¥ L~White Rose
CRAFTS& NURSERY
Growers
and distributors of qguality garden plants and craft products
4 beautiful garden stores to serve you Open 7 days a week e > &
UNIONVILLE No. 7 Highway
SCARBOROUGH
ETOBICOKE MISSISSAUGA
1582 The Queensway Dundas St. (Between Kipling East of Hwy. 10 and Highway 427) W. of Cawthra Rd.
g\ 297-3330 255-0725 2171-2121 f
1306 Kennedy Rd. East of Woodbine S. of 401 Highway West of Kennedy North of Lawrence 755-5345
Visit Clargreen on Monday and smell the Flowers.
Visit Clargreen on Tuesday and listen to the Birds.
Visit Clargreen on Wednesday and see the Banana Tree.
Visit Clargreen on Thursday and hear the Waterfall.
Visit Clargreen on Friday and watch the Cactus grow.
Of course, you can come on Saturday and Sunday, but we're a little more crowded then and you might miss something.
Visit Clargreen weekdays for a leisurely look at Spring in over an acre of tropical greenery and colourful garden displays.
Summer Hours Mon-Fri 9-9 Sat 9-6
Sun & Holidays 10-5
This Month s Articles A Host OfDaffodils
An Indoor Romance
Winter Bouquets 1N \e
Regular Features
The Arboretum, 8; House Plants ofthe Month, 13; SeptemberOctober Gardening Hints, 21.
Centre s Features
Shop Talk, 7; Bookshop, 14.
The Front Cover _ Dahlia Pride of Holland grownby Mrs.F. Reavley, Ridgeway, Ontario. Photo by Sid Morris.
Publication Committee for Trellis
Lawrence C. Sherk (Chairman), Audrey Allman, Jerry Maccabe, Gilbert Miln, Flavia Redelmeier, and Lois Wilson.
Editor Sid Morris
#Trellis is published in the months ofMarch, April, May, June, September and November and distributed on or about the 15th of the month previous 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 or- ganization with open membership. Subscriptions to Trellis are only available through Centre membership ($10 per year). Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre. This is Volume 3, Number 5.
Trellis /
All the benefits of THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE for only $10 a year!
Here in the heart of the beautiful Edwards Gardens at 777 Lawrence Avenue East, is Metropolitan Toronto s very own special CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE with its soon-to-beopened $1,300,000 addition all for your gardening enjoyment.
Right at your fingertips all the ideas, facts and inspiration you need to garden gloriously the year 'round, whether you live in a high-rise apartment or your own private back forty .
As a CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE member you can visit the Horticultural Library and take advantage of the free borrowing privileges from more than 3,000 timely books on just about every phase of gardening you can imagine.
You will enjoy shopping in the novel GARDEN SHOP and BOOK SHOP, and save 10% on purchases over $2.g0 thanks to your membership card.
You will also be able to enroll in members only classes in many special areas of Horticulture and Flower Arranging as well as securing special members discounts on various public lectures and demonstrations.
You will also enjoy receiving the sixissues-per-year of TRELLIS Magazine mailed to your home.
All for only $10 a year? Right! How can it be done? Well, the Civic Garden Centre is owned and operated by Metropolitan Toronto but operating costs are defrayed by membership fees, support by civic-minded organizations and such revenues secured from our shops, the latter being manned largely by volunteers. Let's get together. We'll both enjoy it.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS PHONE THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE 445-1552.
e ST TR e
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
[1 Regular $10 (additional family member
[] Corporation upon request
Please make cheques payable to THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE
777 Lawrence Avenue East, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1P2
| wish to be a member as indicated above and enclose my cheque for $_[ Please accept the additional amount as a donation to the work of the Civic Garden Centre which you will acknowledge with an official receipt for income tax purposes (Reg. No. 0228114-56-13).
A Host Of Daffodils
John Bradshaw
Many homespun or colloquial names have been applied to daffodils and not always by our poets. One old name in England was Lent Lilies which has reference to the Lenten season when they came into bloom. Still another was Chalice Flowers in reference to the form ofthe corona which closely resembles the shape of a cup or chalice.
Botanically, daffodils are members of the amaryllis family. There are numerous wild species found growing throughout Europe, mainly around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Daffodils are no product of modern times. Even before the Christian era, the daffodil (Narcissus) was mentioned in the writings ofSophocles and Homer. The Greeks and Minoans used the daffodil as a motif in various art forms.
As early as 1548, there were 24 kinds of daffodils being grown in Great Britain, By 1629, there were over 90. In 1948 the list had grown to over 8,000 in a horticultural registry published in England. Today there are over 10,000 named varieties but fortunately many ofthese have become obsolete. The tremendous number of varieties dictated the development of an orderly syster of classification. The original one was devised by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1908. In 1950 it was further revised and approved by the General Bulb Growers Society of Haarlem, Holland.
A beginner to bulb growing may find the classification tablea little forbidding at first glance. Be assured, it s not nearly as difficult as it appears. It s a little like becoming acquainted with all the members ofa new family in your neighbourhood. Before long, the distinguishing traits of each person are recognizable at a glance. Youw ll find the catalogues of the bulb dealers a constant aid. In them, each variety is pegged in the right hole.
For the purposes ot this article I've made a selection of some of the choice varieties that have not only proven to be strong and vigorous growers in the garden, but also are relatively inexpensive.
Trumpet Daffodils. This is the group which falls into Division I of the daffodil classification where the trumpet is as long or longer than' the perianth (saucer) petals.
Almost as familiar as Wordsworth s famous host of golden daffodils is the yellow trumpet King Alfred which we ve been growing for over a 100 years. Unfortunately, it s so well known to most people that they automatically order King Alfred and neglect the newer and much improved varieties. There are at least 35 kinds of yellow trumpets which are much better than King Alfred in every way. In this class I'd suggest you try Rembrandt, Irish Luck, Hunter s Moon, Dutch Master and Unsurpassable.
Trumpet Daffodil Rembrandt. Photo by Malak.
Rembrandt is a very early, large daffodil with spectacular golden yellow trumpets. Here we have a variety that not only grows well in the garden, but is excellent for forcing indoors and for exhibition purposes.
One of my favourites is Hunter s Moon. Each bulb produces lovely flowers whose colour is a clear shining cool, greenish yellow. The colour is most intense at the outer edge of the beautifully flanged and serrated trumpet. Anyone interested in flower arranging will find Hunter s Moon a gem.
Irish Luck produces extra large flowers which are a deep golden yellow
on top of23-inch stems. Again we have a good forcer and a magnificent variety for the garden.
throughout. The broad well over-lapped, thick perianth spreads out at right angles to the perfectly proportioned trumpet. Irish Luck is a very vigorous grower in the garden and the blooms make it away above the average show and cut flower.
Ifyou re looking for a yellow trumpet variety that grows extremely well in the garden and is also excellent for pot culture indoors, you won t go wrong with Dutch Master. There s a rich, golden yellow, broad over-lapping perianth combined with a deeply serrated large trumpet.
Unsurpassable has proven to be one of the most impressive and largest daffodils in cultivation. Colossal flowers of the deepést golden yellow are carried
In the white trumpets it s hard to find a better variety than Broughshane. It was bred by the late Guy Wilson of Broughshane in Northern Ireland, the first daffodil breeder to create a white trumpet daffodil. Broughshane performs well in the garden where the blooms are exceptionally durable under adverse weather conditions. The glorious white trumpets are extremely large, of perfect form and balance, making it an ideal show daffodil. I find the stems are strong and the foliage very broad and attractive.
Cantatrice is -another excellent white trumpet which has had remarkable triumphs at flower shows all over the world, and it leads the field for grace and beauty of form. The perianth is clean cut and even, standing out sharply from the well-balanced, perfectly smooth and rather slender trumpet. Its colour throughout is an absolutely pure white. Again, we have another daffodil that is the delight of flower arrangers the world over.
Lare-cupped Daffodils. Here the cup or corona is more than one-third, but less than equal to the length of the perianth petals.
Continued on page 21
T;um ef Daffodil Unsurpassable
Photo by Malak.
Narcissus Yellow Cheerfulness
Photo by Malak.
Shop Talk
Betty Billes
Well, here it is, September, and we are beginning to think Fall. There always seems to be so much for a gardener to do in the autumn. Annuals are looking a bit seedy and a good pruning is recommended to bring new growth to carry them through to that first big frost.
The same hectic feeling and fever pitch of activity is now upon us at the Centre. As you read this column, we are again busy at the CNE Horticultural Building. Our booths are featuring books, gardening equipment, small gifts, numerous flower arranging aids as well as cactus plants, etc. We are looking forward to making new friends for the Centre at this year s CNE.
As we have mentioned before in previous issues, we have a good supply of Flora-cure silica gel for preserving garden flowers in their state of beauty for the entire winter months. It is so easy to work with! A four-pound container (reusable!) retails at $8.75. There is also a booklet for $1 explaining the whys and how-to s ofdrying flowers. (Remember, all members of the Centre have the privilege of a 10% discount on any article over $2.)
This is the time of year when most people forget about fertilizing, which is most important for all plants, shrubs and trees. Those of you with lovely cedar hedges should be using our C.LL. cedar feeder, recommended by John Bradshaw ($1.99 a container).
When the leaves fall, don t build fires (that s polluting!), build compost heaps with our Roto-crop holders, and look forward to beautiful gardens next summer with all your winter composting.
DOMINION STORE SALES SLIPS WANTED
Drop (or mail) your Dominion sales slips into the Centre and help defray the cost of furnishing our expansion facilities.
Rotocrop as mentioned in Shop Talk.
Let me say Thank you to all who have contributed Dominion Store tapes. We are already over the $13,000 mark onourway to success. Ifyou have more, please bring them into the gift shop.
Anda special Thank you to all volunteers who helped in the shop over the summer months and at CNE time.
D. QUERIPEL & SON LIMITED
COMPLETE LANDSCAPING AND DESIGN SERVICES
71 Glencameron Rd., Unit 4 Thornhill, Ont. L3T-1P5 889-3251
Water Lilies Aquatic Plants
Everything for the Water Garden Free Catalog on request
Phone 519-782-4052
For a free 18 page booklet on how to make rich, clean odorless compost in as little as six weeks. using the award-winning Rotocrop Accelerator bins write:
Tony Rothschild, Rotocrop Canada Ltd., 361 King Street East, Toronto, Ont. MS5A 1L1, or call (416) 368-5769.
Waste not, want not a tidy composter that s quick, too. What is green, 3-feet tall, English, has a domed cap, and makes food for plants by recycling leftover salads, faded flowers, fallen leaves even in a city without wrinkling a neighbor s nose? An Accelerator bin. Pop organic waste into the top, wait 6 weeks or so, raise an air-vented sliding PVC panel, and scoop out fresh clean humus for pot plants or garden.
The Arboretum;
Wayne Ray
The Windfields Gardener Crataegus, Hawthorn, Haw, Thornapple
These are hardwood shrubs and small trees with thorns that are found both in the wild or in cultivation. The leaves are alternate and deciduous. The fruits of a few trees are edible and may remain on the plant until winter.
These plants cannot withstand dense shade and are susceptible to fireblight, juniper rust and cedar hawthorn rust.
C. chrysocarpa: Fireberry 6'-15
Dense upright habit
Flower . . . white
Fruit . . . red
C. crus galli: Cockspur 10"-25
Flowers . . . June . . . white
Very long thorns
Fruit . . . red
Distlefink FFeeder
(Thistle Finch from the Pennsylvania Dutch)
. A feeder that will delight | both amateur and professional ornithologists., At| tracts droves of colorful goldfinches, purple finches, redpolls and saucy siskins! Especially cesigned to con- serve seed because £ it restricts birds to - picking out one seed at a time rather than scattering it on the ground. (A little bit of Thistle Seed goes a long way.)
Wooden perches provide protection.
Feeder and Thistle Seed available at Gift Shop, Civic Garden Centre, Distributed in Canada by YuleHyde Associates L 15 Elm= bank Rd., Thornhill, Ont. L4J 2B6.
C. tuba: Tuba 15
Flower. . . double pink
Fruit . . . bright red
C. phenopyrum: Washington hawthorn 15725
Street tree
Leaves. . . scarlet
Fruit . . . scarlet
C. succulento: Fleshy haw
Upright shrub
Fruit . . . bright red
C. oxycantha pauli: Paul Scarlet 20
Best noted for its deep rose blossoms
There are 994 more of these thrilling plants.
Good luck ifyou want to know the rest.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
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Our catalogue contains dozens of full colour photos of prefabricated greenhouses in lifetime aluminum. With it you can choose a greenhouse that is sure to harmonize with your home.
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An Indoor Romance
Barry C. Dimock
Growing herbs outdoors in your garden brings pleasure and comfort to the soul. In addition to their many uses, be they for culinary creations or for colour or fragrance, herbs have another dimension that sense ofdrama, mystery and even music (of breezes and bees and such): the whole combination conjures up the enduring history and legends of herbs.
Somehow, when these herbs are brought indoors our relationship with them intensifies. We observe their needs, habits and qualities more closely than before. Each plant comes into its own spotlight and we come to know it more intimately; it s almost like some very special, secret love affair. The joy and romance of herbs is indeed seductive.
One s own zeal, available time and space doubtless dictate the scope of any indoor culture of herbs be it a winter affair or, for the determined apartment dweller, a year-round romance. Many a beginner s first ventures are modestly undertaken to complement his or her personal interest in good cooking a gourmet s garden. The kitchen herb garden can be the smallest in number of herbs, building as the search for fresh flavours grows.
Once caught up in these special joys, the herb gardener may start down other herbal highways in search of fragrance and fun as well as flavour. Sometimes the search is rooted in health and medicinal herbs. Whatever the reasons, in this age of mass production and synthetic substitutes, herbs are clearly receiving wider attention and use. I suspect this growing interest is no mere
romantic revival but is more ofa historical survival, resolutely remaining in the midst of today s joyless jungles of artificial flavours and colours. Once our heritage herbs refresh the tastebuds, our palates soon insist that we have them all year round.
Perhaps the lore and legends ofherbs will lead us to the ancient belief: if rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis thrives for the house-wife, the mistress is the master. There is security even if the rosemary simply produces in the Ms. and the Mr. better house-persons!
There s Rosemary, that s for remembrance; pray, love, remember! Pray you, too, remember, as autumn nights grow cold, that before the first frost this Mediterranean evergreen, most fragrant of the seasoning herbs, is, for us in Ontario, a tender perennial and needs to be brought indoors. Such a delight, such a wonderful way to begin your winter herb garden be it for sheer fellowship and fragrance or for the cornerstone of your culinary capers, both sweet and savory! Even better, ifspace permits, try at least two rosemaries perhaps one &
Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis upright variety left, prostrate variety right.
of the upright and one of the prostrate types. Here is a herb that will, with reasonable care, be with you for years to become a modest memory tree or even a natural bonsai. It s a beautiful house plant by all standards.
The perennial herbs might well be a good starting point in developing your indoor collection, especially those most used in the kitchen. Here we find the thymes, both creeping and upright, Thymus serpyllum and T. vulgaris, French and English (garden thyme), lemon and caraway scented, to name just a few. An oregano, Origanum vulgare, a mint, winter savory, Satureja montana, a sage, chives, Allium schoenoprasum, lemon balm, Melissa officinalis, and French tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus, are all worth considering for your initial list. Other perennials to add might be garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, French sorrel, Rumex scutatus, salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor, lovage, Levisticum officinale, and if you can find one, a bay laurel, Laurus nobilis.
From the annual herbs you should consider a basil, Ocimum basilicum, chervil, Anthriscus cerefolium, sweet marjoram, Majorana hortensis, dill, Anethum graveolens, fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, and, last but not least, the biennial, parsley, Petroselinum crispum. Those interested in the fine herbs of classical French cooking will insist on parsley, chives, chervil and tarragon along with bay and thyme. Mediterranean French cooking requires the additional basil, oregano, sage and fennel plus, perhaps, saffron, Crocus sativus.
I believe that an initial collection is not complete without several of the many scented geraniums, such as rose, lemon, lime or peppermint, to provide both fragrant and culinary adventures. Others insist on the annual, borage, Borago officinalis, or the perennials, lemon verbena, Lippia citriodora, costmary, Chrysanthemum balsamita, and sweet woodruffe, Asperula odorata. In this brief space we can only begin to point out a few of the many ways to begin your adventure. Paragraphs can be written about the mints alone, to introduce you to spearmint, Mentha spicata, peppermint, Mentha piperita, orange, 10 / September 1976
apple- or pineapple-scented mints and others. And I should remind you that the mints are one of the few herbs that might thrive through over-watering and soggy bottoms.
From my own collection ofsome fifty herb books, I would highly recommend the following as informative and economical guides:
Herbs to Grow Indoors for flavour, forfragrance, for fun by Adelma Grenier Simmons. Paperback (83.95), Hawthorn Books.
How to Grow Herbs and Salad Greens Indoors by Joan W. Meschter. Paperback ($1.50), Popular Library.
Herbs in Ontario How to grow and use 50 herbs by Charlotte ErichsenBrown. ($2.00), Breezy Creeks Press.
Of special interest to herb collectors in Ontario will be the herb seed catalogue (50¢) published by Otto Richter and Sons Ltd., Goodwood, Ontario. Even better would be a visit, at any time of the year, to the Goodwood greenhouse and farm to obtain plants. Closer to Toronto, in Mississauga, Clargreen Gardens maintain a year-round collection of herbs in pots for sale in their greenhouses. Sheridan Nurseries also have a good selection of field-grown herbs during the spring and summer months, especially at their Sherway Garden Centre in Etobicoke.
To translate your desire for fresh herbs indoors into reality, you might choose to have simply a half-dozen or fewer in individual pots on a kitchen window sill with a south, east or west exposure. The kitchen window area might also provide good space and light for a hanging container, perhaps a porous clay one complete with side pockets to hold, say, parsley, chives, garden sage, winter savory, a thyme and rosemary or one of the mints. Other choices might include one of the basils, French tarragon, sweet marjoram or golden oregano. The secret here is to keep the soil in your hanging clay pot of herbs evenly moist, never letting it go bone dry or becoming soggy wet.
Normally, the first good rule to follow is to ensure that all your herbs are planted in pots, either plastic or clay, according to personal taste and pocket book, but always make sure they have good drainage. A southern window is
ideal but many herbs will grow with little or no sun as long as there is good light. The majority of herbs are temperate plants calling for a cool atmosphere with a humidity of 30 to 50 per cent. Equally important is fresh air, but beware of direct drafts! Potted herbs will do well in a basic soil mix containing equal parts ofsterilized general potting soil or loam, peatmoss, perlite or sand and manure in a well rooted pulverised state. I have had tremendous success with herbs in fibre pots. These are very inexpensive, rustic in appearance and will last for several seasons. Small- to medium-sized herb plants in four- to five-inch pots will provide you with a modest kitchen garden throughout the winter months and you will be able to snip them regularly when the good cook calls without reducing your herbs to stumps. If necessary, humidity can be increased by grouping your potted herbs on a tray ofpebbles with water. But do not allow the pots to stand in water.
Your kitchen garden will also meet with success if you plant your herbs, pots and all, into a plastic or watertight window box planter. The soil around the pots will provide both drainage and room for root growth beyond the pots themselves (and the kitchen sill or counter will remain dry!) Other variations of this technique are described with great invention by Adelma Simmons in her book Herbs to Grow Indoors. She also offers a very detailed description of her extensive winter window garden in the southern living room windows of her 1710 Connecticut farm house. A bench eight feet long and sixteen inches wide extends across the two windows. In front a lower bench ofold chestnut provides a second level. Plants also occupy two side tables, and there are large pots of them on the floor. At either end are two racks and three shelves forty-five inches long and sixteen inches wide . . . Here, in this space, she grows more than a hundred herbs and fragrant plants! Love of herbs, like any living thing, grows!
There are equally adventurous alternatives for those of us not blessed with 18th century farm house windows, or, in fact, for those of us without any windows at all. Here we come to the
world of growing under lights fluorescent light gardens. For the kitchen garden, the modest approach might simply be a two-tube 24- or 48-inch fixture suspended above a counter some 12 to 18 inches above the level of the tray on which the pots are set. Various fluorescent tubes especially designed for good plant growth can be used, particularly those with a wide spectrum rating. However, the more inexpensive cool white type in combinationwith a warm white will produce reasonable success. The two tubes should be 40 watts each. The period oflight for herbs should be some 14 to 16 hours out of24, and even as long as 18 hours, if you wish. Joan Meschter s book How to Grow Herbs and Salad Greens Indoors, offers an extensive section on growing under lights.
The herb and light garden enthusiast will soon, of course, expand into twoand three-tier light stands commercially or custom made and will house them in livingroom, bedroom, basement, bathroom, or even in a closet or throughout library shelves. Although Charlotte Erichsen-Brown fails to tell us about it in her delightful booklet, Herbs in Ontario, she has, in one of her farm house bathrooms, turned a disused bathtub
Top left, Spearmint, Mentha spicata; lower right. Silver Thyme, Thymus argenteus, lower left, Golden Oregano, Origanum vulgare aureum.
into a most happy herb garden complete with fluorescent lights suspended above.
For the herbalist who seeks a useful culinary herb garden (and who is not a purist about organic growing or pot culture but would rather opt for easy methods of cultivation and care), there is a further variation of gardening under lights that will provide the most carefree ifnot the laziest solution ofall. This easy method is growing herbs hydroponically. The most ingenious and compact system available is that produced by City Green Hydroponics Limited a very enterprising Canadian company. The basic kit (utilizing two 16- by 24-inch waterproof terracotta urethane planters) offers a soilless gardening system which, in winter under a four-tube 48-inch fluorescent light fixture, will grow bountiful gardens of parsley, mint, thyme, lovage, marjoram, rosemary, garden sage and many more. Once the system is established, all you need to do is top up the water reservoirs once a week and enjoy your herbs. With plant food added only once every two to three months and with the lights connected to an automatic timer, this is perhaps the most delightful way to employ this system. Certainly, from my point ofview, these soilless planters are best utilized through a herb garden. Perhaps you could add some salad greens, then attempt rotating crops of one tomato plant, one pepper plant, three beets, etc. . . . at least until you decide to place your hydroponic planters outdoors for the summer where, through out cropping growing methods, they can become a very producnve vegetable garden.
The real joy comes from the herbs themselves. The idea of fresh tomatoes or tomato dishes without basil, or missing the adventure of lemon thyme in a simple dish ofscrambled eggs, is not my idea of a happy home and peace of mind. Each herb has its virtues, flavour and fragrance, and each deserves to have its full story told complete with its legends and magic. I hope, however, that I have opened the door sufficiently to allow you to consider permitting these healthful herbs to touch and enrich your life, especially during the coming winter days. Mind you, at the 12/ September 1976
family homestead, my mother on many an early winter s day still treks happily through the snow to a corner ofher garden where, scrapping the blanket of white aside, she snips her cold green chives!
Barry Dimock is plant consultant for Clargreen Gardens author retains copyright.
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Cannington, Ont. Phone (Toronto) 364-6068
House Plants of the Month
Caladium (Caladium hortulanum)
You will find that this plant offers unusually colourful foliage in combinations ofred, pink, silver and green. The leaves resemble large spearheads of up to 61 cm (24 in.) long. The Caladium will grow to a height of approximately 30-38 cm (12-15 in.) from a tuber and will produce leaves for approximately six to seven months. The plant then goes into a rest period when the leaves wither away.
As we will have a feature article on this topic in the March 1977 issue of Trellis, we won t go into the starting of caladiums, but will, rather, discuss how to handle them after their growth period. When the foliage begins to wither, gradually withhold water until the foliage shrivels completely. Allow the soil to become dry, then knock the plant out * of its pot and shake the soil off the roots. Pull away any dead tops. Dust the tubers with a combination of fungicideinsecticide. Store the tubers in dry peat moss or perlite at 13° to 16°C (55° to 60°F) for five or six months; then start them into growth again.
Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrids)
Fuchsias are well known for their interestingly shaped 4-8 cm (1% to 3 in.) flowers. Although they are noted for their spring and summer bloom, many bloom throughout the year.
Fuchsias like at least four hours ofdirect sunlight a day; and they thrive best at night temperatures of 10° to 13°C (50° to 5°F) and day temperatures of 19° t0 22°C (68° to 72°F). Keep the soil moist but not wet. Fertilize every two weeks while they are flowering and monthly when they are not flowering. You should also keep the soil slightly drier during the fall and winter.
Prune the plants to about 15 cm (6 in.) from the soil line when you bringin the plants in the fall before the frost.
In the May issue of Trellis we will have a feature article on fuchsias.
Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrids).
Caladium (Caladium hortulanum) leaf.
Bookshop
Marilyn Waugh
The days are growinga little shorter, the eveningsa little cooler, and we suddenly realize that summer is slipping away. Can we hold onto the beautiful flowers of woodland, field and garden or must we watch them slowly fade and die?
Each year more and more people are experimenting with the various ways of preserving nature s beauty from one season to another. Once you try the art ofpreserving you will find yourself facing an exciting challenge. There is a good selection of books on every aspect of this exciting and rewarding craft in our bookshop. Reviewed here are a few useful ones.
The Art of Preserving Flowers by E. MacDermot ($4.95 paper, $9.95 cloth) is a definitive guide to the art of preserving flowers that has been especially designed for Canadians. The instructions take into consideration the peculiarities of Canadian gardens, our climatic conditions, apartment living and our wild plant life. The chapter on. wildflowers lists a wealth of Canadian ones that are available for preserving and drying. The book also explains a method of air drying, the technique of preserving in glycerine, and the way to press ferns. Eight coloured plates of preserved flower arrangements and over sixty black and white plates and line drawings are included as well.
The Complete Book of Flower Preserving, Geneal Condon ($8.95), should also be at hand if you are one of the many who wish to preserve forever a fresh flower. By following the simple instructions it is possible to have real flowers and plants for arrangements, corsages, centrepieces and botanical dis-. plays. Individual instructions for preserving every type of garden flower, wildflower and foliage imaginable are given. This book is full of ideas for using preserved material in beautiful arrangements and for creating different types ofgifts and home decorations. For those who become enthusiastic and 14 / September 1976
wish to share their skills in this art with others, a teacher s manual for conducting classes is included.
Two booklets on preserving flowers (now available in our bookshop) have been reviewed for us by Margaret Elliott.
Step by Step Techniquefor Preserving Flowers, by R. Moffitt. ($2.50).
This book contains detailed instructions for drying flowers in petalast, by the fast oven drying methods, and by air drying. It also includes glueing tips, the use of petal spray and storing instructions for dried flowers. Itconcludes with special notes for growing and picking, and lists the drying times of approximately seventy-five flowers and grasses.
Step by Step Book ofDried Bouquets, by R. Moffitt. ($7.95)
This is an excellent book, for beginner s particularly, on designing bouquets from dried flowers. It covers basket bouquets, bride s arrangements, centrepieces and small gift suggestions. Guidelines for arrangements, selection of containers and the mechanics for stemming, glueing and spraying are all well explained.
I recommend both these books as ex- . cellent companions to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden handbook DriedFlower Designs (81.75). This handbook is an excellent booklet, containing articles written by experienced arrangers, including our own Lois Wilson.
* * *
The Victorian craft of preserving flowers by pressing them has become a modern day art. Pamela McDowall has written two books on this fascinating subject. Pressed Flower Pictures ($6) and its companion volume Pressed Flower Collages ($6) havejust now been published in paperback editions. Howto-do-it photographs show the author at work and explanatory sketches show how to begin to design and put together a first picture. You do not need to be able to draw or paint in order to create something of beauty using flowers, stalks, ferns, grasses, garden weeds and wildflowers. Each book contains full colour plates illustrating Miss McDowall s work. It will serve as an effective inspiration for you to make your own pictures, place mats, bookmarks,
decorated cards and many more attractive gifts.
The method of preserving summer s blooms in plastic is clearly explained in a handbook entitled How to Embed Flowers in Plastic by E. Lutz ($2.50). It provides instructions on how to embed the object in a material as clear as glass and as durable as stone.
If, for another year, you would like to grow some of the ornamental grasses that are so effective in dried arrangements, Ornamental Grasses by Mary Hockenberry Meyer ($9.50) tells how to grow over ninety kinds for use both in landscapes and as cut flowers.
Whether you are involved in preserving nature s colour or are simply enjoying flowers, weeds and grasses in their own setting, A4 Field Guide to Wildflowers by Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny ($8.50 cloth, $5.95 paper) is a book that you should own. The wildflowers are arranged by colour,form and detail. Each page oftext faces a page of illustrations for immediate reference.
Wildflowers and Weeds by Booth Courtenay and James Zimmerman (811.50) is an excellent guide in full colour to the wild plant life in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and Canada. Over 650 colour photographs and other visual aids help you identify plants and give you some ecological clues to why a plant is found in a particular habitat.
- One more book that will add to your enjoyment of our flowers is Secrets of Flowers: the message and meaning of everyflower by A. Stoddard ($6.50). The sentiments expressed by one hundred different flowers are outlined, and the secrets of fifty-two flowers are presented in detail. It is a lovely book to give or to receive.
The bookshop is always ready to fill mail orders ifyou are unable to shop in person.
Marilyn Waugh is manager of the Bookshop. e o o "
THE BUTLER'S PANTRY
28 Hazleton Ave.
Tomorrow s gateway to Hazleton Lanes.
We carry a complete line of gourmet cooking utensils including:
SPRING Copperware
WESTERN Ovenware
A wide variety of kitchen gadgets and the famous Rival Crock Pot as advertised on the Johnny Carson Show.
GROW MORE WITH AN EDEN ALUMINUM GREENHOUSE
® Designed to give maximum light transmission. More sunlight means more growing power.
e Strong aluminum frame that requires no maintenance.
® Weather resistant and built to last. oy
e Standard roof ventilator and space-saving sliding door.
VISIT OUR STAND AT THE C.N.E. or meet our representative speaker at Fall lectures a series on greenhouses at the Civic Garden Centre. @ Free colour catalogues available from: e@ VANHOF & BLOKKER LIMITED, 1773 Mattawa Ave., Mississauga, Ont. L4X 1K5.
2241 DUNWIN DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO L5L 1A3"
TELEPHONE: (416) 828-5925 » 878-4984 CABLES: EQUIPCON
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* Swag Lamps ¢ Complete Plant Room Installations & IMPORTED HUMEX AND NETHERGREEN GREENHOUSE ACCESSORIES
* Heaters * Thermometers ® Moisture Meters
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« Automatic Propagators ® Thermostats
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IMPORTED STEWART PLASTIC GARDEN WARE
» Propagators * Pots and Saucers ® Shrub Tubs
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You are cordially invited to visit THE PLANT ROOM at 6373 Trafalgar Road (2.6 miles south of Highway 401) and see the finest collection in Canada of exotic plants growing under our units and in our modern greenhouses. FREE ADVISORY SERVICE available oo upon request.
Winter Bouquets
Flavia Redelmeier
Some people load themselves up with cameras and lenses, others whistle up their dog, but when I set off on a country walk I try to remember clippers and a paper bag. For whenever I walk a roadside or forest path I look for cones or acorns. And there are many other wild plants and shrubs which, when their stalks or branches are stripped of leaves, will dry in interesting shapes and colours, ideal for winter bouquets.
Some need to hang on a clothes line stretched in a warm, dry airy room a shed or an attic, but never a basement until drooping stems dry and stiffen. You can encourage other types to dry in attractive curves by standing their stems in tall bottles. From spring to fall your clippers can be busy and your clothes * line of bundled plant material will get fuller and fuller.
Bunch a few stems together with an elastic band the stalks will shrivel as they dry and hang them to straddle the clothes line until the fall when the furnace is lit and the atmosphere dries out in the house. Assemble attractive containers ceramic branch pots, wooden or treen ware, antique bowls and pitchers. No need to keep the stems in water; dry Oasis, crumpled chicken wire or even styrofoam will steady the arrangement in the container.
I prefer the natural colours and textures of these wildings without artificial colour sprays and gilding. However, a fine spray of lacquer or hair spray often sets an arrangement and is necessary to prevent the shattering ofbulrushes or sowthistle clocks and fly-away milkweed silk.
Display dried bouquets away from radiators or dusty locations. Steam flagging materials over a kettle, if necessary, and finally, discard your winter bouquet in favour offorced branches or pussy willows when spring comes. Summer humidity makes dried plant material droop and wither.
Accent or line materials: Hang these to dry.
Sensitivefern spore stalks: this year s will be dark green, last year s a chocolate black.
Goldenrod galls: clip long stems of goldenrod, trim away flower head above the swollen gall, strip leaves below.
Wild iris seed pods: clip long stalks, discard leaves.
Rudbeckia heads: faded flowers of Brown-eyed Susans, remove remains of ray flower petals.
Mullein flower spikes: some of these grow in weird abstract shapes. Look also for the rosettes ofmullein leaves at ground level. Dry them spread over open tin cans for soft green accents in winter arrangements.
Evening primrose: tall spikes of opened seed pods.
Vervain: in wet places look for this interesting candelabra-like plant form.
Dock: picked in June this remains soft green or rosy-brown, but left till August it is a chocolate brown accent. Why not collect both? But pull out the leaves before hanging thiem to dry.
thicker than a pencil. Clip off staminate flower tail topping the dark brown cattail. Keep a few long leaves, stand in bottle or bucket to encourage curves in the leaves. These stems smell as they dry, so keep them out ofthe house until they are fully dry.
Fillers or mass materials: Hang to dry except as noted.
Grasses and sedges: fescue, foxtail, pampas, quaking grass. Gather the flowering heads as they mature, leave some leaves attached, stand to dry upright in bottles to encourage curves.
Woodfern fronds: press to dry in an old telephone book. Use as greenery.
Pearly everlasting: gather stems as white flower heads become strawy and hang in bunches. The fuzzy centre of each flower can be pulled out when dry
18 / September 1976
to leave a green-centred daisy face. Tansy: strip leaves and hang or stand. The bright yellow flower buttons fade on drying to a mustard bronze, but the stems and heads assume graceful curves.
Queen Anne s Lace: blooming heads (doilies) can be pressed in a telephone book, then speared on a dried stalk for arranging. Birds nests or faded heads are soft green and fluffy in a weed-gathering.
Wild clematis: Old man s beard . Hair spray to preserve the seed head.
Elecampane: seed heads of this tall sunflower-like marsh-grower are handsome and daisy-like when stripped of ° flower remains.
Shepherd spurse andPennycress: seed cases ofthese wild mustards make interesting fillers.
Some materials look better solo
Teasels: a lucky find. Clean tall prickly branches of leaf remains and hang to dry.
Teasel -
Buttercup: its fascinating growth habit and clean tracery ofdelicate stalks and round seed heads make this modest dried weed a small joy.
Bittersweet: you may needa tree clipper on a long pole to cut this parasitic climber. Only after frost do the orange carpels split to reveal the soft vermilion berry, which quickly dries. The spirals of the woody branches lend themselves to solo arranging.
Shrubs and tree branches
Swamp maple: small pink keys hanging in graceful bunches. Strip leaves and stand branches until dry.
Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven): this downtown tree has fascinating beige bunches of seed heads.
White or yellow birch: winter branches with tasseled buds.
Black Alder (American or Muskoka Holly): slender dark twigs, small, hard scarlet berries. Cut after frost, remove leaves for sculptured effect and colour.
Hawthorn: long spines and lichen incrustation heighten the drama of these black branches.
Beech: cut branches when the leaves are still green or beginning to turn. Soak stems in solution ofone-part glycerine to three-parts water until leaves become pliant and leathery brown (in ten days to two weeks). They can then be arranged like other dried materials.
Once you take your clippers on expeditions and start looking for form and sculptured shapes, you ll never tire of winter bouquets. Maybe you can add your own favourites to this list.
FERRY- MORSE SEEDS
Over 200 varieties of the finest flower and vegetable seeds. Available in every display
LOOK FOR OUR i Re SYMBOL ON 8 EVERY PACKAGE
Ferry-Morse Seed Company Canada Ltd. Mississauga, Ont.
Sumac: red velvet antlers stripped L5SL 1J9 of leaves are an interesting plant form.
We can help you select the proper residential GREENHOUSE and accessories to suit your and property . . . Specializing in SALES-CONSTRUCTION and REPAIRS ready to provide on-going advice to get the ultimate benefits.
59 Boem Avenue, Scarborough M1R 3T4 759-6014
A SPECIAL WORKSHOP BONSAI BASICS
sponsored by Houston-Gunby Bonsai Studio
Instructors James and Susan
COURSE OUTLINE:
Houston-Gunby
a series of 4 2-hour workshops during which time students will learn the basics of the creation and care ofBonsai
History Design Pruning Wiring Potting Care
Suitable Bonsai Nursery Stock copper wire and tools (for classroom use) will be supplied each student. At the end of sessions students will have a prized Bonsai to take home and enjoy.
FEE $40.00 minimum enroliment 10 students
Commencing Sept. 24 each Friday at 7.30 p.m.
The following Specialty groups meet at the CENTRE for regular meetings: The Toronto Bonsai Society, The Can. Chrysanthemum Society, The Can. Rose Society, Gardening Under Lights Group, The Highrise Gardeners of Toronto, The Men s Garden Club, The Southern Ontario Orchid Society, The Rhododendron Society and The Junior Gardeners ( Green Thumb & Enthusiasts ) of the Civic Garden Centre.
You are welcome to attend any of the Society meetings or other interests Please call for meeting times.
If it s about
ask Toronto s OF BUI_BS Civic Garden Centre. Membership,
A perusal through our il- including logue will prove to be a of TRELLIS revelation. A multitude of only $10 for 12 rare and interesting bulbs now available over 700 months. varietiesf listed ; e)éotic The Civic Garden jewels for your Spring AT S Centre located at 777 Lawrence Ave. E.,
2 CRU":KSHANK LTD. is open to the public Monday through Friday el 9.30-am to 4 pm Canada s Leading Bulb Specialists Saturdays 10amto 4 pm 1015 MOUNT PLEASANT RD. Sundays & Holidays 1 pm-4 pm TORONTO 488-8292 Olplaegn Wednesdays through till 9 pm.
September Gardening Hints
For early spring colour in the garden, plant all spring-flowering bulbs, especially the narcissus and daffodils this month. By being put in now, the bulbs will have enough time to develop a strong root system before the ground freezes. Be certain that the soil has good drainage, and add bonemeal or superphosphate. Crocus, scillas, chionodoxas, snowdrops, narcissus and tulips, in mass groupings, or in individual clumps, will provide colour before many kinds of spring-flowering shrubs and trees come into bloom.
There is still time to plant evergreens in deep, well-enriched soil. Ifthe soil is light, incorporate generous amounts ofpeat mossor otherorganic material to help retain moisture. Established, as well as newly transplanted, evergreens, shrubs and trees, should be watered thoroughly before the ground freezes so that they will go into the winter with enough moisture in the soil. One of the causes of winter injury is insufficient moisture in stems and tissues of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs.
October Gardening Hints
As we have so many chores demanding our attention, it s very easy to neglect lawns at this season. You should continue to mow, with blades set at 15 to 2 , as long as the grass continues to grow. Also, feed established lawns with a fertilizer high in phosphate to promote vigour and winter hardiness in the plant, unless you have done so already. And keep raking the leaves to prevent them from smothering the grass.
By now all the house plants should be back indoors. If they are straggly, cut them back in order to shape them. The: use the tips to make new plants. Scrub the pots, syringe the foliage with water, spraywith an insecticide, ifany have insects, and feed them with a liquid house plant fertilizer. While they are adjusting to their new indoor conditions, give them plenty offresh air on warm days. All summer-flowering bulbs, including dahlias, gladiolus, tuberous be-
gonias and others, must be lifted after the first killing frost, but before very heavy frosts. Dust dahlia tubers with sulphur to check fungus diseases and store at 4° to 12° C (40° to 50° F). After cutting the stems of tuberous begonias an inch from the crowns, dry and store them in dry sand of peatmoss at 10° to 15° C (50° to 60° F). They may also be kept in paper bags.
Daffodil from page 6
It is also unfortunate that many persons plant only trumpet daffodils and neglect the large-cupped kinds. These not only provide additional colours but are the most weather-proof of all the daffodils.
The most satisfactory daffodil of any kind that I ve ever grown in my garden is called the Duke of Windsor. This large-cupped variety has a pure white perianth with over-lapping segments. The broad, flat expanding cup is coloured a lovely apricot-orange and is beautifully ruffled. I don t know of a better spring flower for southern Ontario gardens. Flower arrangers find it ideal for out-of-the ordinary arrangements.
Missouri has the reputation in Canada, Holland and England for being the most weather-proof daffodil in existence. Each neatly formed bloom of moderate size has a splendid rich colouring featuring a broad shining golden perianth of fine quality and substance and a rich scarlet-orange cup which does not burn in the sun. I find it to be a strong and healthy garden plant which comes into bloom towards the end of the daffodil season.
Another outstanding large-cupped daffodil is Tudor Minstrel. The plants carry a really magnificent and immense flower averaging over five inches in diameter. Its broad over-lapping, pure white perianth has the smoothest velvety texture and a thick substance. The large cup, frilled at the mouth, is a golden, almost orange yellow in color. Tudor Minstrel is a show variety of the highest quality.
Mr. Bradshaw is Canada s best-known garden broadcaster and writer. His broadcast is heard each Saturday morning at 10:07 a.m. over radio CFRB and his column appears in the Toronto Sun.
FALL GARDENING COURSE
The Civic Garden Centre offers a six-week Gardening Course the Toronto area s most comprehensive, educational and enjoyable for both members and non-members.
Sept. 20 Bulbs
Bob Scott, experierced horticulturist bulb specialist, will talk about how to purchase, plant and care for bulbs; the best types for forcing and techniques.
Sept. 27 Landscaping Part |
Jim Floyd, landscape architect, will give illustrated lectures in this three-part series covering Introduction to Design.
Oct. 4 Landscaping Part Il
Landscape Construction.
Oct. 18 Landscaping Part Il
Landscape Projects.
Oct. 25 Gardens under Lights
Gilbert Milne, president of our Gardening under Lights group will speak on beginner's set ups , including propagation, cuttings, etc. Also house plants under lights.
Nov. 1 Herbs
Charlotte Erichsen-Brown, past president of the Southern Ontario Unit American Herb Society and author, will talk about herbs for perfume and flavour.
Cost: Individual lectures $3 non-members; $2.50 members. Register for all six talks for only $15 non-members; or $12 members. Landscaping series only $7.50 non-members or $6 members. All lectures held Mondays at 8 p.m. only.
A SPECIAL LECTURE
SERIES FOR THE GREENHOUSE ENTHUSIAST
Jim Collins, graduate of Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, will help you get the most out of your greenhouse.
Sept. 30 Why a home greenhouse? The site, materials, modern heating, cooling and ventilation, maintenance, light and shade, the indispensable and the luxurious.
Oct. 7 Compatibility of plants, the growing medium, soils and soilless culture, fertilizers and watering, growth regulators.
Oct. 14 Propagation, do s and don'ts of transplanting, potting on, pests and diseases.
Oct. 21 Flowering plants, foliage plants, cacti and succulents, plants for the connoisseur orchids, potted roses, bulbs.
Cost: Full four-week course $10 non-members or $8 members. Individual lectures $3 non-members or $2.50 members. Four-week course held on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
If sufficient interest is shown, the Civic Garden Centre will organize a specialty club with on-going programs for the greenhouse enthusiast.
Clip and Mail
THE CIVIC GARDEN CENTRE, 777 LAWRENCE AVE., E., DON MILLS, ONT. FALL GARDENING PROGRAM-REGISTRATION
NAME (PRINT)
ADDRESS
PHONE NO.
DEVON FLORAL
nhas interesting tropical plants visit our greenhouses |, .,
Georget.own Hwy 7.
Devon Floral Co. Ltd. I I \ Hwy 7 RR# 2 Brampton Brampton, Ont. 453-1713
Gunby 278-0489
Creators of Bonsai and Miniature Landscapes Specializing in Interior Landscaping for your home or office
FOUR STEPS TO A BEAUTIFUL LAWN. o
So-Green has developed an B [AWN Foop easy-to-follow, four step pro- | e gram that will guarantee you a beautiful lawn. Each step.has been outlined in this publication during the past months.
STEP4: SEPT./OCT. /Nov
If you failed to eliminate all Fall Season Weed Control availyour weeds earlier, or if anew able in 40 Ib. bags. Apply at the rate crop has blown in, make sure of 1£a'|F§'e%§ZLOf§wan£bd N r next sprin eVals Eah;p\/ly g%rz)e-(}reeér??:alIgsgéson able in 40 Ib. bags. Apply at the rate Weed Control with 3-6-10 ferti- ©f 10 1s. per 1000 sq. t 5 ; For a free copy of the complete lizer. This product is formulated g4_Green Four Step Program write to winterize your lawn and con- o the address below. trol persistent weeds while fertilizing your grass. St
If weeds are no problem, apply ¢5|I'EIEE" So-Green Fall Season Lawn s Food '3-6-10 and help your lawn So-Green Division, F. Manley survive the winter. Corporation, 25 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Ontario.
For Quality, Fair Prices visit aSheridan GardenCentre
SHERIDAN
LONGACRES GARDEN i CENTRE
4077 Hwy. #7, Unionville, L3R 1L5
Phone 297-2253
Herman Loeven, Manager
GLENPARK GARDEN CENTRE 2827 Yonge Street, Toronto, M4N 2J4
Phone 481-6429
Lou Sato, Manager
SHERWAY GARDEN CENTRE 700 Evans Avenue, Etobicoke, M9C 1A1
Phone 621-9100
Uli Rumpf, Manager
SOUTHDOWN GARDEN CENTRE 606 Southdown Rd., Mississauga, L5J 2Y4
Phone 822-0251
Manuel Sobrinho, Manager