Trellis - V32, No4 - Jul 2005 by Toronto Botanical Garden

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TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN

Ahout Us

The Toronto Botanical Garden is a volunteer-based, charitable organization whose purpose is to inspire passion, respect and understanding of gardening, horticulture, the natural landscape and a healthy environment. Since its inception in 1958, the Toronto Botanical Garden, formerly The Civic Garden Centre, has encouraged, stimulated and educated

countless Canadian gardeners. Almost 50 years later, the Toronto Botanical Garden has expanded its vision and set a goal to become a self-sustaining urban oasis while making Toronto the mosthorticulturally enlightened cityin the world.

WhatWeOffer

Located at Edwards Gardens, the Toronto Botanical Garden offers many programs and services, including year-round activities for families and children. Our horticultural library has over 8,000 books, periodicals, and a large collection of clippings, pamphlets, nursery and seed catalogues as

3¢ Directory & Hours of Operation

Administrative

Offices

Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Library

Limited services until late 2005

Trellis Shop

Closed until the end of 2005

January 5 to March 31

well as a great selection of children s gardening books. Horticultural Information Services offers free gardening information year-round, and the Trellis Shop has many unique gifts, books and gardening supplies for sale. The Teaching Garden has been created as aworking garden to foster interest and educate people in the love and values of gardening and the natural world. As a community service, Art in the Link offers gallery space to local artists. As well, the TBG has a wide variety of banquet halls, meeting rooms and show space, with access to Edwards Gardens, one ofToronto s favourite garden spofs.

3¢ Patrons

Brian Bixley, AwdreyClarke, Mark Cullen, Camilla Dalglish, Sondra Gotlieb, Marjorie Harris, LorraineJohnson, Michele Landsberg, Susan Macauley, Helen Skinner

3% Board of Directors

PRESIDENT: GeoffreyDyer

Brad Badeau, Marisa Bergagnini, Susan Burns, Dugald Cameron, Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Sunday & Holidays noon to 4 p.m.

Telephone: 416-397-1340; Fax: 416-397-1354

E-mail: tbg@infogarden.ca

Master Gardeners Info Line: 416-397-1345

Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, Sunday & Holidays noon to 3 p.m. or infogarden.ca/mastergardenerboard.htm

Communications: 416-397-1351 communication@infogarden.ca

Courses: 416-397-1362; courses@infogarden.ca

Donation Inquiries: 416-397-1483 annualgiving@infogarden.ca

Horticultural Services: 416-397-1358 horticulture@infogarden.ca

Executive Director: 416-397-1346 director@infogarden.ca

Library: 416-397-1343; library@infogarden.ca

Rentals: 416-397-1349; rentals@infogarden.ca

Teaching Garden: 416-397-1355 teachinggarden@infogarden.ca

Trellis Shop: Closed until end of 2005

Volunteer Co-ordinator: 416-397-4145 volunteers@infogarden.ca

Peter Cantley, LindsayDale-Harris, Kathy Dembroski, Tony DiGiovanni, Heather Dickson, Suzanne Drinkwater, Geoffrey

Dyer,James E. Eckenwalder, Ralph Fernando, Mary Fisher, Colomba B. Fuller,Janet Greyson, Bill Harding, Janet Karn, Linda Ledgett, Sonia Leslie, Rosemary Phelan,Jean Read,

Kathy Redeker, Dawn Scott

3¢ Staff Members

Executive Director

Manager, Communications & Visitor Services

Margo Welch

Jenny Rhodenizer Manager, Horticultural Services

Volunteer Co-ordinator

Accounting

Administration

Development Director

Capital Campaign Director

Cathie Cox

Kristin Campbell

Joe Sabatino

Shirley Lyons

Janice Turner King

Annual Giving Development Co-ordinator ~ Andrea MacIntyre

Development Co-ordinator

Maintenance Supervisor

Facility & Event Supervisor

Facility & Event Co-ordinator

Librarian

Supervisor, Children s Education

Teaching Garden Co-ordinator

Niti Bhotoia

Walter Morassutti

Stephanie Chiang

Kristin Campbell

Leanne Hindmarch

Tobin Day

Caley Baker

Volume 32 3% Number 4

EDITOR

Lorraine Flanigan

DESIGN

June Anderson

TRELLISCOMMITTEE

Lorraine Hunter (chair), Lorraine Flanigan (editor), Carol Gardner, Lorna Luke, Marion Magee, JennyRhodenizer

VOLUNTEER

EDITORIALASSISTANTS

T. Coombes, M. Magee

VOLUNTEER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jennifer Capretta

VOLUNTEERPROOFREADERS

M. Bruce,J. Campbell, L. Hickey,J. McCluskey, S.&L. Skinner

ADVERTISING

416-397-1351 Printed by Harmony Printing on recycled paper

Treliis is published six times a year as a members newsletter by the Toronto Botanical Garden at Edwards Gardens. 777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario M3C 1P2, 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 first of the month to ensure publication eight weeks later. For example, material for the September/October 2005, issue must be received by July 8, 2005. Opinions expressed in Trellis do not necessarily reflect those of the TBG. Submissions may be edited for style and clarity.

Charitable business number: 119227486RR0001

Canada Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40013928 ISSN 0380-1470

from the TBG

by Margo Welch e Executive DIRECTOR

Garden construction and summer tours

onstruction on the gardens has started Cin earnest. During our long winter and cool spring we witnessed a lot of progress on the building but it was a particular joy to see [Itisa hugejob and help with planting the perennials, and then we will be looking for a team to help with maintenance, so watch for recruitment notices in future issues of Trellis.

The building construction is work start on the gardens. we are par cular[y progressing very well and our

Aldershot will work closely with our project manager Rick Gosine, landscape architect Jim Melvin and TBG horticulturist Cathie Cox. Of course the larger team will include other contractors, designers, TBG staff and volunteers (notably Suzanne Drinkwater, chair of the Garden Committee) and various suppliers of plants and materials.

We have also been working with growers to ensure that we have the best plants available, that we ll have the variety and hard-to-find specimens we want and that the process for selecting and planting will be as smooth as possible. It is a huge job and we are particularly grateful for the help and expertise received from horticultural groups and growers. Next spring we will need a team of volunteers to

confined to a relatively small space in the Administration area and with limited access to the Floral Hall and Garden Auditorium over the summer.

We expect the addition to open on schedule at the beginning of December, with the Trellis Shop, Library and Children s Centre as highlights of the building. Park visitors have shown a keen interest in the construction too, and we plan to keep them informed of our activities and to draw them into our programs and events once everything is completed.

We arrived at this milestone gratefulfor the help excitement 1ncrea.ses as each after a contract tender was d rtise wall, floor or roof is added and issued in February inviting lead- an ,exp- the final design becomes more ing companies to bid on our recelved om visible. We look forward to movproject. Negotiations with bid- fOrticulturalgroups ing into these new and newly ders were held, some changes and grOWerS. renovated spaces after being to the drawings were made to simplify the design in some areas and to reduce costs. The successful bidder was Aldershot Landscape Contractors Limited, a well-regarded firm known for their experience and expertise. As anyone who has been involved in his or her own landscaping or renovation project knows, success is dependent on the selection of the right contractor. We feel confident that Aldershot can deal with the complexity of our plans and will build our intricately designed gardens to the highest standards.

While the construction progresses, we will be conducting six tours of gardens located in different neighbourhoods of the city. Limited in enrolment, they will offer unique insight and access to interesting gardens and natural sites: for details of these and other events see the program guide inserted in the May/June issue of 7rellis, or log on to our web site at www.infogarden.ca.

As in other years, we will be conducting tours of Edwards Gardens and the Music Garden. These tours will be offered throughout the summer see page 24 for more information. Conducted by our informed volunteer guides, these tours are interesting and fun for local residents and visitors alike.

I hope you all enjoy the summer!®

Green roof tops-off new addition

Over the summer, the grounds oftheTBG will be blooming with Bobcats and dozers!

he construction continues on schedule and the building, as you can see in the photographs, is beginning to take shape. Terry McGlade, owner of Perennial Gardens, will be consulting with the TBG this summer on the creation of our sloping green roof, a distinctive feature of the new addition. Working with our architects, Montgomery Sisam, he will lend his expertise in managing load factors, drainage, wind shear resistance and inviolability of the roof membrane, considerations which are critical to growing plants in a rooftop setting. Terry is both a horticulturist and a leader in the green roof industry. He has been instrumental in bringing green roof technology into its own in Canada. With over 20 years of industry experience Terry has received six awards of excellence

for his work from Landscape Ontario. He gives many seminars and lectures on the topic of green roofs and will be speaking at the TBG on Wednesday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. on the topic of Garden Design in Public Spaces. His talk will also touch on aspects of the TBG s green roof project. During the summer months the gardens will begin to take shape. However, the building and offices are expected to be quiet. With construction on both the Floral Hall and Garden Hall patios slated to take place over the balance of the summer, there will be limited access to the building. For instructions on how to enter the building during the summer, please call 416-397-1340 or follow the signs that will be posted. The administrative office will continue to be staffed throughout the summer months. 2@

MEET VOLUNTEER JEAN GODAWA

LorraineFlaniganlearns to be afraid, veryafraid, ofopeningthe fridge in theBugLady s basement!

Trellis:At the Teaching Gardenyou arefondly known as the "Bug Lady". How did you get your name?

Jean: When my daughter Lily was small we would visit Edwards Gardens and the Teaching Garden. [ had studied entomology at university and one day I wondered if they [TBG] wanted anyone who knew about bugs and liked kids. At the time they had no one to deliver their programs so [ led some of them for a while. I also asked if I could design a Bug Camp where I would set up a table with my collection of live bugs that I keep in the lab in my basement I have bugs like live centipedes and hissing cockroaches everywhere in cages. Everyone in the family knows to ask first before opening a container in the basement fridge it might hold some insect that I'm preserving!

Trellis: Wereyou always interested in bugs?

Jean: No. I was studying environmental science at the University of Toronto. On one of our field trips, we had to pick a project. I chose insects and became involved from then on. Now, I'm known as the Bug Lady - I get calls all the time about bugs. I've been on Rogers Cable talking about the Teaching Garden programs, and the Discovery Channel might be interested in doing some shows. Lily and her friends are already composing my theme song!

Trellis: What doyou enjoy most about volunteeringat the Teaching Garden?

Jean: When kids come here, they can be a bit standoffish at first. But it s amazing to see them progress from not wanting to touch anything, or to get dirty, to begin to understand. It says a lot about the instructors here and the quality of the programs. I like to encourage kids to look closely at an insect and get beyond the feeling that it is a creepy thing. I like to show them that it s

.leap an;i ddughter Lily examine a rhinoceros beetle.

alive and to look at how it moves, eats and affects the environment. [ hand them a magnifying glass and get them to really look at the insects hoping that once they understand more about them, they won t be so squeamish.

Trellis: What are some ofyour most memorable moments in the TG?

Jean: Bug Camp! We make collectors, like nets and traps, and send the kids out to collect bugs. It s amazing to watch their enthusiasm. When someone catches an ant, everyone runs over to see it. Seeing this excitement tells me that the kids really get it .

Trellis: What doyou do when you re not volunteeringat the TG?

Jean: I teach in the schools, run a junior naturalists camp in Haliburton in July and August and also do kids day camps.

Trellis:Isyourfamilyinvolved with bugs too?

Jean: Lily helps with feeding and changing the bug cages in the basement and she s also volunteered with the Green Adventure program at the Teaching Garden. And my husband will sometimes catch a bug at the cottage if he thinks I might be interested in it.

Trellis: Ifyou coulddoanything, whatwoulditbe?

Jean: My dream is to build an insect zoo like the insectarium at the Montreal Botanical Garden. There would be gallery space with information, live and preserved insects, a classroom and maybe a gift shop. It would be like a museum a zoo-zeum !®d

by Kristin Campbell

Learning from volunteers

FOR THE LAST YEAR, I have been moonlighting as the Toronto Botanical Garden s volunteer co-ordinator. And although I have really enjoyed getting to know our volunteers, it is with pleasure, mixed with a little melancholy, that I announce that the TBG is preparing to hire a permanent volunteer co-ordinator in August. I'll continue working as volunteer coordinator until the end of June, and then will return to my regular job of renting out rooms for horticultural events, weddings, meetings and other events.

I have learned a great deal from my work as volunteer co-ordinator. Here s my top ten list of things that [ have learned.

1. The TBG relies upon volunteers. Every part of our organization depends upon the help of volunteers from mailing membership cards to setting up the TBG booth at Canada Bloom:s. It is no exaggeration to say (again!) that we couldn t do it without you.

2. Volunteers are unique. Each volunteer has a particular set of skills and interests. Instead of thinking I ll get a volunteer to help with that , now I think I'll get her to help me with that, she likes doing it and she s great at it. It has been a great job perk to learn how to help people grow from their volunteer work.

3. How to work with and trust other people with important work. This sounds ridiculously simple, like something a teacher would write on a report card, but before now, I have never worked with so many people or had to delegate jobs. At Through the Garden Gate we have over 100 volunteers each day, and I quickly learned that our volunteers are capable and reliable and great people to work with.

4. Volunteers make good teachers. I have learned about garden design, horticulture, pressed flowers, which Bruce Peninsula gardens

to visit, how to hang Christmas lights, the secret recipe for effective ant repellant and how to make a bare stage look lovely (and more).

5. Volunteers are the best part of working here. Meeting and getting to know many of the people who volunteer at the TBG has opened my eyes to our volunteers wonderful generosity of spirit, diversity of experience and the richness of the resources they offer us.

6. Volunteers don t like to run audiovisual equipment. I have never found a volunteer who is keen to run AV equipment at our lectures. My deepest thanks to Master Gardener Dan Cooper and former program manager Rosetta Leung, who have bravely stepped in to help with this job.

7. Volunteers have created a community. There is a group of volunteers who take regular walks in Edwards Gardens, an awesome ice-cream-selling duo and a posse who work together on Tuesdays. Volunteering at the TBG is a way to make friends and get to know like-minded people.

8. Volunteers invest a lot in the TBG. Putting together Trellis is a group effort that involves a skilled, dedicated and loyal team of writers, fact checkers and proofreaders who make sure that I, and everyone else, get their columns in on time.

9. Volunteers spend many hours making the TBG look good. Volunteers spread the word about the TBG and are the face of our organization at our special events, and in our library and shop. Volunteers have made us renowned for the excellence of our horticultural services.

10. Volunteers know more than anyone about running the TBG. Our volunteer board of directors, led by Geoffrey Dyer, is guiding us through some great changes, showing us how to reach our potential. Volunteers know our

organization, they support our goals and events, and they show us every day how to be the best we can possibly be.

TBG volunteers are indescribably loyal and dependable I'd be lost without them! My deepest thanks therefore to all ofyou for your patience and support over the past year. I would like to give a special thanks to Trudy Stacey, Gwen Rattle

and Midge Cooper for all their work in making the Volunteer Office run smoothly. They put up with me when [ was an awfully green newcomer and have become my good friends, which is, after all, the best outcome of all.

The Volunteer Office will be closed from June 30 until August when the new volunteer coordinator joins our staff.®

Seed Exchange 2005

by Anna Leggatt

IN THIS YEAR S SEED EXCHANGE,

20 people donated seeds that represented 180 species and cultivars. Last year, donations from 22 people resulted in a list of 160 seeds. Only 37 members ordered seeds this year, fewer than last year, even though we offered some terrific plants.

The most popular seeds (10 requests) were Cerinthe major var. purpurascens, Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens and Tricrytis sp., closely followed by Agastache cana Sonoran Sunset , Nicotiana langsdorffii Cream Splash and Phaseolus coccineus Painted Lady (eight

requests each). Unfortunately, five species that were promised did not arrive and there was insufficient seed of another five to fill all the requests. Nineteen of the listed seeds were not requested. Leftover seed will be used in the Teaching Garden and by the Master Gardeners.

Thank you to all who collected and donated seeds, to those who formulated, checked and printed the list, to those who sorted and packaged seeds and to those who requested seeds and will be growing new plants. All your work is very much appreciated.

COLLECT AND DONATE SEEDS FOR 2006 SEED EXCHANGE

Collecting seeds from your garden is a great way to share your favourite plants with other members of the TBG. Follow these tips when harvesting seeds for the 2006 Seed Exchange.

e Flowers that produce seed pods containing many seeds are best collected when the pods turn brown and start to split open. Cut them from the stems

and put them in a paper bag and store in a cool, dry place until the seeds fall out. Then, sieve them to remove debris.

e Seed pods of plants such as Clematis contain only one seed.

To catch them before they fall, wait until they start to change colour, then give them a gentle tap, catching them below in your hand or in an envelope.

¢ Pods that explode, such as those of hardy geraniums, can be cut off just as they turn brown and placed in a paper bag.

e Store seeds in labelled paper envelopes, not in plastic bags.

Details about participation in the 2006 Seed Exchange will appear in the September/ October 2005 issue of 7rellis.

A Yearin the Teaching Garden

AS YOU READ THIS, I will have just completed my first full year at the Teaching Garden. When I was younger, I had an irresistible urge to travel because I wanted to see new places and experience new things. At that point in my life, I had no idea how many new things one could see and experience while staying in the same place. Throughout the year, the Teaching Garden is the setting for many changes and cycles. I see changes in both the children who attend our programs and the plants thatfill the garden.

My first day in the Teaching Garden coincided with the first day of the summer camps. With only a short break after leaving The Linden School where I had taught science, I jumped right into the summer fun with programs that offered opportunities for children to explore freely and delight in the everyday miracles that take place outside. For example, we watched a young cicada emerge from its cocoon, hugged trees and dug a lot of holes sometimes for seeds and sometimes just for fun.

Last fall, we were busy running school programs for grades one to six. I particularly enjoy teaching the grade three program called That s Not Dirt! We introduce students to our friendly and patient red wriggler worms and to the science of soil. In fact, we turn the children into junior forensic scientists who solve the mystery of who has stolen the nuts that the chipmunks worked so hard to gather. Many of the classes help either by harvesting late vegetable crops or by planting garlic. We spent the winter teaching similar programs in the sunny and warm surroundings of the Allan Gardens Children s Conservatory.

This spring, we welcomed our youngest visitors to the Teaching Garden. The junior kindergarten munchkins , some as young as three years old, tottered about in big yellow rain ponchos. Watchful parents and teachers could see

AlphabetGardenin full bloom

only the tips of the children s noses, fingers and shoes. These young school children were the first to see the shoots of the daffodils and garlic plants pushing up out of the soil. As the days grew longer, our children grew taller. We taught grade one students which seeds to grow and introduced them to smelly seeds (vanilla and coffee), big seeds (coconuts) and seeds that they could eat (rice). In addition, the grades two and four students investigated the diverse habitats available to animals and plants in the Teaching Garden, and the grade three students dissected flowers and, once again, figured out who stole the missing nuts!

As my first year in the Teaching Garden draws to a close and I find myself thinking of summer, | am looking forward to meeting new children and growing new plants. I'm very satisfied with my decision to leave classroom teaching to work in a place where I continue to be enthralled by both the changes in the garden throughout the seasons and the children who visit us here.®

Sign Up for Summer Nature Day Camps

Do you know a child who would love our programs? Enrol in our 2005 Summer Nature Day Camps. Please call 416-397-1355 for more information.

FERN

Photo: Leslie Chiswell

Friends of the Toronto Botanical Garden

The Friends of the Toronto Botanical Garden are essential to the TBG. We thank our Friends for their generous support which allows people of all ages and abilities to develop a greater

DIRECTOR S CIRCLE

($2,500+)

George & Heather Dickson

James& Susan Eckenwalder

Kathy & George Dembroski Rose Feikes

BENEFACTORS

Janet Karn

($1,000 - $2,499) Joan Lenczner

Hugh &Ada Morris

/MINIATURE AND MINI FLORA ROSES

Miniature roses, says CecilLamrock, have a charm all their own.

ose growers have been delighted in recent years with the huge number of new varieties of every possible type of miniature rose, from micro-mini to climber, and in every colour of the rainbow.

ORIGINS

The origins of today s miniature rose have not been fully resolved. Different rose authorities have had their own versions: some say these roses came from Mauritius, others from India or China, while still others believe that they have always been grown in France. There is some truth in all of these beliefs.

In the early 18th century a few roses with miniature flowers were being grown in Europe. These varieties were much larger than the miniature roses grown today and their flowering period was very short, lasting only a few weeks. In about 1820 a miniature-type rose from Mauritius arrived in England and was listed as Rosa pusilla. A few years later Pierre Redouté, the famous illustrator, included what appears to be the same rose in his drawings under the name R. indica pumila. Progeny ofR. indica pumila include Pompon de Paris , a recurrent miniature.

In 1917 a Swiss army medical officer, Major Roulet, discovered pots of tiny roses in the window boxes of several houses in a mountain village. Botanist Henri Correvon considered these a new species and named it Rosa rouletii after its discoverer. This rose was very similar to Pompon de Paris and many now consider these two roses one and the same.

The introduction of R. rouletii awakened an interest in miniature roses. Hybridizers Pedro Dot and Jan de Vink began using R. rouletii in their breeding programs and introduced many miniatures such as Si , Pixie , Tom Thumb ,

Bo-Peep , Baby Bunting , Perla de Montserrat and Cinderella .

In the 1930s Ralph Moore from California became interested in miniatures and started a hybridizing program, which not only introduced many excellent miniature roses, but influenced other breeders who began specializing in this field. Today there are many hybridizers worldwide, especially in the United States but some in Canada as well, who are introducing a large number of new varieties each year.

CULTURE

Almost all miniature roses sold in North America are grown on their own roots. Since there is no graft to protect, growing them is simplified and most are winter-hardy to Zone 5. Miniature roses are very versatile and they can be used in many places in the garden: on their own, in front of large roses, in rockeries or in planters and hanging baskets. But they must receive a minimum of six hours of sun a day.

Pruning is required in spring after the plants start to bud out prune out only the deadwood of short-growing minis and climbers. Taller minis those which grow approximately 60 centimetres (two feet) should be pruned down to about 15 centimetres (six inches) in height, keeping in mind that you should prune about half a centimetre (a quarter inch) above a bud that s growing outwards from the bush.

Miniature roses should be planted from 15 centimetres (six inches) to 40 centimetres (16 inches) apart, depending upon the variety, and slightly deeper, up to 2.5 centimetres (one inch), than they were growing in their original pot. Groupings of three bushes look better than those grown singly. Miniatures can also be grown as houseplants in sunrooms or under

fluorescent lights but only for a short period of time because to bloom inside, they require between 14 and 22 hours of light daily.

Miniatures behave in all respects like larger roses; they are susceptible to black spot, mildew, spider mites and aphids. Preventive spraying is very important as black spot can defoliate a mini in a period of weeks. Indoors they are especially vulnerable to spider mites, which find the hot dry conditions to their liking. Consequently the indoor growing area should be kept as humid as possible and bushes washed with slightly warm water every week.

Miniature roses require plenty of water to prevent their roots from drying out. Regular feeding with diluted water-soluble fertilizer is preferable to a granular fertilizer. Do not fertilize any of these roses after the end of July. By following this procedure, your roses will develop good strong stems going into dormancy.

Do not leave miniature roses in their pots or

hanging baskets over the winter as they may not survive due to insufficient soil around them. I suggest removing the roses, along with the soil from the pot, planting them in your garden in a well-drained location and giving them some winter protection. In areas with severe winters, hill them up with eight to 15 centimetres (three to six inches) of soil. In Zones 6 to 8, a mulch of evergreen boughs or leaves is all that s necessary.

Minis are so resilient that you can dig them up in the spring, prune away the dead wood and replant them with fresh soil into pots or hanging baskets. Try growing miniature roses this season you will be delighted with the results!®@

Cecil Lamrock is aformer member ofthe Board ofDirectors of the Toronto Botanical Garden. He operates Lamrock s Country Garden, a nursery nearPortPerry, Ontario.

Miniatures to Know and Grow

Miniatures come in all the sizes groundcovers. and forms just as large-flow-

Coral Cascade ered roses do.The following are Green Ice a few of the best cultivars of Ralph s Creeper each type.

¢ HYBRIDTEAS

These have the typical raised centre of the hybrid tea rose.

Black Jade

Jean Kenneally

June Laver

Kristin

Party Girl

Pink Petticoat

Water Lily

¢ FLORIBUNDAS

These give lots of bloom.

Lavender Jewel

Little Buckaroo

Magic Carrousel

Popcorn

e CASCADING

Great for hanging baskets or as

Red Cascade

Sweet Chariot

¢ CLIMBERS

Climbing miniature roses are becoming more popular.They re ideal for walls or trellises and some will grow 1.5 to 2.4 metres (five to eight feet) tall.

Candy Cane

Hi Ho

Jeanne Lajoie

Laura Ford

Love Knot

Snowfall

Warm Welcome

e COMPACT MINIATURES

The new compact minis, which grow only 20 to 30 centimetres (eight to 12 inches) tall, are ideal for containers, whether on patios

or balconies.

Debut

Potluck Yellow

Striped Pet

° MOSS ROSES

These have lots of tiny prickles right up the stem to the bud or

blossom.

Fairy Moss

Honest Abe

Lemon Delight

Paintbrush

¢ MICRO-MINIS

These minis grow no more than 15 centimetres (six inches) tall, and their blooms measure under two centimetres (three-quarters of an inch).

Bo-Peep

Cinderella

Little Linda

Littlest Angel s

Sweet Fairy

'The Pleasure Priority

(In this excerptfrom Dryland Gardening, JenniferBennett explains how tofind beauty in a water-efficientgarden.)

ryland gardening isn t just a matter of Dchoosing the right plants and techniques; it s also landscaping. Everyone wants to be able to look at, wander through and spend time in a garden that locks beautiful. We may plan the most water-efficient garden possible, a garden geared for survivai no matter what the climate offers, but our garden still has to fulfill our desires for peace and renewal.

Landscaping a dryland garden isn t very different from planning any garden. As always, you are limited by the size of your space and its many features, including trees, fences and buildings, not only your own but also those around you. Your garden site may be sunny or shady, windy or calm, sloped or flat, rocky, sandy or gifted with deep loam. While you may have to rein in your plant choices according to what is practical, you can still choose your favorite leaf and flower colors and combine them in ways you find most attractive, whether you want them to be as bright as a gypsy dance or as subdued as a forest glade or a wedding in white. Install paths and flagstones to define garden areas, while allowing you and your visitors to walk through the garden without damaging plants or compressing the soil.

What makes designing a dryland garden different is that you have priorities in addition to horticultural indulgence. You can t simply buy anything at the local nursery. For the most part, you need plants that are self-reliant. You may be grouping plants with similar preferences, such as the need for more irrigation, better-drained soil or a position closer to the water barrel. You may be installing a drip or trickle watering system ... you may be reducing or eliminating lawn in favor of other ground covers, whether plants or paving.

Choose a mixture of annuals, perennials, shrubs and, if space permits, trees. Also, a

blend of evergreens and deciduous plants will provide welcome color and visual interest all year. Broadleaf evergreens can be grown in southerly zones, while there are many coniferous evergreens for the coldest climates. Use ground covers, both herbaceous and evergreen, to unite taller garden elements with blankets of color and texture.

A pond can make a pleasing thematic and environmental contrast. Even a small water feature that requires only a few gallons of water will provide a rest for the eyes and drinking water for pets as well as birds and other wildlife. Introduce a goldfish or two to gobble any mosquito larvae that hatch.

You may also want to incorporate garden furniture, statuary, wind chimes, bird feeders and bird houses. Choose their positions carefully so that your garden becomes an extension of your home, an outdoor room with features that attract wildlife and welcome visitors.

Beginning Strategies

The object in a perennial bed is to have plants just touching or slightly overlapping, but the first year after they are planted, perennials may not bloom at all, and it could be three or four years before you have a satisfying clump. In the beginning, there will be tiny plants here and there with gaping spaces between. It makes sense, in the first year or two, to fill these spaces with annuals that will give the border an overall impression of completeness, even though those plants may not be there again the following season.

If you find that when the perennials do start to bloom or grow larger, they are growing in the wrong places, make a note to move them in the fall or the following spring. It is best not to disturb them in summer. If the weather is still dry at moving time, water the transplants

thoroughly and cover them during the day with large flower pots or bushel baskets to provide shade until they are rooted well enough so they don t wilt during the day.

Using Rocks

Rocks suit dry gardens aesthetically and practically. Many drought-tolerant plants are native to rocky or scree areas. Consider rocks not only as accents, borders and mulches but also on their own in the establishment of gravel paths or stone patios. The soil under and shaded by rocks stays cooler and wetter than the surrounding ground, and large rocks act as windbreaks, enabling high-alpine plants, for instance, to survive bright sun and constant wind. Lowland plants can benefit in the same way. On arid sites, the placement of a few large rocks around each transplant increases rooting success. If your soil is rocky, the initial planting can be difficult, but plants that demand well-drained soil, whether they are directly seeded or set in place when small, will send their roots

through the rocks and may ultimately be tougher than those in deep soil.

There are a few things to keep in mind when working with rocks. Remember that it is difficult to mow or keep weeds down directly around rocks. Leave an area of bare ground or low ground cover between rocks and mowed lawn. Rocks exposed to the sun should not be used as mulches near the south side of a home in places where summers are hot. They can act as a heat sink, heating during the day and releasing heat at night, contributing to the warmth of the house. Gravel or larger stones make an attractive mulch for the dry garden, but fallen leaves and other organic matter will eventually create soil pockets between the stones, and where there is soil, weeds will follow. Rake or clean your stone mulch at least once a season.0

Reprmted and adaptedfrom Chapter Two of Dryland Gardening: Plants that Survive and Thrive in Tough Conditions byJennifer Bennett with the permission ofFireflyBooks.

EVERY GOOD GARDENER looks at other people s gardens at one time or another. I think we should never stop considering what makes a good garden, and if we are attentive to what we see when we look at different kinds of gardens, we should expect our judgment to change according to what we discover. In this way, we can develop our own garden style instead of merely following the trends we hear and read so much about.

I think of Lawrence Johnston in 1907 driving for the first time over the beautiful Cotswold countryside to take up residence at Hidcote Manor. It was surrounded by 300 acres of farmland and he soon had the idea to make a garden out of some of it. By 1910 he d laid out elements of what, after twenty years and some refinement of style, would become 10 acres (four hectares) of carefully considered garden space. Hidcote became an influential garden very quickly, even though Johnston never promoted his ideas nor published any articles or books and kept almost no records, plans or plant lists.

I am envious of Lawrence Johnston. What an engaging time it must have been for him when

he made his garden. Although usually described as an Arts and Crafts style garden, he got his ideas from everywhere. He had seen gardens in Europe but had friends in Gloucestershire who were also making gardens. Well-known gardeners visited him and he visited them. Many ideas were exchanged, but they were realized differently in each of their gardens.

When I first became interested in garden design, I started to look at the good classic gardens in England. Since then I've been back to Hidcote several times, driving like Johnston did through the beautiful villages and arriving at those high entry walls with anticipation each time. I have indelible impressions of the molten red borders where blood red dahlias bloom at the end of summer, the floating white garden on a soft June day and the view at any time through the filigree gate over the fields at the end of the hornbeam allée. There are so many ideas here hornbeam stilt hedges in the French style; the combination of beech and yew and hornbeam in the clipped tapestry hedging; the vastness of the Theatre Lawn with its perfectly flat plane of grass and a lone beech on a raised dais poised as if waiting for an audience to arrive.

The renowned rosarian, Graham Stuart Thomas, described Hidcote as a garden of boundless variety, soberly controlled . For me the sober control is the strength of Johnston s plan; he started with the rigorous geometry of French and Italian gardens and interpreted it in a more romantic way. One can see good plantings with beautiful colour all over England, but they lack the haunting gravity of the garden room compositions at Hidcote. I think it is Johnston s sophisticated use of proportion, scale, volume and simple local materials that defines his garden intelligence and makes all the difference.

In establishing his style, Johnston relied on the juxtaposition of opposites the ideas of enclosure and expanse, restraint and indulgence. Long sparsely adorned rooms with far vistas give way to small enclosures full of fine detail and texture. One approach to the small enclosed Bathing Pool Garden with its reflected light, for example, is through the shadow of a rigorous Palladian arch cut into the darkness of a yew hedge.

Vita Sackville-West said that Lawrence Johnston would have wanted to be remembered as a plantsman. Among the first things he plant-

View ;rom the Long.Walk of one of the | brick pavilions

Visiting Hidcote

Whether you re planning a trip to the Cotswolds or taking a virtual tour on the Internet, information about Hidcote Manor Garden can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hidcote.

ed were the hedges, now dense and massive, that would give shelter to his growing collection of rare plants. He was meticulous in providing good conditions for the plants, maybe because he had found some of them himself. He returned from plant-hunting expeditions to China, South Africa, France and elsewhere with fuchsias, hebes, dianthus, iris, anemone and many others. Some of the plants he found are grown today, and at the garden centres in Toronto you should be able to find at least the lavender, Lavandula angustifolia Hidcote .

In 1924 Johnston started to develop another garden, his winter garden, in the south of France at La Serre de la Madone in Menton. It must have been exciting for him to work with the completely different range of plants that could thrive in the Mediterranean climate. In 1948 he decided to move to France permanently. After some struggle and much discussion, he gave Hidcote to the National Trust.

At first, the National Trust was not especially enthusiastic about taking ownership. Hidcote was the first property that the organization accepted based purely on the merits of the garden, and with no endowment attached to it there was some scepticism about how it could be managed. In fact, it was not managed well until Graham Stuart Thomas became the gardens adviser to the National Trust in 1955. Working at Hidcote and other properties, Thomas created a solid basis for approaching garden conservation. The National Trust is now exemplary in its care of the gardens attached to its properties and takes a scholarly approach to their management.

Hidcote is no longer Lawrence Johnston's garden. It has had to be changed to accommodate the ever-increasing number of paying visitors who expect perfection. But it has kept its gentle spirit and though perhaps not as quixotic as it once was, it remains very much the real thing. It s one of the best gardens to visit if you get the chance6

Lzsa Wood is agarden deszgner and former member of the TBG s Through the Garden Gate Committee.

JHELPING TORONTO' S URBAN FOREST GROW ONE YARD AT ATIME

by Charlotte Cox

he trees that grow in your yard, line the Tstreets of Toronto and beautify our parks are all part of the urban forest. Unlike the trees that grow in a wild setting, urban trees face harsh conditions that can be a detriment to their health and growing potential. Soil compaction, air pollution, habitat fragmentation and competition from invasive species are some of the hardships city trees endure.

With 80 per cent of Toronto s land in private hands, we are all responsible for these majestic giants. Why should we protect and care for trees? In addition to their aesthetic value, our urban trees help moderate climate change and improve air quality in two ways: they take up and store pollutants and they reduce the amount of pollutants we produce in the first place by shading buildings in the summer and acting as windbreaks in the winter, thus reducing the need for heating and air conditioning.

LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) is a not-for-profit group dedicated to protecting and improving Toronto s urban forest. It offers a subsidized Backyard Tree

Planting Program to property owners in Toronto. Each season approximately ten different native tree species are offered. They vary in height and shape and in the growing conditions they prefer to ensure that the requirements of most homeowners and their yards can be met. To further increase diversity within the urban landscape, the list changes from season to season. With the help of the LEAF program, over 6,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted in backyards throughout the city of Toronto. What is the advantage of planting a tree through LEAF as opposed to planting it yourself? The benefit most homeowners see is professional advice and planting combined with low cost. Because LEAF is committed to ensuring that both tree and homeowner will be happy, staff members provide an on-site consultation to ensure that an appropriate tree is chosen. And the best part? The site consultation and planting service are included with the purchase of a tree! Tree prices range from $65 to $105, depending on species and size.

Urban trees help moderate climate change and improve air quality.

While LEAF takes care to ensure the tree is planted correctly and in the right location, it is the homeowner s responsibility to provide continuing care. Regular watering and mulching and protection from damage are the main tasks. Each participant in the program is provided with a free tree care guide at the time of planting and LEAF staff members are always happy to answer questions over the phone.

LEAF also offers a native shrub planting

service at an additional cost and a list of perennials for delivery to your door. These are understorey species that offer important bird and butterfly habitat and beautify your yard.®

3¢ N¢ N¢ Ng N¢ Ne Ne Ne Ne Ng Ng Ng Ng Ng Ng g

Charlotte Cox is a former member ofLEAFE. She is a wildlife biologist with a background in ecosystem restoration who is currently working as a reptile and amphibian research technician at the Toronto Zoo.

Q& & LEAF s Backyard Tree Planting Program

LEAF staff provide an on-site consultation where light, soil, space, existing use of yard and homeowner preferences are considered. If one or more trees is purchased, there is no charge for the consultation. When participants purchase only shrubs

Although the list changes seasonally, the plants offered by LEAF include:

Trees

® basswood 7ilia americana

e hackberry Celtis occidentalis

® paper birch Betula papyrifera

® sugar maple Acersaccharum

* tulip tree Lirodendron tulipifera

white pine Pinus strobus

* white spruce Picea glauca

Shrubs

e arrowwood Viburnum dentatum

e common ninebarkPhysocarpus opulifolius

o elderberry Sambucus canadensis

® highbush cranberry Viburnum trilobum nannyberry Viburnum lentago

A tree to beware...

Norway maple, Acer platanoides, is often mistaken for a native maple. It is commonly sold as a residential shade tree under the names Crimson King , Emerald King and Crimson Sentry. However, it reproduces

and/or perennials, there is a $40 charge for the consultation. Consultations begin in late June and carry on throughout the summer. Orders for delivery of shrubs and perennials are taken any time over the summer.

e red osier dogwood Cornus stolonifera

® serviceberryAmelanchierstolonifera

PERENNIALS FOR SUN

® black-eyed Susan Rudbeckiafulgida

e butterfly milkweedAsclepias tuberosa

e wild bergamotMonardafistulosa

WOODLAND PERENNIALS

e great blue lobeliaLobelia siphilitica

e turtlehead Chelone glabra

DROUGHT-TOLERANT PERENNIALS

e grey-headed coneflowerRatibita pinnata

¢ heath asterAster ericoides

A list of species forfall planting is available in earlyJune.

For more information or to order a tree for your backyard, contact LEAF at 416-413-9244 or visit www.leaftoronto.org

aggressively by seed, invading the natural areas and ravines of our city. It also forms a dense shallow root mat that prevents other plants from growing under it. So, beware the Norway maple!

YOU SAY KERCIS AND | SAY CERCIS

Lorna Lukediscovers the trials and tribulations ofgoing back to school

I had been happily

retired for several years when [ accidentally enrolled in Ryerson s landscape design program. This all came about last January when I decided to take a course or two at Ryerson. This was nothing new as | had taken many courses over the years at the Toronto Botanical Garden, and I was ready to explore new ground. However when [ signed up for my chosen courses, the clerk mistakenly enrolled me in the whole program. | stood there considering this novel idea and then thought, why not?

I had no idea what I was getting into. I hadn t been to school in years, actually decades. Just the same [ thought [ would be okay. I've always enjoyed attending classes, meeting new friends and learning new things.

The first problems surfaced right away: the tiny print on the handouts, my spotty memory and the number of facts [ was expected to learn. The truth is that I am at an age where it is hard to remember what [ had for breakfast that day, let alone reams of detailed information. The first night, my head was spinning. I learned that lectures were three hours long, that [ was expected to study and do homework every week in addition to researching and producing projects, participating in field trips and writing exams. Well, I thought, this is going to be a bit more challenging and stimulating than I realized.

The classes I chose to cut my teeth on were Horticulture 1 (the fundamentals, principles

and practices of horticulture), and the Classification of Deciduous Trees (the identification and morphology of native and cultivated trees). My two professors couldn t have been more different. One was a botanist and an academic, the other a master gardener with his own landscaping business. The academic, a purist and Latin scholar, told us in no uncertain terms that Cercis canadensis was pronounced with a hard C while the next night, the master gardener/businessman instructed us to pronounce it with a soft C . It was an indication of how different the two classes would be.

At my first class, on the classification of trees, [ felt lost. The botanist/academic didn t seem to be speaking any language I had heard before. Here s how it went: The frutescence of Fagus grandifolia is composed of a spiky, upward-pointing, dehiscent involucre while that of Sorbus aucuparia is a heavily drooping corymbose cluster... (Hmm, I thought. Not English for sure. Romanian? Swahili?) ...while Juglans cinerea has pinnately compound leaves that are tomentose on the underside with a drupe that is elliptic and pubescent. (Possibly an arcane form of Latin or Greek? I must be in the wrong class.)

After this daunting beginning, he pointed to a mountain of grey-looking twigs heaped on a table, told us to separate them into seven genera and identify them. As the weeks went by, we learned that it s easy to distinguish Gymnocladus dioicus from Ailanthus altimissa by the rich salmon colour of the pith and that the buds of Acer platanoides are terminal and imbricate while those of Quercus rubra are imbricate, ovoid and sharply pointed.

Our eagerness to learn intensified when our professor warned us that I'll break your fingers if you mistake Juglans cinerea for Carya cordiformis. This was to be our routine every week: first a test to identify last week s twigs and answer detailed questions on the morphology, then a presentation on seven new trees and then another heap of twigs to separate, identify and take home. By April we had examined 69 genera and related species.

The horticulture class was less interactive but interesting in other ways. The master gardener/businessman rambled his way through photosynthesis, the development of plants from cells to flower, propagation, nutrients, bulbs, annuals, perennials and shrubs and trees, spicing the curriculum with stories of his arrival from Switzerland as a master gardener 30 years ago when his first job was to pull weeds, his employment as a gardener on a large estate and the weird and wonderful horticultural uses he found for his beer fridge. Along the way, he philosophized about nature and the environment, inspiring us with his passion for plants and revealing his peculiar antipathies: No grass is best. I don t like it or recommend it but if you have to have it, here s the proper way to do it. During slide shows, he bombarded us with details about hundreds of species, lists which now serve as my bible for recommended plants.

At first I was daunted by the amount of material we were expected to learn and considered early retirement. However, after six weeks I started to get the hang of it and noticed my memory was improving. | learned to make use of every minute. If I had to stand in line at the supermarket, I would softly recite leaf shapes to myself: cuneate, elliptic, lanceolate, obcordate. I started to feel more comfortable.

Then came exams, a nerve-racking experience to say the least. I pored over my basket of little grey twigs, drew cross-sections of a leaf and memorized lists of plants, but the real test was remembering the botanical names. One student demonstrated her ingenuity: she remembered that Carpinus caroliniana was the botanical name for musclewood by imagining Arnold Schwartzenegger running off with

Caroline Kennedy. The botanist/academic coached us by pronging the air with three fingers while croaking E.T. come home, meaning that the best way to identify Ostrya virginiana is by looking for the number of male catkins (three in this case).

Since going back to school, I have developed a whole new appreciation of the world I live in. I find myself staring intently at plants trying to decide if the leaf margin is serrate, entire, crenate or dentate and thinking that plant needs a good dose of phosphoric acid . I have a feeling that my education is just beginning. Next term I plan to unravel the mysteries of landscape construction and graphics. I guess I m not retired anyrnoreB

Loma Lukeisa member ofthe Trellzs Commzttee and is workingat becominga garden designer.

TBG LIBRARIAN APPOINTED

LEANNE HINDMARCH has been appointed to the position of librarian at theToronto Botanical Garden, effective in the fall of 2005. Leanne has been aTBG volunteer since 2002 and held the position of library assistantfrom March 2004 to the present. She is currently overseeing the Library operation on a voluntary basis during the construction. Leanne completed her master of information studies in April and will bring to her job outstanding technical skills, over nine years experience in a number of different libraries with the delivery ofvarious information services and a familiarity with theTBG collection, volunteers and unique operation. We are delighted that she will be joining us full-time to launch the opening of our expanded Library.

Exploring Goodwood

(Carol Gardner guides us to threefamily-operated nurseries northeast ofToronto.)

s we all know, families can pass along a lot of things to the next generation. The families featured in this article have passed along a passion for gardening so much better than bequeathing Uncle Edgar s big nose or Aunt Effie s maniacal laugh! Their nurseries Mason Hogue Gardens, Richters Herbs and Goodwood Gardens are tucked together just outside Toronto in and around the small town of Goodwood.

Mason Hogue Gardens is familiar to many members of the Toronto Botanical Garden because Marjorie Mason is a long-time supporter of the TBG. Her affinity for plants started early in her life while helping her market-gardener parents. Marjorie initially became a teacher but, on her days off, she haunted the local nursery to the point where they offered her a job. She became the manager and stayed for 19 years until the nurserywas sold to new owners.

By that time Marjorie s son Jeff, a dedicated plant collector and propagator, was ready to begin a career, and the two decided to build a nursery on their property. They began with a small mail-order business and then built a greenhouse. Ten years later, the property is

totally taken up with the nursery and its accompanying demonstration gardens.

Their first demonstration garden was xeriscape, planted mostly on sand. It s still thriving even though it hasn t been watered since 1993! Then came the potager garden, where vegetables and plants seem to have been arranged by a painter. Last year, master mason John ShawRimmington (whom you may have seen at this year s Canada Blooms) installed a dry-stone wall with an arch in the centre of the property. That became the inspiration for an English-style walled garden planted with flowers in pastel colours. A newly installed patio will be home to a potscaping

design showcase. This summer, there are two new projects a tropical garden (containing both tropical plants and perennials that resemble tropicals) and a Mediterranean garden.

Mason Hogue Gardens has a large variety of annuals, perennials and vines (especially clematis) as well as an expanding collection of unusual shrubs and evergreens. Marjorie and Jeff lead gardening tours around the world and always return brimming with new ideas. If you walk away from this nursery without a garden full of inspiration, then you just weren t paying attention!

Just down the road, you ll find Richters Herbs, a business begun in 1968 by Otto and Waltraut Richter. In the early days, it was a bedding-plant business. Herbs were grown in a small greenhouse for the family s personal use only. But customers began to ask about the herbs and that part of the business started to expand. In the early 1970s, Waltraut and cooking guru Madame Benoit appeared on CBC-TV s Take Thirty (hosted by broadcaster, and now governor general, Adrienne Clarkson) to discuss the culinary uses of herbs. After the segment was broadcast, the Richters business exploded. Their son Otto, then a schoolboy, was called in to help after school and on weekends. By the mid-eighties, the bedding plants were gone and only the herbs remained. Customers began bringing in their own plant slips to increase the number of varieties offered, and Elizabeth McKenzie, a woman who ran a small herb nursery in Pickering, shared with them her many varieties of scented geraniums.

The elder Richters are gone now, but Otto runs the business with the same enthusiasm as did his parents. He searches the world for herbs that haven t been introduced into western culture and has been a pioneer in introducing them in Canada. Year round, Richters offers a wide variety of seminars and workshops on the medicinal and culinary use of herbs, but just reading their catalogue is an herbal education in itself.

About a block from Richters you ll find Goodwood Gardens, started over 40 years ago by Harold and Marlene Gribble as a fruit and vegetable nursery. Now the nursery carries a wide variety of annuals and perennials as well as offering landscape design and maintenance services. They too have demonstration gardens as well as a variety of ponds and a very dramatic pond-less waterfall. The nursery is now run by Marlene and her son David along with a dedicated and well-trained staff. There are free gardening demonstrations throughout the season.

After so much plant shopping you re bound to be hungry, so just mosey down the road to Mrs. Wideman s Incredible Bakeshop Café to enjoy one of her meat pies, wraps or sandwiches. Fortify yourself for the trip home by indulging in one of the Kkiller desserts. Keep in mind that, no matter how exciting your day has been, man does not live by plants alone!®

Carol Gardner is an award-winning garden writerand member ofthe Trellis Committee.

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

DRIVING DIRECTIONS

FromToronto, take Hwy 401 east to the Brock Road exit in Pickering, then go north for 25 kilometres to Mason Hogue Gardens. Continue north on Brock Road until it ends at Hwy 47. Take Hwy 47 west (turn left) and Richters is on the south side, just before you reach Goodwood. A block farther, on the north side, is Goodwood Gardens. Mrs. Wideman s is another couple of blocks along, on the north side of the road.

MASON HOGUE GARDENS

3520 Durham Road #1 (Durham Rd. #1 is also

Brock Road), Coppins Corners

905-649-3532 or www.masonhogue.com

POTAGER GARDENING SEMINARS

Friday, July 8, and Sunday, July 10

Marjorie and Jeff are holding an all-dayclass. Pre-registration is required.

RICHTERS HERBS

357 Hwy 47; 1-800-668-HERB or www.richters.com

GOODWOOD GARDENS

378 Hwy 47; 905-640-4852 or www.goodwoodgardens.com

MRS. WIDEMAN S INCREDIBLE BAKESHOP CAFE

300 Hwy 47; 905-642-5838

Jr HORTICULTUHV

Take your garden to the next level of elegance and sophistication.

Please call to speak with one of our expert horticulturalists about garden management strategies, rejuvenation programs and horticultural consultations.

148 Kenwood Avenu

Summer Garden Tours

Free guided tours oftwo popular public gardens ledbyTBGvolunteers

EDWARDS GARDENS

Edwards Gardenss a former estate garden featuringperennials and roses on the uplands andwildflowers, rhododendrons and an extensive rockeryinthe valley. One-hour tours (conducted rain or shine)begin at the flowerbeds at the entrance to Edwards Gardens.

July& August

Tuesdays andThursdays at 10 a.m.

Evening tours: July 13, 27 &August 10, 24 at 7 p.m.

TORONTO MUSIC GARDEN

The Music Garden, a collaboration betweenYo-Yo Ma andJulie Moir Messervy, was inspiredby Bach s Suite #1 for Unaccompanied Cello. Thegarden is located on Queen s Quay atthe foot ofSpadinaAve. The45-minute tour (conducted rain or shine) starts in the Prelude section at the west end ofthe garden.

Juneto September Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

July &August

Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. priorto the 7p.m. music concert

No reservations are required for these tours. For more information or to book a group or ESL tour, call 416-397-1366 orvisitwww.torontobotanicalgarden.ca.

by Anna Leggatt

/Campanula - Bellflower

CAMPANULAS, OR BELLFLOWERS, are one of the mainstays of the summer garden. There are species for nearly every situation. Well-tended borders are perfect for large tubby biennial Canterbury bells, C. medium; many smaller treasures such as C. carpatica are suitable for rock gardens; and in dry shade C. punctata, the spotted bellflower, spreads less exuberantly than it would in better conditions.

Bellflower describes the flower perfectly, though there are many variations on the theme. The flower bells on C. punctata hang straight down. C. medium s big bells are more cup-shaped and one variety is aptly named Cup and Saucer its flowers face down and outward. Peach-leaved bellflower, C. persicifolia, has outward-facing flowers that open from a bell to a star-like outline. One of my favourites, C. latifolia var. alba, has up-facing white bells with a purple spot deep in the centre. C. lactiflora has dense clusters of smaller up-facing bells.

Bells vary in size. The difficult-to-grow C. zoysii has pinched closed bells that measure just under two centimetres (about three-quarters of an inch) long while the downward-pointing purple bells of C. Sarastro are five centimetres (two inches) long.

Colours range through the blues, with lilacs and purples and an occasional yellow. There are several pink-flowered cultivars, many with a bluish tint, and white occurs frequently too.

There are more than 300 species of Campanula. Most are from the northern hemisphere, and half the species are native to Europe. Campanulas grow in woodland edges, shady banks, open turf, in full sun, in screes and in minute rock crevices. There are annual

species, many biennials and perennials (unfortunately, several of these are short-lived).

Be careful, though. Some species are evil temptresses! These include C. rapunculoides, which has brittle roots with swollen tubers. It seeds prolifically you will soon have plants everywhere! It has the most beautiful blue flowers, though, that cover the spikes in great profusion. Another entrancing one is C. punctata. It grows in a variety of colours and forms. C. punctata will spread rapidly by brittle rhizomes in rich soil. Luckily, groundhogs love it and help to keep it in check. Some of the rock garden species will quickly cover up your attractive stonework, so look for the smaller, more expensive plants that tend not to exhibit these undesirable characteristics.

Unlike these, Campanula tommasiniana is a well-behaved rock garden plant that is native to northwestern Slovenia as well as the mountains of Istra, in Croatia. In cultivation, it is a shortlived perennial that lasts only five to six years. The thin wiry stems are about 10 centimetres (four inches) high and bear grey-green linear to lanceolate leaves just over one centimetre (about one-quarter of an inch) long. The top third of the stems bears thin, powdery blue, pendant, true campanulate bells that measure only about two centimetres (three-quarters of an inch) long and perhaps 0.8 centimetres (one-third of an inch) wide. However, their numbers produce an eyecatching display that lasts for several weeks in July and August. Plant C. tommasiniana in welldrained, gritty soil and position them on top of a wall or bank where you can look up at the flowers to enjoy theirquietcharmB

Anna Leggattis a Master Gardenerand volunteerat the TBG.

lllustration: Jocelyn Mann

I Understand the Value of a Beautiful Garden

| have lived in Rosedale since 1976 and happily raised four children here. During this time | have become passionate about my neighbourhood, my garden and my real estate career.

Selling homes since 1988 has allowed me to get to know many Toronto gardens and their owners very well. Those

that have worked with me will tell you that | listen and | care.

If you have a question about real estate or if you would like a confidential evaluation of your home without any cost or obligation, please call me.

Or better yet, come and visit me in my garden.

Fran Bennett

Sales Representative

"X Expert advice from the Master Gardeners |

Qi recently acquired some gas plant seeds from a friend in Quebec and was wondering if there were any special instructions for planting them. Also, are there good companion plants for them?

A Gas plants, Dictamnus albus, are nice perennials for the back of the border. They will grow one to 1.2 metres (three to four feet) high and will spread about one metre (three feet) wide. They like sun to part shade and bloom in early summer. They flower for only a short period but produce starry bronze seed heads which, along with their glossy dark green leaves, make them attractive all summer.They do not divide well as they have a long tap root which if damaged could kill the plant, so be sure to place them where you really want them. They can live for 20 years or more.

Combine them with peonies (Paeonia), oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) and lupins (Lupinus) which bloom at the same time. Yarrow (Achillea), fleabane (Erigeron) and asters (Aster) make good later-blooming companions.

The only drawback to growing gas plants from seed is that they can take up to three or four years before blooming. Sow seeds outside in late summer marking where you sowed them, then transplant to a permanent home in the third spring after germination.

Gas plants look good at the back of the border

Q. 1 have an old Clematis Jackmanii which has been growing in the same spot, an eastern wall, for about 25 years. For the last two or three years I have noticed that, even though it reaches its full height, the blossoms have tended to be much smaller and sparser and the last few inches of each stem seem very thin, with

Clematis Jackmanii has spectacular large purple flowers

small leaves. I prune it back each spring to about two to three feet from the ground. Since I don t suppose anything goes on forever, would the problem with lack of blossom be just that the plant is past its prime and needs to be replaced? It has been fertilized this year with a 10-10-10 granular fertilizer and occasional 2020-20 liquid. In other years I haven t given it much fertilizer, but had the same results.

A You seem to be doing all the right things as far as pruning is concerned, so the cause of your problem might be one of two things: perhaps the exposure to sunshine has changed over the years and your clematis just isn t receiving enough sunlight for optimum blooms; or, your clematis needs more fertilizer. The American Clematis Society advises that clematis are heavy feeders and need several applications of fertilizer throughout the season. Start when the buds are about two inches long and fertilize with a granular formula high in phosphorus every four to six weeks. [Top dressing the soil with compost each season would also help to improve the soil which might be depleted of nutrients by now. Ed.]

Doyou havea question aboutgardening? Contact the Toronto Master Gardeners InfoLine at 416-397-1345 or log on to the Q&A Forum at infogarden.ca/mastergardenerboard.htm andAsk aMaster Gardener!

lllustrations:

Vivien Jenkinson

VISIT OUR COZY SPACE

I 'D LIKE TO INVITE all members (and your friends and family!) to pay a visit to the Library. A pared-down core collection is located in temporary quarters in the administrative area at the TBG - it s a small but cozy space! We have a bookcase full of reference books which members are invited to consult as well as all of the current periodicals you are accustomed to finding in the Library. None of the materials can be removed from the building, but you can take a book or magazine out to the comfy chairs in our foyer, or browse through our folder of current local events. I can answer your questions, and if I can t find the answer in our limited collection, it just so happens we are located in the same room as the Master Gardeners one of them may be able to lend an expert hand!

We re able to offer this service because a group of dedicated library volunteers and I have been working since February to keep the Library up and running. I'd like to thank Ruthanne Stiles, our former librarian, for her hours and hours of hard work in the months prior to the building closure last fall without her guidance we wouldn t have been able to offer this service today.

I know as well as anyone what a disappointment it is to all of us not to have access for so many months to the Library as we know and love it. However, I'm here to make the best of it during this exciting time of transition and I'd be happy to have some company! Please pay me a visit when you re in the neighbourhood. Contact us at 416-397-1343 or library@infogarden.ca.

Web site REVIEW

MORE ABOUT DRYLAND GARDENING

If you enjoyed the excerpt on page 14 from

Jennifer Bennett s Dryland Gardening and would like to learn more about xeriscaping (an environmentally friendly form of landscaping that uses a variety of indigenous and drought-tolerant plants, shrubs, and groundcovers), here are a few Web site recommendations.

Wise Water Use (Ontario Clean Water Agency/City ofHamilton) www.greenventure.on.ca/wwu.asp?ID=7

This site provides detailed information on the principles of xeriscaping: planning and design, creating practical turf areas, irrigating efficiently, using mulch, improving the soil, using appropriate plants, maintenance, capturing rain and snow runoff. It offers additional information on keeping a water log and indoor and outdoor tips such as how often to water your lawn and using slow-release fertilizers to avoid rapid growth spurts that require large quantities ofwater.

Xeriscape Colorado WWWw.xeriscape.org

Produced by a non-profit group that promotes creative approaches to water conservation, this site is a well-organized and authoritative source on the fundamentals and history of xeriscaping. It includes photos of demonstration gardens, articles from the Xeriscape Maintenance Journal and a bibliography. Highly recommended.

Planttalk (Colorado State University Cooperative Extension) www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1907.html

This site provides good lists of interesting plants with descriptions and comments about the plants. It points out that the features that make plants visually interesting often are the features that allow them to thrive on little water. For example, the silver leaves of lambs ears and lavender reflect the drying heat of the sun so the plant doesn t lose water from its leaves.

Reviewed byLorna Luke

Book REVIEWS Summer Reading

IPMfor Gardeners: A Guide to IntegratedPestManagement

ByRaymondA. Cloyd, Philip L. Nixon &NancyR. Pataky

Portland, Oregon, TimberPress, 2004; 252pages; US$27.95

eThe Purest ofHuman Pleasures

ByKenneth Radu

Penguin Canada, 2005; 256 pages; $22

IPM for Gardeners

A Guide to IntegratedPest Management

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) was developed in the mid-1960s as a means to minimize the negative impact on the environment of the pesticides used to manage the onslaught of insects, mites and diseases in landscapes and gardens. This in turn led to the development of other pest management strategies. IPM does not totally eliminate the use of pesticides but rather suggests their use only as a last resort.

The authors of this book explain in practical terms how any gardener can use IPM techniques successfully at home. They feel that a basic understanding of the biology of plants, plant diseases and insects is an essential starting point to ensure that plant care is treated in a holistic fashion. If chemical intervention becomes inevitable, gardeners are shown how to minimize the environmental impact.

Well researched and beautifully illustrated, this book will change our vision of our gardens by giving us the tools necessaryto keep them healthyfor a healthy planet.

Reviewed byMadge Bruce

HOW OFTEN HAVEYOU READ a book or been to a movie and groaned at references to gardening that are just plain wrong? Those bad spellings.Those pretend plants plunked into a spot where they couldn t possibly survive in real life. That heroine who s supposed to be a horticulturist but who can t pronounce Aubrieta properly. Perhaps I'm a fussbudget, but such blunders drive me nuts. So it was a great pleasure to come across this new novel by Kenneth Radu. It s about a horticulturist, and because Radu is a keen gardener himself, every gardening reference in the book is satisfyingly correct. His story is also a pretty good read.

The hero of the tale is Morris Bunter, a middleaged horticulturist who tends the gardens of the rich on Montreal s West Island. Bunter worries too much about lots of things particularly his grown-up daughter Kate who s being harassed by Donald Ingoldsby, an arrogant professor at her university. When people start getting murdered in the gardens Bunter cares for, the plot takes strange twists.

The ending is downright weird (and rather disappointing) but what | revelled in were the gardening descriptions that appear throughout the book. They re eloquent, colourful, down to earth and, most important of all, accurate. Radu writes about white bleeding heart providing a lovely contrast in the shadows of a garden (which indeed it does). He knows all about iris borers and leaf miners. He gets in a dig at garden centres that sell bags of soil overloaded with peat moss . And his love of growing things shines through on almost every page of this novel.

Reviewed bySoniaDay

A Toronto Master Gardenerand author ofthree gardening books, Sonia strives for accuracy in her new question-and-answer column, The Plant Doctor , which appears in the Toronto Star s Your Home section every Thursday. She does admit to making mistakes sometimes.

RAYMONDA. CLOYD PHILIPL. NI

Summer tours and open gardens |

TBG GUIDED TOURS

JULY

Gardens in the Sky

Terry McGlade leads this tour of three rooftop gardens in downtown Toronto. 9to 11:30 a.m.

Public $35/ Members $30

City Garden Circuit

Ride the Red Rocket with Barry Parker who will show you a series of private and innovative city gardens.

1 to 3:30 p.m.

Public $35/ Members $30

Fee includes TTC day pass

AUGUST

Rosedale North Exclusive

Landscape designer Kent Ford takes you on an exclusive tour of three private Rosedale gardens. 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Rain date, Sunday, August 7

Public $35/ Members $30

IN & AROUND THE GTA

JULY

2,10

MERLIN'S HOLLOW OPEN GARDEN

181 Centre Crescent, Aurora

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Free admission

CREDIT VALLEY MISSISSAUGA GARDEN TOUR

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Tickets $10

Information: DougJohnston 905-823-3229; tour@creditvalleyhort.ca

9,10

JARVIE GARDEN OPEN GARDEN

37 Thornheights Rd., Thornhill

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free admission

BURLINGTON GARDEN TOUR

6 gardens

Tickets $10, at Terra Greenhouses, Burlington and Waterdown

Information: Stephen Fitzsimmons 005-336-1168

QUINTE GARDEN TOUR AND TEA

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Information: 613-392-6044

AjAX GARDEN TOUR

10 gardens in south and north Ajax

Tickets $10

Information: Linda Haslett, 905-686-0457

30, 31

GARDEN WALK BUFFALO

200 gardens!

Information: www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com; 716-879-0123

CLASSIFIED ADS

Nature Tours for Retirees

Our fourteenth year leading small groups in bird and wildflower studies! 2006 tours fromToronto include Point Pelee, Moosonee, Texas, Iceland, Ecuador, Sicily and Malta. For details, call George Bryant at TRAVEL HELPERS (416) 443-0583 or 1-877-245-2424. E-mail: naturalhistorytravel@sympatico.ca

The garden at Lilactree Farm will be open on four Sundays in 2005, on May 22, June 26, July 24, and September 25, from 10.00a.m. to 5.00p.m.. Plants for sale normally include double bloodroot, pink bloodroot, Jeffersonia dubia, the pink and white form ofLathyrus vernus, Daphne mezereum album, as well as unusual trees and species clematis.There are excellent places to lunch nearby. For further information, telephone (519)-925-5577 or email: lilactree@sympatico.ca

Enjoy a weekend of garden tours in beautiful Northumberland County, 1 hour east ofToronto. Port Hope GardenTour, Sat., June 25 (phone 905-885-7929 for tickets). Northumberland Big Sisters Big Brothers Garden Tour, Sun. June 26 (phone 1-888-278-2484 for tickets).

Property For Sale.

Very private setting on the Niagara Escarpment within the Greenbelt and World Biosphere zone, this beautifully landscaped property set among rare, mature trees, iris collection, stone patio charming gazebo. The two buildings on the property are currently operated as an art studio and B&B. Suitable for building an exclusive retirement home. For more information see: www. ugadrava.com or call 1800-984-2842.