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Ontario Urban Forest Council in partnership with Toronto Botanical Garden presents: Save the Date! November 3, 4 and 5, 2011 at the Toronto Botanical Garden 777 Lawrence Avenue East
SPREADING ROOTS
WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT OUR URBAN TREES
This three-day symposium brings together a diverse range of professionals and amateurs to explore the critical issues affecting urban trees and to ensure that our cities’ trees flourish.
Editor
lorraiNe FlaNigaN
dEsign
JuNe aNdersoN
trEllis CommittEE
lorraiNe huNter (chair)
lorraiNe FlaNigaN (editor)
carol gardNer
marioN magee
gweN rattle
JeNNy rhodeNizer
VoluntEEr Editorial assistants m magee, m. Nevett
VoluntEEr graphiC artist Pablo herNaNdez
VoluntEEr proofrEadErs
e brais, J. camPbell, l hickey, m magee, l. & s skiNNer aNd l uyeNo
adVErtising
416-397-1371
Trellis is published as a members’ newsletter by the toronto botanical garden at edwards gardens
777 lawrence avenue east, toronto ontario m3c 1P2, 416-397-1340
Trellis welcomes queries for story ideas, which should be submitted to the editor for consideration by the trellis committee at least four months in advance of publication dates.
opinions expressed in Trellis do not necessarily reflect those of the tbg submissions may be edited for style and clarity.
all rights reserved. reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission.
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cover Photo: JaNet davis
to do Features News
4 green Community take a heritage walk
Who’s talking Patrick cullina goings on harvest day, enchanted eve and more!
membership news your e-mail address, please! tribute Judy misner newcomer anna-liza badaloo 5 from the tBg shooting the breeze tBgKids Fall is harvest time! Volunteers maneck sattha making new friends tFN supports living winter
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Creating a garden of discovery one stook and pune at a time an interview with w. gary smith
8 trees and the City urban forestry in the international year of Forests
10 four shrubs for all seasons shrubs with multi-seasonal “staying power”
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Just ask master gardeners answer your questions my favourite plant 4+ plants for 4 seasons learning the lingo Cercidiphyllum japonicum in our gardens woodland walk update
13 Container Crazy a fresh look for fall in Your garden Jobs to do anna’s plant pick Amelanchier (serviceberry) around the garden with head gardener sandra Pella
14 Events Calendar what’s on at the toronto botanical garden
15 thanks to our friends
toro N tobota N icalgarde N .ca 3 Fall 2011
Printed by harmony Printing
Green Community take a heritage walk
As part of our Harvest Day celebrations on Saturday, September 24, TBG Tours will be offering a historical walking tour of the TBG and Edwards Gardens for Heritage Toronto. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how the grounds evolved from Alexander Milne’s pioneer farm to Rupert Edwards’ 1944 country estate to today’s public park and garden education centre. Tour departs at 10:30 a.m. FREE
Who’s Ta Lk InG
LECTURER: PATRiCK CULLinA
ToPiC: sHAPing CiTiEs AnD CoMMUniTiEs WiTH DYnAMiC LAnDsCAPEs
WHEn: THURsDAY, sEPTEMBER 22, 7:30 P.M.
Explore New York City’s High Line, a celebrated park built atop a formerly abandoned elevated train viaduct on Manhattan’s Lower West Side. Horticulturist, designer and photographer Patrick Cullina will talk about the processes for adapting the High Line Park and other natural areas that demonstrate nature’s power to transform the places where we live, work and gather. Patrick Cullina most recently served as Vice President of Horticulture and Park Operations for Friends of the High Line and Vice President of Horticulture, Operations and Science Research at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Public $20, students (with valid ID) $15, TBG members free. Door sales only. Limited seating. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
MEMBERsHiP nEWs: Your e-mail address, please!
Help us update and complete our records by e-mailing your name and membership number, so we can instantly inform you about special happenings at the tbg and occasional additional benefits — without wasting money on postage. rest assured you will not be bombarded with pesky messages and that your e-mail address will be kept strictly confidential. reply to: membership@torontobotanicalgarden.ca
Member and volunteer Judy Misner died unexpectedly on June 2. Judy gave one day a week to the tbg — Monday mornings at reception and Friday afternoons in the library. She also worked at many of our special events. no matter what she was doing, Judy was warm, gracious and professional. We miss her.
Newcomer
Anna-Liza Badaloo Adult Education Coordinator
Anna-liza joined the tBG in April 2011, bringing with her a passion for environmental education with a strong belief in the interconnectedness of all things. Her past experience as volunteer and training coordinator at leAF (local enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) and educational positions at
earthroots and the Rom is complemented by an environmental studies degree and herbalist training. While she can often be found tending her veggie garden, her devotion to the arts keeps her busy with independent films and live music as well as writing and playing classical piano pieces.
• Celebrate Harvest Day with cider, tbgKids activities and a Fall Plant Sale. Saturday, September 24, noon to 4 p.m. Free
• Autumn Taste of the garden: Harvest Bounty lunch with local produce. Saturday, September 24, noon to 2 p.m. Public $55, members $50.
• Volunteer Appreciation Party Wednesday, September 28, 6 to 8 p.m.
• spreading Roots: Working Together to Protect our Urban Trees is a three-day symposium exploring the issues affecting urban trees. november 3, 4 and 5. Visit spreadingroots.ca.
• Enchanted Eve: A garden of Earthly Delights is the tbg’s signature fall fundraising event. thursday, november 10, 6:30 p.m.
• Holiday open House enjoy cider and shortbread. Stock up on outdoor greenery and winter containers. Members receive a 20 per cent discount. Free gift-wrapping. thursday, december 8, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Free light dinner available for purchase.
Edwards Lecture with dan benarcik, 7:30 p.m.
goTo
torontobotanical garden.ca
FoR DetAils
AnD to ReGisteR cAll 416-397-1341.
Judy Misner
From The TBG
ALDonA sATTERTHWAiTE executive Director
Shooting the Breeze
Afew years ago, I went to a neighbourhood ratepayers’ meeting. The topic was trees, and we were warned we stood to lose up to 50 per cent of our mature canopy within the next decade. Many of our trees were silver maples, planted en masse and nearing the end of their lifespan. I suspect this is a widespread problem.
Happily, gardeners don’t have to stand around helplessly, waiting for the worst. We can take action. If the trees on your patch are mature, create a succession plan by planting some young ’uns now. Uncertain as to which trees are most suitable? If you live in Toronto or York Region, for just $75 our friends at LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) will send an expert to your property to advise you on trees for your backyard. They’ll evaluate the growing conditions and your requirements and preferences, then suggest native trees and shrubs that will do well. Once you’ve made your choice, they’ll credit that $75 toward the purchase of your (subsidized) tree and even come out and plant your selection in the very best spot. To find out more, go to yourleaf.org
One more thing: just like other plants, trees need care, especially during periods of drought. Young trees are particularly vulnerable — we’ve all seen poor saplings that have shrivelled up and died in the summer sun. According to LEAF, trees two years old or under should be watered for 15 to 20 minutes twice a week in hot dry weather. And even mature trees appreciate a drink.
Want to learn more about looking after trees? Check out the 15-hour Tree Tenders course offered through LEAF or come to our November tree symposium. Details at spreadingroots.ca
makinG new Friends
tFn Supports living Winter
Imagine being outside on a bright winter’s day feeling a chickadee land on your outstretched hand or wading knee deep in snow to track winter animals or dissecting owls’ pellets to discover what foods they’re eating — all during school hours. These are some of the activities offered through Living Winter, a curriculum-based program at the Toronto Botanical Garden that introduces grade 4 students from priority neighbourhoods to natural winter habitats and their denizens.
This innovative, experiential program has received the generous financial backing of the Toronto Field Naturalists
Join us September 24 from noon to 4 p.m. for our Harvest day event. You’ll have the chance to pick vegetables from the garden for the north York Harvest Food bank, meet our vermicomposting worms and see some wonderful art by discoverability. Free
Cooking with kids
take advantage of the harvest by making meals from the garden. this is a fun and easy thing to do with kids, even if you have just a small herb garden.
Halloween Howl
let out your inner ghoul during our annual Halloween Howl on october 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. learn about creepy crawlies, do a spooky scavenger hunt and plant your own spider plant to take home! Public $10, members $7 per participant.
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Yours, Mine & Ours Volun T eer S
TBG volunteer extraordinaire Maneck Sattha has just received an award from Scouts Canada which commemorates his 45 years with that organization. Maneck joined the Scouts as a young boy in India; his commitment to scouting continued when he came to Canada and enrolled his own son in the organization. Scouting has taken Maneck around the world to attend international jamborees in The Netherlands, Australia and Thailand. Most recently, he was in Sweden as one of three Canadian representatives to an international service team. Bet we know what his five grandsons will be doing a few years from now! — Carol Gardner
(TFN), a charitable, non-profit organization that works to stimulate public interest in natural history and encourages the preservation of our natural heritage.
TFN’s contribution to the Living Winter program is the first to span two years of programming, thus ensuring continuity and effectively making it available to a greater number of students. We thank the Toronto Field Naturalists for their support of our shared dream of a future generation with a deeper appreciation, understanding and respect for the natural environment that surrounds and sustains us all.
Creating a garden of dis C over y
one Stook and Pune at a time
Lorraine Hunter talks with W. gary Smith about his vision for the tbg’s new children’s garden.
You’ve probably noticed the strange-looking sculptures that appeared this summer on the vacant land beyond the carpet beds at the entrance to Edwards Gardens. You could hardly miss them! There are 31, of various heights and made of bundles of grasses, red osier dogwood and other branches. They’re “stooks and punes” designed by W. Gary Smith, the renowned landscape architect and artist, and their purpose is to attract attention to the future site of a proposed children’s garden at the TBG.
“ ‘Stooks’ is a historical agricultural term for bundled grass sheaves,” explains Smith. “And ‘punes’ is a made-up word from my childhood that means tufts of hair that stand up on the back of your head — I had many.”
Chosen to create a master plan for the TBG children’s garden, Smith obviously loves what he does for a living — working in a world of fantasy, dreaming up whimsical ideas and weaving them into gardens that will invite children to invent their own stories and inspire their imaginations. While Smith can’t explain exactly what the garden will look like, the emphasis will definitely be on trees and stories about trees, influenced by the works of film maker Tim Burton and
The final design has yet to evolve but one thing’s for sure: it won’t be cute. “Children are pretty sophisticated,” says Smith. “Sometimes we condescend to them. We talk down to them in squeaky voices. Looking at scary stuff helps me avoid the ‘cute’ edge.”
Smith didn’t set out to design children’s gardens. He was teaching landscape design at the University of Delaware when Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Wilmington, Delaware, asked him to help design a children’s garden based on fairies and woodland spirits. That resulted in the Enchanted Woods. “As we are doing here, the Enchanted Woods started with a theme. I began research by looking at evil fairies and ended up with a garden that was neither scary nor cute.”
While the TBG children’s garden will evoke lots of myths and legends, it won’t be designed around any one specific character or story. “Too many things don’t leave room for any truly new experiences for children,” says Smith.
It’s no surprise to learn that Smith’s love for both horticulture and art stems from his own youth. While growing up in Newark, Delaware, his refuge was his eighth-grade Greenhouse Club as well as his high school art room. And the fact that he had more than 200 African violets growing
authors Maurice Sendak and Edward Gorey.
under lights in his bedroom didn’t hurt either. “I got into that because my Aunt Betty gave me a book called Growing Plants under Artificial Light. Violets got me for life. If we get children at the TBG engaged at that depth in trees, we’ve got them for life, too,” he says.
A children’s garden should be as interesting and appealing to adults as it is to children, according to Smith. In fact, he would like the children’s garden to become a fundraising venue for the TBG. “When you have just four acres to work with you want everything to be multiple-use,” he explains.
To get into the mindset of an eight- to 12-year-old, Smith often watches kids at play in one of his gardens and consults them and their parents. “The grandson of a client gave me some ideas just last weekend,” he recalls. “When we were discussing tree houses the boy dismissed any thought of building one with electricity or any other modern conveniences. He said that making a tree house like a real house would be boring.” The message, not lost on Smith, is not to over-design. “We want to use enough features to make the garden rich, but if we make it too rich there will be nothing for kids to discover,” he says.
“I am personally delighted to be working on a project in the city where I live instead of taking a long plane ride to get there,” says Smith who has called Toronto home for the past five years. “My work takes me all over the U.S. from Santa Fe to New York.” In addition to Toronto, Smith is currently working on children’s gardens at the Lady Bird
Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Birmingham Botanic Gardens in Alabama and Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
His plans are to have a preliminary design ready for the TBG garden by this fall. Smith describes his work as “celebrating plants and the connections they offer between people and nature”. Working mainly in botanical gardens and arboreta, he strives to find ecologically sustainable ways of making gardens.
Winner of many awards, Smith was named the American Horticultural Society’s landscape designer of the year for 2011. He received the Award of Distinction from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers for his work on Enchanted Woods at Winterthur, Peirce’s Woods at Longwood Gardens and the Stopford Family Meadow Maze at the Tyler Arboretum in Pennsylvania. Smith’s book, From Art to Landscape: Unleashing Creativity in Garden Design is available in the Weston Family Library.
“Painting, storytelling, choreography, music and gardening are all arts-based, particularly music and dance which, like gardening, deal with movement through space and over time.” Conscious of the need to design a garden that will evolve, Smith quotes garden historian Mac Griswold who declares that “the garden is the slowest of the performing arts”.
Lorraine Hunter is chair of the Trellis Committee and a Master Gardener in Training.
in the international Year of Forests it’s fitting, says Janet Davis, that we celebrate with a symposium at the tbg.
trees and the city
Forty-six years ago, Bill Morsink, a University of Toronto graduate student in forestry, sought his professor’s help in coining a name for his course of study: an analysis of the successes and failures of municipal tree planting in Etobicoke. The professor, Erik Jorgensen, had arrived in Canada from Denmark in 1955 and worked as a forest pathologist in the Forest Biology Division of the Department of Agriculture before joining the U of T faculty. It was not a perfect fit: his background was in sustainable forest management and the faculty’s focus since its founding in 1907 was on timber and pulp production. No attention was being paid to reforestation or to exploring the environmental and social benefits of forests. By that September 1965, Jorgensen had been attending the wildly popular classes of his colleague Marshall McLuhan who’d asked him to care for the oak trees around his home. As he listened to his new friend lecture about the “global village” and refer to television with the catchy phrase “the medium is the message”, Jorgensen found himself drawn to the media guru’s iconoclastic views, and came up with a name for Morsink’s master’s program: urban forestry. That the birth of a worldwide field
of scientific study occurred in Toronto is well-known in forestry circles, but that it happened in a hotbed of swinging ’60s counterculture philosophy is fitting, given that it marked the end of valuing forests solely for their material worth and overlooking their ecological benefits. Years later, Jorgensen recalled: “Marshall McLuhan considered the term not only appropriate but also powerful. It gave an image of tying the city — the cultivated and civilized — to the rural and unmanaged forest areas.”
This autumn, an urban tree symposium is taking place at the Toronto Botanical Garden, itself nestled on the edge of a well-used urban ravine forest. Protected from development, ravines are a vital part of the city’s green lungs and form a significant part of its urban tree canopy, while also reducing storm-water runoff and improving water quality. Trees also save energy by lowering city temperatures, reduce air pollution, offer wildlife habitat, facilitate social and education opportunities, enhance property values and inspire painters, poets, Druids, tree huggers and you and me.
The keynote speaker for the symposium — Spreading Roots: Working Together to Protect Our Urban Trees — is Cecil Konijnendijk.
A professor of Green Space Management at the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning at the University of Copenhagen, his focus is on the complex relationship between cities and their forests. “Future urban forests will need to be multifunctional landscapes, providing a wide range of goods and services,” he says, referring to the environmental, social and health benefits of a thriving forest. They also have a role as both Place (community building, safe recreation) and Space (a chance for adventure where children, for example, can experience “wilder” nature). “For a city like Toronto,” he says, “it is crucial to develop and maintain an urban forest that can fulfill these different dimensions.”
According to the 2010 City of Toronto report, Every Tree Counts, Toronto’s 10.2 million trees occupy 20 per cent of the city’s land area. Of those, 600,000 are city-owned boulevard trees, 3.5 million grow in parks and natural areas and a staggering 6.1 million are on private property. The report concluded with recommendations that the city continue to strengthen its tree maintenance and protection programs, particularly for large trees, determine why trees die and develop strategies to minimize loss. It was also proposed
Photo:
that Toronto maintain its current rate of 100,000+ annual plantings with the goal of increasing the urban tree canopy to 35 per cent by 2060.
Konijnendijk commends Toronto for undertaking the study. “The approach of assessing the benefits of the urban forest is a good one, as this is the only way to secure the support of politicians and society at large.” But one urban forester is concerned that by focusing on increasing the quantity of trees planted we might be overlooking the quality of plantings actually made, given that their survival is not a sure thing without continuing care. Andy Kenney was one of Jorgensen’s students in the 1970s and is also a speaker at the symposium. “Far too often,” he says, “it seems that tree planting is driven by numbers. Communities may proudly cite the number of trees that have been planted, but I can’t think of many cases where these numbers are accompanied by the numbers of trees removed or that simply die shortly after planting.”
Keeping urban trees alive and thriving has been symposium speaker Nina Bassuk’s life work. A professor at the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell University, she is a co-inventor of CU-Structural Soil, a blend of soil, crushed gravel and hydrogel specifically designed to nurture the roots of large urban trees growing in paved areas. “When you put down hardscape,” says Bassuk, “you have to compact underneath so that the concrete doesn’t fail or subside. And when you compact what’s underneath the sidewalk that generally precludes the roots from accessing it. So what we were trying to do was find a way to have that space under the sidewalk usable for tree roots, yet still have it be compactable so that it can meet the engineer’s specification for loadbearing on sidewalks.”
Sidewalks and roads are on the mind of Toronto landscape architect Janet Rosenberg, too. A founding member of Toronto’s Parks and Trees Foundation, she’s frustrated with what she calls “the engineering mindset” that puts a higher priority on roads and buildings than on trees. She’s also a fan of James Urban, whom she calls “the grandfather of tree survival in North America” and whose pioneering work on suspended pave-
ments, silva cells and geogrids for innercity tree planting can be summed up in three words: trees need soil.
“We need to start thinking of our streets differently,” says Rosenberg. “Instead of setting the buildings close to the street, leaving very little room for any planting, it’s important to start designing with a greater setback zone to give trees more room to breathe and flourish. Urban design is too much about buildings and not enough about trees, even though trees help create a more vibrant and welcoming city centre. The priority has to shift away from buildings.”
Still, Toronto has done a good job of safeguarding its residential urban forest with bylaws that prohibit removal of trees over 30 centimetres (12 inches) in diameter without city approval and oblige property owners to protect trees during construction projects. And the Toronto Green Standard legislation for new developments has tough guidelines for tree planting. But the scourge of pests like the emerald ash borer, which is expected to devastate the city’s ash trees (8.6 per cent of the current tree canopy), highlights the need for an increase in diverse plantings rather than the monocultures of the past. And Carol Walker Gayle, Supervisor of Forest Policy and Standards for Toronto, is optimistic that the ash borer destruction can make people think about the importance of a healthy urban canopy, much as Dutch elm disease did in the 1960s. “If we can encourage commercial landowners, residential landowners, industrial and institutional property owners to look at their properties and see where they can possibly plant more trees, that would be a benefit.”
More trees, better planting methods, a consciousness of how our urban forest relates to us as a city and rethinking how to integrate trees into urban design: these are just a few of the challenges facing Toronto in the International Year of Forests.
Janet Davis is a freelance garden writer/ photographer and longtime member of the TBG. Her Web site is beautifulbotany.com.
For details and registration for Spreading Roots: Working Together to Protect Our Urban Trees visit spreadingroots.ca.
Michael H. Burns • Susan Burns
Kathy Dembroski • Colomba Fuller
Huan Le Tran • Penny Richards
Glen Reichwein Photographer
Mark Disero
Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Fiesta Farms
4 SHruBS fOr All SEASONS
Shrubs can be baffling to gardeners. We all know every garden should have some for their shape and form, their multi-seasonal interest, the way they help to provide the “bones” of a garden. But which to choose for the best display and where to put them?
Who better to turn to for help than Paul Zammit, the TBG’s Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture? Shrubs, he says, bridge the gap between trees and large evergreens — the shell and foundation of a garden respectively — and the seasonal glamour of colourful annuals and perennials.
Many shrubs, he adds, tend to have one season where “they really bang,” but it’s better to pick shrubs with multiseason interest, especially in our climate where so often we face a long winter and a late spring. Multi-season shrubs also have multiple uses. A single large shrub can provide a focal point in the garden. But planted in groups shrubs can form a border or hedge. “A plant that has multiple seasons is important in a small space because it makes good use of valuable garden real estate,” Zammit says. “The shape, the scent, beautiful fall colour and winterbark, that’s what makes them stand out.”
How many to plant? It depends on your garden style. If it’s formal, use
Elaine Carey talks with Paul Zammit as they walk through the tbg’s gardens searching for shrubs with multi-seasonal “staying power”.
fewer varieties Zammit advises. In a less formal mixed garden you can display one each of several types. Be aware of the mature size of the shrub, he cautions. While shrubs are often sold in two-gallon pots, in time you may end up with a very large plant that takes over your space. “When you talk about size, think long term,” Zammit says. “Witch hazel is vase-shaped, fothergilla is a more rounded plant, so put them where the plant will be able to develop its unique form and shape.”
And think about what’s next to your shrub. Oakleaf hydrangea, for example, looks wonderful combined with a fine-textured grass, which “creates more of a punch,” says Zammit. Also take note of a shrub’s colour in each of the seasons to ensure it doesn’t clash with its neighbours.
Herewith are Paul’s top picks from the many beautiful shrubs that were in the running. All of these shrubs change throughout the year, so be sure to see them growing in the Westview Terrace in all their glorious seasons.
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ (‘Diane’ witch hazel)
This shrub has everything. In late winter to early spring its showy bellshaped flowers appear on bare branches and change colour “from burgundy to terra cotta,” Zammit says. They also fill the air with a beautiful scent. Witch
Paul Zammit
Blossoms of ‘Diane’ witch hazel
Bottle brush flowers of fothergilla
Orangey-pink berries of dwarf fragrant viburnum
Fall foliage of oakleaf hydrangea
hazel has wonderful fall colour, its leaves turning yellow, orange and red. The plant’s lovely vase shape gives it winter presence and means that in a small space there’s room to plant beneath it. It can grow to a height and spread of four metres (13 feet). Plant it near a window “so you can really appreciate that hit of red,” Zammit advises.
Fothergilla gardenii (Fothergilla; dwarf witch alder)
This compact, slow-growing, mediumsized shrub produces lovely, fragrant bottle-brush-shaped ivory-white flowers in spring as well as leathery dark green leaves that turn gorgeous autumn colours of red, orange and yellow. It will grow to about one metre (three feet) or more in sun or part shade.
Viburnum farreri ‘Nanum’ (Dwarf fragrant viburnum)
This compact shrub produces “really lovely, often fragrant tubular pale pink to white flowers in early spring followed by orangey-pink berries that darken over the summer and persist until fall,”
Zammit says. And then in autumn, its dark green foliage turns an outstanding burgundy colour. It grows to a height of three metres (10 feet) and a spread of five metres (16 feet). This shrub is a perfect size for a city garden and looks great in groupings. Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf hydrangea)
This deciduous, upright, open shrub falls into the medium to large-sized category, although it can grow to a height and width of three metres (10 feet). Its oakleaf-shaped leaves turn a magnificent red in fall and it boasts exfoliating bark. As well, its delicate panicles of white flowers in late summer and early fall are glorious. These shrubs perform best in hot climates but are extremely hardy in Toronto and will tolerate drier conditions better than other hydrangeas.
Elaine Carey is a freelance writer and former garden and landscape columnist for the Toronto Star
Become a Master Gardener!
Basic gardening knowledge entrance exam September 19
Personal interviews September 26-28
Course start January 2012 To register or for info: jgardin609@rogers.com
Holland Floriade Tour April 18May 01 2012 with marjorie mason 12 colorful days includes amsterdam, aalsmeer Flower auction and all tulip attractions, Full day at Floriade, visiting maastricht, brussels, bruges, cambridge plus south east england’s fabulous spring gardens everywhere. we have limited seats for our tbg friends. cad $4289.00 plus air
Chelsea Flower Show plus the best of the best of English Gardens
19 may - 01 Jun 2012 tour with us master gardeners group staying in london, cotswolds, shrewsbury, windsor. Please rush to website for exciting garden details www. gardenersworldtours.com
call lorna to arrange your personalised garden tours. 905-6832838 or karen at cwt travel source 416-449-0931
Couture sales representative
(416) 486-5588 fax: (416) 486-6988 em: joseecou@sympatico.ca
Realty Ltd., Brokerage
in season To Do
JuSt aSk
to have some usable area in my small backyard, i need to lay down sand and flagstones over the root system of a large maple, right up to the trunk. Will this damage the tree?
paving near a tree prohibits both water and air from reaching the roots, seriously retarding plant growth and often killing the tree. It’s essential that air and moisture continue to reach the root
system. one option is to use a metal grid cover specially designed to go around the base of a tree. It looks good, provides a flat surface and allows air and moisture to reach the tree roots.
My Favourite PLant in our Gardens
picks
4+ Plants For 4 seasons
Woodland Walk Update
guided by project manager Sara Katz, tBg staff and volunteers have been working in the Woodland Walk and Bird habitat garden on the corner of Leslie and Lawrence. We’ve cleared (and battled with!) invasive plants such as dog-strangling vine (Vincetoxicum nigrum), buckthorn (Rhamnus) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and have added carefully chosen plants including some natives of the Carolinian forest.
if you’d like to help out with this project, contact the volunteer office (416-3974145) and take part in one of the following workdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.): September 13, 14; october 4, 5.
We thank Live green, the City of toronto’s Parks, Forestry and recreation Division and LeaF (Local enhancement and appreciation of Forests) for their continued support of this project.
During the more than eight years i’ve worked at the tBg, i have enjoyed watching the gardens grow and change — and my love of gardening has grown with them. every morning, i park at the far end of the lot so that i can walk through my favourite garden, the entry garden Walk, designed by Piet oudolf and Martin Wade. as a novice gardener with high aspirations, i asked my good friend and landscape designer Sara Katz to help me turn my small, sunny, southfacing backyard into my own Pieceof-Piet-Paradise. three years ago, we removed the lawn and Sara helped me select plants that i can enjoy throughout the year. these are my favourites in each season.
Spring: More than 150 bulbs show their faces in rapid succession, includ-
ing my favourite, a species tulip with pink-blushed creamy petals called ‘Lady Jane’ (Tulipa ‘Lady Jane’).
Summer: the magnificent Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) that i bought at the tBg plant sale is now almost two metres (six feet) tall and provides great privacy
Fall: rose turtleheads (Chelone obliqua), which have been thriving from the day they were planted, bloom their heads off.
Winter: i leave the ornamental grasses (Calamagrostis brachytricha, Schizachyrium scoparium and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’) to stand over the winter so i can appreciate their forms. and the birds enjoy the seed heads of the coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, and E. ‘Fatal attraction’).
Creative Director Jenny rhodenizer
spring summer fall winter
container crazy
a FresH look For Fall
it’s time for a departure from the traditional oranges, yellows and reds that we’ve grown to expect in fall container combinations. Consider this fresh yet simple way to spruce up your planters. in this arrangement, the fine-textured foliage of dusty miller (Senecio cineraria), which performs into late fall, makes a striking contrast with the bold purple foliage of giant red mustard (Brassica juncea).
— Paul Zammit, Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture
Anna’s plant pick
Amelanchier (serviceberry)
Serviceberry is one of my all-time favourites, either as a shrub or a small tree. it is attractive in every season. Spring brings delicate airy clusters of five-petalled white flowers, which are quickly surrounded by unfolding bronze-toned leaves. these turn mid-green in the summer while the developing berries change from green to a dull scarlet and then purple. they are delicious — and the birds agree! (Pick the berries when red and they’ll continue to ripen indoors.) Leaves in scarlet shades add more colour in the fall, and once the leaves fall the attractive silvery grey bark, which becomes deeply furrowed on older trees, provides winter interest.
Amelanchier is a member of the rose family with about 20 species of shrubs and small trees, mostly found in the northern united States and Canada. Amelanchier alnifolia (alder-leaved serviceberry) is a small tree or shrub that often suckers. Shadbush, a lamarckii (syn. a canadensis) is a common tree or small shrub from eastern north america. allegheny serviceberry (a. laevis) is usually grown as a small tree and tolerates drier soils than other species. grow serviceberries in moist, average soil with good drainage and air circulation, in sun or part shade. Do not grow in heavy clay or very sandy soils. they are hardy to at least Zone 4.
—
Anna Leggatt, Toronto Master Gardener
around the garden with head gardener sandra pella
In my last column, I listed some essential gardening tools, such as boots, gloves, secateurs and trowels. Here are a few “mentionables” to make your gardening life easier.
• Wheelbarrow: a lightweight, sturdy gardenvariety, rather than a construction type, is a worthwhile investment. Fort from Holland is a particularly good brand. It’s made from reinforced polypropylene with a one-piece steel frame. I could use it to lug compost all day!
• Buckets with handles: I save the heavy-duty black plastic buckets with handles that trees come in from the garden centre. they’re easy to carry into and out of the garden as you’re weeding or deadheading.
• Trugs and bushel baskets: Colourful plastic trugs are great, as are good ole’ bushel baskets, if you can find them. they’re lightweight and easy to nestle between plants. at the TBG, they make light work of heaping compost onto the pile.
— Sandra pella head Gardener
JOBS TO DO
tree Care with cooler evenings but warm soil temperatures, fall is an ideal time to plant (and transplant) new trees and shrubs. here’s what to do.
stake newly planted trees for the first growing season.
mulch the base of trees with rich organic matter, such as chopped or shredded leaves.
guard newly planted trees from winter winds with evergreen boughs or protective wraps. established and properly sited trees shouldn’t require winter protection.
use tree guards to protect the trunks of young trees against rodent damage over the winter.
once leaves have fallen, prune out damaged, diseased or hazardous branches. rely on a professional arborist for large pruning jobs.
continue to water until the ground freezes, even after the leaves drop. watering is especially important for broadleaf evergreens and conifers, too.
— Paul Zammit
events What’s on at the t oronto Bo tanical Garden
September
7
Toronto Mycological Society
Studio 1, 7:30 p.m.; myctor.org
10
North York Horticultural Society
Flower/vegetable show & tea
Studios 1, 2 & 3, Moriyama Foyer, 2 to 5 p.m. info@northyorkgardenclub.ca
11
North Toronto Horticultural Society
Show & sale, Studios 1, 2 & 3, 2 to 5 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/northtoronto
Toronto Gesneriad Society
Garden Hall, 2 p.m.; torontogesneriadsociety.org
Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society
John Lonsdale: Unusual Bulbs Floral Hall, 1:30 p.m.; onrockgarden.com
12
Toronto Bonsai Society
Beginners session, Studio 1, 6:30 p.m.
Meeting, Garden Hall, 7:30 p.m. torontobonsai.org
14
Toronto Mycological Society
Studio 1, 7:30 p.m.; myctor.org
18
Greater Toronto Rose & Garden
Horticultural Society
Annual meeting, Studios 1 & 2, 2 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/rosegarden
20
Toronto African Violet Society
Studio 2, 6:30 p.m.; tavs.ca
Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club Plant auction, Studio 3, 7:30 p.m. torontocactus.tripod.com
21
Toronto Mycological Society
Studio 1, 7:30 p.m.; myctor.org
24
TBG Harvest Day/Autumn Taste of Garden
noon to 4 p.m.: see page 4 for details
25
Toronto African Violet Society
Open house & sale
Garden Hall, noon to 4 p.m.; tavs.ca
Toronto Region Rhododendron & Horticultural Society
Jack Looye
Studio 1, 2 p.m.; onrhodos.com
26
Southern Ontario Orchid Society Newcomers, Boardroom, 7 p.m.; soos.ca
28
Toronto Mycological Society
Studio 1, 7:30 p.m.; myctor.org
October
2
Southern Ontario Orchid Society
Floral Hall, 10 a.m.; soos.ca
3
Toronto Bonsai Society
Beginners session, 6:30 p.m.
Meeting, Garden Hall, 7:30 p.m. torontobonsai.org
9 & 10
Toronto Bonsai Society
Fall show & sale, Floral Hall
Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. torontobonsai.org
11
North Toronto Horticultural Society
Studios 1, 2 & 3, 7:30 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/northtoronto
15
Toronto African Violet Society
Judging school
Studios 2 & 3, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tavs.ca
16
Toronto Bonsai Society
Garden Hall, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. torontobonsai.org
Toronto Gesneriad Society
Studios 1 & 2, 2 p.m. torontogesneriadsociety.org
Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society
Robert Raguso: Attracting pollinators
Floral Hall, 1:30 p.m.; onrockgarden.com
Greater Toronto Rose & Garden
Horticultural Society
Studio 3, 2 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/rosegarden
17
Toronto Mycological Society
Renée Lebeuf: Common mycenas of the eastern provinces
Garden Hall, 7:45 p.m.; myctor.org
18
Toronto African Violet Society
Studio 2, 6:30 p.m.; tavs.ca
Southern Ontario Orchid Society
Newcomers, Boardroom, 7 p.m.; soos.ca
Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club
Memseb show & sale
Erika Schroedersecker; Studio 3, 7:30 p.m. torontocactus.tripod.com
23
Ikebana International Toronto Chapter 208
Ikebana International Show Floral Hall, Studio 1 & 2; noon ikebana-toronto.com
Greater Toronto Water Garden & Horticultural Society Studio 3, noon onwatergarden.com
27
Canadian Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society
Studio 1, 7:30 p.m. mumsanddahlias.com
November 3, 4, 5
Spreading Roots: Working Together to Protect Our Urban Trees
Details and registration for this symposium: spreadingroots.ca 5
Toronto Judging Centre of the American Orchid Society Studios 1 & 2, 10 a.m.; soos.ca/AOS
Southern Ontario Orchid Society Floral Hall, 10 a.m.; soos.ca
North Toronto Horticultural Society
Potluck dinner, slide show festival & awards Garden Hall, 7:30 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/northtoronto
10
Enchanted Eve
Floral Hall, 6:30 p.m. torontobotanicalgarden.ca
13
Toronto Gesneriad Society
Studios 1 & 2, 2 p.m. torontogesneriadsociety.org
Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society
Russell Stafford: Central Asian bulbs Floral Hall, 1:30 p.m.; onrockgarden.com
14
Toronto Bonsai Society
Beginners session, Studio 1, 6:30 p.m.
Meeting, Garden Hall, 7:30 p.m.; myctor.org
15
Toronto African Violet Society
Studio 2, 6:30 p.m.; tavs.ca
Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club
Dave Naylor: Hybridization
Studio 3, 7:30 p.m. torontocactus.tripod.com
20
Greater Toronto Water Garden
& Horticultural Society
Studio 3, noon onwatergarden.com
Geranium, Pelargonium & Fuchsia Society
Garden Hall, 2 p.m.; 519-836-4487
Greater Toronto Rose & Garden Horticultural Society
Annual meeting, Studio 1, 2 p.m. gardenontario.org/site.php/rosegarden
21
Toronto Mycological Society
Studio 1, 2 & 3, 7:45 p.m.; myctor.org
22
Southern Ontario Orchid Society
Newcomers, Boardroom, 7 p.m.; soos.ca
27
Toronto Region Rhododendron & Horticultural Society
Barrie Porteus
Studio 1, 2 p.m.; onrhodos.com
December
2
Canadian Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society
Awards night, banquet, elections
Garden Hall, 6 p.m.; mumsanddahlias.com
3
Toronto Judging Centre of the American Orchid Society
Studio 1, 10 a.m.; soos.ca/AOS
EDWARDS LECTURES
September 22 • Patrick Cullina
shaping cities and communities with dynamic landscapes
Explore New York City’s High Line, a celebrated new park built atop a formerly abandoned elevated train viaduct.
October 13 • David Tarrant
Magnificent abundance: the Gardens and Wildflowers of san Miguel de allende
Tour this charming colonial town’s most magnificent gardens, including the home of Toller Cranston.
November 3 • Cecil C. Konijnendijk a tree on your doorstep, a Forest in your Mind
Be inspired by innovative European projects that focus on ways to connect people, parks and trees.
December 8 • Dan Benarcik
25 top Plants for all-season splash
Chanticleer horticulturist Dan Benarcik provides a gardener’s holiday list of hardy and tender must-haves.
Lectures take place in the Floral Hall at 7:30 p.m. Public $20, students (with valid ID) $15 TBG members free. Door sales only. Limited seating. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
4
Southern Ontario Orchid Society Floral Hall, noon; soos.ca
6
Toronto African Violet Society Garden Hall, 6:30 p.m.; tavs.ca
8
TBG Holiday Open House 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
11
Toronto Gesneriad Society
Studios 1 & 2, 2 p.m. torontogesneriadsociety.org
Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society
Barrie Porteous: Best of the west Floral Hall, 1:30 p.m.; onrockgarden.com
12
Toronto Bonsai Society
Beginners session, Studio 1, 6:30 p.m. Meeting, Garden Hall, 7:30 p.m. torontobonsai.org
13
Southern Ontario Orchid Society Newcomers, Boardroom, 7 p.m.; soos.ca
SCHEDULES CAN CHANGE AFTER PRESS TIME – BE SURE TO CHECK AHEAD
aB o U t t he
toronto Botanical Garden
The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is a volunteer-based, charitable organization whose purpose is to inspire passion, respect and understanding of gardening, horticulture, the natural landscape and a healthy environment. The TBG raises over 90 per cent of its operating funds through membership, facility rentals, retail enterprises, program fees and donations. The organization relies on the generosity and financial commitment of individuals, foundations and corporations to help maintain the gardens and support the many horticultural and environmental services we provide to our community.
General hoUrs and adMission Gardens: Free admission, dawn to dusk adMinistrative oFFices: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Weston FaMily liBrary: Call 416-397-1343 or check www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca for hours of operation.
shoptBG: Call 416-397-1357 shop@torontobotanicalgarden.ca
Garden caFÉ: Seasonal • For hours check www. torontobotanicalgarden.ca
Master Gardeners’ inFo line: noon to 3 p.m. 416-397-1345 (April & July, Tuesday to Saturday; May & June, daily; August through March, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday) www.questions.torontomastergardeners.ca
GIFT MEMBERSHIP: $45 single, $65 family. call 416-397-1483 or sign up online at torontobotanicalgarden.ca/membership
siGn UP For Garden e-neWs!
Receive the latest horticultural news and information on events, workshops, lectures and other horticultural happenings. Free registration at torontobotanicalgarden.ca/e_newsletter.asp
F riends o F the toronto B otanical G arden
The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is deeply grateful to its Friends for providing continued and generous support towards programs and services. Our Friends enable TBG to educate and provide the community with information on horticulture, gardening and environmental issues through lectures, courses and events. The following individuals made their contribution to the Friends program between March 23 and June 28, 2011.
BENEFACTORS
Mary & Jim Fisher
Don & Marjorie Lenz
Grace Patterson
SUSTAINING MEMBERS
Paul & Carol Gardner
FRIENDS
Joan Avery
Michele Bussieres
Jens Carl & Linda Boyko
Dorothy & John Cartmell
Midge Cooper
May & Kenneth G. Copland
Myint & Jay Gillespie
Kathy Harvey
Liz Hood & Cheryl Woodman
Nancy & Charles Kennedy
C. M. Kruitwagen
Nina Lapin
Patrons
honorary Patron: adrienne clarkson
Brian Bixley, Mark cullen, camilla dalglish, sondra Gotlieb, Marjorie harris, lorraine Johnson, Michele landsberg, susan Macaulay, helen skinner
B oard o F directors
tom sparling, Mary Fisher (co-chairs); suzanne drinkwater, Geoffrey dyer, colomba Fuller, Jim Gardhouse, steven heuchert, Janet kennish, allan kling, Joan lenczner, Penny richards, dawn scott, Judy shirriff, Pat Ware, Barbara yager
sta FF directory
execUtive director aldona satterthwaite director@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1346
BUsiness and Finance director of Business initiatives and Finance
Margaret chasins
business@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1484
events & Facility Manager, Paulina cadena events@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1324
Facility sales coordinator, emily chow rentals@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1349
accounting, nadesu Manikkavasagam accounting@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1352
database & technology administrator trish cassling database@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1371
coMMUnications dePartMent director of Marketing & communications, carrie shibinsky media@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1351
creative director, Jenny rhodenizer communication@torontobotanicalgarden.ca trellis editor editor@torontobotanicalgarden.ca develoPMent dePartMent director of development, claudia Zuccato ria development@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1372
development officer, Jessica reese annualgiving@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1483
Simon Lockie
Mundy McLaughlin
Marion E. Magee
Philip Maude & Mary
McDougall Maude
Sandy & David Moore
June Murdoch
Helen Ohorodnyk
Teddy Opie & Robin
Mackie
Bonita Parshuram
Gwen Rattle
Allen & Marion Russell
Maureen Simpson
W. Gary Smith
Beverly Stager
Valerie & Brian Story
Charles Taylor & Janet Ballantyne
Geoffrey W. H.
Vernon
Marion Warburton
Joan M. Wright
Paul Zammit & Uli Havermann
edUcation dePartMent director of education, liz hood education@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1355
children’s education supervisor natalie harder childrensed@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1288
children’s education coordinator Jasmine Green childrensed@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1288
adult education coordinator, anna-liza Badaloo adulted@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1362
tour Guide coordinator
John Bertram tourguides@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1366
horticUltUral dePartMent nancy eaton director of horticulture Paul Zammit horticulture@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1358
head Gardener, sandra Pella gardener@torontobotanicalgarden.ca taxonomic assistant, toni vella taxonomy@torontobotanicalgarden.ca shoptBG shop@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1357
Weston FaMily liBrary librarydesk@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1343
Maintenance sUPervisor Walter Morassutti maintenance@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1344
volUnteer oFFice volunteers@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-4145
torontobotanicalgarden.ca
777 l awrence a venue e as t, toron to, o n tario M3 c 1P2 , c anada 4 16-397-1340; fax: 416-397-1354 info@torontobotanicalgarden.ca torontobotanicalgarden.ca @ t BG_ c anada
