MESSAGE TO MEMBERS
by Gordon D. Wick, Exec. Dir.
When our current President, Camilla Dalglish first told me she had agreed to serve as our President, we discussed the very distinct need to turn CGC into a more progressive organization. Meeting the many challenges that face us as a club is no small task, but it is what we are all about.
I think we can look with some satisfaction and pride at the inroads we are making in establishing a higher profile for CGC, and not only among confirmed garden devotees.
In discussions at our Forward Planning committee, we have identified the public awareness of the CGC and its programs as one of our most persistent ongoing, long term challenges. The flux of the population in this cosmopolitan community we serve makes it imperative that we take every available opportunity to promote the fact that our organization not only exists; but is alive, and well, and growing; and that we are happy to add even more participants to our existing and expanding system of volunteer based committees & user groups.
In the past 2 years we have attempted to establish a new level of rapport with the many outside gardening groups who either use our facilities or who are potential users. I can see some progress in that a number of groups have been attending our user group meetings held every other month. (Next meeting is April 8).
I cannot over - emphasize the need of CGC to be promoted by and among the user groups as a valuable organization to which members are encouraged to belong.
Now, as an individual member, you may be in an equally critical position to influence a casual acquaintance or even just someone with whom you strike up a conversation. The ongoing value of use of the CGC facilities including its meeting rooms, library, specialty Garden, Gift and Book Shop are all valid reasons for belonging. Other benefits include regular issues of Trellis newsletter, discounts on courses, free access to our outstanding members series. It has been most gratifying to see the attendance for members programs building to the point that we will be requiring the use of the Floral Hall for a number of our programs planned for 1985.
My challenge to you then, as an individual member, is to stimulate the interest that leads to just two more new members joining us in 1985. If enough of us take up this challenge, and promoting CGC among user clubs we belong to, we should have no problem in realizing as much as a 50% gain in memberships. The additional revenue created will then be available for some very important programming and education related projects we are planning in future.
Our board has seen fit to approve the hiring of a full time horticulturist in 1985. We are now working on the job description and I can assure you we will be able to fill the days to overflowing with the kinds of involvement I have in mind for this person. cont. pg.15
Annuals In My
by J. Punnett
I pretend not to like Petunias or Marigolds. All my attempts at starting seeds indoors invariably come to nothing, as I have no sunny windowsills or fluorescent lights. Instead, I sow all my annuals directly into the intended flowerbeds.
Most of my flowerbeds were created by digging up a long-established lawn. The sod was either chopped up and dug in, or stacked for a year and the resulting compost used as mulch. I find that on clay soil such as mine, which forms sticky lumps and then bakes hard as brick in the summer, mixing bought topsoil or potting mixture into the surface gives seedlings a better rate of survival.
My method of sowing is simple, since I don t have much time to spare. First, I rake the ground to eliminate stones, lumps and hollows. Next, I scatter the seeds in patches. Then I rake again to cover the seed (or in the case of very fine seed, scatter a little potting mixture on top). After that, I firm the surface with the back of the rake. Lastly, I water gently but thoroughly, taking care not to form puddles. Once the seeds have germinated they mustn t be allowed to dry out, so I pray for damp weather after sowing.
The first annuals I grew in my present garden were Calendulas, in the pretty Art Shades . Three years later, I am still getting seedlings coming up in the Spring, and some of them prove to be the light yellows and pale oranges of the original variety. Another easily grown and persistent annual is Cynoglossum nervosum, the Chinese Forgetme-not. Its small, but intensely blue flowers, bury parts of the garden and give the Regal lilies a complimentary underplanting.
Garden
In case you think that my garden is a blaze of bloom, let me tell you that
Mesembryanthemum Lunette struggled valiantly, but lost, against the sticky clay. Shirley Poppies and Larkspur gave me only a few, weak plants per packet. Godetias grew stunted and their purplish-pink flowers looked dingy, but I think that in a cooler spot, or given a wet summer, they would do better.
The tree-flowered Zinnia Envy was a surprise. The packet said to start them indoors, but I ignored that and sowed outdoors when the frosts were well behind us. The speed of growth astonished me, and they were in bloom in early August. A pity that the flowers are so ugly! This year I intend to try the more conventionally beautiful Zinnias Fantastic Light Pink and Carved Ivory .
Nasturtiums are reliable. Since the seeds are so large, I just poke them cont. on pg. 9
WONDERLAND OF BULBS
Send $1.00 for our new catalogues, refundable on first order.
The multitude of rare and interesting bulbs listed, over 700 varieties, many difficult to obtain elsewhere, will prove to be a revelation. By far the most complete bulb catalogue in Canada.
C. A. CRUICKSHANK LTD. Since 1925 Canada's Leading Bulb Specialists
1015 Mount Pleasant Road Toronto M4P 2M1 488-8292
The CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE
1985 PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Green Thumbs (Junior Garden Club) 9:30 to noon
S. Ontario Orchid Society meeting 1 - 5 p.m.
Program on Beneficial Insects by Inge Poot
Outdoor Gardening - 5 week course starts at 7:30 p.m.
Botanical Drawing & Painting - 8 week course from 10 am to 2 pm
Mens Garden Club meeting 8 p.m.
Basic Flower Arranging - 5 week course at 9:45 am, 1:30 or 8 pm
Basic Sogetsu Ikebana Flower Arranging - 8 week course at 1:30 pm
Gesneriad Society meeting 2-4 p.m. - A panel discussion and a talk on Insecticide by Dr. Beverley Britt
Ontario Rock Garden Society meeting 2 p.m. - an illustrated lecture by Barbara Wilkins as well as the annual seed distribution.
Toronto Bonsai Society meeting 7 p.m. - a practical workshop on shimpaku junipers
North Toronto Hort. Society meeting 8:00 pm - demonstration and care of House Plants by Diane Stewart Rose of Plant World Garden Therapy Group meeting 12:30 pm for Handicapped people
Ikebana International meeting 7 - 9:30 p.m.
York Rose Society meeting 2 - 4 pm - Florence Gahagan on Culture of Miniature Roses
MEMBERS NIGHT - 7:30 p.m. JOINT MEETING WITH THE HOBBY GREENHOUSE SOCIETY -special speaker
JOHN PIERCE - author of Greenhouse Grow How and Home Solar Gardening - his topic for the evening will be Home Greenhouses with special emphasis on Solar Greenhouses
Ikenobo Ikebana SHOW 1 - 6 p.m.
Beginners Driftwood course one day from 10 am to 3 pm
Advanced Driftwood course one day from 10 am to 3 pm
Canadian Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society meeting 8 p.m.
S. Ontario Orchid Society meeting 1 - 5 p.m.
Program - Peter Poot on Feeding of Orchids
31 MEMBERS DAY 2-5pm JOINT MEETING WITH THE CANADIAN ROSE SOCIETY - presentation on GREAT ROSE GARDENS OF THE WORLD
2 Mens Garden Club meeting 8 p.m.
2 Basic Corsage workshop - one day from 10 am to 3 pm
5 Good Friday - building closed
6 Building Open regular hours 12 noon to 4 pm
T Easter Sunday - building closed
NOTICE OF CGC ANNUAL MEETING
7:30 p.m. - TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1985 in the Floral Hall CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, 777 Lawrence Ave. E. Don Mills
COMING EVENTS AT THE Forall yourgardening needs
CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE
Art at the Centre
In the Link Gallery:
Feb. 28 - Mar. 13 - Charles Stothers acrylics, florals and landscapes and Gerald Brandis woodcuts florals
Mar. 14 - Mar. 27 - Alexandar Petricic watercolours, landscapes
Mar. 28 - Apr. 10 - Olga Pugh and Catherine Morley watercolours, oils, mixed media landscapes
Apr. 11 - Apr. 24 - Henry Tenser watercolours, seascapes, landscapes
COURSES STARTING SOON
Mar. 4 Outdoor Gardening - 5 week course starts at 7:30 pm
5 Botanical Drawing & Painting 8 week course starts 10 am
6 Basic Flower Arranging 5 week course starts at 9:45 am, 1:30 or 8 p.m.
7 Basic Sogetsu Ikebana Flower Arranging - 8 week course starts at 1:30 p.m.
25 & 26 - two day workshop first day finishing your DRIFTWOOD and second day making an arrangement with the driftwood 10 am - 3 pm
Apr. 2 Beginners Corsage workshop one day only 10 am - 3 pm
17 Pleasure from Photography 6 week course on the Basic Approach to Better Photo.
NURSERY GARDEN CENTRES
Specializes in dried and silk flower arrangements.
Arrangements for sale in The Trellis Shop or
Come to the Centre Mon. or Tues. 9.30 to 2 p.m.
Bring your favourite container or try one of ours, and give us your colour scheme and size requirements.
CGC WINTER HOURS
from Nov. 11th to April 30th Trellis Shop and Library Mon to Fri 9:30 - 4 pm,Sat.,Sun.12-4
FOR EASTER
BUILDING WILL BE CLOSED GOOD FRIDAY,EASTER SUNDAY
General Information
Volume 12, No. 2 ISSN 0380-1470
Editor: Gordon D. Wick, Exec. Dir. Assistant Editor: Grace Tughan Advertising Inform. (416) 445-1552
Trellis is published ten times per year as a member s newsletter, by the Civic Garden Centre, 777 Lawrence Ave. East, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1P2 Telephone (416)445-1552
The Centre is located in Edwards Gardens, at Leslie St. and Lawrence Avenue East, at the geographical centre of Metropolitan Toronto. It is a non-profit, volunteer based, gardening and floral arts information organization with open membership. Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre.
by Munns Press Ltd., Whitby, Ont.
Continuing with the Civic Garden Centre members program series we are pleased to present the following
Great Gardens of The World
a 35mm audio visual presentation presented by Les Marsh
WEDNESDAY Fe b . 27 7:30 p.m.
as an added attraction a question and answer period will feature THE OLD GANG AGAIN The CGC panel of experts returns.
JOHN PIERCE
Author of Greenhouse Grow How and Home Solar Gardening will speak on HOME GREENHOUSES WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON
Solar Greenhouses
JOINT MEETING WITH THE HOBBY GREENHOUSE GROUP
7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY Mar z O in the FLORAL HALL @
Great Rose Gardens of the World
JOINT MEETING WITH THE CANADIAN ROSE SOCIETY
2:00 p.m. SUNDAY Mar 31 in the AUDITORIUM ®
UPCOMING MEMBERS NIGHTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10th
Joint meeting with Rhododendron Society of Canada (Toronto Region) Presentation on Rhododendrons Around Us by Richard Birkett
TUESDAY, APRIL 30th
ANNUAL MEETING
THE
GARDEN CLUB OF TORONTO FLOWER SHOW at the New FLOWERS..FRONT AND CENTRE
APRIL 17 to APRIL 21, 1985
Celebrate spring at the 27th Garden orchids, ferns, bromeliads, begonias, Club of Toronto Flower Show. The cacti & more. The open horticulture beautiful new Metro Toronto Con- classes are open to members of Hortivention Centre will be blossoming with cultural Societies throughout Ontario gardens and alive with colour. Award and will display houseplants, planters, winning flower arrangements, fascinat- ferns and gesneriads. ing horticultural exhibits and gardens FLOWER ARRANGING: full of flowering rhododendrons and The creative Garden Club flower spring bulbs help make this event a garrangers will create eye -catching distinctive showcase of creative ability. designs in vignettes, table settings, miniatures and dramatic pedestal ar- The new Metro Toronto Convention Centre is the perfect location to view the spectacular Garden Club of Come and judge the Celebrity Class. rangements. Toronto Flower Show. The green- Vote for your favourite and help house windows and high ceilings determine which Toronto celebrity has beautifully compliment the flower the most creative talent. arrangements, horticultural exhibits, gardens and educational displays.
THEATRE, EXPERTS, GARDENS: WHATS NEW AND EDUCATION:
Some of Toronto s finest nurserymen The Garden Theatre, located on the and landscapers will be creating over main floor of the Centre, has a special 10,000 square feet of beautiful gar- guest demonstrator Kenn Stephens. dens right in the heart of downtown Kenn is Chairman of the International Toronto. Blossoming spring gardens Design Symposium, a talented Amerfull of scent, full blown summer ican designer with experience through gardens full of colour, rock gardens the United States and abroad. He will and a Japanese garden, delicate and demonstrate the art of flower arranglovely. A herb garden with an edging ing not to be missed! of miniature roses will demonstrate herbs for medicinal uses, fragrances, culinary uses & for coloring clothes.
Other experts will demonstrate church flowers, bonsai, Japanese flower arranging, the history of landscape architecture, flowers for your table Even now the growers are busy prepar- and methods of renovating your ing and forcing the flowering shrubs garden. A list of times will be posted and flowers that you will be viewing at the Show. in April.
The Garden Experts are back again HORTICULTURAL
DISPLAYS:
this year. Art Drysdale, Keith Squires The enlarged horticulture area will and Diane Rose are a few who will feature exhibits of African violets, give gardening advice and help solve scented and regular geraniums, your plant problems.
ountry Oquires Garden PaNt
Steeles Ave. W. (2 miles west of Highway 10) R.R. 10 Brampton L6V 3N2
Knowledgeable staff
Open 7 days a week from April 13 Oct. 19
Over 2000 different hardy plants, alpines, dwarf conifers and shrubs, Hardy ferns, vines, groundcovers and native wildflowers
Send $1. for a plant list by mail to above address
METRO TORONTO CONVENTION CENTRE
What s New in the gardening world will be located in one place for you to view the new and unusual in plants and tools on the growing scene, all of this is available just in time for the growing season ahead!
Toronto s junior gardeners will be learning as they create E.T. s Miniature Garden and Animals on Parade . Secondary & vocational school classes are presenting the perfect setting for a Waterfront Garden Cafe .
The Gardening Computers will answer commonly asked gardening questions & the Landscape Architecture students from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute will show their display of famous gardens of the world.
COMMERCIAL:
An expanded commercial area will offer wildflower seeds and the newest and best in plant food; herbs, bulbs, violets, miniature roses, tropical plants, pot pourri, garden tools and a special delphinium imported from England. Save time to browse through the many items available at the commercial booths.
PROCEEDS THIS YEAR:
1984 saw The Garden Club of Toronto pass the $500,000.00 mark in contributions to civic garden projects.
The proceeds from Flowers...Front and Centre will go to the Fragrant Garden for the Blind at the C.N.L.B.
HISTORIC ENGLISH GARDENS
A 22-day tour of the gardens in England that have inspired, influenced and indeed created landscape art for four centuries.
August 31 - September 21, 1985
Led by
Dr. Douglas Chambers University of Toronto
Designed by: Sparks, Slater & Associates Travel 1 Gloucester St. No. 102, Toronto M4Y IL8
Contact: Clare Slater, 921.3138
Past projects of the Garden Club include the garden restoration at historic Spadina, the Wildflower Sanctuary at Humber Arboretum, the 19th Century Garden in St. James Park, the Potting Shed at the Metro Toronto Zoo, authentic plantings at Black Creek Pioneer Village, the Educational Outreach Program for Toronto public schools, and too the continuing support of the Civic Garden Centre.
REFRESHMENTS:
There are food areas at the show as well as restaurants in the Centre and restaurants a short block away.
For general Show information, write or phone Mrs. Judy Lundy
777 Lawrence Ave.E., Don Mills,Ont. M3C 1P2
(416) 447-5218 or (416) 489-6525
Garden Club ofToronto Flower Show Metro Toronto Convention Centre 255 Front Street West April 17th to 21st
The
Ah, Spring! Our very talented mem. bers of the Winter Bouquet group have Tre lS Sho just completed a beautiful selection p of flower arrangements for Spring. These are in ceramic baskets, wicker baskets and terra cotton baskets, Selection Winners, Lettuce Red Sails , reasonably priced from $10.00 .to Sugar Snap Peas, Lemon Cucumbers, $35.00. Most of these are easily Buthael Cauvile: ant. Yollow Machie transportable and, as well as house Zinnias. For propagation we have a e, rr-lake -onderful' jitis to good selection of plastic trays ($1.35), fake 5o pakients ip B nOspiAl. D ; ustomer fell in love with one of the plastic pots, peat pots and pellets. v, Media for planting includes vermi- JIger pskets Jand. ook it homs fo culite, perlite, peat moss, sphagnum put in the hall of her condominium for o gro-Mix pand Motheg I%arth all of her floor mates to enjoy. New AND, to assist you with your propa: pressed flower items in stock are large gation we have a new shipment of and small wastepaper _baskets from Coppertone Regal Floralight gardens ffei ooo S&a:te::s;r:id t;zg sairédhg;g at a special price (as long as they last) pop P
Our seeds have arrived and include among them the new All American of$379.00 Regular $399.00.
Watch for Aimers new colorful poly
Aaxas;
We are expecting a wonderful selectplastic bags containing herb seeds and ion of gifts from the Spring Gift Show, soil and his new series of Windowsill any day now. Make us your first stop flowers poly packs which include when looking for that special gift for Vinca, Impatiens and Black Eyed your favourite gardener or flower Susan Vines, all at $7.95 each. arranger.
Where Great Gardens
Atyourclosest Sheridan Be I'n And Sheridan s nursery Garden Centre you will . stock is guaranteed for find thefinest selection of nur- ~onefullyear. serystock in Canada, including At Sheridan Garden Centresyou more than 750 varieties of will also find qualified nursery- plants and trees grown on menwho will be pleased to help Sheridan s own farms. you in any way they can.
822-0251
477-2253
The Great Gardening Conference
\f / The CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE
on FRIDAY EVENING NOVEMBER 15, DINNER AT 7:00 p.m.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16, 9:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. DINNER at 7:00 p.m.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17, 1985 9:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.
SESSIONS FROM 9:30 AM. to 4:30 PM. SATURDAY
DESIGN JOHN BROOKES (UK.)
Landscape Designer I
Author of The Small Garden
The Garden Book i A Place in the Country
PERENNIALS ROSEMARY VEREY (UK.)
Co-editor of The Englishwoman s Garden
The Englishman s Garden
The American Womans Garden
Creator of the famous garden at Barnsley House in Gloucestershire.
CLIMBERS AND WALL PLANTS ALLEN PATERSON (CAN.)
Formerly Curator, Chelsea Physic Garden, England. Now Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Author of A History of the Rose Plants for Shade
AZALEAS AND RHODODENDRONS DAVID LEACH (U.S.A.)
Hybridizer, Consultant;
Author of Rhododendrons of the World
DINNERS TO MEET CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 15
SPEAKER: HENRY MITCHELL (U.S.A.)
Gardening Correspondent, Washington Post; Author of The Essential Earthman
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16
SPEAKER: PIERRE BOURQUE (CAN.)
Director du Jardin Botanique, Montreal
TICKETS FOR THE DINNERS A very limited number $25.00
Y NOVEMBER 16 & SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17, 1985
'EAKERS
BULBS BRIAN MATHEW (U
K.)
Principal Scientific Officer at Royal Botanic Garden, Kew;
Author of The Dwarf Bulbs
The Larger Bulbs
The Iris
The Crocus
DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS TREVOR COLE (CAN.)
Curator of Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa
Author of Woody Plant Source List
Perennials in Your Garden
ALPINES FREDERICK CASE (U.S.A.)
Recipient of Edgar T. Wherry Award of the American Rock Garden Society; Author of Wild Flowers of the Northeastern States Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region
CONIFERS PETER del TREDICI (U.S.A.)
Arnold Arboretum - Boston
Author of A Giant Among the Dwarfs, the Mystery of Sargent s Weeping Hemlock
TICKETS ARE FOR ALL 8 SESSIONS: and will be alloted on a first-come basis MEMBERS ONLY $75.00 NON-MEMBERS $85.00 (including membership to C.G.C.)
A few tickets are available for students (in Horticulture/Landscape Design) $30.00 and for Seniors (Members only) at $50.00
LUNCHES ARE INCLUDED
UNTIL MAY 1, 1985
TO OBTAIN TICKETS
FILL OUT AND DETACH THE FORM BELOW
SEND IT AT ONCE WITH YOUR CHEQUE OR CHARGE CARD NUMBER TO:
ANNUALS IN MY GARDEN - cont. into the ground with my fingers. Nasturtium Cherry Rose gave me a wonderful display in a sunny, impoverished bed at the back of the house, but the shade of pink clashed horribly with the reddish brick of the wall. I next tried N. Mahogany Gem , expecting a brownish red, but it turned out to be a deep ruby.
Moluccella (Bell of unusual plant. It unobtrusively raises spires of green cups. Be careful of grasping it, however, as there are prickles amongst the flowers. Ireland) is an
Lavatera Mont Blanc grew lush and tall, but did not flower until midAugust, when it produced gleaming silvery-white blooms which were set off well by the dark green foliage. I grew pink gladiolus in amongst it.
Nigelia Miss Jekyll , an all-blue variety, grew well but did not flower for very long. However, I forgave it this fault as its finely divided leaves and the curious, inflated seed pods kept the plant interesting.
Candytuft Dwarf Fairy Mixed formed masses of short, bushy plants covered in flowers shading from offwhite to purple, but some plants gave up early and went to seed making the total effect somewhat patchy. They sowed themselves liberally, but I'm not sure they will survive the winter.
In most cases, seed sown in mid-May produced flowers by mid dJuly. Selfsown seedlings from the previous year bloomed earlier. The annuals mentioned generally lived on into midOctober, depending on the severity of
Mini Rose Nursery
the frosts. The Calendulas and Cynoglossums proved most frost resistant. They sometimes still flowered in Nov.
I have not yet mentioned weeding. I tend to leave this chore as late as possible, until I am sure I can tell the weeds from the flowers, and then I get rid of the weeds as time permits. Sometimes I think that the seedlings benefit from the extra shade of weedleaves in my sun-scorched back yard.
My personal preference, as you may have guessed, is for flowers that bloom in one colour or shades of one colour. I cannot abide those mixtures of glaring red, strong yellow and electric pink that are usually described in seed catalogues as a riot of colour . I wish more seeds were available in selected colours. There seems to be a current preoccupation with vivid scarlet and golden yellow. More pale, delicately-toned flowers are needed. Seedsmen, please note!
Pine Ridge Nurseries
Home of all your gardening needs SPECIALIZING in:
® Ceraniums over 200 varieties (zonal, novelties, regals, ivies, scented, fancy leaved, miniatures.)
® Herbs
® Perennials
® Annuals
e Tropicals
® Trees and Shrubs
® Roses
® Evergreens
We care about your gardening problems. Come and see us at our unique Garden Centre and Greenhouses. =4 HWY 52 ( ) 1 mile AR o = TORONTO WHITBY 01
Collector of Miniature Roses
For list and map Write Florence Gahagan
P.O. Box 873, Guelph, Ont. NIH 6M6
Book Review
The following is a selection of book reviews of some of the titles currently available in the Garden Gift and Book Shop.
THE AMERICAN WOMAN' S GARDEN
Rosemary Verey and Ellen Samuels
The American Woman s Garden gives a dazzling and informative entree to thirty-two of the Country s finest private gardens, revealing the quality and variety of the often underestimated American gardening tradition and presenting the reader with a wealth of ideas.
Noted English garden writer Rosemary Verey (co-author of the best-selling The Englishwoman s Garden) introduces the book with a British view of American gardens. Each garden is then presented informally by the owner herself. The emphasis is on aesthetic matters, on design and plant materials, but these women are also eager to share hard-won experience on practical matters, from how to avoid staking to how to get rid of poison ivy. The gardens, from all over the country, show great diversity in site, climate and style. The owners show equal diversity in their interests and backgrounds, but each is intensely involved. @ Among the contributers are Mrs. David Rockefellar and Mrs. Fuller Callaway, with gardens both grand and beautiful; garden writer Eleanor Perenyi and Ann Leighton; and women with whom the reader may easily identify who combine gardening with homemaking and other careers. In her Epilogue, American garden historian and designer Ellen Samuels observes common themes that relate these beautiful places, however diverse, to the American tradition.
available in hard cover $39.95
THE PRINCIPLES OF GARDENING
BY Hugh Johnson
When this sumptuous guide to the art, history, science and practice of gardening was published in hard cover in 1979, it was hailed as a classic. Now available in paperback for the first time, with its hundreds of superb colour photographs, maps and drawings intact, this is the gift book bargain of the year. In his vividly readable style, Hugh Johnson discusses the motives of the gardener, materials to embellish the garden, fertilization, moisture, control of weeds and pests, and plants of all kinds, and takes the reader on a wonderful tour of the world s most beautiful gardens, interpreting the techniques of horticultural art and landscape design.
available in paperback $21.95
READER S DIGEST
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF GARDEN PLANTS AND FLOWERS
This beautiful volume contains detailed descriptions of more than 3,000 garden plants and flowers. It tells how to identify, cultivate and propagate them, and how to combat pests and diseases. More than 2,500 different plants are illustrated in full colour.
Special sections include: Plants for Special Purposes; Pruning Techniques; and a Glossary of Botanical and Horticultural terms.
A comprehensive reference Volume and a practical guide for the gardener.
in hard cover $39.95
THE HARROWSMITH GARDENER
S COMPANION
by the editor of Harrowsmith Magazine
The Harrowsmith Gardener s Companion , a workbook that has already done much of the paperwork. Featuring an innovative, grid-plan overleaf that allows the gardener to compare his map instantly against his notations, the companion is designed to accommodate every conceivable entry that any at-home horticulturist might care to make. No more periodic headscratching over where the peas are planted, and what types of seed were used, and when they went into the ground. The Gardener s Companion reduces the guesswork and frees its owner to concentrate on the groundwork.
available in paperback $4.95
READER S DIGEST SUCCESS WITH HOUSE PLANTS
There, in one grand book, is just about everything the plant enthusiasts will need to know about house plants. A guide so easy to understand (with crisp, concise instructions and clear, step-bystep illustrations) that even the beginner can quickly learn the whenwhere-and-how of growing initially any house plant yet so complete that even the expert can learn new techniques, new shortcuts, new ways of achieving greater success than ever before.
It s all here, buying, pruning, propagating, planting, feeding, forcing, repotting, control of disease all the know-how necessary to enjoy success with flowering plants, fragrant plants, foliage plants, ferns and mosses, creeper and trailer, cacti and other succulents and more.
available in hard cover $ 29.95
Visit our Trellis Garden, Gift and Book Shop
Toronto area s best source for BOOKS ON GARDENING over 900 titles in stock
GARDEN DESIGN
by William Lake Douglas, et al.
Garden Design is the first comprehensive book for the general public about garden design. It is a resource and idea book, giving a glimpse into the world s great gardens, large and small, and helping readers learn how to plan their own small paradise .
Garden Design is carefully organized to be both beautiful and useful. Sections on great historical gardens and on landscape architects own finest creations are balanced with sections about design elements, garden types and overall planning. This informative book shows how even the greatest landscapes are made up of the same elements found in less ambitious gardens everywhere. The key is careful and creative planning.
Lavishly illustrated in colour and black-and-white, Garden Design details all the aspects of design, incorporating traditional styles from all over the world as well as the latest landscape theories. In addition, advice from noted landscape architects helps gardeners choose styles which harmonize with their own home and topography.
Anyone who considers the garden a vital and integral past of their environment or who would like to make it so will be interested in this handsome volume.
400 colour and black-and-white photographs and drawings.
in hard cover $45.00
Miss Ellen Willmott of Warley Place
by David Tomlinson
One of the most important assets of the Civic Garden Centre is its library, which contains the best public collection of gardening books in Ontario, and possibly in Canada. The library s 5000 books cover almost all aspects of horticulture including garden design and construction, alpines and rock gardening, water gardening, indoor plants, flower arranging, perennial plants, annuals, bulbs, roses - to name a few. My favourite section is the one covering the history of garden design and biographies of famous plant collectors and gardeners. I have just finished reading a fascinating book on a famous English lady gardener, Ellen Willmott, and as there are so many lady gardeners amongst our members at the Centre I thought you might like to hear about some of her achievements.
Ellen Willmott lived in England between 1858-1934. She was the eldest daughter of a wealthy solicitor who made a small fortune through shrewd investments. Before he died he bought a 33 acre country estate in Essex, called Warley Place, and on his death he left this to Ellen, together with a considerable sum of money.
Now, Ellen was an exceptional girl for her time; she enjoyed her money, and the independence it gave her, so much so, that she refused to marry and give up her pastimes of horticulture, music and wood turning. She became a wild spender, nothing was too good for her. When she took up the violin, she immediately bought herself a fabulously expensive Amati violin (the famous Stradivarius was once an apprentice violin maker to the Amati family).
Her first love, however, was horticulture. She began by completely redesigning the garden at Warley. She
had new and extensive ranges of hothouses built. She was interested in alpine plants so she had a vast rock garden built and then tempted a skilled alpine gardener, Jacob Maurer, from Switzerland with the promise of a cottage for life and one pound a week pension, on retirement. She also employed a well-known head gardener, James Preece, and an unbelievable 104 under-gardeners, to look after her 33 acres (the equivalent of about 2% gardeners full time in my small 34 acre garden). The amazing thing about her garden was that she grew 100,000 different species of plants; many of these were new to cultivation and flowered at Warley for the first time. She was also a skilled hybridizer and did much of this work herself, winning numerous gold medals at the Royal Horticultural Society shows in competition with some of the most famous gardeners of her time. She also wrote several books. One of them became a well-known and now very valuable book, The Genus Rosa .
For her work in horticulture she, with Gertrude Jekyll, were the first women amongst the first 60 recipients of the Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest award in horticulture. As her knowledge of plants increased, she found she could not grow all the plants she wanted to outdoors in England. She bought two other houses. One was in southern France and the other in Italy and she developed these gardens. Everything she did was on a grand scale. Last year, I decided to order a dozen Camassia bulbs (a prairie wild flower) for my garden but she once ordered 10,000 to naturalize in her garden.
She was a respected member of the Victorian Society and was a great friend of Queen Alexandra and other royalty. The Emperor of Japan asked her to visit Japan as his guest and design a garden for him.
Ellen was not, however, a fashionable dresser and rarely dressed as a person of consequence. On a visit to London she went to do some shopping at the Galeries Lafayette, a fashionable store in Regent Street, where she bought some scarves and paid for them but failed to pick up the receipt. On the way out she was stopped by the store detective and accused of shop-lifting. She requested to use the phone and called Queen Mary. The manager realized his mistake when the King s Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, arrived post haste. ~ The manager apologized profusely and offered immediate compensation but this was not good enough for Ellen. She insisted that the matter be taken to court. There, after a night in gaol, she gave an impassioned speech on the rights of women, saying that a woman of poorer circumstances who was less able to defend herself would have been convicted. She was acquitted and finally the store published a public apology in the Times newspaper.
Although she was generous to her friends, she was not a particularly generous employer. She paid her gardeners 18 shillings a week and when one of her gardeners asked if he could continue working after his retirement age she agreed but promptly reduced his wage by 5 shillings a week (the sum of his government pension).
In about 1907, as a result of all her spending, the inevitable happened she began to run out of money. She reacted by sacking most of her gardeners, including Mr. Preece, the head gardener. She also had to sell many of her most valuable possessions including her violin and eventually her two properties in France and Italy. Warley was heavily mortgaged but she did manage to hold on to it until her death. Before she died she had a staff of one gardener, the faithful Jacob, and one servant, her father s old butler, who did all household jobs
including sewing on one of Queen Alexandra s buttons which fell off on a visit. Even though, by now, she was comparatively poor, she still had a steady stream of visitors from all over the world who came to visit her now famous garden and to get her advice on horticultural problems.
At her death in 1934, it is regrettable to note that the faithful Jacob did not get his cottage. This was sold as part of the estate to pay debts. Neither did he get his one pound a week pension. Instead, he returned to his native Switzerland, unable to settle down there he eventually committed suicide.
Now you might ask what the life of this remarkable woman had to do with horticulture today. During her lifetime, she was responsible for popularizing many, now well-known hardy plants. Over 50 species and varieties of plants were named after her or her garden. I have a beautiful deep red potentilla in my garden named yes you have guessed Miss Willmott and I would not be surprised if some of the plants you treasure in your garden were grown for the first time in her famous garden.
The book is called Miss Willmott of Warley Place, Her Life and Her Garden by Audrey Le Lievre, Faber Press. If you would like to learn more about Miss Willmott or other famous gardeners or about any aspect of horticulture which interests you then I would recommend that you visit the library on your next visit to the Centre and borrow the four books you are entitled to. You can keep them for three weeks and if they are not required by another member you can telephone and renew them for a further three weeks or you can return them by post. If you live out of the city or are housebound, you can borrow and return the books by post for the cost of the postage.
GARDENING NOTEBOOK
by Ruta Stancikas MARCH
This is probably the most unpredictable month of the year. Occasional spring-like days are suddenly blotted out by unexpected snowstorms and cold snaps. Yet, the time to head out into the garden is not far away. In your gardening planning this month, let nature, not the calendar, be your guide!
Take the time to repair and paint any trellises you may have brought in last autumn and garden equipment requiring an overhaul should be taken in for repairs now to avoid the spring rush.
GARDEN FLOWERS
Keep an eye open for snowdrops and crocuses poking through the soil, and when they re about 3 tall remove their mulch cover.
Weather permitting, in warmer zones cannas can be set out at the end of the month.
For the homegrower, March is the biggest indoor seeding month. Petunias and pansies should be sown the first week of the month; 'snapdragons and african marigolds by the middle around the 15th. Lobelia, an old time favourite which has enjoyed a popular comeback in the garden, should be started by the second last week of the month at the latest, since they are very slow growers. An excellent choice for shady areas, lobelia provide a beautiful blue border all summer long, while the trailing variety is ideal for hanging baskets. By the last week of this month plan to sow nicotiana and ageratum.
SHRUBS AND TREES
Prune fruit and ornamental trees this month. However, maples, birch and dogwood will bleed sap at this time so hold off pruning them until summer. As well, hold off pruning spring flowering plants such as lilac, forsythia
and jasmine since they bear this year s flowers on last year s wood. Wait until they ve finished blooming.
You can sneak a few branches of forsythia for an early spring bouquet. Place them in water and keep them in a cool dark place such as your garage or basement until they sprout, when you can bring them in for an added splash of colour.
VEGETABLES
Now is the time to plan the contents and layout of your vegetable garden.
Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, all members of the cabbage family, known as brassicas should be sown this month. There are a few pointers to bear in mind when growing members of the brassica family:
1) To control disease, don t grow them in the same garden location year after year allow a three year interval.
2) Keep them well fed and watered during the entire growing season.
3) Because cabbage is shallowrooted, don t cultivate it too deeply.
Seeds of parsley, one of the most popular and prolific herbs, started this month will be ready to set out into the garden in May. Lettuce, the base of every vegetable garden can be sown this month for an early crop.
FRUIT
Check your strawberry bed for plants that may have been heaved by frost and press them back into place gently, then recover them.
HOUSEPLANTS
Your plants indoors will begin showing active growth this month. Exercise judicious watering at this time and start fertilizing. Be sure to follow the manufacturer s fertilizing instructionscont.
MESSAGE TO MEMBERS
To ensure the continuation of this major step forward, we will have to do our utmost to promote and increase our major sources of funding including memberships; course regist. fees; fund raising projects such as our Spring Plant Sale and our fall Cornucopia; and building rentals. We will also need to continue to expand our base in seeking charitable donations.
I would like to recognize the very generous support grant we have re-
GARDENING NOTEBOOK
it s so tempting to give a plant just a little extra when you see new growth!
Geraniums brought in last autumn will start shooting up and begin to look leggy. Just pinch out new growth to encourage bushiness until the weather is suitable to plant them outdoors.
In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed, and pray spring!
Ruta Stancikas is a Toronto journalist
ceived for 1985 from the Edwards Charitable Foundation. Their support is earmarked for three major areas
1) The telephone reception service which lists Edwards Gardens in the phone book and answers general queries about the park, in person, and by phone.
2) Our advertising and promotion budget has been extended to include advertising in the Metro Toronto Convention and Visitors Association Official guide map of Toronto (over % a million copies distributed annually).
3) The inclusion of a horticulturist on staff with the hope that we will be able to generate a series of ongoing exhibits and educational sessions to draw more people to the CGC and Edwards Gardens on a regular basis.
This very exciting step in our organization s history will require particularly careful planning implementation and support by our overall membership. I hope you will join me in addressing this challenge.
&2 White Rose
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Growers
S$12139
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CIVIC
GARDEN
President Mrs. Camilla Dalglish 1st Vice - President Mr. Donald McLaren
2nd Vice - President Mr. Brian Bixley
Secretary 24 Mr. Gotdon D Wick CENTRE
Treasurer Mr. Donald G. McLaren
Board ofDirectors:
For 1984: Mrs. Camilla Dalglish, Mrs. Mae Macmillan, Mr. Grant Ross, Mr. Fidenzio Salvatori, Mrs. Helen Skinner, Mr. Howard Stensson, Mr. David Tomlinson.
For 1984 & 1985: Mr. Brian Bixley, Mr. Charles Coffey, Mrs. Rae Fowler, Mr. Peter Hand, Mrs. Hazel Lyonde, Mr. Monte Watler
For 1984, 1985 & 1986: Mr. Art Drysdale, Mr. Albert M. Fisher, Mrs. Sue Macaulay Mr.Donald McLaren, Mr.Harold Wakefield,Mrs.Katie May McCarthy, Mr.Robert G. Bundy.
Receipts issued for tax deductions for all but the basic annual | At the Civic Garden $10. members fee (Charitable Registration No. 0228114-56-13) | Centre you ll be among e meotnio s e e el nainends) < people owho THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, | share the same interests 777 LAWRENCE AVENUE EAST (at Leslie), you do in gardening Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1P2 ' & horticultural things. 445-1552
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