Trellis

The newsletter of the Civic Garden Centre in Metropolitan Toronto May, 1995 Volume 22, Number 5

The YRRT sden Gate

T he Ciyvre GardenCentbtr &xpresents Sthades of the Humber dittomiriioE private gardeinls & James Gardens

Saturday June 17th & Sunday June 18th

Civic Ga General

The Civic Garde ture and the related arts. It is 0228114-56.

Located in E: York, the Centre

The Civic Gar is and shows. Plea grodis

Vol.22 No.5

Hours:

Summer(April1 May 1995

noon to 5:00 p.n weekends and hq

Telephone: Are

Main number: 3

Rentals: 397-134

Library: 397-134

Gardening hotlir

Civic Garden Centre

Board of directors:

Chair: Robin Wilson

Members: Cicely Bell

Mary Anne Brinckman

Bayla Gross

John Howard

Louise Kappus

Nancy Laurie

Peter Lewis

Mary Mingie

David Money

Maureen Naylor

Anthea O'Reagan

Lynne Robbins

Helen Shaw

Roger Silverthorne

Honorary counsel: Aird and Berlis

larity number

East in North ross Ontario. ions, exhibits Lnd holidays

to 4:00 p.m.;

Staff members:

Accounts: Janie Brentnall

Trellis Editor: Iris Hossé Phillips

Horticulturists:

Anne Marie Van Nest

Helen Craig

Librarian: Pamela MacKenzie

Maintenance supervisor:

Walter Morassutti

Rental agent: Betsy Chubb

Secretary: Shirley Lyons

Trellis Shop assistant manager: Barbara Stevenson

Volunteer co-ordinator and publicity: Carolyn Dalgarno

Volume 22, Number 5

Editor: IrisHossé Phillips

Editorial co-ordinator: Leslie Lynch

Advertisinginformation: (416) 397-1340

Printed by Raised Image, Etobicoke, on recycled paper

Trellis ispublished tentimesayearas amembers newsletter by the Civic Garden Centre, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, North York, Ontario M3C 1P2. Telephone: (416) 397-1340.

Manuscripts submitted on a voluntary basis are gratefully received. No remuneration is possible.

Articles, manuscripts and advertising material must be received by the 15th of the month to insure publication six weekslater. Forexample,materialreceivedbyJuly15willbe included in the September issue of Trellis.

Opinions expressed within Trellis do not necessarily reflect thoseoftheCentre. Submissionsmaybeeditedforstyleand clarity.

Editor's note

By Iris Phillips

A few years ago the University of Guelph published information on the no till technique. The benefits include improvement in the quality of the soil and plant growth. By not turning the soil and keeping it covered with mulch or living plants, the gardener or farmer improves the soil s tilth and ability to release nutrients.

A report from Ohio State University states that tilling disrupts soil structure andreleasesthesoil scarbonintotheairas carbon dioxide. Emissions from industry and automobiles are most often cited as sources of carbon dioxide and other carbon-basedgasesthatmaychangetheearth s atmosphereandallowatmosphericwarming by the sun. But a bigger factor...is that the world s soils contain twice as much carbon as the air. There are about 1.5 trillion metric tons of carbon in the top meter oftheearth s surface. And it s nothard for that carbon to be released as carbon dioxide. The key to slowing the release is to reduce the amount of time that soil is exposedtotheair.Thisyear |amexperimenting with the no till technique in a small section ofmygarden andwonderhow my plants will fare.

Vegetable gardening is increasing in popularity and gardeners are giving part of their space to that endeavour. In the past, the emphasis has been on the taste, size, yield and quality of the vegetable. However, new directions at research stations aim to develop vegetables with outstanding nutritional qualities. In the next few years gardeners will be able to obtain seeds to grow high-carotene orange cauliflowers and orangetti spaghetti squash. Wow!

Thedeadlinefor theJuly/August issueofTrellis isMay 15.

A guide to the Centre s pIaht sales

TheCivicGarden Centre s Mayplantsalesoffermembersandthe publicthechance to purchase quality plants in a convivial atmosphere. Dedicated, knowledgeable volunteers are on hand to assist with plant selection, location and care. There s service with a smile including help transporting your purchases to your car!

Bringyourmembership card to receive your 10% discount.

Sale of perennial plants

Members day: Friday, April 28, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Public sale: Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 1, 2 and 3, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Hanging basket sale

Wednesday, May 3, noon to 5:00 p.m.

Thyme for herbs

Members day: Friday, May 12, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14, noon to 5:00 p.m.

Sale of annual plants

Members order pick-up, Wednesday, May 17, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00p.m.

Plant order forms must be receivedby May 8 to obtain 10% discount on May 17.

Public days:

Thursday, May 18, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Friday, May 19, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 20, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 21, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday, May 22, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Encourage your friends and neighbours to shop for exceptional plants at competitive prices at our sales.

AN EDWARDS FOUNDATION GARDEN EVENING

Tuesday, May 30

7:30 p.m.

GARDENING ON THE w97£D SIDE

with Frank Kershaw

Environmentally smartgardening, habitat gardening,wildflowergardeningandnaturalisticgardeningarethecurrentrage. Gardening on the wild side emphasizes informal plant arrangements, year-round resultsandarealrespectfornativespecies. It is not, however, an excuse for design-free gardeningassuccessrequiresaknowledge ofplants, their cultural requirements, and their design potential. Gardening on the wild side offers opportunities for self expression,beautyandpersonalsatisfaction.

Frank Kershaw, a well known horticulturist, parks official, lecturer and frequent contributortogardenpublications,willexplore this thought-provoking subject. Frank s passion for this subject is infectious.

TheEdwardsFoundation Garden Evenings arefunded by the Edwards CharitableFoundation which helps the Civic Garden Centre provide its members and the public with exciting and varied presentations on topics related to gardening. There is no admission charge for members ofthe Centre; non-members, $4.

%) MILNE

HOUSE GARDEN CLUB

presents theirAnnual Flower Show

Herbal Delighits and Moke...

WhileFoodNourishes theBody FlowersNourish theSoul

TUESDAY, JUNE20, 1995

% 12 noon to 8:00p.m.

CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE (EDWARDS GARDENS) LAWRENCE AT LESLIE NORTH YORK, ONTARIO

Featuring presentations by well-known lecturer MARILYN EDMISON-DRIEDGER

*ADMISSION: $5.00IN ADVANCE $6.00ATDOOR

For tickets call: (416) 449-3664

Horticulture, Floral Designs, Tea Room, Educational Corners Free Parking, RampedAccess

* Proceeds go to outreach projects.

Inwiteyourfriends to Through the Garden Gate on SaturdayJune 17and SundayJune18. Rainorshine. Tickets$15.

Art by Margaret Collins

THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

A tour of21 privategardens

Dates: Saturday, June 17 and Sunday June 18

Time: Noon to 4:00 p.m.

Shuttle buses will serviceJames Gardensfor one hour before and after the tour.

Nearest subway stop : Old Mill Shuttle buses will be availablefrom here.

Admission: $15 0 ease add a $1 service charge if you wou ' Please add a $1 service charge if y ld b, likeyour tickets mailed to you.

Shades of the Humber

Featuring: The Etobicoke/York area ofToronto includingBaby Point and the Kingsway. With extra time to visit James Gardens, one ofMetro Toronto s outstandinggarden parks.

Hlghhghts include: a significant rhododendron and azalea collection

- an award-winning cottage-style garden

- terraced gardens some with a beautiful river view

- agarden in theJapanese style

- estate gardens and intimate gardens

- anew perennial garden

- gardens for family recreation and others for formal entertaining

Some have been professionally designed, others have been carefully developed and nurtured to maturity by their owners.

Thegardenshaveonethingincommon theyappealtothosewholovegardensand are interested in what others have created. Master Gardeners in each garden will help identify plant material.

Thetourhasbeencarefullyconceivedbyanewcommitteewhosemembersarepleased to present an area which has never been on our tour before. The area is historic and beautiful.

For your comfort:

The Baby Point Community Centre, a small cottage in the Baby Point area, will serve as a refreshment stop as well as the place to pick up a free garden giftbag, buy a poster, obtain an official tour program (with more complete descriptions of gardens and plant material) or just take a break.

How the tour works:

Whenyoupurchaseaticket,amapisincludedaswellasbriefgardendescriptionsand shuttle bus route. You may begin the tour at any garden and continue in any order you want. Lookforthenearestshuttlebus stopandletoursevenbuses takeyou around. We encourage you to find parking along the route and use the shuttle service to see the rest ofthegardens. Thegardensaregroupedsoitispossibletoseeallofthemduringthistime.

To purchase tickets:

Orderyourticketsearlyto avoid disappointment. Thetourisoftena sellout. Youcan orderyourticketsbyreturningtheorderforminthisissueofTrellis (page20)orbycalling (416) 397-1340 and using VISA or MasterCard. (For an additional $1 service charge, we will mail your tickets to you.) Tickets are also availableat theCivic GardenCentre office and the Trellis shop.

The tour will be held rain or shine. Tickets are not interchangeable and there are no refunds. This is a fund-raising event for the Civic Garden Centre.

For the love of gardens.

When you're at work on the garden you love, remember Sheridan Nurseries. At Sheridan, we have expert staff to help you, and the finest selection of nursery stock in Canada, including . V o over 750 types of plants and trees grown on 5 our own farms. And all of our nursery stock ' is guaranteed for two full years! Need any advice to help make your garden even lovelier? Gardens By Sheridan landscape designers offer everything from peerless consultation and planning to complete construction and maintenance services. All for the love of

gardens, at Sheridan Nurseries.

ETOBICOKE ~ MISSISSAUGA TORONTO KITCHENER

UNIONVILLE 700EvansAvenue 606SouthdownRoad 2827 YongeStreet 100ElmsdaleRoad 4077Hwy. #7 EtobicokeM9C 1Al ~ MissisaugaL5]2Y4 TorontoM4N2J4 KitchenerN2E 1H6 ~ Unionville L3R 115 Tel: (416) 621-9100 Tel: (905) 822-0251 Tel: (416) 481-6429 Tel: (519) 743-4146 Tel: (905) 477-2253

GARDENSBYSHERIDAN:Metropolitan Toronto, Markbam, Mississauga andOakville Tel: (905) 822-7575

Don t delay!

Sign up for the Centre s summer get-away tours

Tour # 1

Walkerton, Chestow, Durham, Hockley Valley and King

Tuesday, June 20

Members $70, non-members $80

Cancellation deadline: June 9

Highlights:

» the 18th-century ferme ornée of Douglas Chambers

» the country garden of George and Karen Maier

» the garden of Patricia and Bill Harris designed by Dorothea Lovat-Dickson

» the garden of rare plants and ornamental grasses of garden designer and plantsman Brian Fulmer the perennial garden of plantswoman Liz Knowles

Lunch at the Grey Rose Café in Hanover.

Tour # 2

Milton, Guelph, Campbellville

Wednesday, July 12

Members $67, nom-members $77

Cancellation deadline: June 30

Highlights:

* the secret garden of the Milton Town Hall

e garden of Linda Schaffhauser on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment

* the garden of plantsman Trevor Ashbee

¢ the garden of Victor Chanasky, the founder and first director of the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph the garden of plant collector Kathy Peterson the rural property of Pickletree Farm which has a large selection of garden accents and statuary from Europe and North America for purchase.

Lunch will be served at a local restaurant.

A registration form is on page 20. Full details of the tours are listed in the April issue of Trellis.

VOLUNTEER CORNER

Carolyn Dalgarno, volunteer co-ordinator

HERB SALE:

The Centre s Herb Sale will be held this year onMay 12. We need volunteers for set up on May 11 as well as for the actual sale on May 12, May 13 and May 14.

SALE OF ANNUALS:

Volunteers are needed for the Civic Garden Centre s Sale of Annuals. It takes approximately 100volunteers, eachworkingafour-hourshift, tostaffthissale. Ifyou haveanytimeavailablefromMay 16 throughMay22,pleasecall usat (416) 397-1351. It is particularly difficult to fill the evening and weekend shifts.

Dates:

May 15 and 16 : annuals arrive at 9:00 a.m. Volunteers needed to help unload and display

May 17 : members pre-order pickup. Volunteers needed for regular shifts between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

May 18and 19: publicsale. Volunteersneededforregularshiftsbetween 10:00 am. and 8:00 p.m.

May 20 and 21: sale will continuebetween noon and 5:00 p.m. on these days May 22 (until sold out): public sale continues 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Job descriptions:

Cashier: a knowledge of cash register procedures and the ability to handle cash in busy times.

CashierHelper: all VISA, MasterCard and chequetransactionswillbepassed to the Cashier s Helper after being rung into the cash register.

PlantSales: theimportanttaskofselling. Helpingpeoplelocatetheplantsthey want quickly. Communication skills are helpful.

Plant Carryout : our service makes the difference! Assist people to their cars with their purchases. Carts are available.

Plant Care: volunteers are often moved to this position from other tasks. Involves watering and often filling tables and moving plants.

Members Pick-up: order forms are placed inalphabetical orderand handed to members when they arrive.

Plant Sale Set Up: a time for physical activity. Often dirty but always fun!

MasterGardeners: weliketohavesomeoneoneveryshiftwhois knowledgeable and ableto advise. The membersand thepublic have come to rely on this important service.

Green Thumb Days

Childrenfromseventhrough11 yearsareinvitedtolearnaboutplants,gardening,the environment, nature and crafts. The Civic Garden Centre s Green Thumb Days are an unique educational and recreational experience. Each program is led by the Centre s horticulturists and special volunteer guests from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The Awesome AdventuresTourisawholedayfrom9:30a.m.to2:00p.m. Arefreshingsnackofjuiceand fruitwillbeservedduringeachmorning. Raindoesn tstopgardeningandnature,neither will it stop Green Thumb Days. Please be prepared for all weather!

Cost for all programs is $10 except the Awesome Adventure Tour $15.

Insect Inspectors:July

11, August 15 and August 22

A mini hike through the wilds ofWilket CreekPark to spot nature at itsbest. Inspectors will search for strange and wonderful land critters. Exploration of this type needs long pants and running shoes.

Noticing Nature: July 12

Budding scientists will enjoy this program full ofnature experiments How acid is our rain? What makes soil acidic? How are trees different from each other?

Plentiful Plants: July 18 and August 17

Multiplyingplantsinmanyways. Practiseonourplantsandtakehomeyourownbabies. All participants will adopt many plants.

Creative Crafts: July 20, August

16 and August 24

Let your artistic talents loose! Learn how to create crafts with dried flowers, pine cones and other recycled natural products and make your own creations.

Plants Plus: August 1

Investigate plants in all shapes and sizes. From the miniature plants in your own terrarium creation to caring for your own clean air plant. All participants take home a helpful plant. Please bring a large pickle type clearjar.

AwesomeAdventuresTour:July19andAugust23, 9:30t02:00p.m.

A fulldayhikeintoSunnybrookParktounravelthemysteriesofthenaturalworld. This adventure requires that Mom or Dad pack a high energy lunch for nourishment.

A registration form will be included in the June issueof Trellis. Orphone now (416) 397-1340 to register.

Books in review

Reviewed by Susan Perenackand Barbara Stevenson

DAVID TARRANT S CANADIAN GARDENS

DavidTarrants

ByDavid Tarrant (ranadianGardens and the editors ofCanadian Gardening, $34.95

An armchair tour of20 spectacular gardens across Canada with David Tarrant introducing you to the insightful and knowledgeable owners and creators of the gardens. Features 110 full-colour photos, detailed gardenplansand informativesidebarswithpracticaltips forrecreating special elements.

LIVING FENCES

A gardener s guide to hedges, vines and espaliers

By Ogden Tanner, $19.95

This new book explores a natural alternative to high, unsightly and sometimesexpensivefenceswhichensureprivacybutsendaforbiddingmessage toneighboursand passers-by. Instead,amoregraceful,lesscostlyandmore friendly method is to use shrubs, trees, formal and informal hedges of various kinds or colourful vertical gardens supported by trellises, wires, fences or walls.

With tips on choices, planting and propagating plants and shrubs, pruningand othermaintenance suggestions, thisbookdetails,withcolour ful photographs, the beauty of living fences.

Trellis book shop offers personal service

The Centre s Trellis book shop has over 2,000 titles in stock; special orders are filled on any book in print. Call (416) 397-1359 or 397-1357 to place your order orfax us at (416) 397-1354. We will giveyour requestVIP attention andyourorderwill befilled as promptly as possible. As a member, you receive a 10% discount on most book purchases.

In the library

By Pamela MacKenzie, Civic Garden Centre librarian

Here are some of the most recent additions to the Centre s library:

The undaunted garden: planningfor weather-resistant beauty, by Lauren Springer. Plants ofCarolinian Canada, by Larry Lamb and Gail Rhynard.

Beatrix: thegardening life ofBeatrix Jones Farrand, 1872 - 1959, by Jane Brown. Thegardens at Filoli, by Timmy Gallagher.

The all-seasons garden, by John Kelly.

The American gardener s world of bulbs: bulbs for formal and informal gardens, by Judy Glattstein.

Trellis, May 1995

BYDAVID TARRANT

adtheEdtorsofg

Plant of the month: Nicotiana langsdorfii

By Anna Leggatt

Nicotiana, or flowering tobacco, is one of myfavouriteannuals. Today,youcanfind hybrids in a range of pinks, reds, purples, yellows,greensandwhites,evenchocolate coloured,andsomewithdifferentcoloured eyes. Theyvaryinsizefrom15cm(6inches) to 150cm (5 feet). Many are intensely fragrant, particularly in the evening.

Thenewerhybridsarebushyandshort. Theflowersizeisaboutthesameasthetall species, or even larger. If you want really short ones, look for theMerlin series. They are about 15 cm with clear colours.

TheDominoseries(30cm)flowersearly, is good in containers and is heat resistant. ThemostcommonlyavailableisthepopularNickiseries. Theseareupto50cmhigh, bushy and suitable for a wide range of situations.

Ipreferthetaller,morefragrantspecies. They can be grown in partial shade or full sun. As they are taller, they are excellent background plants in the mixed border. Theyarealsogood forcuttingand willlast in the house for three or four days. My favourite at the moment is Nicotiana langsdorfii. (It is also spelled langsdorffii. 1 used the RHS spelling.) This is 100 to 150 cm in height with small down-hanging green tubes, opening out into green cups, about 1.5 cm across.

If you look closely, the stamens inside the cup are bluish! It is intensely fragrant and is useful in a quiet corner or a cool border. As evening approaches, wafts of scent drift along in the warm summer breezes.

The other large species I like is N. sylvestris. Theleavesarelarge,crinklyand spoon-shaped. Theflowersarepurewhite, danglingdowninlargeclusters. Theflow-

ers are about the same size as most of the hybrids, but they are at the end of flower tubes 7cm long.

If you start plants indoors, sow about April1. Theyneedlightforgermination,so donotcoverthefineseed. Keepabout24°C and plant out after all danger of frost has passed. They may even self-seed in the garden. Theplantsarenotfussyaboutsoil, but the sizeofthe plant will reflect the soil conditions.

[ like smelly plants by my pool so I can get the scent as I swim. The border is very narrow so I will try N. sylvestris and not feed it or water it much.

Some nicotianas are halfhardy, so they may overwinter ifyou plant them close to the house. Constant, deep snow will help. In spite of being toxic, the stems frequentlyattractaphids,tobefound stuckin the sticky hairs.

NicotianawillprovidecolourfromJuly to frost.

Anna Leggatt is a Toronto Master Gardener and editor of the Journal of the Ontario Rock Garden Society.

Look for nicotiana in the Centre s sale of annual plants. Species and hybrids will be offered.

Course comments

By Ada Brzeski, course co-ordinator

Forthenextfewmonths,manypeoplewill enjoy activities related to the outdoors. Alongwithgardeningtherearemanypleasurable outdoor activities. My personal favorite is talking longwalks in thewoods atmyparents cottagenearAlgonquinPark. The outing is more enjoyable if you can learn to identify the plants and wildlife.

There are several courses designed for that purpose: on May 7, Kurt Crist from TheBackyardNaturalistwillgivealecture and bird-watching walk around Edwards Gardens. Michael Biro willguide anexpe-

CLASSIFIED

For sale: Thirteen-acre wooded estate 4.5 acres extensively landscaped. Main housewith two-storeyglazedsunroomplusa2,000-squarefoot guest house. On Civic GardenCentre tour in 1994. c/o Family Trust, Newmarket, Bev Bainbridge, (905) 895-7331.

Contents saleofantiques, May 13 and 14: Pine, countryfurnishings, originalcastironurns,old seating, stone carvings, wicker work and outdoor art. Ron Windebank, (416) 962-2862 or (905) 473-9827.

Merlin s Hollow garden open Saturday, May 13, Saturday,July 1, Sunday,July9, 1995, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Located off Centre Street in Aurora. Rare plants and seeds for sale.

Garden Works by Deborah. Perennial specialist,consultant,designer, teacher. Everythingto make your garden work ... a pleasure and treasure! Forqualified,personalandaffordablecare, contact Deborah Riley, (416) 929-3294.

Designingyourgarden?Letmehelpwithsmall improvements or major redesigning. Special expertisewithbulbsandfloweringshrubs.Services range from consultation to full implementation. Isabelle Robinson, (416) 487-7233.

dition to the Leslie Street Spit bird sanctuaryonMay13. Forthoseinterestedinplant life, Pat Crocker will teach you how to identifymanyspeciesofwildedibleplants and share her favorite recipes on May 17.

Maggie Dickson will teach a six-week beginner and intermediate level drawing usingtheoutdoors (EdwardsGardens) for inspiration, starting on May 29. Awardwinningbotanical artistPamela Stagg will offer a five-day workshop inJuly.

Meanwhile, I am planning fall courses. If you have any requests, let me know.

RE-OPENS SATURDAY MAY6th

Free Gift toevery purchaseropening weekend

NEW IN 1995! OPENFRI. to MON. 11-5

OR OTHER DAYS WITH A PHONE CALL Thefinestselection ofoldand newgarden accentsfrom Canada, Europe & U.S.A

1094 DERRY ROAD WEST 4 km west ofGuelph Line.

DERRY ROAD WEST ENDS AT PICKLETREE FARM (905) 336-1398

Questions and answers with the Master Gardeners

Q. My pachysandra ground cover has got scale. I have some early springdormantoil, but is it too late to use it now? Would malathion be better?

A. Yes, it is too late for the dormant oil as the new growth has started. Watch the plants carefully and use a malathion spray when the newly-hatched larvee (the crawlers) are active. It is probablytheoystershellscale, soaboutMay25witharepeatten days later, will be the time to spray.

Pachysandra scale: Male insects form whitish patches on the backs of leaves. Females are oystershell, often on stem.

Q. How close together should Iplant cedarsfora hedge?

A. Plant 18 inches (50 cm) apart; however, it depends partly on how bushy the plants are when you get them. Vigorous bushy plants canbe planted further apart. gr d

Plant cedars fora hedge 45cm apart.

Q. HowcanlIkeepmyneighbour sweedsoutofmygarden? Grandmother s bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) sends its stolons through continually.

A. Develop a battle line , which you spray with an herbicide several times each summer. Erase or Round-up are suitable productsonthemarket. Thenplanttallplantsinfrontofthelinetohide the dead zone.

Creeping bellflower spreads by underground stolons

Thanks to Vivien Jenkinsonfor illustrations.

The Sixth Zreaz Canadian Gardening Conference

Update by HeatherMacKinnon

Renowned British plant collector Roy Lancaster will address The Sixth Great Canadian Gardening Conference.

Pick up virtually any copy of The Garden, the journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, and you are almost certain to find anarticlebyRoyLancaster. Perhapsitisan accountofanexpeditiontoChinainsearch of Schizophragma integrifolium or to northern India to bring back seeds of Roscoea purpurea. Veryoftenhewillwritealearned and enthusiastic description of less common plants such as Lobelia laxiflora var. angustifoliaorEuphorbianicaeensiswhichhe wantshisreaderstobeawareofandtotry.

Lancaster writes regularly in Country Life magazine, where his encouragements reach a broader audience than the membershipoftheRHS. Heurgeshisreadersto extend their knowledge and widen the range of plants they grow.

Few of us ever get the opportunity to turn a childhood interestinto a passionate life-longcareer. WhilestationedinMalaya with the British army between 1956 and 1958, he collected over 1,000 plant specimensfromthetropicalrainforestforinternational institutions, including the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew.

After his return to Britain, Lancaster

enrolledasa studentattheBotanicGarden of Cambridge University and at the completion of his studies he was employed by Hillier s Nursery in Hampshire. He was thefirstcuratorofHillier sArboretumand worked on their distinguished Hillier s Manual ofTrees and Shrubs.

Roy Lancaster travels and lectures widely.Heistheauthorofsevenbooksand appearsregularlyonBritishtelevisionand radio garden programs. He lives with his wife and two children on the edge of the New Forest, gardening on a property crammedwithrareplantsandplantsthreatened with extinction.

In a letter to conference chair Nancy Laurie, Roy Lancaster wrote: My garden is very much that of a plantsman, and I have over 1,000 different plants on a quarter-acre, many of them collected in the world swildplaces. lamastrongadvocate of growing such plants in the garden and an equally strong advocate of keeping the wild places for the plants native there. Rarely the twain shall meet.

VOLUNTEERS FOR THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

Volunteers are needed forSaturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18. We need hosts and hostesses forthe buses, volunteers forthe refreshment area and others to help with signage of gardens before the tour begins each day and immediately after the

RoyLancaster, a memberoftheRHSfor almost30years,isholderoftheGoldVeitch Memorial Medal for services to horticulture and the Victoria Medal, the Society s highest award. tour.

When you volunteer for one day, you will be given a free ticket for the other day, so you will getto enjoythetour, too. On Sunday, afterthe tour is completed, we hope thateveryonewhohasvolunteeredeitherofthetwodayswill meetus atthe BabyPoint Community Centre fora little celebration!

Hort Department News

New in Edwards Gardens: Composting demonstration site

Nexttimeyou'recomingtotheCentre,havealookatthecomposting demonstrationsite to the east of the Centre. It offers a chance to see the stages that organic materials pass throughontheirwaytobecomingrichcompost.Therearecompostersforanyoneaswell asadvancedimplementslikethecompostteabarrelwhichturnswaterintoanutrient-rich plant drink. Detailed signs at the site and on the compost bins give information on composting and provide solutions to common composting problems.

The site is a result ofco-operative effortsby Metro Works, Metro Parks and Property and theCivicGardenCentre. Itwasopened lastfall. CivicGardenCentrevolunteersare available as tour guides for groups.

The site is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk.

Soil tests can help solve garden mysteries

For even the most experienced gardener, unexplained problemscanariseinthegarden. That s when a soil test is helpful to determine the steps towards a solution.

The Civic GardenCentre s soil analysis servicecancomeupwithfastanswers. The analysis measuressoilacidityoralkalinity (pH) and conductivity (salt) levels. Unusualreadingscanprovidetheclue tomany gardening problems.

Soil sample results can be obtained in lessthana weekbecause thetestsaredone at the Centre. The fee for soil testing is $6 plusGST formembersoftheCivicGarden Centre, and $8 plus GST for the public. Computerizedresultswillgiverecommendations for your soil. The results can be mailedforanadditional$1 iftotalpayment is made in advance.

For more information about our soil testing, please call Anne Marie, Helen or Judith at (416) 397-1355.

Share your abundant perennials

Whenyourlovingly-tendedperennialgarden rewards your effort with plenty of growth,here sanopportunitytoshareyour prolificperennialswithfellowmembersof the Civic Garden Centre.

Any day from May 1 to May 16, the plantsalecommitteewillacceptyourextra perennialsonthelibrarypatio. Ifpossible, please label each one with the plant name and flower colour. Horticulture services department volunteers will put the plants intopots(ifneeded)andcareforthemuntil the plant sale on May 17.

Your donated perennials help us to to raise funds and to offer members a wonderful chance to find treasures not readily available through commercial nurseries, manyofthemfromsome ofToronto spremier gardens.

Call the Centre s horticulture department at (416) 397-1355 if you have any questions.

Book review

THEGENIUSOFGARDENING: The History ofGardensinBritainandIreland, by Christopher Thacker (Weidenfeld and Nicolson; London, 1994).

ChristopherThacker snewbooksetsouttobe an authoritative and lucid history of gardens in Britain and Ireland from the Druids to the present. Dr. Thacker is described on the dust-cover as the world s foremost garden historian , having written widely at both a scholarly and popular level, and this book is testimony to wide learning, deep knowledge ofgardenliterature,andgreatfamiliaritywith the gardens of the British Isles.

I have only dipped into Dr.Thacker s earlier The History ofGardens, but I devoured The Wildness Pleases with great admiration. The dense texture of this newbook is leavened by flashes ofgentlehumour, aswhenwe are told that the Giant Steps at Greenwich can now be perceived only with the eye of faith.

The organization is traditionally chronological, rather than thematic, and that is, I

think, of particular help to the non-professional reader. Specialized topics treated historically the lawn, topiary, garden sculpture, the knot, the labyrinth, the grotto are bestleftto specialized monographs. Soweare taken, with a wealth of detail and examples, from the earliest hints of a garden ( all such grounds as are wrought with the spade by man s hand ), through the mediaeval period no longer the Dark Ages of my schooldays ontothefirstherbalsandthebeginningsof formality; through the Renaissance garden withitspoliticalobjectives (hereunderstated) and the beginnings of theorizing about gardens.

TheRestoration gardenis treated asa transitional period (though Thacker cites Daniel Defoe s attribution of the British love of gardening toKingWilliamIII) totheeighteenth-

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centurylandscapegarden.Thefirsthalfofthe Siecle des lumiéres has received extensive, and somewhat conflicting, treatment in ChristopherHussey sEnglishGardensandLandscapes 1700-1750 and John Dixon Hunt s later Garden and Grove (Hunt, who is perhaps the world s foremost garden historian of the eighteenthcentury,receivesscantattentionin TheGeniusofGardening. Hunt,inturn,ignores Hussey swork!)Themessageofbothbooksis that Thacker s title for this chapter All Change is too strong.

Kent and Pope receive their customary attention in the succeeding chapter. Though the creation of eighteenth-century gardens is expressly linked to Virgilian themes, the discussion is mercifully brief; the Roman link getsonlyfourpages.Moresignificant,andnot requiring all the classical paraphernalia, is Pope sreporteddictumthat Allgardeningis landscape-painting. It is significant because it is so self-evidently false as a statement of what gardeners do (or even then did), that it tellsusmuchaboutthedetachmentfromhorticulturalreality ofgarden historians who attach importance to it. If Pope was making a recommendation, that all gardening should be landscape-painting, we need to know something about the fraction of gardens and gardeners that went uninfluenced in order to be able to infer Pope s importance. Morris Brownell s extreme efforts in Alexander Pope and the Arts of Georgian England to extend Pope sinfluence( Weknowthat Xwhoknew Popebrieflyin1732wasafriendofYwhoonce visited Z s garden, soitisnotimpossible that Pope... ) induce scepticism rather than conviction.

A discussion of the ferme ornée leads into the theme of The Wildness Pleases, the passion for savage scenes and the distinction between the sublime and the beautiful. Brown, his imitators, and Repton get two chapters. Brown was not long dead (1783) before the admirableRichard PayneKnight, Tired with th extensive scene, so dull and bare, called for the return of formality ( Again the mossgrownterracestoraise,/Andspreadthelabyrinth s perplexing maze;/ Replace in even lines the ductile yew,/ And plant again the ancient avenue. ) and naturalism ( While

uncorrupted still, on every side,/ The ancient forestrosein savage pride;/ Andin itsnative dignity displayed/ Each hanging wood and eververdantglade;/Whereev'ryshaggyshrub and spreading tree/ Proclaimed the seat of nativeliberty. ) Itis interesting thatwhathas frequently been seen as Brown s libertarian profile, freeing the English garden from its seventeenth-century formal bondage, is seen byKnightasanotherformofconfinementthat needstobeshattered: Butah!howdifferentis theformallump/ Whichtheimproverplants, and callsa clump!/ Break,break, yenymphs, thefence that guards it round!/ Withbrowsing cattle, all its forms confound.

Fourchapterscompletethebook. Thefirst is on the Victorian period so brilliantly covered inBrent Elliot s Victorian Gardens. There is an excellent chapter headed Rebellion on William Robinson and the much less wellknown Forbes Watson, where some space is given to the Plantman s Garden. The succeeding chapter looks at the modern heroine and hero Jekyll and Luytens (for whom we shallstillneedJaneBrown' sGardensofaGolden Afternoon),NathanielLloyd sGreatDixterand, of course, Lawrence Johnston at Hidcote and the Nicolsons at Sissinghurst where the gardenroombegantorecaptureitsdominanceon a human scale.

Perhapsthemostinteresting,andcertainly the most daring of these chapters is the very last, Modern Masters. Not only do Percy Cane,CloughWilliams-Ellis,GeoffreyJellicoe, Russell Page and Lanning Roper get a paragraph apiece, but Margery Fish, John Raven (whose A Botanist s Garden has perhaps been neglected because of its misleadingly intimidating title), Christopher Lloyd, Rosemary Verey,PenelopeHobhouse,JohnBrookes,and Beth Chatto make it for the first time? into a substantial history of British gardens. Thereare25colourplates,includingaphotograph of the author s garden formality, fruit and flowers tucked into the chapter on Modern Masters. Generally, the plates are surprisingly effective given their small format. Most of the garden photographs were taken by the author so that, even where the gardens are familiar to us, the viewpoint is often stimulatingly different. (cont'd p.18)

AT 127 B

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Collecting art is an art in itself. Join us for this special Day which will start at the Yaneff Gallery in Bolton. University lecturer Chris Yaneff R.C.A. will explain the difference between collecting art and using art for decorating purposes. Alter an informative tour of the gallery, welll studios.

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Thereismuchtobelearnedfromthisbook, much tobe admired about it, and almostanyone with an enthusiasm for garden history will surely wish to add it to his or her library. The book s format, substance and thesis are not without problems, however, and these problems merit a brief discussion.

Christopher Thacker s conscientious determinationtogivehisreadervalueformoney, to provide one more unusual and telling example, to leave no name unmentioned, is a reflection of a dilemma about the genre to which this historybelongs. Writers ofa complete history must decide whether they are engaged in producing a narrative or a reference work. Too much detail, and the nonspecialist is choked with indigestibility; too little, and the work loses its claim to being comprehensive and authoritative. The author has not always resolved this tension, with quite a few passages reading like those interminable lists of generations in the Old Testament; the reader anticipates a begat.

Andre Mollet s Le Jardin de Plaisir (1651), with a sheaf of garden designs and parterre plans,wastranslatedasTheGardenofPleasure in 1671; also first published in 1651 was Nicholas de Bonnefons Le Jardinierfrangais, which John Evelyn translated as The French Gardenerin1658. The JesuitpoetReneRapin s Hortorum libri 1V (1666) was published in English verse in 1673 as Of Gardens, translated by Evelyn s son John; another version, byJohn Gardiner, appeared in 1706.

It appears that Thacker was conscious of thisproblem,sinceeverysooftenheabandons completelyanypretenceofnarration,andsimply provides a list ( Important gardens and

parks with designs by Capability Brown ; Important worksby GertrudeJekyll ; Garden designers and writers with an architecturalbiasactivefromthe 1890 s ;listsofplant introductionsby century, and soon). In these ways the book becomes a handy reference, rather than the lucid history which was promised.

It is not clear how much responsibility an author should bear for what appears on the book-jacket. So perhaps Thacker really never intended, as the jacket suggests, to focus on the socialand economiclifeassociatedwith gardens.Onewilllookinvainforanysubstantial discussion here of either the social and economic consequences of gardens, or of the social and economic causes of gardens or of changesingardenstyles.Assoofteningarden history writings, what people say is taken as incontrovertibleevidenceforwhattheyintend to do, which may not matter very much, or actually do, which matters a great deal. If garden history is to be taken seriously as a disciplinebyanyone otherthanitspractitioners,itwillneed toprogressbeyondthismethodological fundamentalism.

Thereis a moreseriousconcern. Inspiteof thelistsofplantintroductions,thisisahistory ofgardenstructure. Structure is essential toa garden,but structure in itselfis not a garden. Something additional is required, that either the structure be composed (at least partially) of plants, or that the structure contain plants within it. Structure without plants is not a garden, but a building. It belongs to architecture,nottohorticulture.Agardenrequiresnot just the work of man, but the corruptible contingency of nature.

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So this isnota historyofgardens, and itis quite definitely not a history of the British gardening genius, unless that term is to be reservedforthecreationofstructure. Butthat makes no sense at all. Ifyou were to ask most intelligent observers what are the critical differences between British gardens on the one hand, and French gardens on the other, the replies would almost all turn around plants and plantsmanship. What makes and has made foralmostthree centuries with thebrief andregrettableaberrationoftheEnglishlandscape school British gardens hailed the world over are their lawns and their plants, their great mixed borders, floods of colour, plantstumblingandclimbingovereachother, the maximumformality in structure, yes, but withthegreatestinformalityinplanting the Sissinghurst precept.

All of this may seem painfully obvious to gardeners, serious and frivolous, who worry (perhaps not very much!) about colours and heights and textures and shapes, of views framed by trees, of perspectives created by differentsizedordifferentcolouredshrubs,of theplayoflightandshadeasthesunmakesits way through a tiny woodland. But it is not at all obvious, alas, to the writers of garden history who think that to write about design, whichtheyinterpretasbeingaboutstructure, isequivalent towritingaboutgardens. Itis as thoughtheyhadneverthoughtaboutthecontributions of both form and substance to a work of art.

Thishistoryretainsalloftheodditiesofthe dominant garden history paradigm. Thacker tells us (p.129) that Walter Stonehouse, in the seventeenth-century, was growing 866 different plants (presumably Thacker means 866differentspecies,andnot866plantsofbox), butwe are nottold what theyare, orhow they mightcontributetothenatureofthegarden. It issimplyincorrecttobelievethatitispossible to furnish any comprehensive analysis of the formandqualityofgardenswithoutreference totheirplants.Someseventeenth-centuryEnglish gardens were symmetrical with many plants, as French and Italian gardens were symmetrical with very few. That difference alone makes for a quite different impact

aesthetic, intellectual, psychological upon the viewer.

What is perplexing is that there are so manysignposts, someofwhichThackernotes butfailstofollow. HequotesSirWilliamTemple,in 1685,ascribing a greaterexuberancein garden making in the later seventeenth century than in most other periods to the Number of our Plants. (p.147) On the same page Aubrey added that especially since 1683, there have been exotic plants brought into England no less than seven thousand , but no effort is made to explore how these plantswere incorporated intoBritish gardening, nor why it was that there was such a demand for them. Look under plants in the index, andyoufind references to 13 pages out ofmore than300; to plantsman s gardens on seven. Under Rosa , wefind Salvator ;under Tree , we find Lady Anne .

In 1714, Joseph Addison praised the garden designers and nurserymen, George LondonandHenryWise,fortheir finegeniusfor gardening. ChristopherThackerhasusedthe variant genius of gardening as the title for hisHistoryofGardensinBritainandIreland.This genius, Thacker tells us in his Introduction, lies partly in the willingness of the Irish and theBritishtokeep changingtheirgardens in response tofashion. But gardens also change, Thacker reminds us, because of an internal dynamic. They grow, flourish, spread, encroach, recede, collapse whatever the dictates of fashion, and this autonomy, this endogenouselement,Thackerlabelsthe genius ofgardening. Insodoing, he creates forhimself a rather horrid conundrum.

For if change is endogenous to gardening, itmustcharacterizeSwissgardeningasmuch asIrish,VirginianasmuchasKentish.IfFrench and Italiangardens stood still, as English gardens changed,does thatmeanthatFrenchand Italiangardens somehow resisted theautonomous element? Ifso, how did they do that? Or isitthatin-builtchangeisacharacteristiconly ofBritishandIrishgardening?Andwhatisthe evidence dare we ask? for that?

Reviewed by Brian Bixley, Mulmur, September 1994

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¢ CivicGardenCentreperennialsale,10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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