizarae , which have established spreading colonies. Aesthetically less successful, to my eye, are the attempts to use modern hybrids of saintpaulia in the same fashion. The stiff and formal rosettes, which can look so spectacular on a show bench or a windowsill, look lost on the ground. Notable by their relative absence are many of the numerous cultivators of Episcia. With luxuriant foliage in many brilliant colors, these would seem ideal groundcovers.
Among the other terrestrials, | have seen spectacular displays of Smithiantha, all red velvet and bright orange-yellow. Clumps of the tuberous, yellow-flowered Chrysothemis pulchella Copper Leaf spring up from timeto-time. The brilliantly colored and spotted flowers of a hybrid of Kohleria eriantha can often be seen ona tall (more than a meter) plant, accompanied sometimes by smaller and more modest kohlerias.
It is the epiphytic gesneriads that provide the most spectacular displays, however. In addition to the aforementioned giant baskets of columneas, Allan Gardens holds some rare and beautiful representatives of other epiphytic genera. On a recent visit, | saw an enormous basket of Nematanthus Stoplight , notable for the large red pouched flowers hanging below the branches on 10cm pedicels. | was especially taken with another nematanthus, N. perianthomegus, which has hairy striped orange flowers. There are a number of other members of this diverse South American genus being grown at Allan Gardens, including a number of modern and decorative hybrids such as the dark leaved, orange flowered N. Black Magic .
There are many baskets of the Asiatic genus Aeschynanthus, notably A. lobbianus, the lipstick plant , with bright red tubular flowers emerging from dark calyces, and A. Greensleeves , similar but with green calyces.
Rescheduled
CALLIGRAPHY 40103
Registration deadline: March 16, 1989
Fee: $40.00 members, $50.00 non-members,
Time: 1:15-3:15 pm 6 week course on Tuesdays, March 21, 28, April 4, 11, 18, 25
Instructor: Margaret Challenger Students must have a basic script. Colour writing and making a small book, learn to use dip nibs and watercolour, designer s gouache. Design and construct a simple accordion style book. Writing it with the colour procedure learned.
Growing like epiphytes, in baskets, are several naturally terrestrial gesneriads. Alsobia dianthiflora, and its hybrid A. Cygnet , are grown well in large baskets, and in season will be covered with large white flowers which are heavily fringed in the fashion of garden dianthus. Streptocarpus Good Hope , a stemmed relative of the more familiar rosette streptocarpus, bears enormous numbers of small blue flowers projected out from an almost perfectly spherical ball of gray-green foliage. Kohleria Longwood blooms spectacularly, with brilliant carmine-red spotted flowers that are among the most gaudy of all cultivated plants.
Minor criticism of the gesneriad display is possible. Some plants are mislabelled, either clearly mistaken or outdated names being used. A few epiphytes are barely surviving being planted in the ground. Some rosette streptocarpus are being grown with African violets, in conditions too warm and too wet for them to thrive. Perhaps most serious, some of the baskets of epiphytes are quite ragged, obviously needing renewal. All-in-all, though, the collection is in excellent condition, and is effectively displayed. It's worth making the trip just for the gesneriads.
Next issue, the bromeliad and cactus collections.
Soil Analysis
Start the gardening season with results!
Have your soil analized by the Civic Garden Centre.
This year don' t just guess about the quantity of Lime to add, get the results For just $5.00 Civic Garden Centre Members can have their garden soil tested for pH and salt levels. Simply bring about one cup of representative soil (taken from a number of locations) to the Centre.
Accurate and detailed results will be ready in less than one week.
For more information call Anne Marie or Helen at 445-1552.
CATCH THE GARDENING SPIRIT
We would like to welcome you on Sunday, April 23rd, 10 a.m. 5p.m., to a day filled with gardening information. Six exciting presentations and the chance to visit with The Centre s own horticulturist and Master Gardeners make this a very special opportunity for all gardening enthusiasts.
10:00-10:45
SUMMER BULBS
Dugald Cameron, B.Sc., and owner of Garden Import.
Easy to grow bulbs bring exotic charm to the garden when early bulbs and perennials are spent. Find out how easy and inexpensive it is to cultivate these unique treasurers and add another dimension to your summer garden.
11:00-11:45
THE ROMANCE OF THE ROSE
Audrey Meiklejohn, international expert on roses, competitor and judge, member of The Canadian Rose Society and delegate to The World Federation of Rose Societies.
Site location, soil preparation, planting and maintenance will be discussed, as will different types of roses including the newest varieties.
11:45-12:30
12:30-1:15
Lunch and the opportunity to visit The Trellis Shop or to have your questions answered by The Centre s horticulturist or Master Gardeners.
GARDENING IN SMALL SPACES
Mary Perimutter, newly elected President of The Canadian Organic Growers, columnist, Master Gardener, member of The Toronto Recycling Action Committee and recipient of The City Service Award.
A wide range of hints and tips for gardening in small spaces including how to grow fruit trees employing the ancient technique of espaliering or wall gardening. This session will be full of gardening techniques for the City gardener, with special reference to coping with the problems of city waste.
1:30-2:15
2:30-3:15
CALCULATING THE RISKS. . .INTRODUCTION TO GARDEN DESIGN
Penny Arthurs, Cabbagetown s own Chelsea Gardener, graduate of one of Britain s leading schools ofgarden design, The English Gardening School, affiliated with The Royal Horticultural Society.
Direction on developing a plan to deal with proportion and scale, balance, contrast, harmony and elegance to guarantee that even the smallest garden can be a reflection of your own individuality.
DECORATIVE WATER IN THE GARDEN
Peter Thomas, B.L.A., M.L.A.U.D., a landscape designer specializing in small urban gardens, lectures at Ryerson and is an avidgardener himself.
Enjoy the gentle sounds of sparkling animation in the heat of the summer by creating a wall fountain. A demonstration of how to bring water into your garden for about $100.00. Discussion will also include pools and other decorative types of water fountains.
3:30-4:15
GARDENING IN THE SHADE
Alexander Wilson, Toronto horticulturist, lecturer, writer and a principal with Garrison Landscape Design construction firm. Alex is a member of The Canadian Wildflower Society, Parks and Wilderness, as well as Pollution Probe.
This session will provide an overall framework for making a shade garden, beginning with an understanding of natural woodland eco-systems and working into a discussion of plant selection, urban shade gardens and education, including books available on the topic. The talk will be supported by slides, a printed bibliography and a selective list of plants and sources.
For those who wish, a delicious, box lunch will be served in the Floral Hall. However, if you choose to bring your lunch, coffee and juice will be available.
PLEASE REGISTER ME FOR CATCH THE GARDENING SPIRIT
Limited Enrolment Registration deadline: April 17, 1989
Name:
Address:
City: PostalCode:
I ENCLOSE A CHEQUE FOR $30.00 (member) [J $35.00 (non-member) [J I HAVE ADDED $8.00 FOR MY BOX LUNCH [
Signature: Phone:
Please charge the fee to my Credit Card
CreditCardNo.:
DateofIssue:
DateofExpiry:
GREEN THUMB CAMP
For children 8 through 11 interested in learning about gardening and nature in Edwards Gardens
Week 1: July 31st to August 4th, 1989 9.30 a.m. to 12:00
Week 2: August 14th to August 18th, 1989 .30 a.m. to 12:00
Activities planned for Green Thumb Camp are both recreational and educational. Each day will include outdoor sessions taught by The Centre s Horticulturists and special guests. The small group size makes Green Thumb Camp a very special experience for the children in the heart of The Metropolitan Toronto area.
Camp Fees $72.00 per session
A light snack will be supplied each day.
To register call The CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, 777 Lawrence Ave. East, North York, Ontario M3C 1P2 445-1552
Steeles Ave. W. (2 miles west of Highway 10) R.R. 10 Brampton L6V 3N2
Knowledgeable staif 7 days a week (9-5pm) mid-April - mid-Oct. Over 3000 different hardy plants, alpines, dwarf conifers and shrubs, i Hard'y ferns, vines, groundcovers and native wildflowers Gift Certificates $10. up (10-15-20 etc.{ by mail any time All Year Send $2.00 for NEW (No.10) PLANT LIST by mail to above address
The Art Studio at the Civic Garden Centre
Vivien M. Jenkinson Art Student Master Gardener in Training
Painting, drawing, sketching, pen-and-ink Fridays, at the Centre, a space is set aside ... alovely way to spend your time, for people who paint or draw to come absorbed in capturing light, colour, form, or together and practise their art. There is no pattern. How often do people leave their art instructor, no set piece to be worked class, determined to finish it at home '? upon. You bring your own art materials and But at home! there is always something to you can bring your own model or negotiate be done a letter to write, houseplants or to borrow one of the Centre s plants for the garden to attend to, then the telephone the session. The ART STUDIO is open from rings. And another week slips by with 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., SO you can choose your paintbrush and pencil idle, no painting, no time, come in late, go early, without fear of drawing completed. missing the class . The best learning often comes from watching others at work, from There is a great way to overcome this comments and questions raised by your situation. It's called THE ART STUDIO. colleagues. And the only gualification Although the course description calls for required to join in ART STUDIO is , that you experienced artists , do not be put off; it is enjoy making your picture. not meant only for those who sell their works at $500.00 a piece. It is meant for you, if you enjoy drawing or painting. On
CRAFTS & NURSERY
AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE
Coming Events at the Centre
March 1-5 The Garden Club of Toronto Flower Show SHOW STOPPERS
Admission $6.00 Seniors & Students $5.00 10-9PM March 1 & 2 10-6PM March 3, 4, & 5
6
INTERMEDIATE SOGETSU, 1-3pm
Registration deadline March 2
Members $40.00 Non-Members $50.00.
6 week course
7 Men s Garden Club 8pm
8 Garden Therapy Meeting 12:30pm Ilkebana International 6:30pm
12 eToronto Gesneriad Society 2pm
sOntario Rock Garden Society 1pm
eYork Rose & Garden Society 2pm
13 Toronto Bonsai Society 7pm
*GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 7:30-9:30pm
Registration deadline March 9
Members $40.00 Non-Members $50.00,
6 week course
14 North Toronto Horticultural Society 8pm
Anne Marie Van Nest, Horticulturist, The Civic Garden Centre Horticulurist
Something New, Something Old
15 CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE MEMBERS PROGRAMME 7:30pm Flowers of Winter, Flowers of Spring by Tom Cain
17 CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE EASTER PLANT SALE 2-6pm
Members pre-order pick up
18-19 CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE EASTER PLANT SALE Noon - 4pm Public Sale
19 eCanadian Rose Society Annual Meeting 2pm
e|kenobo Ikebana Flower Show 12-4pm
21 eToronto Cactus & Succulent Club 7:30pm
*HARDY CONNOISSEUR PLANTS FOR YOUR 7:30 - 9:30pm GARDEN. 3 week course. Regist. deadline March 15.
Members $30.00 Non-Members $40.00.
*/NTRODUCTORY WATERCOLOURS, 10-2pm
Registration deadline March 15
Members $51.00 Non-Members $61.00.
6 week course
22 RENOVATING YOUR GARDEN 7:00-10:00pm
Registration deadline March 15
Members $24.00 Non-Members $34.00
2 week course
eCanadian Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society
eCONTINUING WATERCOLOURS
Registration deadline March 17
Members $68.00 Non-Members $78.00. 8 week course
Southern Ontario Orchid Society General Meeting
INTRODUCTION TO GARDEN DESIGN,
Registration deadline April 1
Members $35.00 Non-Members $45.00, 4 week course
WREATHS ARE FOR ALL SEASONS
Registration deadline March 6
Members $35.00 Non-Members $45.00, one day course
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE PANSY SALE
Members Pre-Order Pick Up
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE PANSY SALE
York Rose & Garden Society
Toronto Bonsai Society
HOW TO PRESERVE & DRY PLANT MATERIAL
Registration deadline April 4
Members $15.00 Non-Members $25.00, one day course
Garden Therapy Meeting
Toronto Gesneriad Society Show
Rhododendron Society of Canada
Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club
DO IT YOURSELF SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Registration deadline April 13
Members $40.00 Non-Members $50.00, 3 week course
PRESSED FLOWER WORKSHORP,
Registration deadline April 14
Members $20.00 Non-Members $30.00, 2 week course
®CATCH THE GARDENING SPIRIT
Members $30.00 Non-Members $35.00 Lunch $8
eGeranium & Pelargonium Society
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE ANNUAL MEETING
Speaker: Panayoti Kelaidis
Around the Seasons in the Rock Garden
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE MEMBERS PROGRAMME
The Genus Iris Panayoti Kelaidis
Canadian Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society
GARDEN CONSTRUCTION
Registration deadline April 27
Members $20.00 Non-Members $30.00, 2 week course
Canadian Wildflower Society Annual Meeting & Sale 7:30 pm 10- 2 pm 1 pm 7:30-9:30 pm 10 am-Noon 2-6 pm Noon-5 pm 2 pm 7 pm 10 am - 3 pm 12:30 pm 12-5 pm 2 pm 7:30 pm 10 am-3 pm 10 am-Noon 10 am-4:30 pm 2 pm 7:30 pm 7:30 pm 1:30-3:30 pm 9-4 pm
MEMBER S PROGRAMME
An illustrated talk byTOM CAIN
Flowers of winter, Flowers of the spring :
Plants through the Eyes of Elizabethan Poets. An illustrated talk on some of the plants mentioned by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan poets, how they saw those plants, and what those plants really were. There will also be some reference to the treatment of plants by later poets.
Wednesday, March 15, 1989 7:30 p.m.
Refreshmentsserved after the meeting
MEMBERS
Non-members$2.00
EARLY SPRING PANSY SALE 10% DISCOUNT
on orders received prior to March 31st
Members order pickup: Friday, April 7th 2pm-6pm
Public Sale: Saturday & Sunday, April 8th & 9th noon - 5 pm
These Universal Series of Pansies are nursery grown especially for the Civic Garden Centre, have four plants per box and can be planted the day you buy in beds or containers.
A 10% Members Discount will apply if your order is received prior to March 31st
All orders are subject to availability
25 YEARS AND STILL GROWING!!
Name Phone Address
by Barbara E. Stevenson
The Garden In Winter
by Rosemary Verey, Little Brown. $56.00
This is a sumptuously illustrated book. The art of book photography seems to be getting better and better and this book is worth owning just for the wonderful pictures.
The idea of making your garden better in winter is an appealing one especially since our winters take up half the year. This can best be done by the thoughtful planting of conifers, evergreen ground covers, broadleaved and berry bearing vines, and use of deciduous trees and shrubs with interesting coloured bark. Many different planting ideas are outlined in this book; such as Kerria japonica which has bright green stems behind Cornus elegantissima. Also suggested is the growing of ivy up stone walls, girdling the bases of large trees, and the growing of bergenia which have large shiny leaves, sometimes red, against conifers.
Grasses are mentioned quite often in the book as appealing to many good gardeners, and certainly they look spectacular in winter, and provide movement and soft beautiful hues. Also ferns are mentioned as something no garden should be without. My own look lovely and green coming through the snow, and can be appreciated at quite a distance from the house. They are lovely all year round, but especially so in spring when the new fronds unfold.
With the invention of llex x meserveseae, a cross between English and Japanese Holly, we should be able to grow good holly in our backyards, and the red and blue berries certainly provide excellent winter colour.
Winter colour is discussed in depth with chapters on Brown, Green, Yellow, White, Red and Purple, and Black.
The chapter Ilcy Weather Jobs discusses pruning, and winter is certainly a good time for us to prune many deciduous trees and shrubs. It is easy to see crossing branches, side shoots, and the true form of trees and shrubs at this time of year. | liked this book
for its photography, and | found it an enjoyable read; however, my slight misgiving is that it is a very English book, and many of the specimens mentioned don t grow here. However, at the back, the chapter Plant Portraits lists the hardiness zone for every plant and also the history and characteristics of the plants.
Before researching and writing this book Rosemary Verey wondered why her garden looked so dead in winter and the countryside around so attractive. In winter it is the countryside that looks marvellously rich, with its rolling browns and greens and hedgerows popping with berries, while gardens may well be bare until March signals the start of spring . | determined to bring life to my garden in winter, to make autumn join hands with spring. Winter was to be a season in its own right, vital to the gardener who really wants to garden .
Making a winter garden is often the last step for experienced gardeners, and one they come to appreciate the most. So when thinking ahead for your planting in April and May, consider some of the suggestions from this book.
Tour Guides
Training sessions for Volunteers who wish to lead tours through Edwards Gardens this year will begin Wednesday, March 22nd and continue for three consecutive Wednesday mornings. Instruction will be given on the history of the gardens, trees, shrubs, roses and rhododendrons and will include guided tours. For further information please contact Helen Craig 445-1552.
The Lily Pond
by Janet Davis
Before | dug my lily pond in the spring of 1987, | researched the subject enthusiastically in books and magazines. Various experts extolled the virtues of the water garden and provided detailed and often conflicting tips on excavation and planting. No matter. | absorbed all | could, confident that, in time, I'd sort out for myself such trifles as optimum depth for hardy waterlilies.
Armed with stakes, string, and my 5 year old daughter s best surveying judgement, | marked a crescent-shaped island in the centre of the back lawn, measuring about 30 feet by 9 feet. This was to be a garden within which the pond nestled. Sadly, it laid to rest forever the yard-sized skating rink on which scores of neighbourhood kids had bruised their knees in winters past. But the memory of brown, ice-ravaged lawn in late June eased the guilt | felt at shutting down the rink. Besides, the kids seemed to feel a real pond, especially one with goldfish, would be almost as much fun.
Anxious to make a fast start in early May, | attacked the wet sod with my rusty edger and lifted heavy clumps from the patch where winter s frost had departed only days before. As lawn gave way to black earth, | could see the design emerge. A second set of stakes delineated the pond itself a 9 by 5 foot kidney shape along the concave side of the garden crescent.
Excited at the metamorphosis of the garden yet tired and sore from removing tons of wet sod and earth, | failed to notice a rather curious change in my physical bearing. It wasn t until the PVC vinyl was neatly spread over the bottom and shelved sides of my pond, flagstone edging tamped in place on top, and weeping crabapple, rhododendrons (PJM which thrives on the full sun that waterlilies require), and Japanese maple installed in the garden, that | had time to have a good look in the mirror. No question about it, but my right shoulder had moved perceptibly forward and down. Embarrassed and alarmed, | consulted my doctor, who referred me first to a neurologist, then to a
neurosurgeon. He confirmed that my right scapular nerve was no longer working. | suspect that it had gone into hiding somewhere between the bog-plant shelf and the pond bottom.
More than a year has passed. The scar from the shoulder surgery has healed, and the lily pond has given us two summers of delight. The trailing gentian, Gentiana septemfida, made it over the edge of the flagstones last July, making a beautiful picture with the clear pink Astilbe Rheinland behind. | gave up trying to keep the water forget-me-not, Mysotis scorpioides, in bounds, and let it clamber over the lady s mantle, Alchemilla mollis, to get to the water.
Early in the first summer, we discovered raccoons using our pots of papyrus and water iris as fishing perches; thereafter, we removed the pots and the shelves remained empty of shallow water plants. Just as well. The mud from spilled pots dulled the clarity of the pond water and negated the good work of the pots of oxygenating Elodea canadensis and the trapdoor snails on the bottom. But the shelves are useful for holding flat rocks whose tops emerge just above the water surface. Here house sparrows, robins, squirrels and scores of neighbourhood cats step up to the bar without getting their feet wet.
For a second year, we chose the hottest, most sultry night of the summer to host a dinner party beside the pond. This summer, Ill install a recirculating pump to create a gentle trickle effect over the rocks. As well as beefing up oxygenation of the pond, the sound should subliminally suggest a cool mountain stream to my dinner guests in the event of another torrid tropical evening.
Once again, October saw my children and their friends gathered around the pond, giggling hysterically as mother lowered herself, complete with chest-waders, old Nikes, and rubber gloves into the frigid water. This was the only way of hefting out the two large tubs of waterlilies and sending them to their off-season residence in the
basement cold room. If | think about it, | must throw a jug of water on them when | bring up preserves for winter dinners. Also I'll be sure to divide Nymphaea Pink Sensation next April it outflowered its companion five to one.
The goldfish multiplied exponentially for a second season. Even the best intentions of several neighbourhood youngsters, who were permitted to take home as many goldfish babies as they could scoop in their ice cream containers, did not make a dent in the population. | discovered that the prevailing wisdom which states that goldfish adults consume their young did not appear to have been noted by my goldfish parents. Entire families thrived on a diet of very expensive pond pellets but rewarded us with airspace above the water in which not a single mosquito hovered, unlike the dank corner of the perennial border where the foxgloves flourish.
This winter, | intended to invest in a submersible heater, having learned sadly last spring that the Zone 6 frost line is much deeper than two feet. Unable to find a heater, and warned by the aquarium man that it would take a strong heater, coupled with a strong bubbler to maintain an ice-free area in a 2 foot pond, | opted instead for a 10 gallon tank, complete with charcoal filter and porcelain frogman. A second much more bone-chilling, foray into the murky waters netted me all of the original adult fish, and several babies. These are now ensconced in my daughter s bedroom. With filter bubling noisily, and act as visible reminders that maintaining an artificial, aesthetic eco-system in one s backyard is not about relaxing in the lawn chair with a cool drink and enjoying the reflections of the trees on the pond s surface. It requires hard work and year-round planning. Whether Ill wish to continue to maintain the pond and related aquatic life in my golden years is another matter. But for now, it's the most intriguing feature of our landscape, providing pleasure in a different way to every member of our family.
%Humbcr Keeps You GROWING
¢ |n Business Since 1948
¢ 20 Acres of Garden Centre
* Over 50 Greenhouses
e 20,000 sq. ft. Garden Store
¢ Residential & Commercial Design & Instillation
Growers of over 1,000 hardy perennials, available year round. Over 200 varieties of herbs. Over 125 kinds of novelty geraniums.
FREE Drop in or write for our new books:
HELPFUL GREEN THUMB GARDEN GUIDES
Perennials for Ontario Gardens
Only $3.95
Berries for your garden
Only $1.75
Humber Nurseries, where flowers bloom 365 days a year, offers Toronto s largest selection of:
Trees, Shrubs, Evergreens, Annuals, Perennials, Roses, Ceramics, Chemicals Soils, Wicker & Landscape Hardware
Our Professional, Courteous staff are here to help with any garden questions.
N/
HUMBER NURSERIES LTD.
R.R. #8 Brampton, Ont. Hwy.#50, 1/4 mile North of Steeles Ave. South of #7 highway 7940555 677-9711
*Member Landscape Ontario* **OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK**
AMERICAN GARDEN WRITING: Gleanings from garden lives then andnow; ed. by Bonnie Marranca. New York, PAJpublications, 1988. The editor has selected 50 short pieces by American garden writers from the 17th century to the present day. This ideal bedside anthology groups the writings into sections entitled: Seeds of Inspiration, Lives of the Plants, Travelers and the Travels of Plants, The Play of Art and Nature, and Reflections in a Garden World.
CREATING
A VICTORIAN
FLOWER
GARDEN, by Stefan Buczacki. New York, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1988.
An album of 60 paintings of the flowers growing in a Scottish garden in 1890 forms the starting point of Dr. Buczacki s book. It is an attractive and scholarly addition to the growing number of books on re-creating period gardens.
HELP!
This is an urgent plea to all the Centre s special-event
volunteers. We need you! If you haven t volunteered in the past, please consider doing so this Spring.
The Easter Plant Sale is March 17, 18, & 19th. Garden Festival opens on March 31st and runs through Sunday, April 9th.
The Pansy Sale is April 7, 8 & 9th at the Civic Garden Centre.
The Perennial Sale is May 5, 6 & 7th. Hanging Baskets are available May 13 & 14th. The Centre s Spring Plant Sale is May 17th to May 22nd inclusive.
The Centre is going to be a very busy place this Spring. We need your help to see us through. Please check your calendars and then call me and let me know how much time you have available. It is your effort that has allowed The Centre to experience significant growth in the past year. We re counting on you in 89, our 25th anniversary.
We re starting early this year to plan for Cornucopia. Would you please bring in the prunings from your grape vines to be used by the workshop people to make wreaths.
We are also looking for anyone who does woodworking who could give us a hand with a few simple projects. Please call Carloyn Dalgarno 445-1552. We have lots to do to keep you busy.
Carolyn Dalgarno
IS TIMETHE TO DORMANT SPRAY
LATE WINTER THROUGH EARLY SPRING
No need to make separate spraying to kill overwintering insects, and another spraying to control fungus and other diseases. Do a combination spray with WILSON DORMANT SPRAY KIT.
A complete spray for improved clean-up of overwintering insects and diseases on FRUIT TREES, ROSES and ORNAMENTALS.
AVAILABLE AT BETTER GARDEN CENTRES ACROSS CANADA
or the love ofgardens.
When you re at work on the garden you love, trees grown on our own farms. And all of our garden even lovelier, just ask. Advice is free and - . -
LANDSCAPE DEPARTMENT: Metropolitan Toronto, remember Sheridan Nurseries. At Sheridan, we nursery stock is guaranteed for one full year. our staff is expert. They ll help in any way they SHERIDAN
Markham, Mississauga and Oakville 822-7575 have the finest selection of nursery stock in e Canada, including over 750 types of plants and .
If you need any advice to help make your can all for the love of gardens, at Sheridan. NURSERIES MISSISSAUGA
606 Southdown Rd. 2375 Steeles Ave. W., 4077 Hwy. #7, 100 EImsdale Rd., Mississauga L5J 2Y4 North York M3J 3A8 Unionville L3R 1L5 Kitchener N2E 1H6 Tel. 822-0251 Tel. 736-8814 Tel. 477-2253 Tel. 743-4146
2827 Yonge St., 700 Evans Ave., 847 King St. W., 1755 Pickering Pkwy. Toronto M4N 2J4 Etobicoke M3C 1A1 Oshawa L1J 2L4 Pickering L1V 1C0 Tel. 481-6429 Tel. 621-9100 Tel. 728-9429 Tel. 428-6316
FOR SALE: GREENHOUSE 8 x 12
Aluminum with 2 tables 2 x 8
$1000.00 or best offer Phone: 222-4229
Call the Civic Garden Centre s Master Gardener HORT. HOT LINE" between 12:00 3:00 p.m. daily. (416) 445-1552. The Master Gardeners also welcome questions by mail.
The Trellis Shop
FLORALIGHT INDOOR LIGHT GARDENS
The three tier Garden provides almost 30 square feet of indoor gardening space. The four foot wide Dual Spectrum fixtures are the first of many wanted features that indoor gardeners are looking for. This Light Garden is certainly the best choice for those gardeners who start seeds or peruse other indoor gardening interests. Other sizes and models available.
For a full selection of seeds and tender bulbs visit the Trellis Shop.
Civic Garden Centre Executive Committee
President: Dr. Brian Bixley
1st Vice-President: Mrs. Susan Macaulay
2nd Vice-President: Mr. Klaus Bindhardt
Treasurer: Mr. Robert Saunders
Board of Directors
For 1988: Mr. Charles Coffey, Mr. Mark Cullen, Mrs. Margaret Killey, Mrs. Susan McCoy, Mrs. Judy Samuel, Mr. Robert Saunders, Mr. Phillip S. Tingley, Mrs. Dorothy Weir
For 1988 and 1989: Mrs. Anne Bawden, Mr. Klaus Bindhardt, Dr. Brian Bixley, Mrs. Eliane Hooft, Mrs. Heather MacKinnon, Mrs. Gail Rhynard.
For 1988, 1989 & 1990: Mrs. Cicely Bell, Mr. Stuart Gilchrist, Mr. Alan Grieve, Mr. Kenneth H.C. Laundy Mrs. Susan Macaulay, Mr. Victor Portelli of Metropolitan Toronto Parks and Ms. Laura Rapp.
Pe
Weall & Cullen | Landscape & Flower Show
Friday March 3 - Sunday March 12, 1989
Come and watch as Spring comes early to Weall & Cullen.
Enjoy Special Savings, beautiful displays of fresh flowers and preview our Patio Furniture for 1989.
Listen to CFRB 1010, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 12 noon for the Garden Show with Mark Cullen.
7 Locations to serve you #8 opens in Etobicoke this Spring!
May we invite you fo join us?
W at the Civic Garden Centre warmly welcome new members. Join us, and you will make friends who share the same interest in gardening, the floral arts and horticulture that you do. In addition to the many exciting classes, garden shows, speakers, clubs-within-the-Centre, etc., that will be avai'able to you, our membership fee entitles you to the following:
e Annual subscription to members
e Free borrowing privileges from one of newsletter Canada s largest horticultural libraries
* Discounts on courses, lectures
* Discount on Soil Testing Service and workshops N
* 10% discount on most purchases in * Free Admission to the the Trellis Shop Members Programmes
e Special local and international
e Access and discounts at special Garden Tours members day plant sales
s s smes APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP memm s s ss s
I Mail to: : Single Membership $25.00 Family membership $35.00 | Gift membership Donation to Civic Garden Centre TOTAL SRRt
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE
777 Lawrence Avenue East (in Edwards Gardens) North York, Ontario M3C 1P2 Telephone (416) 445-1552
I NAME: s G N R e N S AR NS aa s e Phone No I
I Tan BB EES RN T S S R S S e S S i S S S R N R I Postal Code I Category O -MEMIBRESIHD. v e b s boss oiovmarasatobs bos sl insisesesiatns st vasahs daiiases I (please enclose cheque, with form, payable to The Civic Garden Centre)
l If this is a Gift Membership: I
I N TR el (SRS L e CUR SRR SRS S SRR < e e e s e I
I Ahr10|gt R SR S RN e S L AR R I e B DI BR S AR RS O B I D o L