Northern Lights J. A. MacDonald Jacques Cartier and exclusive Exhibition Roses.
Uxbridge Rose Farm open to the public from July 15th to September 15th.
FREE CATALOGUE on request
TESTED SEEDS
All the new All American varieties plus proven favourites from famous hybridizers.
FREE CATALOGUE on request
CREATIVE CRAFTS
The widest Canadian selection of all favourite creative crafts. Florist supplies Candlemaking Decoupage Macrame etc.
FREE CATALOGUE on request
NEW ETOBICOKE LOCATION
3 ]
Under construction now located on north side B> \gs_ \\." of Queensway ¥ /,-t' ijust east of A 427. Planned os A
WHITE ROSE NURSERIES
March 10-17, 1974
PhiladelphiaFlowerandGarden Show, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, at Civic Center, Philadelphia. Contact: the society at (215) 922-4801.
March 16-24, 1974
New England Spring Garden and Flower Show, sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, at Commonwealth Armory, Boston. Contact: the society at (617) 536-9280.
March 23-31, 1974
Chicago Flower and Garden Show, sponsored by the Chicago Horticultural Society and Botanic Garden, at McCormick Place, Chicago. Contact: Mr. R. Wintz (312) 332-2868.
March 31-April 5, 1974
The Garden Symposium, sponsored by Colonial Williamsburg, at Williamsburg, Virginia. Contact: Mrs. J. S. Moyles (703) 229-1500.
April 18 to late October, 1974
Vienna International Garden Show, six miles from centre of Vienna, Austria. Contact: the Civic Garden Centre.
May 21-24, 1974
Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society, at Chelsea Royal Hospital Grounds, London, England. Contact: the Civic Garden Centre.
May 25-26, 1974
International Lilac Society Convention, at Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario. Contact: the gardens at (416) 527-1158.
June 12-14, 1974
Ontario Horticultural Association Convention, at Sheraton Brock Hotel, Niagara Falls, Ontario. Contact: Mr. R. F. Gomme (416) 965-1091.
Coming Events of International Gardening and Floral Arts Interest
June 14-16, 1974
American Peony Society Exhibition, at Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario. Contact: the gardens at (416) 527-1158.
July 9-17, 1974
Danish Gardens Seminar, at various sites in Denmark, including Funen, the garden of Denmark. Contact: the Civic Garden Centre.
July 13-17, 1974
American Association of Nurserymen Convention, at Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel, Toronto. Contact: Mr. H. H. Stensson (416) 822-4841.
Homes & Gardens Tour
MAR. 9th & MAR. 30th
Visiting Ante Bellum homes at Natchez, Bellingrath Home and Gardens, New Orleans, Callaway Gardens, and Atlanta.
RATE $594.00
For further information contact your travel agent or
MARY MORTON TOURS
P.O. Box 436, Station K, Toronto 12 Tel: 488-2674
Indoor Light Gardening Specialists
e Terrarium lamps e Hobby greenhouses
e Wall & table , o Humex models accessories
e Build-up mini- e Stewart gart_!engardens ware
Exotic, Miniature & Terrarium Plants at The Plant Room, Hornby, 878-4984
Coming International Events, 3; Garden Events Calendar, 12; School of Floral Decoration, 14; Library, 16; Shop, 17; Milne House Garden Club, 19; and Centre s other clubs, 19.
Other Notes of Interest This Month
John Bradshaw wins Award of Honour, 15.
The Front Cover Queen of the Night' Cactus photographed at the Borough of Etobicoke s Centennial Park greenhouses in August 1973. Story on page 21. Photo by Art C. Drysdale.
Civic Garden Centre Board of Directors
Mrs. K. G. (Audrey) Allman; R. H. (Roy) Bainard; I. A. (Irv) Bailey; Mrs. J. H. (Betty) Billes; J. (Jack) Blair; G. R. (George) Blais; J. E. (John) Bradshaw; Mrs. D. P. (Elizabeth) Bryce; G. P. (Geoff) Clarkson (Chairman); E. A. (Ed) Endersby; G. A. (Gib) Milne; E. R. (Ernie) Pope; Mrs. E. (Flavia) Redelmeier; Mrs. F. W. (Genevieve) Robertson; L. C. (Larry) Sherk; T. W. {(I om) Thompson; Mrs. J. R. M. (Lois) Wilson; D. H. (Dave) erex.
Staff for Civic Garden Centre and Trellis
J. C. (Jim) Boyd, Executive Director; A. C. (Art) Drysdale, Associate Director and Editor; Mrs. Awdrey Clarke, Secretary.
General Information
Trellis is published monthly (except July and August) by the Civic Garden Centre, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, Don Mills, Ontario, M3C 1P2. The Centre is located in Edwards Gardens, at Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East, the geographical centre of Metropolitan Toronto. It is a non-profit gardening and floral arts information organization with open membership. Subscriptions to Trellis are only available through Centre membership ($5 for 12 months). Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the Civic Garden Centre.
THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE Telephone 445-1552
What it is
* A non-profit gardening and floral arts centre for the dissemination of information to amateur gardeners and flower-arrangers
« An open membership body with over 2,000 keen gardener-members (from rank amateurs to advanced professionals) who pay only $5 for 12 months
» Home of six gardening clubs or groups with specific gardening interests
e Meeting place for specialized plant societies from Bonsai to Roses
o Home of some of the best flower arrangers in North America (quoted from U.S.A. author and editor, Helen Van PeltWilson)
What it does
» Operates Canada s most complete public horticultural library
« Responds to over 3,000 gardening questions annually
» Organizes, in both spring and autumn, garden talks and demonstrations on a wide variety of subjects and at different levels
» Teaches non-commercial flower arranging at various levels to over 300 persons annually and encourages their competition
o Carries on an extensive flower-drying program to extend garden beauty through into the winter months economically
o Operates a Speakers Panel Bureau which brings panels of experts on various subjects to groups desirous of an informative program
* Publishes information booklets on various subjects; e.g. Preserving Beautiful Flowers
« Stages two flower shows each year and hosts numerous others
What members receive ($5 annual fee)
» Ten issues per year of Trellis
» Free borrowing privileges from the 3,000-volume library
» Ten per cent discount off all purchases of books and gardening and floral arts supplies bought from the Centre
« Opportunity to join one or more specialized member groups or clubs
« Discounts off all courses offered at the Centre
» Free admission to Members Nights held at least twice per year
177 Lawrence Ave. East (in Edwards Gardens), Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1P2
Trellis
Hello, and welcome to a Happy and Healthy New Year! This being the dullest month of winter, we need all the assurances of the forthcoming spring that we can get.
Hopefully, most Civic Garden Centre members will have planted some bulbs for forcing this past autumn. Providing you did everything correctly, the bulbs should now have good root systems and shoots about three inches tall. Starting with the earliest varieties, such as Amsterdam , Bismarck and L 'Innocence hyacinths; single early and Mendel tulips; and Golden Harvest' and Unsurpassable daffodils; begin bringing them in from (or out of) the cold storage, regardless of what system you chose. Now, instead of bringing them right into your 70 deg. room, start gradually, Keep them two weeks at 60 deg. in the dark, then into the light, and to the 70 deg. rooms. As soon as the buds open, keep them as cool as possible again, in order to make them last as long as possible. And, most important, keep them well watered all the time.
If you have an outdoor garden, or have a friend with such, you may plant out the potted bulbs as soon as the ground is workable in April. Be sure to keep watering them before this planting out. They will bloom outside again next year, but will not be suitable for forcing inside. The same applies as well to chrysanthemums received as gifts over the holiday season. After they have finished flowering, cut them right back to within a few inches of the soil, give them a modest amount of moisture, and plant them out in April as soon as the frost is out of the ground.
Preparations for this Summer s Garden should begin this Month
Deiter Maier*
With snow, ice and rain on the daily forecast, be careful with rock salt which easily damages plant life including lawns. Instead of the harmful rock salt, use one of the newly available ice-melter products, or a nitrogenous fertilizer. Though more expensive now, it will save you the cost of repairing the lawn, or replacing shrubs and perennials in your flower borders, next spring.
If a wet snow beats down the branches of your foundation evergreens, try to get it off while it is still falling, or immediately after the storm. Use the stick-end of a broom, and shake the evergreens only ever so slightly. If the freezing rain or wet snow hardens on the branches, leave it until the temperature goes above 32 deg. and the snow or ice will melt off itself with little damage. If individual branches of evergreen shrubs (especially conical forms) fall out of the shape of the overall shrubs; on a mild day, tie these branches back in with soft twine or strips of cloth. To prevent this from happening, ideally you should spiral some twine up the shrub from bottom to top. Done in the autumn, this holds conical evergreens together when they are bent over by the elements, and they then return to their normal shape when spring comes.
Have you disposed of your Christmas tree yet? If you put it out for the garbage you have wasted an ideal opportunity for re-cycling a natural material, The small needled branches of Scotch pine, cut off with pruning
Concluded on page 9
*Mr, Maier is foreman in charge of Edwards Gardens, part of the regional parks system operated by the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Department.
Decorating the home with plants is no longer confined to a few indestructible tropical foliage specimens. And, decorating with flowers is no longer restricted to the short life of florists blooming plants or to cut flowers for the vase. With artificial light, you can have exotic flowers providing colour and form all year-round. The darkest corner of an apartment, when equipped with fluorescent fixtures, becomes a growing area superior to a windowsill lighted by a sun whose rays lose much of their strength while penetrating layers of smog. In a light garden, every day is sunny and there are no seasons. Blooming plants indoors is now for everybody. The following is a quick summing up of the present state of the art.
Miracle plants available now
We know now that fluorescent light kept burning for 14 to 16 hours a day in the home, where temperatures are much the same summer and winter, changes the natural habits of plants, A growing list of exotics, many unknown to horticulture only a few years back, will bloom practically every day in the year with little attention. You will not find most of them at your local florist but every year nurseries are growing more of them.
Light gardeners call them miracle plants , and they really are. African violets everybody knows; as these were the first of the ever-bloomers. Now, amateur gardeners are becoming familiar with such gems as Oxalis regnellii, Cuphea hyssopifolia, the goldfish plants (Hypocyrta), Streptocarpus Constant Nymph , Euphorbia Bojeri , and Gesneria cuneifolia. The sinningias, relatives of gloxinias, with daintier flowers, are available in a
Indoor Light Growing comes of age with New Plants and Methods of Growing
George A. Elbert*
number of hybrids which are everblooming, with names like Dollbaby , Pink Flare , Poupee , Freckles , Bright Eyes , and the enchanting Cindy . The latter on a small plant, produces an endless stand of flared slipper flowers, the white throats of which are painted in a precise pattern of purple dashes and dots.
Even some of the annual plants from the garden bloom well for months at a time, for instance the unlikely Portulaca and the Dahlborg daisy. Both of these love the sunniest spot in the light garden. Such plants are relatively compact, which means that you may have more of them in little space and that they fit comfortably under the light fixtures.
Keep fresh herbs handy in the kitchen
Mention should be made, although flowers are not the object, of the new craze for apartment-grown herbs. French small leaf basil, chervil, winter savory, marjoram, pineapple sage, and rosemary, are a few of the possibilities. A two-tube, 24-inch fluorescent unit with reflector, hung under the kitchen cabinet will provide you will all these, and even more delectable cooking herbs. Recently we had a good size salad of our own Bibb lettuce.
New types of floor lights are useful in keeping large living-room style foliage plants (Dracaena, Schefflera, Dieffenbachia, and such) in shape, and acting also as supplemental light for blooming plants. General Electric s cool beam flood directs heat rays backward, so that the light reach-
Continued on page 8
*Mr. Elbert is author of The Indoor Light Gardening Book, and editor of Light Garden, the bi-monthly news bulletin of the Indoor Light
ing the plants is relatively cool. All the large bulb manufacturers now have grow bulbs which serve the same purpose, over a smaller area, as do fluorescent tubes in relatively large areas.
Among the fluorescent tubes there has been an improvement in the intensity of the light, very beneficial to plant growth. There are now many amateurs experimenting with very high output and super high output tubes for blooming orchids and other light-demanding plants. Because of their much higher wattage, these tubes require special fixtures.
Of the growth tubes, only VitaLite, made by Duro-Test is relatively new. Cactus and succulent growers are enamored with the tube. Similarly, bromeliad growers swear by Optima (Naturescent). However, the Indoor Light Gardening Society considers ordinary commercial fluorescent lamps just as efficient and much less expensive. Combinations recommended are warm white and daylight or cool white, deluxe cool white and daylight. Gro-LuxWide Spectrum (not Gro-Lux) is an effective tube especially in combination with cool white. These are all inexpensive tubes which sell in electrical supply stores.
Efforts to combat glare meet with success
Until recently, a valid objection to light gardens in living areas has been the necessity of exposing the tubes so that sufficient light would reach the plants. For many people the resultant glare from the light source has been intolerable. The easiest solution, and an effective one, is the use of va-
Adijacent photos; at top, the garden room of Jack Golding in Kearny, New Jersey. Room is 20 by 20 feet; ceiling is covered with 96-inch lamps, hidden by parawedge louvers. At centre, 12-ft. light garden unit in author's living room. Only sections with plants are lighted. Unit pulls apart in four sections. Both photos by author. At bottom, gloxinias do well under fluorescent light. Even the simplest set-up will do to start. Agriculture Canada photo.
lances on the side facing the viewer. A six-inch valance at a height of five feet will mask the tubes for anyone sittir g in a living area.
A major breakthrough has been accomplished by the use of para-wedge parabolic section louvers, one form of which looks like the plastic crating used in the ceilings of elevators. These louvers eliminate glare at an angle of 45 degrees. Beyond that, the louvers appear to be black. The plastic is metallized to a mirror finish and comes in sheets two by four feet in size. You cut it according to your needs.
Richard Kelly, a famed lighting designer, has done a room for Jack Golding, of Kearny, New Jersey, in the U.S.A. Mr. Kearny is a renowned Begonia grower. Suspended from one end of the ceiling to the other are 96inch fluorescent tubes with parawedge louvers below them. The room is flooded with light but, unless you crane your neck and look directly upward, the ceiling appears to be black.
Although there are many more different types of fluorescent light gardening fixtures on the market, real progress is being made by amateurs and professional interior architects and designers, Many growers have converted bookshelves and room dividers into magnificent decorative pieces by interspersing areas of books and art objects with small light gardens nothing more than fluorescent fixtures attached below the shelves.
Since tropical-fish-aquarium manufacturers learned how to bond glass panes, eliminating metal corner posts, we now have ideally decorative terrarium cases. Within, illuminated by a fluorescent fixture set above it, you may plant a colourful miniature landscape. Where pets are a problem, terraria afford perfect protection for your house plants. For the more sensitive blooming exotics, they offer high humidity and protection against aerial pollution. They are ideal on a bookshelf, on a table, or in that unused fireplace. Needing little attention, once the moisture is balanced, they
are becoming increasingly popular. In addition to the fish tanks there are now numerous decorative terrariums in glass and plastic on the market.
Light gardeners are definitely committed to what is called the Cornell mix and variations, when it comes to planting mediums. This generally consists of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite in equal proportions. It is sterile, easy to handle and can be adjusted, by changing the proportions a bit, to the needs of almost any house plant. Garden-type soils, even when sterilized, are too heavy and, at the same time, dry out too quickly.
Indoor light gardening is the fastest growing form of gardening in North America. There is an active Indoor Light Gardening Society of America, and a chapter is planned for operation as a group of members of the Civic Garden Centre. You may find out about both by contacting the Centre either by phone or letter.
Preparations This Month
shears and used over flower beds at this time of year, will prevent heaving and ensure survival of some lesshardy varieties. The tree, along with several from your neighbors, will also make an ideal protection for windburn-prone evergreens such as dwarf Alberta spruce, rhododendrons etc.
This month you should be sure to write and telephone for copies of seed and nursery catalogues. Pick out the seed varieties which interest you most. In next month s Trellis we shall talk about some of the new varieties of annual flowers you may wish to order from seed houses as these new varieties are often difficult to obtain in box-plant form later in the season. We shall also briefly explain the raising of plants from cuttings in next month s column.
Meanwhile, if you have time on your hands this month, visit your local, reliable garden centre, and talk with the nurserymen. Now they have time to talk with you and discuss your problems and perhaps make landscaping suggestions.
English vegetables have always had a world-wide reputation for quality and flavour and our seedsmen are at last beginning to take this into account by bringing valuable new kinds from Britain.
Rubine Red Brussels sprouts is a typical example of what I mean. It is a most unusual and fine new vegetable which has become very popular in English gardens during the past five years, The plants have red foliage and the sprouts are dark red. The idea of a red Brussels sprout may seem rather unusual, but keep in mind that we have had red varieties of cabbage for many years, and this tasty vegetable is also a member of
Congratulations to the CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE on instituting an Ontario Gardening Magazine
This year, help ease your own cost of living grow some vegetables in Pefferlaw Peat the ideal soilmix.
G. T. STRAIN & SON Cannington, Ont. Phone (Toronto) 364-6068
Congratulations to Trellis on this your first issue LIMITED
New Vegetables will add Colour and Flavour to your Table if You plant Seed Now
John Bradshaw*
the cabbage family. Remember too, that red cabbage is the traditional vegetable served with roast goose, particularly in Germany. The plants of Rubine Red make firm sprouts with a distinct flavour much like that of a fine red cabbage.
New yellow colour for salads etc.
Another of the new vegetables from England is a radish called Yellow Gold . We have been growing radishes in our gardens ever since Egyptian times. This new one promises to be a tasty new treat for meals and a big surprise for guests. The radishes have a medium flavour, are eggshaped with a sparkling white flesh. Just think of the exciting colour it will add to summer salads!
Unusual colour in salads may also be achieved with the new Morden Yellow tomato. It was bred by Dr. Charles Walkof of the famous Morden Manitoba, Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm. This new tomato ripens to a beautiful golden yellow and fruits average three inches in diameter. Many home gardeners will especially prize its mild flavour and low acid content. The clear yellow color makes it most decorative for use in salads or with any meal, Seeds should be sown indoors in early March for planting out small plants in the garden on the 24th of May. Make certain it's the real 24th of May not the holiday weekend!
England has also given us a most exceptional new parsley called Darki . The leaves are dark green, tightly spaced, heavy and intensely curled.
1480 St. Clair Avenue West Toronto, Ont. M6E 1C7 (416) 654-7025
#Mr. Bradshaw is Canada s best-known garden writer and broadcaster, His column appears weekly in the Toronto Sun, and his broadcast is heard each Saturday momming at 10:07 a.m. over radio CFRB.
Gardeners in Britain tell me it is unusually vigorous and adaptable. Darki can be seeded or planted in the garden in early May and you can be certain it will hold its fine quality for an unusually long time. Indoor gardeners with fluorescent lights may either grow Darki indoors entirely or sow the seed early indoors and then move the plants to the garden in early May.
Celery Prize Pink has been a favourite in gardens across the Atlantic for a number of years because of its superior quality and taste. It is outstanding and is widely used by vegetable show exhibitors. Anyone who has visited the famous Chelsea Flower Show in London, England, in May, will likely remember the exciting quality of this variety of celery.
It is unfortunate that all celery presently grown in North America is of the self-blanching type. This type is not much better than animal feed. Good celery is blanced by hilling up in September with earth or wide boards against the stems. The blanching process gives celery a tenderness and nutty flavour, and once you've tasted it you will never be contented again with the self-blanching kind. The first thing I do when I go to a restaurant in Britain each year is to order a plate of correctly blanched celery!
The Sleaford Three Kings pea is a new triple-podded variety which has been highly commended by the Royal Horticultural Society, Pods are large, measuring eight inches in length, and each contains eight or nine plump and luscious peas. Every plant develops a substantial proportion of triple pods, making this new variety the easiest picking of all garden peas and tremendously productive in a small garden. It is also an excellent pea for freezing.
Now a pepper-like tomato especially for stuffing
Hamburgers and steaks charcoal broiled around the patio or elsewhere may be spruced up considerably this year by a new red onion called Hamburger Queen . You will enjoy the at-
The new stuffing tomato is unique
tractive and appetizing appearance of this rich red onion with its extra sweet flavour and truly exceptional mildness. It is excellent for salads and its flat-globe shape makes for easy slicing.
Completely new for 1974 is a stuffing tomato which is quite distinct from all others. It will not only be a conversation piece but a real gourmet s delight as well. Make no mistake about it, the fruits are true tomatoes but they grow just as green or red sweet peppers do. They are actually hollow, except for a few seeds around the core, which may be easily scooped out.
You pick them, lift out the compact centralized core and they are ready for stuffing. Fruits are large, measuring three inches in diameter and about the same in length. They have a firm flesh, are a bright red in colour, and are strongly and distinctly three-lobed. The bushy plants are large and produce large crops. Sow the seeds indoors in March and move the plants to the garden around the 24th of May after danger of frost.
All of the varieties discussed herein are brand new to the Canadian seed market, and therefore it may be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain started plants in mid- or late-May for your garden. The only way to assure yourself some of these exciting new varieties is to start the seed yourself. If you would like to know the source of seed for the varieties described, just leave your name with the Civic Garden Centre and a catalogue will be sent.
Events in blue held at Civic Garden Centre; more data from the Centre (445-1552) unless a specific phone number given. All other events (in black) held elsewhere; for data call phone number given.
All events begin at 8:00 pm unless otherwise stated. Abbreviations used as follows: H.=Horticultural; S.=Society; and G.C.= Garden Club.
Sun Mon Tues
ntario
Orch 1:00 pm(759 1439)
3
Inaugural garden talk of 18talk series running for ten weeks. Easily Grown Miniature Exotics and Planting Terrariums Mrs. Leni Forsdike. 1:30 and 8:00 pm
Men's Garden Club with speaker Mr. John Bradshaw
Library open
Library open
A. Elbert, i Gardening Socie York. A local che
Etobicoke H.S. (
Library open
K) Garden talk Starting Your 'I | Highrise Gardeners of To ]2 Garden talk Ne Plants Economically from ronto regular monthlymeet- Your Greenhous Seeds and Cuttings Mr. ing Small ~Mr. Ge Ray Halward 1:30 and 8:00 pm 1:30 and 8:00 pn Gardeners and Florists Association A of Ontario regular monthly meetAgincourt G.C. (294-1701) ing (222-1275)
Toronto Bonsai S. annual dinner
Unionville H.S. (i (782-2403) North Toronto H.S. (488-4749)
Library open
Library open
Library open
]7 Garden talk Growing Some l8 Canadian Rose S. (485-8969) |9 Garden talk Gi of the Newer Perennial Flow- dens From Ga ers and Kitchen Herbs Mr. Fred Dale. 1:30 a Frank Ashby. 1:30 and 8:00 pm
24 Garden talk Box Plants for Brampton H.S. (459-0119) 26 Garden talk D« Instant Garden Colour Garden Landscz ;l(rm Ken Reeves. 1:30 and Lakeshore H.S. (278-2517) sign for the S :00 pm owner Mr. Ja Richmond Hill H.S. (884- 1:30 and 8:00 pr Markham H.S. (294-3267) 1407)
North York H.S. (884-1105) Schomberg H.S. (939-2146) Swansea H.S. (7 Roseland (Weston) H.S. (893-1288)
Library open
Library open
Southern Ontaro 3 Gardentalk Vegetables You 4 Men's Garden Club 5 Garden Club ¢ Orchid S. at Grow Yourself Yield Better Spring Flower 1:00 pm (759-1439) Taste and Value Mr. John Show at O'Ke: Bradshaw. 1:30 and 8:00 pm 10:00 am to 10:2
Etobicoke H.S. (
Talk. Gar- 6 Phtl is Fun by George onl. Indoor Light yof America, New of the society its home at the 8:00 pm
'42-5255)
nIdeas lor ]3 :rgo |I|l |
197-1430) owing Garng" llt. 20 1d 8:00 pm
jsauga) G.C. (278-
Canadian Geranium and Pelargonium S. (889-0181)
Riverdale H.S. (466-4235)
East York G.C. (425-7496)
wn-to-Earth Ria s o4 nall Homean Schioen, 52-1001) | |
! Toronto's nd Garden fe Centre, D pm
'42-5255)
Canadian Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society (2232964)
H.S. (425-4726)
Garden Club of Toronto s Spring Flower and Garden Show at O Keefe Centre, 10:00 am to 10:30 pm
Garden Club of Toronto's Spring Flower and Garden Show at O Keefe Centre, 10:00 am to 10:30 pm
Riverdale H.S. (466-4235)
Garden Club of Toronto's Spring Flower and Garden Show at O'Keefe Centre, 10:00 am to 10:30 pm
Centre s School of Floral Decoration has
Courses for rank Amateurs
The Civic Garden Centre pioneered, with the Garden Club of Toronto, the organization of non-commercial flower arrangement courses for those interested in the floral arts. This was in 1960. Now, courses at two different levels are run during the fall, winter and spring seasons and are of six weeks duration. An advanced course, four weeks in length, is also operated when the demand is sufficient.
Most courses, except those running during the winter months, are operated in the evenings as well as the afternoons, and some are now offered during morning hours as well.
Basic and intermediate courses of six-weeks duration are presently running at the Civic Garden Centre and
You are invited . . .
to visit our greenhouses (80,000 square feet) and see our quality tropical and foliage plants, cactus and sueculents plus African violets. Have your house plant questions answered by experts!
Open six days per week (closed Sundays) from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Just a few minutes off Highway 403 (Main St. West Exit).
will be completed in mid-February. The next series will begin in midMarch. Course number one (for beginners) will be operated on six successive Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 p.m. beginning March 13. Mrs. F. W. Robertson, past-president of the Garden Club of Toronto will be the instructor for this course. If there is sufficient demand, the same course will be operated on the same six Wednesday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Fee for the course is $12 for six lessons. Membership in the Civic Garden Centre is also a necessity since students will want to use the library borrowing privileges. Please call the Centre for application forms as classes are limited and bookings are made as received with fee.
Course number two (intermediate) will be operated on six successive Thursday afternoons at 1:30 p.m. beginning March 14. Mrs. T. J. F. Ross, often seen on Toronto s Channel 19 educational television with flower arrangement demonstrations, will be the instructor for the inter-
(416) 628-2632
If it s about Gardening . . . ask Toronto s Civic Garden Centre. Membership, including ten issues per year of TRELLIS only $5 for 12 months. Telephone (416) 445-1552, or write to us at: 777 Lawrence Ave. E., Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1P2
mediate course. As with the beginners course, the intermediate one will also be run on the same six Thursdays in the evenings if there is sufficient demand. Fee for the intermediate course is $14.50 plus Civic Garden Centre membership. Application forms are available by telephoning the Centre.
Persons interested in either of these courses but unable to participate due to timing will be interested to know that both levels of courses will be repeated beginning on the 24th and 25th of April (after Easter). Also, an advanced course of four weeks duration will be run, commencing Tuesday, May 14 at 10:00 a.m. with instructor, Mrs. Audrey Meiklejohn, twice winner of the coveted Hobbs Award.
If you have any questions about the Centre s floral arts activities, Mrs. Marea Lyle, chairman of the School of Floral Decoration will be pleased to hear from you. Contact her through the Centre at 445-1552.
Fourth Award of Honour presented by Garden Club of Toronto to John Bradshaw
Thursday, October 25, 1973, was an auspicious occasion for both the 400member Garden Club of Toronto, and noted Canadian garden broadcaster and writer, John Bradshaw.
On that date, John Bradshaw was presented with the Garden Club of Toronto s Award of Honour only the fourth such presentation of the coveted award in the club s almostthirty-year history.
Mr. Bradshaw s award was made in recognition of his superb talent for bringing the joy of gardening to the many thousands of people in 24 years of writing and broadcasting , The presentation was made at the Civic Garden Centre by Mrs. C. Franklin Farwell, president of the Garden Club. Present were well over 150
members ofthe club, as well as leaders of the gardening and communications industries.
In accepting the award, John Bradshaw drew closer to his crystal ball to predict some of the changes he foresaw for gardening in the next decade. Some of these will be included in a future article by him in this magazine. He also particularly acknowledged the faith of management at radio station CFRB a quarter century ago when he was hired as an agricultural reporter.
The Garden Club s Award of Honour was first presented in 1969, and the recipient, fittingly, was Miss Minerva Castle, renowned plantswoman and hybridist, of Meadowvale Village, Ontario. Then, in 1971, the award was given to James C. Boyd, executive director of the Civic Garden Centre, for his beyond-the-call-ofduty efforts in getting the Centre (originally a Garden Club project) going and self-supportive. Earlier in 1973, a third presentation of the award was made by the club to one of its past presidents a lady whose name is synonymous with gardening Mrs. J. R. M. (Lois) Wilson, also a writer and broadcaster.
The Garden Club has recently announced it will, in 1974, be presenting a new award at its flower show for excellence in one category of horticulture. The new award is to be named in honour of Miss Minerva Castle, and full details will appear in Trellis, when the results of this year s show are published in a later issue.
John Bradshaw accepts Award from Garden Club president, Mrs. Farwell.
Horticultural Libraries in Canada Welcomes You to Browse
Mrs. Wendy Hillier, Librarian
A new year, a new printed members bulletin, and an enlarged readership seem to present an excellent opportunity to mention again the facilities in the Civic Garden Centre library. Our collection is made up mainly of books, almost 3,000 of them, periodicals, and pamphlets. Most of this material may be borrowed for a period of three weeks by Civic Garden Centre members and the rest of the collection is available for use here.
Surprises await those who think of us as a gardening library only. Of course, we can provide books for the indoor and outdoor gardener, for those starting from bare ground or for those re-designing a flower bed, window box or entire garden. But, we can also help the bird enthusiast; the do-it-yourself craftsman whether he is making garden fences, candles, patios or place cards; the armchair gardener interested in the gardens of others; and the environmentalist, to mention a few. Flower arranging books are one of our strengths, and help and inspiration for many aspects of this art are available. Young people are not overlooked, and books of special interest to them are kept together in the library. Explore the shelves for poetry, cookbooks, plantlore, and cartoons.
Our library is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays during this period of the year. Beginning in April, we will also be open on Sunday afternoons. Both now, and later in the year, we are also open weekday evenings when there is a gardening or floral arts program or meeting taking place in the Centre. These evenings are marked in blue (Library open) on the Gardening
Events Calendar in the centre of this magazine. On evenings when the library is open, the hours are from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
1) Books may be borrowed for three weeks at a time.
2) Material may be renewed once only, by person or by phone, providing no one is waiting for it. Flower arranging books may not be renewed.
3) Six books maximum may be borrowed at one time, but only 2 books on any given subject may be included. Because of almost continuous flower arranging classes, only one flower arranging book may be borrowed at a time.
4) Fines are charged at the rate of 5S¢ per day $1.00 maximum for adults; 5¢ per week 25¢ maximum for children.
The library and bookshop are staffed largely by volunteer help and a dedicated, obliging, and hard working group they are. However, these people are here for only short periods of time each week and a certain lack of continuity is inherent in this arrangement. Problems may arise which a volunteer is unable to solve, and although we use reams of paper leaving notes for one another, on occasion you may wish to see me about something. I am in the library on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For those of you lucky enough to have holiday gift money left, the Civic Garden Centre is the place to spend it. Your money goes further when you take advantage of the ten per cent discount offered to members on purchases over $2. Of course, we are pleased to sell books to the public at large.
Those of you familiar with Brooklyn Botanical Garden handbooks know how quickly our selection is depleted. Our big orders for the Spring Flower Show at O'Keefe Centre are arriving, and now is the time to see all the titles in stock,
If you do not find the volume you are looking for on our shelves, let us know and we will do our best to order it for you.
A few 1974 calendars are left and they are greatly reduced in price.
Centre s Shop serves MemberswithSpecialized Supplies, also provides Operating Revenue
Mrs. Doris Weir, Shop Director
The Civic Garden Centre s Shop is but a tiny, designed-as-a-cloakroom, alcove off the main entrance hall. And yet, the shop is one of the two most important segments of the Centre s operation, Providing a healthy share of the Centre s operating revenue, the shop serves an even more important function by making available new and unusual floral arts and gardening aids and supplies to an anxious group of consumers.
Not actually competitive with commercial operations, since it concentrates on new products, and alerts the avant-garde gardeners and flower arrangers as to what is coming onto the market; the shop enjoys the mutual respect of both the consumers and the horticultural trade.
Generally, the shop is run by volunteers who enjoy working in a selling atmosphere, though as shop director, I like to be present at least four days per week to talk with our members and friends as they come in with specific desires and ideas. The shop is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays only at this time of year, though when there is an evening garden or floral arts course on in the Centre, items for sale in the shop are available to those at the course, between the hours 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.
Currently we are recuperating from our annual Christmas sale and after-Christmas clearance, though some bargains remain for the picking! We are also preparing for the garden courses which will be running from now until Easter, and we will have items that tie-in with the subjects covered in the courses. Now is the time to get your small window-sill propagating unit, in which to start a
variety of seeds and cuttings, We have three different models, all under ten dollars. And, they are all quality English-made, and will last for many, many years, We also have a line of window-sill trays on which to place your potted plants, The trays will protect your sills from damage caused from water leaking out of the flower pots, and likewise, will allow you to water your plants well.
Another new item with us, and in fact new to horticulture anywhere, is our terrarium lamp a circleline fluorescent tube in an adjustable lamp under which you may place one, or a collection of potted plants, bulbs or a terrarium. The lamp comes in a gowith-any-decor off-white colour, and is designed to be left on for 14 to 16 hours each day. See it when next you are in the Centre. The price is good, and when you consider that Centre members receive a ten per cent discount, it will make those non-members want to join right away, since they will save over one half the cost of a membership just in one purchase.
For those readers who have not Concluded on page 21
Garden Fun
This is Boston's fun way of promoting tree planting within the city. Photo by Art C. Drysdale.
Series of Garden Talks at Centre runs from now until Easter
Annually in the spring, and last year for the first time, in the autumn as well, the Civic Garden Centre runs a series of garden talks from the beginning of February to Easter.
This year the series has been considerably expanded to 17 different topics, with the likelihood of more to be added yet. The talks are always scheduled both in the afternoon (at 1:30 p.m.) and in the evening (at 8:00 p.m.), so that interested gardeners, and potential gardeners, may attend either session for any one or several talks. The topics to be covered during the month of February are given in the Gardening Events Calendar on the centre spread of this issue (pages 12-13).
Future topics in the series include, Getting to Know Your Indoor
Plants , Plants for Your Shady Areas, Pruning is Simple and You Can Do It , Natural Gardening The Easy Lazy Way , All About the Queen of the Garden the Rose , Your Lawn the Tapestry to set off Your Garden, Trees and Shrubs are the Major Ingredient of all Landscaping and How to Preserve the Beauty of Your Flower Garden all Next Winter . Come and hear such well-known speakers as Alex Raab, president of White Rose Nurseries Ltd.; Bob Keith, CBC s Ontario gardener; Lawrence Sherk, author of Agriculture Canada s book on shrubs; and Tom van Ryn, renowned pruning demonstrator from whom even you can learn the proper way.
Details of the entire series of garden talks, along with an advance registration form, may be obtained by phoning the Centre, Why not do it now? Last year s spring series, and the shorter series run last fall, were successful to the point that extra chairs had to be brought into the room for most of the talks.
Four steps to a beautiful lawn.
So-Green has developed an easyto follow, four step program that will guarantee you a beautiful lawn. Each step will be outlined in this publication during the coming months. Here is the first step.
March/April
To get your lawn off to a fast, healthy start, apply So-Green Premium 21-7-7. This formula contains all the nutrients a lawn needs after the long Canadian winter. If you were troubled with crabgrass last year, apply So-Green Crabgrass Killer plus 10-5-10 fertilizer now. It will kill your crabgrass and feed your lawn at the same time.
p__].
Premium is available in 50, 25 and 12%lb bags. Apply at the rate of 51bs per 1000 sq ft. Crabgrass Killer is available in 40 and 20lb bags and 5lb boxes. Apply at the rate of8 Ibs per 1000 sq ft. Watch this space for further steps in the So-Green Four Step Program or write to the address below for a copy of the complete program.
So-Green Division, F. Manley Corporation, 25 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Ontario.
Milne House Garden Club plans 1974 Program
and invites inquiries from potential New Members
The Milne House Garden Club meetings are generally open only to members of the club though membership, within limits, is available to any female member of the Civic Garden Centre. The club grew out of the former ladies committee of the Centre, and now carries on that function, along with its own activities. A detailed history of the Milne House Club will appear in a future issue of Trellis.
For February, the Milne House regular meeting will be a talk and demonstration Floral Arrangements in your Antique Containers by Miss
Centre is Home too for other clubs and societies
In addition to the various clubs and groups mentioned in separate articles in this first issue of Trellis, there are still other clubs which operate directly from the Civic Garden Centre, and those which meet at the Centre, but are not actually connected with the Centre itself.
The Men s Garden Club, open to all male members of the Centre, meets monthly and invites speakers with information of interest both to indoor and outdoor gardeners. This month, the Men s Club is to have well-known garden broadcaster, John Bradshaw, as guest speaker. If you are interested, just come out on Tuesday night, February 5.
Also directly a part of the Centre, is the Garden Therapy Group some folks who come to us regularly, and for whom gardening and the projects they do at the sessions, is one
Margaret Dove. Date of the meeting is Tuesday February 19, at 10:00 a.m. Miss Dove, a past president of the Garden Club of Toronto, is the first lady of flower arranging in our area, and is widely known for her talks and writings.
Most members of the Milne House Club will have their copy of the club s 1973-74 yearbook by now, but if anyone has been missed, the February 1974 meeting will be an ideal opportunity to pick it up.
The theme of the club s monthly flower show is My Favourite Things . A good example of one of the classes is number three Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With Strings . The class calls for from one to three flowers and the exhibitor s own interpretation. The February show is a natural for new Milne House members who have never entered a flower show before.
of the few enjoyable recreations available. For further information contact Mrs. Eileen Brooks at the Centre.
We also have two very active Junior Gardening Clubs divided into two age groups. Unfortunately, due to a lack of qualified instructors, there is a waiting list of youngsters wishing to join the clubs. However, if you think you would like to join, just call the Centre to register for the waiting list.
A final active club within the Civic Garden Centre umbrella is the Highrise Gardeners of Toronto a special club for apartment gardeners. This club meets every second Tuesday, and you will see their meeting night marked on the Gardening Events Calendar in the centre spread of this issue, As the outdoor gardening season approaches, the activities of the Highrise club will increase, and more will be found about their meetings within future issues of Trellis.
Many of the specialized plant societies, though not connected with the Centre in any official way, use the Centre for their meetings through the year. A glance at the Gardening Events Calendar will reveal regular meetings of many of them.
Trellis
1010 on your radio gets you JOHN BRADSHAW
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SUNDAYS beginning at 8:10 a.m.
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DEPT. CG 1015 MOUNT PLEASANT RD., TORONTO
e Specialists in buibs for indoor planting
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e Terrariums, Books, Indoor Growing Kits, and accessories for the enthusiast.
The Queen of the Night' (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is a night-flowering cactus which is most interesting to grow. It is a variety which can be grown in an average living room and will reward the grower with a beauty and fragrance unsurpassed by most house plants.
Depending on growing conditions, the buds will appear five to six weeks prior to opening, sometime in July. The flower buds are borne on flattened stems although these stems really look like leaves, hence the name epi (upon) phyllos (a leaf).
When the buds are ready to open, perhaps three or four at once, this will only occur at night at about 10:00 p.m. The plant should be left in the dark as the buds will not open fully in light. The flowers will droop and close again prior to daylight, never to re-open. There often is a second batch ready to open the following night following the same process.
When the flowers are fully open, it is permissible to submit them to artificial light in order that their beauty may be admired.
With some healthy plants this flowering process will take place twice per year so one should always be on the lookout for buds! The flowers are white with a reddish outer perianth and richly fragrant, each flower is about the size of a teacup. The plant is commonly found in the wild in its native Mexico, but is also found in Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil and is often noted in Bermuda growing in many of the hotel gardens.
As is the case with most of the
Mr. Sinclair, an avid horticulturist,is of parks for the Borough Parks and Recreation Services
Queen of the Night Cactus makes an extremely unusual Houseplant
George Sinclair*
epiphytic cacti, this variety requires a richer soil and more water than common desert types. It also will withstand fairly cool conditions, the ideal temperature being 70 to 75 degrees. In its natural habitat the flowers are fertilized by a night-flying moth and no doubt the sweet scent contributes to this end.
Propagation is simple and can be done by cuttings or seed. The ultimate size of the plant will depend on the amount of room provided the roots. I have seen some nice blooms on a plant in a six-inch pot, but I have seen 60 to 70 blooms in one evening on a plant grown in a tropical greenhouse where the roots were not restricted.
Seldom does a plant provide such a novel interest and require so little attention as the Queen of the Night'.
Centre's Shop
been to the Centre before, you will not be aware that all members are now eligible for a ten per cent discount off all purchases made at the Centre s shop, provided the total is over $2. This is added incentive to do your gardening shopping at the Centre. But do come to see us for our stock of unusual items. Particularly note the new-to-Canada self-watering planters suitable for indoor or outdoor use; the glazed clay small hanging pots of various shapes, and our famous, popular Una Bruce flower containers all different.
If there is something special you require to make gardening or flower arranging just a little easier, just enquire at the shop, chances are we shall be able to help you, in one way or another!
Gardening magazines in Canada have a dark, un-flowery history! Trellis is in fact the first such new publication, devoted exclusively to gardening and the floral arts, to be born during the last two decades.
Perhaps the best known of Canada s gardening publications was Maclean-Hunter s Canadian Homes and Gardens which, for all intents and purposes, ceased in the 1950s when ownership changed and it became a monthly insert in major daily newspapers across the country. Now, as a quarterly, even the word Gardens has disappeared.
Prior to the demise of Canadian Homes and Gardens another valiant publishing effort died after only four years of distribution Your Garden and Home by Donovan Publications, with Lloyd Minshall as editor, reached a circulation of almost 40,000 but failed to attract the required advertising.
Canadian Homes and Gardens was started in May 1925, by W. Rupert Davies, editor and publisher and Arthur L. Davies, managing editor. It came out of Renfrew, Ontario. Rupert Davies, in his first column wrote optimistically, We believe that the time has arrived when Canada should have a magazine of its own, devoted to this interesting and exhaustive field. As Canadians, we should try to create a Canadian atmosphere, not only in our architecture, but also in our gardens.
In these days of high costs, illustrations are expensive, and they necessitate coated paper, which also comes high. Yet we have faith enough in the Canadian public to believe that they will support a magazine of this type if it is made interesting and help-
And, may | now have the first Last Word'?
Art C. Drysdale,
Editor
ful. We are starting in a modest way, but we hope to grow with each succeeding issue.
All of that applies now half a century later to the Civic Garden Centre s Trellis, except that we are only attempting to cater to Ontario generally, and southern Ontario specifically. Save for full-colour covers, we are beginning even more modestly a smaller format, lesser number of pages, no fees for authors, and no specific permanent staff. Trellis is actually a more sophisticated version of a former mimeographed bulletin for the 2,000 members of Toronto s Civic Garden Centre a non-profit gardening and floral arts information centre.
In addition to circulation to the Centre s members on a regular basis, Trellis will be distributed on an irregular basis to another 7,000 persons with interest in gardening and the floral arts, This circulation will vary by the month to the advantage of our advertisers. The only method by which any interested person may be assured of receiving a copy of each edition, addressed to his or her home, is by being a member of the Civic Garden Centre, A summary of the other services and benefits of the Centre appears on page 5.
Trellis is being introduced with little or no fanfare, because we want the metamorphosis of mimeographed bulletin into printed mini-magazine format to make its own impact whatever that may be. We hope response will be positive both from existing and new readers, as well as from advertisers and potential advertisers.
As to content, this will be dictated in the main by what you the readers
22 / Janvary 1974
want and the ideas that you make known to us. It is our intent to set up an effective, small editorial advisory committee, the members of which will be garden people, well aware of what is new. They will be able to recommend material for Trellis that will be different and exciting. Aside from these two considerations the expressed wishes of the readers, and the work of our advisory committee Trellis is starting out with three major aims. The prime one of these is the furtherance of the objectives of the Civic Garden Centre, ie.: to promote interest in horticulture, gardening and conservation and provide specific information and advice on gardening and all related subjects.
The other two major aims, as seen at the outset, are: to provide a central information source for Metropolitan Toronto and environs, on any and all events to do with gardening and the floral arts; and to provide a regular column of anthology of the gardening press of other countries. We have made a start on the former of these two, with the Gardening Arts Events Calendar on pages 11-12, This will be a regular feature, and will expand as our resources are able to research the necessary information. It is also hoped to make it more complete for each event, but for 1974, the present format will be followed.
The latter aim, will take most of our first year to get operative even in a small but organized, effective manner. The column will be known as Collectanea by definition, a selection of passages from different authors, usually made for the purpose of instruction. Collectanea will eventually have its own editor, and likely a number of assistants. It will provide brief abstracts of items (considered to be of interest to at least some of our readers) that have appeared in other gardening or related periodicals. These magazines and bulletins, etc. will be available in the Centre s library if readers should wish to read one or more entire articles that have been abstracted. Also, should members wish to do so, they will be eli-
gible to borrow the particular periodical.
Commencing in an early issue, will be a series of gardening fables fiction written by well-known Canadian gardening author I. B. Lucas (The Footloose Gardener, Parthenon Press, 1970.) Known as The Adventures of Herblock Loams (any connection with Sherlock Holmes is purely intended), the series of short fables will be just plain fun reading for gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
One final feature of Trellis, from time to time, will be signed, topical editorials, These, it is hoped, will be useful either in drawing attention to serious horticultural offences and humorous gardening anecdotes, or in developing the trade and government services that serve, or ought to serve, gardening and floral arts consumers. The editorials will appear in this position, under this heading, and your comments will be welcomed, and printed in subsequent issues.
And so, this is how I see Trellis serving gardening enthusiasts, as volume one number one is produced. Your comments are solicited. Just as a garden trellis supports plant life, I am optimistic that so will the gardening trade support Trellis in order that we may enlarge the body of knowledge of Ontario consumers involved in, or desirous of becoming involved in, the fascinating hobby of gardening.
"Let's start a growing friendship soon ¢ TN at a Sheridan Garden Centre. S aal
You'll fmdit at Sheridan
Ualue With comparable prices on the most extensive selection of high quality nursery stock in Canada. r e
ltalltY With over 1,200 types of hardy plants and trees, locally raised, fresh from the soil and Guaranteed to Grow
VarletY With Canada s most comprehensive listing of nursery stock and garden accessories . . . the 74 Sheridan Garden Catalogue. Now availableat any of the four Sheridan Garden Centres in Metro, Mississauga, Unionville, or Etobicoke, Sheridan can supply all of your gardening needs.
