The Garden Club of Toronto 31st Flower Show
NOW THE 90s
at THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE February 28 to March 4, 1990
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND FRIDAY 10:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
ADULTS - $6, SENIORS AND STUDENTS - $5 CHILDREN 5-12 - $1, UNDER 5 - FREE
Civic Garden Centre Staff
Executive Director: Mrs. Sally Sullivan
Accounts: Mrs. Janie Brentnall
Editor-Trellis: Mrs. Iris Hosse Phillips
Horticulturists: Mrs. Anne Marie Van Nest
Mrs. Helen Craig
Librarian: Mrs. Pamela MacKenzie
Library Secretary: Mrs. Edythe Clapp
Maintenance Supervisor:
Mr. Walter Marassutti
Maintenance Staff:
Mr. Alvin Allen
Mr. Robert Burchell
Mr. Carlos Lopez
Programme and Special Events
Co-ordinator: Mrs. Dorothy Whiteman
Rental Agent: Mrs. Pamela Westwood
Assistant Rental Agent: Miss Mavis Griffin
Secretary: Mrs. Shirley Lyons
Trellis Shop Manager: Mrs. Jackie Brisby
Trellis Shop Assistant Manager:
Mrs. Barbara Stephenson
Volunteer Co-ordinator and Publicity:
Mrs. Carolyn Dalgarno
IMPORTANT
Membership Renewal Policy
EFFECTIVE MARCH 18T, 1990 RENEWAL NOTICES WILL BE MAILED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH PRECEDING YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DATE.
THE SECOND NOTICE WILL BE MAILED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH THAT YOUR RENEWAL IS DUE.
AFTER THE SECOND NOTICE HAS BEEN SENT, AND IF YOUR MEMBERSHIP IS NOT RENEWED BY MONTH END, YOUR MEMBERSHIP WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE EXPIRED.
Civic Garden Centre
GENERAL INFORMATION
Vol. 17, No. 2
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 Lid.
SUMMER OPERATING HOURS
The Civic Garden Centre is open from April 1st to October 31st.
Weekdays: 9:30a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Weedends: Noon - 5:00 p.m.
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.
One of the gremlins of the printing press dropped three lines describing the Jolly Joker Pansy from Anne Marie s article What's new for 1990?". The omitted lines read . . has a striking flower that is rich velvety purple on the outer edges and has an orange face at the centre.
. In the last issue of Trellis | wrote about my visit to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. hope to visit again in spring to view the crabapple trees in bloom and see how the plants survived the winter. A garden that | also plan to visit is the new public garden at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. The garden is designed by artist and architect Melvin Charney. The articles | have read describe the garden in terms of location, design, vistas, totem sculptures, and historical statement. | have discovered very little about plant materials, only that the garden includes a meadow and young apple orchard. If any of our members have visited the garden | would like to hear their impressions and thoughts.
Winter is a time for books and reflection. A new book in the library is Art into Landscape: Landscape into Art by American landscape architect A.E. Bye. The text, site plans, and predominantely black and white photographs form a wonderful union and provide the reader with a clear understanding of Bye' s philosophy. Bye closely observes the topography, natural fabric, and infrastructure of the landscape and through design brings out the essential character of the site. Bye states To create effectively, the landscape architect must work outdoors to feel each rock and stone, the trees and vines, sand and earth, the sky and water, reflecting light and shadow, the mist, the snow and ice, the rain, the wind and the odors and the noises that are all about us. The selection of both urban and rural sites for the book reveals that Bye is acutely aware of the concept of ecological appropriateness and has applied the principles to his work.
Iris Phillips
Members Night
Wednesday, February 15, 1990 at 7:30 p.m.
Ann Milovsoroff Landscape Architect Royal Botanical Gardens on
R.B.G. More than a Glorious Park The history and future development of the gardens
Refreshments served
The Civic Garden Centre through the 80s
by Anne Marie Van Nest
The turn of a decade is an opportunity to reflect on past achievements. The start of a new year is also a natural time to stop and review the activities of the previous year; a look at the last ten years will provide a good insight into the events that have shaped our Civic Garden Centre.
Follow me down the garden path to the year 1980. Membership is a little over two thousand and the library boasts over 4,000 books. A white elephant sale is a new fundraising event for March. The Enthusiasts Garden Club and the Green Thumbs; children s gardening groups are meeting on Saturday mornings to talk gardening. Ernie Pope has an article on timely gardening tips in each issue of Trellis. He will continue his expert advice for many years to come. A new AAS winner is announced; a dwarf French Marigold called Janie (still a very popular variety today). An interesting article entitled But will it grow in the shade? appears in the January issue of Trellis written by Barbara Wilkins. Many of the popular wildflowers of 1990 are mentioned here. Soilsaver composters are a new addition to Toronto gardeners along with Aqua-terra a new water storage product for soils. Both of these products will enter 1990 at the forefront of the gardening scene. The year 1980 sees a proud Montreal host the gardening extravaganza, Floralies . Edith Kenzie of the Bonsai Society writes of the Bonsai exhibit for the September issue of Trellis. The successful White Elephant Sale is followed by the houseplant sale. The houseplant sale raises $1,000. Both of these events involve items donated by Centre members. The Garden Club of Toronto once again holds their Christmas Show and Sale called Deck the Halls . An event not to be missed!
The next year, a new course on wildflowers is introduced, taught by Frank Kershaw (this course is still very popular nine years
later). House and plant minding services are frequent advertisers in Trellis. Three exceptional plants are chosen as AAS winners in 1981. * Blitz"" Impatiens, Apricot Brandy' Celosia and Gypsy Sweet Peppers will become mainstays in the garden during the 80s. Weekly spring birdwalks through Wilket Creek Park with the Executive Director, Clive Goodwin are a popular activity. The Giant Geranium Sale organized by the Milne House Garden Club is a giant success in May. Christmas Greens and Sparkles show and sale is a highlight of November. Some unusual events are held in 1981. A Foreign Bird Society International Show, Doll Show and the Hawaiian pavillion of Metro Caravan all open at the Centre. In August, Clive Goodwin, the Executive Director for four years leaves the Centre to pursue his first love birding. TW. Tom Thompson is welcomed in as the Executive Director. Anstace Esmonde-White, author of the book called Vegetable Gardening, graces the March 1982 issue of Trellis with an article Exotic Vegetables . Flowers, Naturally is the theme for the Garden Club of Toronto s 25th Spring Flower and Garden Show a first at the Centre! Proceeds are raised to assist the Wildflower Woods at Humber Arboretum. November of 1982 saw another change of leadership from Tommy Thompson to Gordon Wick. A garden clinic is held two times each month by Tommy Thompson at the Centre. The Centre participates in the Garden Pool and Landscape Show in 1983 at the Exhibition. Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Edwards Gardens appears in the May issue of Trellis by Ken Duncan, Past President of the Rhododendron Society of Canada (Toronto Region).
The October 1983 Trellis publishes an article by C.W. Cruickshank about his specialty, the adventures of bulbs. The first annual Edwards Memorial Lecture takes place in November with Anthony Huxley
discussing Turkish Delight (plants of course). An article by Peter Iveson about a unique horticultural experience in Ontario s Bruce Peninsula sparks an interest in Larkwhistle and Patrick Lima. This interest will continue to develop and grow through the 80s as we share the enthusiasm of Patrick and John and their special garden.
A regular and versatile writer for Trellis, June Punnett appears in the September 1984 issue with an article on *Fall Flowering Bulbs. A new contributor to Trellis is Ruta Stancikas who is a Toronto journalist and avid gardener. Ruta will provide timely gardening advice for many issues. With the close of 1984, the Centre continues to grow in membership and gardening activities.
Part Two continues in March with a look back at the most recent half of the eighties.
Anne Marie Van Nest is the Centre s horticulturist.
OUR ERROR COURSE CORRECTIONS
INTERMEDIATE SOGETSU #40102
CORRECTION OF FEE:
$45.00 members $55.00 non-members
CONTINUING WATERCOLOURS #40104B
CORRECTION OF DAY: 8 week course on Thursdays, March 29, April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3, 17, & 24.
BONSAI FOR BEGINNERS #4037
CORRECTION OF DATE: 4 week course (plus field trip) on Wednesdays, April 18, 25, May 2 & 16.
GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS #40105
CORRECTION OF DESCRIPTION: This course will teach you all you need to know in order to have a beautiful outdoor garden.
Garden Writers Symposium
by Peter Iveson
Only ten of a possible sixty-seven Canadian members attended the Garden Writers Annual Meeting (GWAA) and Mid-American Symposium held in Milwaukee Wisconsin, September 14th to 17th. Blessed with pleasant weather, beautiful gardens, interesting people, and stimulating events, found the four days educational.
Workshop topics included: print media sessions: the Wisconsin story; and Trees in the Urban Environment: Stress by Robert Skiers, city forester for Milwaukee. The excursions were excellent. One afternoon we toured the impressive tridomes where arid, tropical, and temperate displays dazzle the imagination. On Friday we toured the Boerner Botanical Garden and visited the All America Selections test area, formal and rose gardens, and the Wehr nature center. At 7 AM Saturday, buses whisked us some ninety miles to lovely Madison the state capitol nestled between two lakes. We saw the farmers outdoor market, toured the famous University of Wisconsin s arboretum, and visited the recreated virgin prairie which was founded by the famous naturalist Aldo Leopold. The best crab and lilac collection in the USA is located here. After lunch we were shown the university s research laboratory Biotron and witnessed NASA's experiment on growing potatoes in space stations.
At the Quill and Trowell Awards Banqguet three new fellows of GWAA were named and numerous special awards and scholarships were presented. Milwaukee is a jewel of an American city. It is spankingly clean and has a very European atmosphere. The Milwaukee parks system rivals Toronto s and their public relations could be a model for us.
The next garden writers (GWAA) regional meeting and Eastern Canada Symposium will take place in Ottawa, May 18th-22nd 1990.
Excerpt from Brian Bixley s introduction of Dr. Charles Nelson, the speaker at the seventh Edwards Foundation Lecture, November 7, 1989. Well over 400 members and friends attended the lecture.
Tonight we are combining two activities the Edwards Lecture, and a small party for our 25th Anniversary. | would like, before introduce our speaker, to say a few words about both of these elements in our evening.
| was not aware of the existence of the Civic Garden Centre until the early '80s, about the time when my own interest in gardening shot up dramatically. So what a happy surprise to discover the Centre, to meet people who were enthusiastic about gardening, and to be inspired by their enthusiasm and knowledge. | came to lectures. | still remember the first lecture | came to, about a Wild Garden in Toronto filled with exquisite treasures. At the end, when questions were invited, the first question was When can we come to see your garden? , and the reply came swiftly You can not come to see it it s far too fragile to have people walking through , a reply which gave me much to think about!
There was, and is, our remarkable library, where | try to spenda little time each week looking through the gardening magazines and, of course, borrowing as many books as our vigilant librarian will allow (I must add, lest you might think that | am privileged, that am probably the only member of the Centre who has to use his credit card to pay all of his fines). There were the Shop and Bookstore, and though, at that time, | was not much of a customer in the Shop, that same credit card was soon getting a good workout in the Bookstore. And all around, plants and flower arrangements, and rumbling of subterranean activity which | could not see, but could vaguely intuit.
| have by no means exhausted the list of goodies that contributed to that rumbling, but | do not intend to list them. What | want to do tonight is to pay tribute to the work and vision of those women and men
who came together somewhat more than 25 years ago, first, to create the Civic Garden Centre, and then to keep the torch burning. | am sure that there must have been dark days, days of anxiety, particularly about financing, but the Centre survived, it grew, and it continues to grow. To those pioneers who realised a dream, may | say on behalf of all of us a profound Thank-you for bequeathing us this legacy with all its possibilities. | hope you will all stay a while after tonight s lecture to share a celebratory toast.
The Edwards Foundation Lecture is of more recent vintage, but has quickly established itself as one of the most important moments of the Toronto Gardening year. It is a lecture entirely funded by The Edwards Foundation, and to the executors of the Foundation, who have helped the Centre consistently and generously for a number of years, | express on behalf of the Centre our deep appreciation. Mr. J.B. MacLellan, one of the executors, has become a considerable friend of the Centre; we know that he regrets his inability to be here this evening.
The series began in 1983, so that this is the seventh lecture. | wonder how many of us have been here for all seven, and can remember the speakers and their topics? We have, in those years, ranged through the Russian Steppes, Turkey and Iran; toured some of the finest National Trust Gardens of England and Wales, and been introduced to some of the problems of maintaining and/or recreating gardens that have been neglected. We examined the plants along the Great Wall of China, and visited the public and private gardens of Vancouver. In 1987 we were treated to a scholarly, but witty, dissection of the English Victorian Garden, and last year we learned more about the plants we might choose to grow for our flower arrangements.
This year we turn our eyes (and ears, and thoughts) to Ireland. As Dr. Nelson has written for almost two centuries, Ireland has been held in high esteem as one of the great gardening lands, a place with diversity in garden design, and the cradle of many rare plants. One of its modern
chroniclers is Dr. Charles Nelson. There are so many things that | could tell you about » him, that if | were to do so you might well
P E C @ S
wonder who was giving tonight's lecture. i So let me say briefly, that he grew up in : 0 Ireland, did his first degree in Botany in Wales, and his doctorate in Australia. He is, by vocation, a Taxonomist at the National
Specializing In The Unusual... Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, Dublin. He has written a considerable number of books and articles, particularly on the history of gardening and garden plants. Among his most-admired works is the twovolume An Irish Florilegium with the artist e : Wendy Walsh. He is active in many plant s and garden societies, particularly those BONSAI concerned with the preservation and Lml rediscovery of Irish plants. He broadcasts ;?%:Ilg?gilcus 222%\: and a%pegrs on televnsmnd I;rLrJ]Iy, a rEanhfor e Glcsiios all gardening seasons (an ope that he BAMBOO aBIG BARKETS will remember, as he speaks, that there are more seasons, and they are longer, in & VIR M/CIAE SERTER Ireland, than here!) Dr. Nelson has chosen OPEN TUES. THRU SUN. as his topic: A Heritage of Beauty Irish i K[Ngg%gasgLTST A Gardens and Their Plants . AJAX. ONTARIO L1S4S7
IKENOBO IKEBANA
Society of Toronto PRESENTS
27TH ANNUAL FLOWER SHOW THE WAY OF IKEBANA & THE TEA CEREMONY" ON SUNDAY, MARCH 25TH AT THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE 1:00 PM. TO 5:00 PM.
OFFICIAL OPENING 1:30 by SALLY
SULLIVAN
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
OF THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE ADMISSION $3.00
CONTAINERS FOR SALE TEA ROOM
Reflections from the Third Great Gardening Conference
by Heather MacKinnon
PART
You don t need us anymore. Celebrated English garden writer, Beth Chatto sounded almost wistful as she addressed the Third Great Gardening Conference last October. Of course we laughed in protest. Gardeners of Mrs. Chatto s caliber are always needed. And yet, without in any way denigrating or ignoring her tremendous contribution to the gardening world, she was in a sense right. A current movement is seeking to create an indigenous American garden and is shifting away from England and Europe.
Pamela Harper, an American speaker, expressed the same idea that a distinctive American style is evolving and from her observations, the strongest influence on that style at present, is the Japanese garden.
| have been mulling these ideas over ever since the Conference. Has Japan become a significant influence on American gardens, and if so, why? And how does this relate to the growing interest in perennial gardens and native plants.
We notice Japanese gardens because they are different. It may be that there is a trend here, but they are still an exception. What is there about Japanese gardens that attracts us now?
The Japanese garden is a reflection of Zen Budhism. Zen reached its peak in Japan in the sixteenth century, and although Shintoism is now the principal religion of Japan, Zen art styles continued to dominate Japanese taste. Nature paintings, the tea ceremony, flower arranging, and austere landscape gardening with extensive use of rocks and sand, are examples of the Zen style.
A Zen garden is a garden for contemplation. Another style of Japanese
garden is the stroll garden found around palaces, temples and country inns. These gardens take their inspiration from nature, and build the forms of the garden to duplicate earth, sky, and water, to follow the lines of the natural landscape outside the garden. The decorative elements are added last. This is a very painterly approach.
During the eighteenth century, European designers were strongly influenced by Chinese designs, especially in textiles, china, and furniture, yet the great landscape architects still looked firmly to Italy and were influenced by the paintings of Poussin and Claude. It never occured to them to try and duplicate a Chinese garden.
However, from the time the PostImpressionist painters first discovered Japanese wood-block prints used as packing paper in tea chests in the nineteenth century, the influence of Japanese artists on Western artists has been enormous. One thinks at once of Toulouse-Lautrec, of Gauguin, and of Matisse. Japanese art was one of the major contributing factors in the development of modern art (the other of course was African art).
Japanese art and architecture had a notable influence on American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and as early as 1902, he had designed the Ward Willett House in Highland Park, lllinois, that is distinctly Japanese in outline.
Avant-garde architecture is usually allied to the other visual arts, and from the thirties on, millions of houses were built in styles that were consciously trying to be modern . This was to lead to a new style of landscape architecture that could relate to
what was a new American architecture of sprawling ranch-bungalows, boxy splitlevels, and cubes of glass and steel. The formal gardens of England and Europe would have looked out of place beside these new buildings and unfenced grounds.
Ours is an age of marked eclectiscism and it is not too surprising that designers, especially those from California should turn to the Far East and particulary to Japan for inspiration. Landscape architects now at the peak of their careers would almost certainly have been influenced to some degree by the interest in Eastern religions during the sixties, particularly Zen.
Closer to home it was during this period, in 1964, that Raymond Moriyama designed the west wing of the Civic Garden Centre after fire destroyed the old Milne House. We go in and out without really seeing it, but walk around and note both the interior and exterior detail. Our Centre is very Japanese. (And the planting? Well that s Parks Department!)
The attraction of a Japanese garden is its seeming simplicity. While the pruning necessary to maintain this type of garden precludes it being completely low maintenance, the work is lower than maintaining a garden of roses or perennials. Japanese gardens lend themselves readily to small inner city back yards.
As our continent has become steadily more urbanized, as the trees planted at the beginning of the century turn our streets and yards into shady tunnels, we find ourselves, co-incidentally, and almost without noticing it, creating Japanesy gardens. Think of a typical Toronto backyard with a patch of lawn and a patio, and imagine it planted with spirea, delphiniums, roses and pinks; an English cottage garden. Then imagine that same space and replace the grass with gravel and flagstones, and the plants with lowgrowing Japanese maples, ferns, hostas, azaleas and perhaps a clump of iris. The effect will seem Japanese. With a cottage garden you try to cram in as many plants as possible. ( Cram, cram, cram , said Vita Sackville-West) The gardener becomes a
collector willy-nilly. By contrast, Japanese gardens are not collections of plants a few species are used sparingly. Raked sand, with stone lanterns are conceits that seldom work with our architecture. What makes the inner city Japanese-style work is the same thing that makes a Tokyo inner city garden work; simplicity, form, and texture, resulting in peace and serenity. The tiniest Japanese garden achieves harmony by restricting plant varieties, by using simple strong forms in the design, and by meticulous attention to detail particularly as applied to paths, fences, gates and other decorative objects. The success of a Japanese garden depends on the restrained contrast between the form of the plants and the shape of the foliage. The eye picks up the verticals, the horizontals and the curves, and relates them to the house or the scene beyond the garden.
The gardens of grasses and native perennials that are used by the contemporary American landscape architect, James van Sweden, work for the same reasons. Perceived from this perspective, once you start looking at gardens in this way, even a beautiful garden such as Sissinghurst and Sissinghurst is very beautiful can have a pittiness to it.
An added attraction for today s urbanite is that a Japanese garden looks very elegant and sophisticated. The tired executive can find refuge there while he worries about the yen and wonders why less is more doesn t apply to money-markets!
If Japan has a strong influence on American gardens at the moment, | don t think it is just the attraction of the esoteric or a desire to duplicate Japanese gardens, but rather from the effect of Japanese art forms on Western art forms throughout this century, This influence may be subtle and sub-conscious. Nor can we ignore the influence of house and garden magazines and of fashionable decorators who often admire oriental artifacts, and who today have a stronger role in shaping taste that could ever have been envisioned in an earlier age.
The effect of seventy-five years of oriental and modern art and design in our buildings, streetscapes and gardens, has more influence on us than we are sometimes aware. While trudging Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region Thanksgiving weekend, recall looking at the patterns of yellow and bronze leaves against the wet stone cliffs rising above the stream in the gorge, noting the moss and ferns growing alongside and thinking how Japanesy it was. By contrast, the Victorians would have considered such scenery to be sublime , Thompson & Morgan Seed Order
wild and untamed, to be extolled by the Romantic poets. Japanese art had not yet touched them, and Japanese economic dominence was undreamt of.
Heather MacKinnon, BFA McGill has a background in Art History. As a docent she has lectured on art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Mrs. MacKinnon has a Cert. of Landscape Architecture from Ryerson and is currently on the Executive of the Centre.
Civic Garden Centre members who would like to order Thompson & Morgan seeds directly from the New Jersey office can again pool orders this spring. Catalogues are available for consultation in the Library and Trellis Shop. A collective order will be sent on the date below. A handling charge of $1.50 (Canadian) will be added to each member s order. Thompson & Morgan offers a wide range of seeds for Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, and Annuals. Many are rare and exotic.
The order deadline is Feb. 23rd, 1990. Please leave your order with Anne Marie or Helen, Horticulturists of the Centre.
eow ry Squ reo C::Vjarde" SPECIALISTS
Knowledgeable staff
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Over 3000 different hardy plants, alpines, dwarf conifers and shrubs, Hardy ferns, vines, groundcovers and native wildflowers
Gift Certificates $IO. up (10-15-20 elc.{ by mail any time All Year
Send $2.00 for NEW (No.10) PLANT L ST by mail to above address
DOMINION SEED HOUSE | Country Garden Centre
It is amazing how flowers can transform a house into a distinctive home. The Country Garden Centre (retail outlet for Dominion Seed House) has one of the largest and most varied selections of seeds available, over 1200 varieties.
selection of box plants, perennial plants, and small flowering bulbs, available for spring planting (April/May).
Write to Dept. 09 for your FREE copy of our 1990 Gardening catalogue.
branches; composters to convert garden debris
Everything for the gardener or would-be gardener - inside or outside - winter or summer - we've got it. Extensive garden book selection, tropical house plants, indoor light systems, quality garden tools and coldframes. Steinmax Chipper/Shredders to shred leaves, plant materials and small into compost to enrich your soil next year. Drop in to-day and make your selections for this years garden. See our fabulous
Business Hours: Mon. to Fri. 9 am to 6 pm Sat. 9 am to 5 pm
Closed Sundays and Holidays, Except Victoria Day (Open 9 am to 5 pm)
Corner Guelph St. (Hwy. 7) and Maple Ave. Georgetown, Ontario L7G 4A2
Phone (416) 877-2460
Serving Canadian Gardeners since 1928
SAVE 10%
Bring this coupon before May 26/90 and receive 10% off all in-store purchases.
Volunteer Corner
by Carolyn Dalgarno
In 1989, 320 Civic Garden Centre volunteers graciously gave the following number of hours. Volunteer hours
1. The Garden ClubofToronto Show 172
2. Garden Festival 268
3. PansySale 52
4. Perennial and Annual Sale 208
5. Hanging Basket Sale 46
6. CatchThe Gardening Spirit 88
7. ThroughThe Garden Gate 400
8. Members Nights 132
9. RegularStaffing ofThe Centre 12380
10. Administrative Support (typing, filing etc.) 2,040
11. Mum Sale 52
12. Great Gardening Conference 320
13. Mistletoe Magic 650
14. Edwards Lecture 36
15. Pressed Flower Group 975
16. Tour Guides 388
17. Christmas Plant Sale 128
18. MasterGardeners 1783
Total Volunteerhours 20,088
| would like to thank you for your outstanding contribution during last year and hope you will continue your support during 1990. Your presence makesa difference to the growth and the spirit of the Civic Garden Centre.
Garden Centre
AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE e AT THE CENTRE
Coming Events at the Centre
_February 4 Geranium & Pelargonium Society of Ontario meeting 2:00pm 4 Southern Ontario Orchid Society meeting 1:00pm 6 MASTER GARDENERS MEETING 7:00pm
6 Men s Garden Club meeting 8:00pm 7 INTRODUCTION TO GARDEN DESIGN COURSE
Registration Deadline: February 2
Members $35.00 Non-members $45.00
week course 7:30 - 9:30pm
Gesneriad Society meeting 2:00 pm
Ontario Rock Garden Society meeting 1:30 pm Soviet Flora - a slide talk by Jim Eckenwalder. All visitors welcome
CONTINUING TO GROW ORCHIDS AT HOME COURSE
Registration Deadline: February 6
Members $15.00 Non-members $25.00 1 day course 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Ann Milovsoroff from the R.B.G. RBG - More than a Glorious Park
Canadian Wildflower Society Seminar 9:00 am
Ontario Rock Garden Society meeting 1:30pm
Southern Ontario Orchid Society meeting 1:00 pm 12 INTERMEDIATE SOGETSU COURSE
Registration Deadline: March 7
Members $45.00 Non-members $55.00 6 week course 1:00 - 3:00pm
12
GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS COURSE
Registration Deadline: March 7
Members $40.00 Non-members $50.00
6 week course 7:30 - 9:30 pm
12 Toronto Bonsai Society meeting 7:00pm
13 North Toronto Horticultural Society meeting 8:00pm 14 Garden Therapy 12:30pm
14 |kebana International Chapter 208 meeting 7:30 pm
18
18
Canadian Rose Society Annual meeting 2:00pm
CIVIC GARDEN CENTREVEGETABLES IN THE 90's ,
An Innovative City Vegetable Gardening Seminar 1:00pm
Members $15.00 Non-members $20.00
19 Southern Ontario Orchid Society Newcomers meeting 7:00 pm
20 Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club meeting 7:30pm
21 JANE BROWN The Art of Drawing Landscape and Gardens, 1609 to the present
Members $7.00 Non-members $10.00 7:30pm
22 JANE BROWN * Garden Building and Details of Design
22
Members $7.00 Non-members $10.00 7:30pm
Canadian Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society meeting 7:30pm
25 |kenobo lkebana Society Show 1:00 - 5:00 pm
The Way of lkebana and the Tea Ceremony
25 GARDEN CONSTRUCTION COURSE
Registration Deadline: March 21
Members $20.00 Non-members $30.00
2 week course 1:30 - 3:30 pm
25 York Rose & Garden Society meeting 2:00pm
25 Rhododendron Society of Canada meeting 2:00 pm
29 CONTINUING WATERCOLOURS COURSE
Registration Deadline: March 26
Members $68.00 Non-members $78.00
8 week course 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
From the Library
by Pamela MacKenzie
Some recent additions to the library.
ATTRACTING BACKYARD WILDLIFE: a guide for nature-lovers, by Bill Merilees. Vancouver, Whitecap Books, 1989.
CLEMATIS, THE QUEEN OF CLIMBERS; 3rd ed., by Jim Fisk, London, Cassell, 1989.
THE COMPLETE VEGETABLE GARDENER S SOURCEBOOK; rev. ed. by Duane and Karen Newcomb. New York, Prentice Hall, 1989.
CREATING SMALL FORMAL GARDENS, by Roy Strong. London, Conran Octopus, 1989.
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FLOWER
ARRANGING:; decorating with fresh, dried and pressed flowers, by Rona Coleman and Sylvia Pepper. Secaucus, NJ, Wellfleet Press, 1989.
THE GARDENER'S DAY BOOK by Richardson Wright. New York, PAJ Publications, 1989.
SECRET GARDENS; Creating romantic retreats by Alan Toogood. London, Ward Lock, 1987.
From the Bookshop
by Libra Phylum
The bookshop is brimming with new arrivals. Shiny and colourful, the photographs so glorious that as you pick them up, browsing and flipping, it seems hard to choose the perfect book. You go back to the first one you picked up, then to the next, until sighing you realize lovely pictures, not much text. Shall you buy one knowing that you will only look at it once or twice? Suddenly you feel like shouting, Where's the beef?
Private Landscapes. Creating Form, Vistas and Mystery in the Garden by Caroline Seebohm and Christopher Simon Sykes, Clarkson Potter Inc., $47.00 251 pages
Private Landscapes by Caroline Seebohm and Christopher Simon Sykes is one of the more satisfying new arrivals. At first glance, another coffee table book, there is more to it than most, if not for the plantsman, for anyone interested in landscape and garden design. In fact the book does not tell you how to create form, vistas and mystery as the sub-title indicates but does show how some good gardeners have managed to create these elements in their gardens.
Ms. Seebohm has chosen 19 private gardens, 11 American and 8 English, and has devoted a chapter to each. The chapters are preceded by delicately coloured site plans so that you have some idea of the overall scale. The photographs by Mr. Simon Sykes are excellent, shot for clarity rather than just artistry.
While | found the introduction selfconscious in style, the descriptions are lively and interesting. The usual failing of this type of book applies here: insufficient identification of plants but there are lists of sources in the Appendix. | would buy Private Landscapes for three of the gardens alone, that of the painter Robert Dash, of Dr. James M. Hester, the President of the New York Botanical Gardens, and of an anonymous Kentucy horse farm designed by Morgan Wheelock.
Although some of the gardens have appeared in magazines, most have not been reproduced in a book before. A good book to curl up with and dream!
Clematis by Christopher Lloyd and Tom Bennett. Viking, $35.00 216 pages. lllustrated.
Everyone who grows and loves clematis (and all Torontonians should with our alkaline soil) will be interested to know that Christopher Lloyd s quintessential book on clematis has been revised and reissued. He hasn't mellowed with the years, crustier than ever in fact, which adds a chuckle to our learning. This book should be on every gardeners shelf. Plenty of beef!
WINNERS OF THE RAFFLE HELD AT MISTLETOE MAGIC
1st Mrs. P. Ruddock
55 High Mount Drive Willowdale M2K 1X3
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
Mrs. G. Gray
92 Rykert Crescent Toronto M4G 2S9
Julie D Agostino
30 Whitewood Rd. Toronto M4S 2X7
T. Kuwahara
23 Droxford Ave. Scarborough M1R 1K1
Connie Stitt
333 Cedar St. Midland L4R 4M3
Anne Bawden
46 The Bridle Path Willowdale M2L 1C8
Mary Mordy
217 Forest Hill Rd. Toronto M5P 2N3
Catalogue available on request
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NURSERIES
(416) 562 4836
P O Box 98 ® Martin Road Vineland Station, Ont. LOR 2EO0
Vegtables in the 90s
Sunday, March 18, 1:00 p.m.
An afternoon seminar, focusing on new, innovative ways to grow vegetables will be held at the Civic Garden Centre.
Ken Mullen, Past President, Canadian Organic Growers Organic City Vegetable Gardening
John Gale, President, Stokes Seeds New Vegetables for the 90s
Shirley Irvine, Lifetime Vegetable Gardener Small Gardens Can Grow Vegetables!
Displays and Exhibits
During the 10 minute breaks between speakers, refreshments will be served.
Members $15
Non-Members $20
Please register me for Vegetables in the 90s Limited Enrolment Registration Deadline March 12th
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Sea Onion... Sea Quill... ?
by M. Eleanor Irwin
Most indoor gardeners worry about mealy bugs and spider mites, leaves turning yellow, flowering plants refusing to flower. | have an indoor plant which is doing all too well. Its leaves are bright green and longlasting, it is impervious to insects and it continues to flower in spite of any adversity to which | can subject it.
| acquired this plant from a colleague when | saw a green bulb in a pot on his filing cabinet. The bulb was 3 or 4 centimetres in diameter, sunk halfway into the soil with a few leaves growing from it and two or three smaller bulbs beside it. | am an easy mark for bulbs of any kind and | jump at the chance of acquiring plants which can tolerate the dry air and low light of my office. This plant seemed an ideal candidate and | accepted gratefully a bulblet complete with roots and a wisp of leaf. The owner had no botanical name for the plant; he knew it only as a sea onion.
For three years it grew happily on my north-facing window sill, adding leaf after leaf. It needed a lot of water not surprising for something called a sea onion, | supposed but otherwise tolerated temperature changes and other office hardships. What it lacked in beauty, it made up in sturdiness.
Last year | took it home to grow under lights. It put on new leaves rapidly, each broader and longer than its predecessor. Small bulbs formed around its circumference, which matched that of a large Spanish onion, and where they touched the soil, rooted and leafed out. One momentous day | noticed a flower stem emerging. With the prospect of flowers, | would at last, | thought, be able to identify the bulb and give it a more precise name than sea onion. When the stem was about a metre high, the raceme of flowers began to open, each flower white with yellow stigmas and a pencil-thin line on each of the six petals from the centre to the outer edge.
The flowers opened one by one, beginning with the lowest, The stem continued to stretch out and, as it stretched, developed an unlovely twist. The flowers passed through their life cycle from bud to bloom to seed case, with some actually producing black three-sided seeds, perhaps fertilized by visiting bees which had invaded our house. Long before this point the bulb could no longer be accommodated under lights and had been moved to the solarium.
An examination of flowers and seeds suggested that the bulb probably belonged to the lily family. | found a picture of an asphodel, a member of that family, which was not unlike my sea onion, except that the asphodel had a shorter and finer stem. Another member, the sea squill, Urginea maritima, seemed a more likely candidate, though its flower stem stood straight, not contorted like my onion at least in the illustration | found.
The last flower on the stem opened and closed. cut the stem off and discarded it, and waited for the bulb to die, having read that the sea squill produces one flower stem and dies. Not my bulb. With no signs of faltering, it produced a second flower stem and a third. As | write, its fourth stem is at least a metre high, with the third still flowering, though now contorted into a green pretzel with a total length of about three metres.
What am | to do? | have tried to discourage its growth by reducing the light that reaches it. It sits on the floor behind a chair, so that the erratic flower stems are all that is visible. Next summer | may sink the pot in the garden and would it be cruel? forget to bring it in before the frost. But, having learned my lesson about the exhilarating effects of bright light, am again keeping a sea onion a daughter of my original bulb and enjoying its few wisps of green. It is on a north window-sill, and there it will stay.
Professor Irwin is a member of the Centre and enjoys plants. She prefers indoor gardening.
Catch the Gardening Spirit on April 22nd
The popular one day programme for gardeners will be held at the Civic Garden Centre on Sunday, April 22nd. The focus this year is perennial gardening. Perennials are an economical way to provide a foundation for the garden, eliminate planting the whole garden every year and add years of lasting enjoyment with a minimum of effort.
Patrick Lima will speak on 10 major perennials and companion groupings with emphasis on how to acquire and maintain these plants. Kim Delaney developes the site from lawn to perennial bed with special attention to soil, mulches and the compost heap. Dorothea Lovat Dickson' s topic is Great Expectations , new gardens for a new environment. Part of the day will be devoted to the design of perennial gardens with Marion Moore. During the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to informally discuss any specific problems with the speakers. A juice bar, herbal tea and coffee are included in the fee and will be available during the breaks. See next month s Trellis for further information.
We offer early registration to our members because enrolment is limited. Last year s program was sold out so please register early to avoid disappointment.
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NN AL =N\Y
Jane Brown
The Art and Architecture of English Gardens 1609 to the present
March 21st and 22nd 7:30 p.m.
The Civic Garden Centre is pleased to welcome back Jane Brown the internationally acclaimed English garden historian who provided us with a delightful lecture series in 1988. This year we look forward to hearing about two different aspects of our gardening heritage.
Wednesday, March 21st The Art of Drawing Landscapes and Gardens 1609 to the present
Thursday, March 22nd Garden Buildings and Details of Design
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PLANTS as Fertilizers
by Mary Perlmutter
In this column introduce two plants that can be used as fertilizers.
Alfalfa has deep tap roots which fix nitrogen and bring iron phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and trace minerals to the top soil from the sub soil. If you have a large property, grow a patch of alfalfa to cut for mulch. For smaller gardens | plant alfalfa between my rows and cut it with the lawn mower about every two weeks in the quick-growing spring.
Alfalfa is a perennial and should be allowed to grow about a foot the first year before the first cutting. Once established, it provides a great weed-free mat for your garden paths. The mulch gradually breaks down over the summer, supplying nitrients that will be taken up by the vegetables the following year. Alfalfa can also be made into a foliar spray by soaking the leafy tops of the plants in a pail of water for two or three days. Strain and pour the water around heavy feeders like broccoli, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes and peppers.
Comfrey is another fine high-potassium fertilizer. You need only one plant to provide a foliar spray for your fruiting plants. It also has a very deep tap root. When the leaves were analysed they were found to contain calcium, phosphorus, much potassium, vitamin A, C and B 12. They also contain allantoin, a substance useful in treating cuts and burns.
Organic gardeners make a foliar spray by soaking the comfrey leaves in a pail of water or by putting a few leaves in the blender, straining the mixture through an old nylon stocking and then storing it in a spray bottle. | start spraying as soon as | see plants like tomato, pepper, eggplant, okra and berries to set fruit. This spray seems to prevent cracked skin, blossom end rot and fungus diseases like verticulum and fusarium blight.
When ordering herbs be sure to order a comfrey plant. Do not let it go to seed though; it won t go to seed if you keep using the leaves.
Mary Perlmutter is President of The Canadian Organic Growers, a Master Gardener, and a Volunteer at the Centre.
LOVE PLANTS BUT KILL THEM?
LOVE PLANTS AND GOING AWAY?
LOVE UNUSUAL PLANT DESIGNS? CALL FOR EVER GREEN
Barbara Furlong 482-7120 for
* A Plant Consultation
* A Plant Sitter
* A Topiary Frame
* A Topiary or Living Basket
Questions and Answers
A sampling of the questions answered by The Master Gardeners at the Civic Garden Centre hotline.
The hotline is staffed daily from 12:00 until 3:00 p.m.
1. | recently moved my Ficus benjamina from a hallway to the living room and now all ofits leaves are dropping. Whatcan | do?
The Weeping Fig or Benjamina does not like to be moved. The accompanying leaf drop is a temporary reaction to the stress. When the tree settles and becomes accustomed to the new environment it will leaf out again. Make sure it is not located in a draft area and that it will get moderate light (at least 8 hours daily). This plant does not tolerate being overwatered.
2. My African Violet will not bloom. It had a lot of flowers regularly for several years, but now it only has leaves. | moved it out of the window last fall. How can | get it to bloom again?
Your African Violet is probably not getting enough hours of light. At this time of the year, they perform best in a draft-free east window. To stimulate blooming, lengthen the hours of light to 16-18 each day. This can be accomplished by putting the plant under a strong fluorescent light when darkness falls. These plants like high humidity, so keep them on a tray of pebbles rising above the water. Ensure that they are kept moist but not wet and fed regularly. Do not repot the African Violet into too large a pot, it will flower better if the roots are kept compact.
3. There are little black insects on the soil of my Geranium plant. They are like little midges and fly up when | disturb the plant. How can | get rid of these pesky insects?
The insects are probably fungus gnats. The immature form feeds on organic matter and may damage young rootlets. Use a soil insecticide to control the larvae. This is dusted on the soil and worked into the upper layer. Most nurseries carry an indoor potted plant soil insecticide dust. Do not overwater your geranium, let the soil dry out between waterings. Fungus gnats
are becoming more of a problem now that soil-less, highly organic potting mixes are being used.
A warm welcome is extended to ten new participants in the Master Gardener program. Commencing January 1990, Jack Adams, Catherine Cox, Mary Glendenning, Glen Hutzul, Jane Larson, Mary Mordy, Latifa Nanney, Phyllis Shepherd, Robert Smith, and Mary West will join the group. Each of the volunteers have unigue gardening interests and talents to bring to the Master Gardener group here at the Centre.
Tour Guides
Did you know that in 1989 the Civic Garden Centre s Tour Guides led 80 regular tours and 18 booked tours through Edwards Gardens? Approximately 912 people participated in these tours.
Join us May through September for A Walk In The Park . The flora, fauna and gentle rustle of nature appeal to every age group.
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Design, planting, projects in wood, stone and concrete. Water features Book Now NORDIC GARDENS 493-4702
GARDEN ORNAMENTATION A
TRADITION OF DECORATIVE ART RECREATED FOR YOU
Choose from an exciting selection of highly durable bonded marble sculptures adaptable to contemporary, rustic or formal landscapes and interiors.
Frogs e Bunnies e Statuary e Planters e Sundials
Civic Garden Centre Executive Committee
President: Dr. Brian Bixley
1st Vice-President: Mrs. Susan Macaulay
2nd Vice-President: Mr. Klaus Bindhardt
Treasurer: Mr. Kenneth H.C. Laundy
Member: Mrs. Anne Bawden
Member: Mrs. Heather MacKinnon
Board of Directors
For 1989: Mrs. Anne Bawden, Mr. Klaus Bindhardt, Dr. Brian Bixley, Mrs. Barbara Brown, Mrs. Eliane Hooft, Mrs. Doreen Martindale, Mrs. Heather MacKinnon.
For 1989 and 1990: Mrs. Cicely Bell, Mr. Stuart Gilchrist, Mr. Alan Grieve, Mr. Kenneth H.C. Laundy, Mrs. Susan Macaulay, Ms. Laura Rapp.
For 1989, 1990 and 1991: Ms. Georgina Cannon, Mr. William Granger, Mrs. Bayla Gross, Mrs. Judy Lundy, Mr. Robert Saunders, Mrs. Robin Wilson. Mr Victor Portelli, Representative of Metropolitan Toronto Parks and Property.
For the love ofgardens,
When you re at work on the garden you love, remember SheridarfNurseries. At Sheridan, we have the finest selection of nursery stock in
Canada, including over 750 types of plants and trees grown on our own farms. And all of our nursery stockis guaranteed for one full year. If you need any advice to help make your - .garden even lovelier, just ask. Adviceis freehand our staffis expert. They ll helpin any way they can all for the love of gardens, at Sheridan. gll-JlElS{lElglAEh!
LANDSCAPE DEPARTMENT: Metropolitan Toronto, Markham, Mississauga and Oakville 822-7575
MISSISSAUGA PICKERING UNIONVILLE KITCHENER 606 Southdown Rd. 1755 Pickering Pkwy. 4077 Hwy. #7, 100 Elmsdale Rd., Mississauga L5J 2Y4 Pickering L1V 1CO Unionville L3R 1L5 Kitchener N2E 1H6 Tel. 822-0251 Tel. 428-6316 Tel. 477-2253 Tel. 743-4146 TORONTO
2827 Yonge St., 700 Evans Ave., 847 King St. W., Toronto M4N 2J4 Etobicoke M3C 1A1 Oshawa L1J 2L4 Tel. 481-6429 Tel. 621-9100 Tel. 728-9429
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The Civic Garden Centre warmly welcomes new members. Join us, and you will hare the same interest in gardening, the floral arts and horticulture tion to the many exciting classes, garden shows, speakers, clubs-within-the-Centre, etc., that will be available to you, our membership fee entitles
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