Trellis magazine - Summer 2016

Super Summer 2016 • Volume 43• Number 2

The Magazine of the Toronto Botanical Garden

spring/summer Program Guide inside!

Floral Mixology Create an edible hand-tied bouquet Page 22

The tastes of honey Terroir— how sweet it is!

Page 16

Tips for saving water Page 12

Drinking in nature

Page 19

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Photo: Paul Zammit

welcome to

super summer From the TBG

Harry Jongerden • Executive Director

Building for the future 2016 is a very big year for botanic garden celebrations. The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney was founded in 1816—200 years ago! Here in Canada, Vancouver’s UBC Botanical Garden was founded in 1916, making one of Canada’s newest cities the home of the country’s oldest botanic garden. It’s interesting that a couple of raw frontier towns were able to get their botanical act together such a long time ago.

As for Toronto, we’ve got our own significant milestone: the TBG is 10 years old this year! Many of you will remember that September day in 2006 when we opened with great aplomb to great applause. Mayor Miller was with us on the Westview Terrace, butterflies were released (one landing on the mayor) and Cathie Cox cut through a ceremonial ribbon of roses. I was a guest from Royal Botanical Gardens that beautiful day. I celebrated the great accomplishment with you and saw the tremendous potential of this garden.

As a toddler amongst botanic gardens, we’ve grown beyond baby steps to the point of realizing that potential. 2016 will see us here at the TBG deeply involved in detailed master planning with our City partner. The ultimate purpose, as expressed by the City, is to “elevate the TBG to the level of other globally-acclaimed botanical gardens in a manner that is both ecologically and fiscally sustainable”. Music to our ears!

The Toronto Botanical Garden expansion plan is made possible by your continued support. We now have three consecutive years of solid financial performance under our belts. Our dedicated professional staff are primed for growth and expanded activity. Our members, volunteers and donors provide us with the base of support, and the material support, to make our dreams come true. At our next ribbon cutting, it will be hard to figure out who’s most deserving of wielding the ceremonial scissors.

For a while some people may wonder why it took Toronto so long, compared to Sydney and Vancouver. But give it another hundred years and Toronto will simply blend into the global botanical conservation continuum. We’re building for the future, with a mission to make that future healthy for plants, ecosystems and humanity. Thank you for making it possible.

Toronto Botanical Garden’s 29th annual tour of private gardens

THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE The Kingsway Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, 2016 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Complimentary shuttle buses along tour route Master Gardeners at each garden Petals and Pedals Bike Tours For more information or to purchase tickets go to www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/ttgg or contact 416-397-1483 annualgiving@torontobotanicalgarden.ca

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT SUPPORT TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN CHARITABLE REGISTRATION BN 1192 27486 RR0001

Sponsored by

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super summer 2016

contents

news

Super summer 2016 Editor Lorraine Flanigan

Design June Anderson

Trellis Committee Lorraine Hunter (Chair) Lorraine Flanigan (Editor) Colleen Cirillo Carol Gardner Harry jongerden Christine Lawrance Marion Magee Jenny Rhodenizer Mark Stewart Paul Zammit Claudia Zuccato Ria

Volunteer Editorial Assistant M. Magee M. Bruce, J. Campbell, L. Hickey, M. Magee, J. McCluskey, T. Shields, L. Uyeno

Advertising 416-397-4145

Trellis is published as a members’ magazine by the Toronto Botanical Garden at Edwards Gardens 777 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto Ontario, M3C 1P2 416-397-1340 Trellis welcomes queries for story ideas, which should be submitted to the editor for consideration by the Trellis Committee at least four months in advance of publication dates.

ABOUT THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN The Toronto Botanical Garden connects people, plants and the natural world through education, inspiration and leadership. The TBG encourages, stimulates and teaches countless adults and children with its innovative urban-scale garden plantings, nature-centred educational programs and environmentally friendly practices. We look beyond our borders to create strategic alliances that support our mission, extend our reach and strengthen our influence within the community.

Opinions expressed in Trellis do not necessarily reflect those of the TBG. Submissions may be edited for style and clarity.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission.

Charitable business number 119227486RR0001

777 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto, Ontario M3C 1P2, Canada 416-397-1340 fax: 416-397-1354 info@torontobotanicalgarden.ca torontobotanicalgarden.ca

Hort Happenings

• Forest therapy

• International Year of Pulses

• Wilket Creek restoration

• Happiness is in the soil

Blogwatch

Wild, wild food

7 Green Community The

Sentinel Plant Network

TBGKids

Farm-to-Table Camp

Canada Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40013928

Plant sales! Plant sales!

Plant sales!

ISSN 0380-1470 Cover photo: Janet Davis

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Printed by Harmony Printing

Cert no. SW-COC-002063

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By TTC: Exit the Yonge subway line at the Eglinton station and take the 51, 54 or 54A bus to Lawrence Avenue. The TBG is on the southwest corner. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Expansion Moving ahead with a master plan

Hort Society Through the Garden Gate

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PHOTOs (THIS PAGE clockwise): Toronto botanical Garden, Nicholas A. Tone III/Flickr, TBG (opposite, clockwise from top): Janet Davis, Paul Zammit, AndrÉ Tardif, P.Z.

Volunteer Proofreaders

stories

Vo lu me 43 Number 2

Bring your friends to this fun and fabulous garden party.

Don your party frocks, hats and fascinators for a moveable feast among the flowers in support of Toronto Botanical Garden.

12 Solving our gardens’

drinking problem

Managing storm

water runoff 16 The tastes of honey

Terroir—how sweet it is!

Finding harmony with nature

Create this edible floral bouquet

19 Grounded in nature

in season

Happenings

22 Floral mixology

28 Who’s Talking

24 Garden Gear

Wildflower cocktails to go!

Good Bugs, Bad Bugs Mosquitoes: a new generation every seven days In Our Gardens Culinary concoctions in the Kitchen Garden

Three great books to read this summer Anna’s Plant Pick Dandelion

Spot these nectar-rich plants at the TBG Plant Sale

Succulents: From vase to planter Do It! Install a rain barrel

Mark Laird TBG Lectures Take in these three talks!

Special events, library activities and tours and daytrips

29 Mark Your Calendar

25 Good Reads

Membership Matters

Tickets $175 each* Patron Tables $4,500 (tables of 8)* *A charitable tax receipt will be issued for the maximum allowable amount.

For more information or ticket purchase: www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/w2w or call 416-397-1483

30 Good News

Hearts & Flowers

Your Benefits Summer tour discounts

27 Container Crazy

Did You Know? Woman to Woman 2016

TBG Works Growing Under Glass

26 Paul’s Plant Picks

torontobotanicalgarden.ca

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016 NOON TO 2:30 P.M.

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PRINT SPONSOR

SPONSOR

TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN IS A REGISTERED CHARITY BN1192 27486 RR0001

news TBGNews Announcements

Developments

hort happenings

Special Events

—Compiled by Mark Stewart, Weston Family Library

International Year of Pulses

Forest therapy Forest therapy, also called forest bathing, is widely practised in Japan, though many would argue that the concept is well known by people the world over. Japan has many official forest therapy trails throughout the country. Medical researchers there are showing empirically that spending time in the forest reduces levels of cortisol (a hormone that causes stress), decreases blood pressure, lowers heart rates and reduces anxiety.

Happiness is in the soil

The Wilket Creek restoration project south of the TBG gardens is in the home stretch and the trail has been informally re-opened to the public. The path is set to be paved and final plantings are scheduled for spring 2016, during which time the path will again be temporarily closed. Until the paving is complete, trail users are advised to be cautious on uneven surfaces. With the Wilket Creek path re-opened, our garden will once again be connected to Toronto’s extensive ravine path system. The Wilket Creek restoration project has been an ongoing effort by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to address erosion, water quality and infrastructure issues in the stretch of parkland south of the garden.

After a day in the garden, do you feel inexplicably happy? Researchers have shown that a common species of bacteria found in moist soils, Mycobacterium vaccae, can cause your body to stimulate production of serotonin.

The bacteria enter your body through inhalation, stimulating the immune system. In their own way, the bacteria have the same effect on the brain as antidepressants, decreasing anxiety and elevating mood. The next time you’re taking a moment to smell the roses, take a little extra time to smell the soil, too!

Blogwatch: wild, wild food According to Karen Stephenson of EdibleWildFood.com, wild edibles exist almost everywhere, often in abundance. Stephenson’s website is a complete resource for wild edible enthusiasts of all levels. It offers foraging etiquette, recipes, a blog, videos and publications for sale. Stephenson guides her followers in their exploration of wild plants as food and medicine. EdibleWildFood.com will bring plant lovers to a new level of appreciation. Check it out today!

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PHOTO: Nicholas A tone III/Flickr.

Wilket Creek Restoration— good news for cyclists and walkers

The United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. According to Pulse Canada, pulses include dried peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas. Pulses have root nodules that house nitrogenfixing bacteria in a symbiotic relationship. Because they can produce their own nitrogen, pulses require little to no added nitrogen from fertilizers.

By growing and eating more pulses globally, we can reduce the use of petroleum-based nitrogen fertilizer. As a high protein, high fibre, low fat food, pulses are as good for you as they are for the planet.

Farm-to-Table Camp Each summer, the Teaching Garden produces hundreds of pounds of fresh produce planted entirely by kids.

Every fall, school groups plant hundreds of garlic cloves so that by midsummer the Teaching Garden is a fragrant allium bouquet. This garlic is harvested in the summer by participants of the Farm-to-Table Camp, who then prepare it for sale at the TBG Organic Farmers’ Market.

Also at the market, kids will spend a day decorating the TBG’s new Botanical Bar and making iced tea using fresh herbs from the Teaching Garden. Farm-to-Table Camp celebrates the whole chef—from grower to maker.

Visit TBGKids at the Organic Farmers’ Market on Thursday, August 11, and enjoy some super local produce.

goTo

Torontobotanicalgarden.ca/kids to register for Farm-to-Table Camp.

Plant sales! plant sales! plant sales!

Green Community The Sentinel Plant Network

April 2 & 3 Toronto African Violet Society Show and Sale TBG April 3 Toronto Gesneriad Annual Show and Sale TBG, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

April 23 4 Friends and Violets Annual Plant Sale TBG, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

April 30 Toronto Region Rhododendron and Horticultural Society TBG,

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or while plants last!

May 1 Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society TBG, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

May 7 North American Native Plant Society, Plant Sale Markham Civic

Centre, 101 Town Centre Blvd., Markham, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

May 7 Canadian Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society Show and Sale TBG May 12 to 15 TBG Plant Sale (see page 9 for details) May 15 Geranium, Pelargonium & Fuchsia Society TBG May 28 to 29 Toronto Bonsai Society Show and Sale TBG June 5 Ontario Iris Society Flower Show TBG, 1 to 3:30 p.m.

August 7 Ontario Iris Society Auction & Sale TBG, 1 to 3:30 p.m.

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The Sentinel Plant Network is a collaboration of the American Public Gardens Association and the National Plant Diagnostic Network. The Toronto Botanical Garden became a member of the network last fall, joining a continent-wide effort to detect and report plant pests and diseases.

These two threats pack a powerful punch, degrading the biodiversity and aesthetics of parks, public gardens and private property while costing landowners dearly. Pests that will be familiar to TBG members include the emerald ash borer and the Asian long-horned beetle.

As a member of the Sentinel Plant Network, the TBG has access to diagnostic training by experts as well as educational resources to share with colleagues and visitors. These tools will strengthen our ability to conserve plants in a rapidly changing environment. To learn more, explore the network’s website at sentinelplantnetwork.org.

super summer 2016

news:expansion TBGNews Moving ahead with a Master Plan & Management Plan Study

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t takes a variety of professional skills to create and operate a botanic garden. It also takes, aside from the necessary skills, a collective ingenuity, enthusiasm and dedication verging on stubbornness.

I like to think that we’re practical idealists—not just those of us who work here, but our wider community of members, volunteers and supporters, all of whom bring a unique confluence of talents, interests and perseverance.

The keeners amongst you who wish to understand more fully what’s involved can turn to a new book in the Weston Family Library called Public Garden Management. Published in 2012 and written by my friend Don Rakow at Cornell University and Sharon Lee, it explains and codifies the complexity inherent in the “living museum” sector of the cultural world.

Are we a park? No, but we have obvious park-like attributes.

Are we a museum? Yes, but with plant collections. We are a museum responsible for the preservation of germplasm and living specimens, not the artifacts conserved by other museums.

Are we a school? Not quite, but we offer education programs focused on nature and geared to all ages.

Are we a business? Yes, but our revenue-generating activities are organized to serve the community and raise funds for public benefit.

This makes us a “social enterprise”.

The Toronto Botanical Garden team is necessarily made up of individuals with the range of talents required to operate a botanic garden, with skills in horticulture, education, business and finance, fundraising and marketing and communications—not to forget volunteer co-ordination, facility management, library management and more. Now that we are planning to create a new botanic garden, we’re bringing a whole new array of skills to the challenge.

The City of Toronto has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to hire a team of consultants to work on a detailed Master Plan and Management Plan Study. The foundational document the consultants will work from is the Integrated Conceptual Proposals document revealed in the 2015 Super Summer issue of Trellis. The next phase of planning will delve into the details of the opportunities and challenges of the Edwards Gardens site.

The consulting team will consist of the following professional disciplines and skill sets: landscape architect, architect, botanic garden/museum

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consultant, hydrologist, ecologist, construction cost estimator and public consultation facilitator. The various City Divisions that will be involved in the process are Parks, Forestry and Recreation; Planning; Economic Development and Culture; Toronto Water; and Transportation. The Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, while not a City entity, is also an important partner because of its ravine regulatory authority that crosses municipal boundaries.

Complicated? Very! We never said it would be easy, but it’s so exciting to see the process underway, with official City support for the dreams held by TBG supporters for so many years. TBG staff, board members and you will participate in the process. All substantive meetings with the consultants will be attended by TBG representatives. You needn’t worry that we’ll get drowned out in the sea of expertise coming our way.

Your opportunities to participate are both formal and informal. Formal “public consultation” meetings will be held here. We’ll let you know when by way of our e-blasts, social media and the posting of notices. Informally, my door is always open. Drop in or drop me a line. There’s a thrilling process underway, and we’ll need your ideas and your support to make it happen.

super summer 2016

illustration: w. gary smith

HARRY JONGERDEN • Executive Director

news:hort society the event social Calendar PLANT SALE PREVIEWS

Contributing members breakfast and shopping, Thursday, May 12, 9 a.m. to noon; members preview, noon to 8 p.m. Choose from top-quality perennials, annuals, natives, herbs and vegetables, succulents, shrubs, vines and small trees. Get friendly gardening advice from the Toronto Master Gardeners.

Woman to Woman lunch in the garden

Tuesday, May 31, noon to 2:30 p.m. A glamorous fundraising event with party frocks, fascinators, friends and fun among the flowers of the Toronto Botanical Garden. Tickets: $175; Patron Tables $4,500 (seats 8).

T

Through the Garden Gate

his year’s Through the Garden Gate tour features 18 selected gardens in the Kingsway, an area known for its idyllic setting in the Humber River Valley.

Hop-on, hop-off shuttle buses will take you along the routes, departing from headquarters where caterers will offer a wide selection of lunch options and snacks.

Vert Catering’s Pickle Cycle will travel along the tour routes with sandwiches and refreshments, and ice cream stations will be positioned en route. The Garden Shop will be hosting a pop-up shop selling garden essentials and plants. As always, Toronto Master Gardeners will be stationed in each garden to help identify unusual plants and points of interest. For a unique way to tour the gardens, sign up for the Petals and Pedals Bike Tour and cycle your way to these beautiful private gardens accompanied by a Master-Gardener-on-Wheels and an architectural expert.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM Past THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE Tours Executive Director Harry Jongerden keeps up his energy with chocolate from ChocoSol.

Photos: (clockwise from Top): AndrÉ Tardif, Steve Weisz, A.T., A.T., A.t.

Through the Garden Gate: The Kingsway

Saturday & Sunday, June 11 & 12, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. One-day pass: Public $45 / TBG Members $40; Two-day pass: Public $65 / TBG Members $60; Student one-day pass: $25 (with valid ID). All tickets are non-refundable and are only valid for the date that was originally purchased. Tickets available in the TBG Garden Shop and select ticket outlets (see website), by phoning Sharon at 416-397-1341 or online at torontobotanical garden.ca/ttgg.

One of the many beautiful gardens on this year’s tour TBG’s pop-up Garden Shop

Live music at headquarters

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super summer 2016

Master Gardener Sara Katz gets into gear to lead the bike tour.

PLANT classifieds SALE

Make use of vertical space in your garden with a 6-foot obelisk. Made in Toronto exclusively for the Toronto Botanical Garden, these obelisks are superb structures for showcasing and supporting vines and vegetables. Black, powdercoated steel ensures that these towers remain rust-resistant and durable for many years to come. Available throughout the year at the Garden Shop, $89 Leaside Garden Society Plant Sale Mark May 14th on your calendar as the Leaside Garden Society will be holding its annual Plant Sale at Trace Manes Community Centre (Millwood and McRae). The sale features perennials and annuals from a leading grower as well as perennials from the gardens of our members. The sale runs from 9 a.m. until noon.

Magical Gardens of Leaside Tour The Leaside Garden Society hosts its annual Magical Gardens of Leaside Tour (rain or shine) on Saturday, June 18, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. This year’s self-guided tour includes unique urban gardens and outdoor living spaces. Passports, which include garden addresses and a tour map, are available from the Society and several local merchants. For more information please visit us at www.leasidegardensociety.org.

PHOTO: St. William Nursery, Paul Zammit

TBG PREVIEW DAY FOR FRIENDS/MEMBERS Thursday, May 12, 2016 CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS BREAKFAST AND SHOPPING: 9 a.m. to noon MEMBERS: noon to 8 p.m.

Members enjoy a 10 percent discount.

Please present your membership card.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Friday, May 13, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2016 Garden Tours with Margaret Dailey-Plouffe. Tours that exceed your expectations. April Victoria/Vancouver Is.; June Ireland; July: Gardens of Newfoundland; Quebec (Reford) Gardens, Buffalo Garden Festival; August Hudson Valley Gardens & Mansions, Georgian Bay Blossoms; Frank Lloyd Wright—Chicago/Wisconsin. October FLW Fallingwater. 2017 WAFA in Barbados! HNA Travels are also offering DAY TOURS Call 416-746-7199 or 1-877-672-3030. www.hnatravels.com

Derek W Welsh

- TREE & SHRUB PRUNING -INSECT & DISEASE CONTROL - PLANTING & TRANSPLANTING - TREE & STUMP REMOVAL - DEEP ROOT FERTILIZING

President

I.S.A. Certified Arborist #ON-0129A

AUTHENTIC

TREE CARE INC.

NEW THIS YEAR! Expanded native plant category

by St. Williams Nursery and Ecology Centre who will be bringing uncommon specimens and high impact native plants.

Also, choose from top-quality perennials, annuals, natives, herbs and vegetables, succulents, shrubs, vines, and small trees.

Friendly gardening advice from Toronto Master Gardeners.

All proceeds support TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN 777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto

“I know where all the great neighbourhoods are.”

(O) 416.461.9900 (C) 416.540.2456 (F) 416.461.9270 www.ksummers.ca ROYAL LEPAGE URBAN REALTY* 840 PAPE AVENUE TORONTO, ON M4K 3T6

Urban Realty

stories Drink Up!

PHOTo: Janet Davis

Making the most of rainwater, page 12 How honeybees are livin’ the sweet life, page 16 Nature, elixir of life, page 19 A floral feast for the eyes and palate, page 22

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super summer 2016

Solving our gardens’ drinking problem B

efore people started building, roughly one-third of each rainfall would soak into the ground, one-third would run off into nearby waterways and the final third would evaporate. Nowadays when it rains, water rushes into the nearest creek or river, eroding the outer edges of river bends and creating soft, silty, unusable land on the inner curves. And when it hasn’t rained, even just for a few days, water levels drop drastically.

Just forty years ago, the creeks were wide and shallow and always flowed.

Now, many are narrow and deep, with steep edges. This affects everything from biodiversity to the land’s ability to hold, infiltrate and slowly release large

rain events. To give just one example that shows how badly we’ve affected the watershed, the city of Mississauga spends $14 million a year dealing with erosion on one creek alone—Cooksville Creek—because of the boom and bust storm flow cycle caused by modern development. With so many citizens and politicians being vocal about keeping taxes low, it seems a shame to spend money this way.

With modern building practices— many houses closer together—in addition to directing rainwater away from our buildings via downspouts and grading, we’ve also created impermeable surfaces that impede the ground’s ability to absorb that water. This affects something called baseflow—a concept

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whereby precipitation is absorbed by the soil and percolates downward until it hits a layer of soil that causes it to flow sideways until it reaches the nearest waterway. This is how creeks keep flowing even when it hasn’t rained in a while. And this continuous flow of water allows upstream and downstream mobility for creatures that live in the water, from fish and crayfish to insects such as the larvae of dragonflies, caddisflies, diving beetles and a legion of interesting creepy crawlies.

The beauty of rainscaping

What can we do about reversing the damage, and do the solutions mean sacrificing beauty in our gardens? First and foremost, doing the right thing

super summer 2016

Photos: Sean James

We’ve become very good at diverting water away from our buildings, says Sean James, and into the nearest storm sewer. Too good, in fact.

Rain gardens capture water—beautifully!

Here’s how to build one.

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Outline areas where water naturally pools.

Sculpt the swale and build up the surrounding gardens.

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for the environment should never be at the expense of beauty. There are two main challenges in developing successful rainwater solutions: knowing the appropriate plants to grow and selecting the lowest profile and/ or most attractive water conservation techniques. A simple example is the availability of so many ugly rain barrels when there are ones that are much more attractive.

The technical (and not very inspiring) term for rainwater solutions is Low Impact Development (LID). Promoting word-of-mouth is important, so the term rainscaping might be better since it is more engaging and catching on quickly. The important thing to keep in mind when creating a LID landscape

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Lay down river rock and install plants.

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The finished rain garden holds excess water, slowly releasing it into the ground.

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is to keep any rainscaping feature at least three metres away from building foundations. In small landscapes, one of the ways to create a rain garden closer to the foundation is by installing a rubber liner on the side closest to the building to stop infiltration into the foundation.

Rain gardens are the most beautiful of the various kinds of installations designed to handle rainwater. Basically, they’re shallow, saucer-shaped gardens into which downspouts can be guided.

To build one, shape the soil into a shallow, downward-sloping swale. How deep you dig depends mostly on soil type: sandy soil filters water quickly, so these rain gardens can be deeper than those built in clay which infiltrates water more slowly. The latter can be shallower and may have a larger footprint. Whichever type of soil you have, line the first three metres of the swale with pond liner and then cover it with granite river rock. You don’t need to fill the liner with the rock, just barely cover it.

How large you make a rain garden depends, to a degree, on the size of your property. With lot sizes shrinking, it’s not always possible to make a rain garden large enough to hold all of the rainwater that flows off your roof and other impermeable surfaces—just do the best you can. Calculating the right size, taking into account average rainfall, soil porosity and so on, is way too complicated for Joe or Josephine Citizen so, for larger lots, make the rain garden large enough to fit the proportions of the landscape—really, as large as you’re comfortable with. Many rain gardens on average-sized lots are roughly two metres by three metres.

The goal isn’t to catch every drop.

Heavy rain events should overflow from the rainscape. The most important factor when designing rain gardens is that precipitation must soak in or infiltrate within 24 to 48 hours to avoid stagnation that can lead to mosquito breeding sites. Some of this water will evaporate and that’s OK. To adhere to bylaws, never make a rain garden deeper than 60 centimetres.

Permeable pavers, edibles, xeriscaping, pollinator plants and an evaporation pond are elements that support the environment and look good, too.

Plants suitable for rain gardens include the native buttonbush. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Photos (From Top): Juho Vainio, sean james

Rain gardens for everyone

Adopt these rain-saving strategies one step at a time and you could capture up to 95 per cent of the rain that falls on your garden.

Once you’ve established the size and depth, it’s time for the fun part— selecting the plants. The garden can be designed in any style, from cottage to formal. You can also plant all sorts of species that would not normally thrive in a traditional landscape. Hallmarks are plants that handle both spring flooding and drought in the summertime. Your choices will also be affected by your soil type. The list of suitable plants is surprisingly long, but some great native examples to start with are blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), swamp mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos cvs.), marsh milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and winterberry (Ilex verticillata). For bold texture, consider umbrella plant (Darmera peltata) and Astilboides tabularis (it has no common name— that’s how cool it is!) which also offers amazing fragrance. Sedge grasses can be beautiful too, including native weeping sedge (Carex pendula) and morningstar sedge (C. grayi) as well as the nonnative Bowles’ golden sedge (C. elata ‘Aurea’). Each one of these plants offers interesting texture, form and even winter interest. A well-designed rainscape will look lovely all year round.

Install a rain barrel—or two, or more!

Most gardeners are familiar with rain barrels and how they can capture water for irrigation. The important bit—the bit they don’t tell you when you buy one—is that you should always drain it two or three days before it’s supposed to rain. The real point of using a rain barrel for flood prevention is to hold and slowly release rainwater.

Before the next downpour, make sure the barrel is empty so that it can capture as much water as possible to avoid runoff. The easiest way to use the collected water is by attaching a regular garden hose (at least three

metres long) to the drainage spout on the barrel. Then, attach the garden hose to a soaker hose that you can lay through the garden, allowing the water to trickle into the soil. Before winter sets in, always empty the rain barrel and lay it on its side. This will ensure that any water that remains in the barrel will not damage it when it freezes.

Try fusion gardening

An interesting concept that’s being promoted by some regions and conservation authorities is fusion gardening. Fusion gardens use rain-holding techniques and xeriscaping (droughttolerant landscaping) together to reduce the use of potable water for irrigation and also to relieve stress on sewer systems from handling stormwater.

This is important since a remarkable percentage of our potable water is used to irrigate the landscape. Minimizing irrigation also means that the soil will be more of a rain sponge because it will be drier when it rains.

Tunnel diversion

If you don’t like the look of a rain garden, or if you don’t have enough space for one, another alternative is to direct rainwater into an underground infiltration trench—this is a sort of underground rain garden where the water will be held and allowed to soak away into the ground. To do this, dig a big hole, about one or two metres square and one metre deep. Run downspouts into non-perforated drainage tiles that lead into the trench. Before filling the trench with ¾-inch gravel, line the excavation with landscape fabric. This will prevent soil from contaminating the gravel. Lay another layer of landscape cloth over the gravel. Leave room to cover it with about 30 centimetres of soil. This allows you the ability to plant over the infiltration trench, and no one will ever know it’s there!

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Make it permeable

Replacing typical impermeable asphalt with long-lasting, low-maintenance and attractive permeable interlocking pavers is also a great way to infiltrate water. Permeable pavers are specially engineered with gaps that are filled with gravel that allow water to flow through into the base material (clear gravel with no sand or ‘fines’, so it has lots of pore space for water to flow into). As with all rainscape elements, keep it three metres from the foundations. There are advances being made constantly in this realm, including plastic honeycomb systems that can be filled with ornamental gravel or even soil and grass, as well as resins that can bind gravel together to form a hard surface yet still allow infiltration. Even permeable concrete is being tested now.

All of these methods added together could capture about 95 per cent of the rain that falls on your property, soaking it into the ground, cleaning and cooling it, restoring groundwater and baseflow, reducing stress on aging infrastructure and protecting waterways and the creatures that live in them. All the while, you’re creating beautiful landscape features and offering a great example to the community. Take baby steps through the process, adding one method after another until all the downspouts and paved surfaces on your property are designed to restore what nature once handled without our help. Don’t get stressed. Just learn and implement a bit at a time.

Sean James is the owner of Fern Ridge Landscaping & Eco-Consulting and Chair of Landscape Ontario’s Environmental Stewardship Committee.

He’s a well-known garden speaker, writer and teacher.

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honey The tastes of

Honey is honey, right? Oh no, it is not!

Commercial distributors blend honeys from numerous sources and harvests to come up with fairly uniform tastes, but each type of local Ontario honey is truly distinctive and tantalizing in its interplay of flavour, colour and aroma.

Flavour notes

Flavour is the single most important attribute of honey. We all know honey is sweet, but like fine wine or cheese, honey has a distinctive local flavour or terroir. Varietal or monofloral honeys are made predominantly from nectar from a single plant source. To capture the flavour snapshot beekeepers watch bloom times closely and harvest the honey as soon as the bloom is finished. In Canada we produce some of the world’s finest and most prized monofloral honeys. Among our most popular are clover (light in colour and offering a clear, light sweetness), blueberry (thicker in viscosity with

intensely fruity undertones) and buckwheat (very distinctive, called the “molasses” of honeys, also higher in mineral content and antioxidant compounds). The majority of Ontario’s honeys are polyfloral, commonly known as “wildflower”.

These are the result of bees blending nectars from a wide variety of plants that bloom throughout the year, and yet each wildflower honey can taste deliciously different.

Making wildflower honeys is something like changing up the ingredients in a recipe. The final taste depends on the blend of flowers that were blooming near any one beehive that season. But, did you know that the same beehives in the same location can produce honeys of wildly different flavours? That’s because, year to year, the blend of flowers can change, growing conditions vary (temperature, humidity, moisture, wind, sunlight, soil fertility etc.) and the age and vigour of the plants can affect the quality and quantity of nectar and pollen production.

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Photos: (This Page): Rose Woman/Flickr (Opposite): Janet Davis, J.D., J.D.

Trees, herbs and even weeds, says Cathy Kozma, can affect the flavour of honey.

Ontario honey is truly distinctive and tantalizing in its interplay of flavour, colour and aroma.

A tasty dictionary

Robinia pseudoacacia

Taste is very subjective and personal. The Honey Flavor Wheel, published in 2014 by UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, is a valuable tool that uses 100 descriptors to help you “develop a vocabulary to express a personal honey sensory experience”. These include categories such as fruity, floral, herbaceous and spicy as well as more esoteric flavours not normally associated with honey including animal (barnyard), microbiological (cheesy), confectionary (marshmallow) and woody (burnt toast).

The colour of honey

The most visible characteristic of honey is colour, which provides an important clue to its botanical origin. Canadian honey is graded into one of four classifications: white (extra-white or water-white is the lightest, as in honey from the black locust tree, Robinia pseudoacacia), golden, amber or dark, through to the almost black, as in buckwheat honey. Generally, there is a correlation between colour and flavour; the lighter the colour, the lighter and “cleaner” the taste, and the darker the colour the more vibrant and complex the flavour.

Stop and smell the Solidago Fagopyrum esculentum

Aroma also plays a powerful role in the taste of honey, and much of our perception of taste is dictated by our sense of smell. Few things are more surprising to the novice beekeeper than to open a hive in the fall and experience the heady smell of vinegar mixed with gym socks—that’s how you know the goldenrod (Solidago spp.) honey is in!

It takes two million flowers…

Solidago canadensis

Most North American honeys are produced in rural and agricultural areas where hundreds of acres of crops blanket the landscape. Almost 50 per cent of Canada’s honey production comes from two plants: clover (35 to 40 per cent) and alfalfa (10 to 15 per cent). White clover (Trifolium repens) and sweet white clover (Melilotus albus) produce a distinct honey of excellent quality with a mild flavour that is slow to granulate. Alfalfa honey is full-bodied but mild, with notes of beeswax. Canola produces a light honey but it’s quick to crystallize.

Many gardeners are seeking out bee-friendly plants.

But get this: to make 454 grams of honey bees must collect nectar from two million flowers and fly the equivalent of twice around the earth. Given that a bee’s typical foraging range is three kilometres, to influence the flavour of honey, large swaths of one plant are needed, especially within one kilometre of the hive. Sadly a few specimen plants just won’t do it.

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Tilia americana

Top trees

Thymus vulgaris

What are the most valuable honey-producing plants for an urban setting? An important starting point is to look at the nectar production of each species you’re considering.

A great tool is the study, Nectar Trees, Shrubs, and Herbs of Ontario, available online from the University of Guelph.

Trees are very important contributors to seasonal flows simply because of the volume of nectar each can produce.

Given their longevity, trees pump out tons of nectar over their lifetimes. Thirty species of trees are rated as excellent nectar-rich ones, a third of which are native. The best among them is the American linden (Tilia americana), which blooms in mid-summer when few other trees do; amazingly its nectar makes up to 1,200 kilograms of a delicate, minty-flavoured honey per hectare. Also prized is its cousin the little-leaf linden (T. cordata). The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a majestic species that blooms in early July and makes a strongly flavoured, dark amber honey.

In the kitchen garden

Herbs are dependable and coveted nectar producers. Easyto-grow perennial herbs are in the thyme, mint (including anise hyssop), salvia and allium families, where pretty much every one is a bee magnet and most are great for growing in containers. Not surprisingly, herbal honeys have strong herbal flavour influences. In your kitchen garden, plant raspberries, low bush blueberries, melons, cucumbers, squash and pumpkins, all of which are yummy sources of delectable nectar for neighbourhood bees.

Taraxacum officinale

Among plants that are commonly relegated to weed status is the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Flowering in May and June, it should garner more respect as one of Ontario’s best nectar and pollen plants, yielding a sharp-flavoured deep yellow honey. And why not overseed your lawn (or part of it) with clover, both for its aesthetic value and to support bees?

A host of ornamentals are also excellent sources of pollen and nectar. Spring ephemerals, including snowdrops (Galanthus spp.), bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), scilla (Scilla siberica) and crocus (Crocus spp.) are important early season sources. Annual asters (Callistephus chinensis), alyssum (Alyssum spp.), cosmos (Cosmos spp. and cvs.) and sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) add to your floral diversity.

Go native wherever you can: among great bee perennials are the aptly named bee balm (Monarda didyma), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus).

What is the best honey? Simply put, it’s the one you like the most. Eat a teaspoon every day, and you’ll not only be healthier and “sweeter” but you’ll also help support local bees by supporting local beekeepers. Garden on and buzz on!

Cathy Kozma is a Toronto Master Gardener, instructor of the Urban Beekeeping program at the Toronto Botanical Garden, Past Chair of the Toronto Beekeepers Co-operative and Executive Director of Bees Are Life Inc.

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Photos: (From Top) Virens/Flickr, Janet Davis, J.D.

When is a weed a nectar plant?

As Alexandra Risen toiled and weeded her ravine garden, each species took on a personality like the lily-of-the-valley that reminded her of her tough-as-nails mother.

Grounded

in nature Through the restoration of her ravine garden, Alexandra Risen found harmony with nature.

Shinrin-yoku. These words have

been in my heart forever, even though I don’t speak Japanese and I learned them only a few years ago. They mean “a trip to bathe in the forest”.

The Japanese government introduced research in 1982 showing that time spent in the woods is a proven way to reduce stress and enhance well-being.

But as every nature lover knows, we’ve been healing this way for centuries. I’ve been “bathing” in our ravine garden for about 10 years now because it needed some rehabilitation. A neglected

natural retreat with early Toronto history, I wanted to restore it. I needed to. But the opposite happened.

It restored me.

I suppose I needed some work.

My parents, as teenagers, were displaced during the Second World War from their native Ukraine to the labour camps in Nazi Germany. Afraid of the destruction they might find, and fearful of an oppressive Communist regime, they didn’t return home after the war.

Through aid from the United Nations, they eventually landed in the Canadian

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prairies via England. They arrived with a baby (my older sister), a few English words, little money and enough emotional postwar baggage to weigh them down permanently: memories of fear, hunger, loss and death.

Baggage. Life lightens up if you leave it behind, but then you have nothing. My father shut himself into a safe silent world where nothing was needed, and my mother ran straight into the garden of her youth. Amidst her vegetables, flowers and fruit trees, she forgot the past. As far as we kids

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were concerned, there was only the future. Nothing occurred to give history its substance—no explanation, no conversation. Mother’s priorities were the weather, insects and soil conditions.

Parenting and housework occurred on an as-needed basis. Discussion of the war, or surviving family, was taboo. I grew up knowing not to ask, unaware of cousins, aunts, uncles. Did I have some? How many? Father, bless his soul, spoke about 20 words to me in his lifetime. Mother only cuddled her early spring seedlings. I resented the garden flowers. I abhorred the exotic tropical houseplants; lined up in layers and levels to maximize sun exposure, they blocked the light from our windows.

I begrudged the dark cave of silence and paranoia my father occupied. My loneliness did dissolve, though, when I ran through the North Saskatchewan River Valley behind our house, late into the prairie evenings. My parents, relieved that I amused myself

independently, did not understand my escape into the forest. I guess I was bathing.

About 35 years later, my husband, a son of Italian immigrant gardeners and a confirmed city dweller like me, bought a house for us, 10 minutes from downtown, on a ravine. We weren’t gardeners, but by then he understood my penchant for wooded trails and forests. The smell of rotting leaves was my perfume. New to Toronto, I loved the valleys and rivers that form the gullies and gulches that run throughout the city. I was delighted that our daily lives floated above ancient streams and that many still pulsed with energy far below us.

Now I lived in one of those gullies, and washed my hands in the pond’s cold water, refreshed by a spring from the depth of rock below.

The ravine garden, a subdivided remnant of a prominent family’s estate from the early 1900s, was a

Sugar maple reminds Alexandra of her sister.

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Photos (From Top): Alexandra Risen, James St. John/Flickr (Opposite): A.R.

Alexandra was determined to restore the neglected ravine garden to its original beauty.

steep–pitched slope with tableland at its base. Broken flagstone steps led to a crumbling garden structure and a group of spring-fed ponds that flowed into the Don Valley. Many of the unique plants that grew here had been suffocated by Japanese knotweed and strangled by invasive weeds. Old construction junk abounded. Some previous owners had loved, and others had ignored, the yard over the years. I was determined to restore its original beauty.

This rescued garden would save my nature-deficient, Xbox-loving son from technology overload and be a sanctuary for my privacy-loving husband.

That was 10 years ago. I’m still toiling, weeding, growing. Something funny happened along the way. Each plant I unearthed taught me something about myself. I started writing a memoir of stories about the garden.

Each species I studied twisted around my mind like a trumpet vine—my mother became a tough-as-nails Convallaria majalis (lily-of-the-valley) and my sister, a sweet Acer saccharum (sugar maple). My plants became my people, my history and my religion. My son and I began to forage, roasting Ginkgo biloba nuts and making mulberry jam. He didn’t like either one but, no matter, we were outside. The changing seasons and soil under my nails began to heal lifelong resentments.

The memoir about the garden became my own. I gathered the courage to study my parents’ history, although my father was already gone and my mother’s dementia had a stronghold on her memories, leaving only weeping and

Rhus typhina

BY AND CK M BA R DE A L THE E U P AT T SAL 16 PO N , 20 PLA 12-15 Y MA

Sumac lemonade

Sweeten with honey or maple syrup for a refreshing summer cooler.

Use only edible sumac (Rhus typhina), the one with fuzzy red upright cones of berries. Avoid poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), recognizable by its clusters of hard white downward-growing berries.

Pick the cones on a dry sunny day. Much of the flavour comes from a sticky substance on the berry that is washed away in the rain. Purists say not to wash the berries for this reason, but I prefer to shake them out well and give them a rinse under cold water.

Place the berries in a clear pitcher to enjoy their beauty.

Add one litre of cold water per four cones and let the mixture sit for a few hours. Don’t stir or squeeze the berries as this releases extra tannins and results in a sour drink. Shake the pitcher gently to release the flavour; leave the jar in the sun to speed up the process.

Strain the lemonade through a colander to remove the berries, and then through a coffee filter to remove the fine hairs that cover the berries. Sweeten with honey or maple syrup, or enjoy the tart citrus-meets-cranberry flavour as is or over ice—it’s high in Vitamin C, too!

occasional panic attacks. Yet I discovered, through my research and the garden, my family heritage—a profound relationship with the earth.

My harmony with nature is complete. On-going. Ever-teaching. My son photographs the flowers and my husband is a master pruner (at least he thinks he is). I make refreshing sumac lemonade with Rhus typhina, and avoid the poisonous Toxicodendron vernix. I use pesky garlic mustard weed (Alliaria petiolata) to flavour our omelettes. I weave wild grapevine wreathes with Vitis

riparia to hang on our front door. I now not only bathe in my ravine, I commune with it. It is my legacy.

Alexandra Risen is a member of the TBG Board of Directors. Her memoir, Unearthed, a meditation on love, acceptance and our interconnectedness with nature, will be published this summer in Canada by Penguin Random House and in the United States by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

WARKWORTH LILAC FESTIVAL Warkworth, Ontario

PHOTO: PAUL ZAMMIT

Donate your gently used garden tools and pots in support of horticultural projects at the TBG. Donations received at reception 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(Tue – Sat) April 5 – May 7.

We accept Clean outdoor containers (concrete, metal, ceramic and terracotta), gently used garden tools, vintage garden tools, garden ornaments, bird houses, bird feeders, bird baths, fountains and small garden furniture.

No thanks Anything dirty, cracked, broken or not working, plastic grower pots and hanging baskets, vases, anything electrical, fertilizer or chemicals.

www.warkworthlilacfestival.ca COME VISIT OUR MILLENNIUM LILAC TRAIL May 28th & 29th, 2016 Showcasing over 300 rare & unusual lilacs

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Questions Please contact Trudy (Volunteer Committee Chair) at 416-694-4460 or torontobotanicalgarden.ca for more details.

Floral

Mixology Surprise someone special, says Paul Zammit, with a handtied bouquet of garden-fresh flowers, herbs and veggies that are as tempting to the palate as they are to the eye.

What makes this bouquet special is that each of its floral components has a dual purpose: they are both beautiful and edible. The herbs, flowers and leafy greens in this arrangement can be used to make a variety of infusions, cocktails, mocktails, elixirs, syrups and smoothies. For recipes, see Drinking the Summer Garden by Gayla Trail, reviewed on page 25.

Begin with one stem of ‘Redbor’ kale. Holding the stem in one hand, randomly add flowering stems of ‘African Blue’ basil, placing them all the way around the stem of kale.

Continue holding all of the stems securely, and repeat by circling the bouquet with the rosemary followed by more kale, basil and finally a few sprigs of aromatic pineapple mint. Once you’re pleased with the size and shape of the arrangement, strip off the foliage from the lower part of the stems and tie the base with twine to hold the arrangement in place. Then, re-cut the stems and immediately place them in a vase of water. To prolong the freshness of your bouquet, re-cut the stems and replace the water daily. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Photos: Paul Zammit

How to make this hand-tied bouquet

Ingredients for an edible, quaffable bouquet Plant

Description

Culture

African blue basil (Ocimum ‘African Blue’)

A fragrant and aromatic annual herb that’s a continuous bloomer and irresistible to pollinators; flowering stems can last two or more weeks in an arrangement.

Best in full sun; requires warmth and plenty of moisture; great in containers, too; pinch out spent flowers.

Fresh leaves are used in salads, pasta and pizza; flowers are also edible and can be frozen into ice cubes; add to water, ginger ale or champagne or to flavour cocktails.

‘Redbor’ kale (Brassica oleracea (Acephala Group) ‘Redbor’)

This edible kale is often sold as an ornamental. It has large, ruffled leaves that add colour and bold texture to arrangements.

Grow in loamy, well-drained soil in full sun; but grow in part shade, especially in the heat of summer, to avoid bitter leaves; do not plant near beans, strawberries or tomatoes; avoid soils too rich in nitrogen; keep well-watered.

Use fresh foliage in salads or blanched or quickly sautéed in olive oil; excellent nutritional value when added to smoothies.

Fragrance can be powerfully evocative. The scent of rosemary transports me to Malta where rosemary shrubs grew in the lane behind my grandmother’s house. The sturdy and long-lasting upright stems of the silver-green foliage provide a colour and textural contrast.

Relatively easily grown in average soil; prefers full sun (but tolerates light shade for part of the day); pest resistant; great container plant that can also be grown indoors in winter.

Aromatic foliage is best used fresh. Use to infuse oils, sauces and syrups; purée fresh leaves with olive oil for a dipping sauce for bread; use to flavour stews, meat dishes, breads, root vegetables and fresh cheeses. Sprigs can also be used as skewers for shrimp and vegetables on the barbecue or instead of olives in cocktails.

This easy-to-grow herb provides a pop of green and a refreshing fragrance to any arrangement.

Grows best in moist, welldrained soil in full sun to part shade; spreads aggressively.

Leaves are best used fresh; good garnish for desserts or main dishes; infuse in syrups and oils; use in cocktails.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens ‘Variegata’)

Usage

— Table by Uli Haverman

2016

gardEn tours

with MarjorIE Mason

England IrEland nEw York CItY For more information or to make a reservation, contact your local travel professional or call 1-800-668-6859.

For full itinerary details visit the garden tours section at: www.denuretours.com.

Marjorie Mason

in season Wildflower cocktails to go!

At the Garden Shop, we are excited to offer a selection of native North American wildflower seed from our good friends at Wildflower Farm. Plant your own wildflower cocktail of pollen- and nectar-rich native plants to encourage and feed the birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Detailed planting instructions on the back of each package. $3.99 per pack.

In our

Gardens

Grow It! Drink It! This year’s Kitchen Garden is full of culinary concoctions. The raised beds will be planted with an assortment of vegetables and herbs that provide ingredients for particular drinks. Walk through the gardens to discover which plants are not only edible but also drinkable. “Cocktail Containers” will also feature drinkable recipes, including a signature drink that will be featured at TBG events throughout the year. But we’re not just feeding ourselves. The bees, birds and insects will be sipping at the table, too!

—Sandra Pella, Head Gardener

Good Bugs, Bad Bugs Mosquitoes The entire life cycle of these insects, says Bug Lady Jean Godawa, takes as little as seven days.

Aerial view

Laying eggs

Side view

It is difficult to justify the existence of such despised creatures as mosquitoes. Their bite leaves an itchy rash, they produce an annoying buzz and they spread diseases like malaria and West Nile virus. Understanding their life cycle can help you minimize their impact on your outdoor space.

Both male and female mosquitoes feed on nectar and other plant fluids, but females also require a blood meal to produce eggs. After mating, they lay their eggs on the surface of standing water.

Bird baths, toys, tires and tree cavities are perfect breeding sites for mosquitoes.

The larvae remain in the water, filtering algae and other microorganisms for food.

They then form pupae, which later hatch into adults. The entire process can take as little as seven days.

When females bite, they inject saliva into the host through one mouth tube and suck blood up through another.

The itchy bumps from mosquito bites

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are the body’s response to that saliva.

This feeding method makes mosquitoes perfect vectors for disease. By biting a bird infected with West Nile virus and then biting a human, the mosquito transfers the disease. Other viruses, like influenza or HIV, can’t survive within mosquitoes and can’t be transmitted by mosquito bite.

West Nile virus cases in Ontario tend to increase in summers with high average temperatures. Symptoms of the disease are flu-like but can, in rare cases, become more serious. Eliminate standing water sources in your yard and keep eavestroughs free of debris so water can flow through. Add a small aquatic pump or a tight lid to rain barrels. Keep skin well covered at dusk when the insects are most active. While we may question the existence of mosquitoes, remember they are an important food source for many animals including dragonflies, fish, birds and bats.

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Photos (clockwise from Left): Ary Farajollahi/bugwood, Susan Ellis/bugwood.org A.F. Opposite (top Right): David Long/Flickr

Garden Gear

Good Reads

—Reviewed by Mark Stewart, Weston Family Library

Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs:

Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden, with 100 recipes by Signe Langford, Douglas & McIntyre 2015

Although keeping backyard chickens is not entirely lawful in Toronto, author Signe Langford is doing it anyway, and she wrote this book to show you why it’s worth it.

The book is divided by season into four sections and explains how to care for your backyard flock through the year with seasonal egg recipes in each section. The book discusses how to make a hen-friendly garden and how to care for the flock. Written by a trained chef, it’s not surprising that much of the book’s attention is devoted to inventive egg recipes. Written in a friendly, punchy style, this book is an easy intro for the beginning hen-keeper.

Drinking the Summer Garden

by Gayla Trail, You Grow Girl Guides 2015

If you’re looking for delicious ways to cool down this summer, Gayla Trail has the book for you. The book has recipes for preparing simple syrups, shrubs and infusions for drinks both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. It’s a slim volume written in a fun style aimed at encouraging you to experiment with your own concoctions. This book is an inspiring jump-off point to get you thinking of fresh (and refreshing) ways to use your summer garden abundance.

The Power of Pulses:

Saving the World with Peas, Beans, Chickpeas, Favas and Lentils by Dan Jason, Hilary Malone and Alison Malone Eathorne, Douglas & McIntyre 2016

This book sings the praises of the lowly bean. It discusses the environmental benefits of growing pulses for food: they enrich the soil, require little water and are an excellent protein source requiring far fewer resources than animal proteins. The book also discusses the health benefits of adding pulses to your daily diet. With information on how to grow and harvest dried beans, peas, lentils, favas, and chickpeas, as well as over 70 pages of recipes, The Power of Pulses sets out to inspire everyone to grow these plants.

Anna’s Plant Pick Taraxacum officinale Dandelion – is it a weed?

Dandelions would be a treasured plant if they were rare and difficult to grow. They are edible and the cheery flowers keep on coming. The plants seem indestructible. However, when British colonists in India grew them to remind them of home they died in the heat.

Dandelions are native to the Northern Hemisphere, with possibly 16 species and numerous subspecies. For example, there is a white-flowering form from Japan (Taraxacum albidum) and five small species grow in the Canadian Arctic. Dandelions grow almost anywhere but are best in rich moist soil in full sun. Grow in light shade for more tender leaves.

Dandelions provide benefits to wildlife: seeds for birds, food for some butterfly caterpillars and pollen for many insects. However, the pollen is usually infertile and the seeds are produced asexually in the hundreds, with plants genetically identical to the parent.

Seeds may live as long as nine years in the soil, so it’s no wonder these plants spread!

The leaves of dandelions are edible, especially when young. To make wilted dandelion salad, fry bacon and garlic, add vinegar, salt and pepper and, while still warm, pour over shredded leaves. Older leaves can be cooked: they are rich in calcium, potassium, iron and manganese, antioxidants, and vitamins A, C and K. You can buy dandelion greens in many supermarkets and buy plants developed for leaf production in local Italian groceries. They are also a diuretic: Pissenlit, roughly translated as bedwetting, is one of the French names for the dandelion.

The flowers make fantastic sauterne-like wine or dip them in batter for fritters.

Roots make a caffeine-free coffee substitute like chicory or can be used as a root vegetable. They contain inulin and levulin, which may help balance blood sugar. The English drink, dandelion and burdock, tastes like root beer.

The latex from some cultivars can be used for rubber, but be careful: the latex stains and may cause contact dermatitis on sensitive skins.

Children tell the “time” with dandelion clock seed heads and make trumpets with the hollow stems.

So, are dandelions weeds?

—Anna Leggatt is a retired Master Gardener.

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Look for these 6 nectar-rich plants at this year’s Plant Sale!

‘Wendy’s Wish’ sage (Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’)

‘Colchester White’ dusty miller (Centaurea cineraria ‘Colchester White’) Although not a nectar-producing plant, nonetheless this beauty warrants a mention. Not to be confused with the traditional annual dusty miller (Senecio cineraria), its stunning finely cut silvery foliage adds a fine texture to garden beds and mixed containers. Tolerant of dry soils, plant in full sun. Best treated as an annual or a pot plant that can be overwintered in a cool greenhouse.

A hummingbird magnet!

Intense deep pink flowers are produced on long spikes that bloom from spring to fall. This annual plant grows up to one metre in a single season.

Hummingbird bush (Dicliptera sericea)

Each season, I like to try at least three to five plants that I have never grown before. This year I am most excited about a plant that comes to us from our good friends at Mason House Garden. The unusual, orange tubular flowers will draw hummingbirds to your garden. Blooms are produced all summer long, and flower above grey, felt-like foliage. Recommended for full sun to part shade. Limited supply.

Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)

‘Black and Blue’ sage (Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’)

This North American native comes to us from St. Williams Nursery which will bring their expertise and native plant treasures to the sale from May 12 to 14. Prairie smoke yields the most unusual 30-to-45 centimeter-tall stems of pink nodding flowers that bloom in spring over mounds of ferny green foliage. After being pollinated by bees, the flowers form beautiful fluffy seed heads. Tolerates a wide range of soil types. Best in full sun. Drought tolerant.

‘Purple Showers’ Mexican petunia (Ruellia ‘Purple Showers’) Rarely available, this is an unusually tall annual that grows up to 1.2 metres. Prefers full sun to part shade and a steady supply of moisture. The outward-facing purple flowers seem suspended in mid-air just waiting for a visit from a hummingbird, bee or butterfly.

A personal favorite. torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Back by popular demand, ‘Black and Blue’ is one of the best true-blue flowering annuals available.

Hummingbirds cannot seem to get enough of this one. New to the plant sale this year is ‘Brazilian Purple’ sage (Salvia ‘Brazilian Purple’) with vivid purple tubular flowers.

NOTE: Despite the best of plans, we are at the mercy of the weather and cannot guarantee that all of these plants will be ready for the Plant Sale.

PHOTOS: (clockwise from top left) JC Raulston Arboretum/NC STate university, Jeff Mason, Paul Zammit, JC Raulston Arboretum, J.M., J.M.

in season plant it!

Paul’s Plant Picks

Do It! Install a rain barrel

container

crazy

A rain barrel can collect 4,900 litres of “soft water” containing no chlorine, lime or calcium every year. Here’s what you need to start collecting water for your garden.

Succulents From Vase to planter With company coming, add some pizzazz to a floral arrangement with echeverias, says Paul Zammit, Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture. And then, pop them into outdoor planters.

Where?

A random combination of Echeveria pulidonis, cut roses and Autumn Joy sedum

• Beside a downspout, near an area you want to water.

• On a level base: place it on a patio slab atop raised cinder blocks high enough that the spigot is easy to reach, a watering can fits underneath and gravity is forceful enough to carry the water through a hose.

How?

1

2

3

• Follow the instructions and video demonstration at rainbarrel.ca/ instructions.

• To connect barrels in a series, use an overflow and interconnectivity adaptor.

• Direct the overflow hose to the nearest drain or garden, well away from foundations.

• To simplify overwintering, use a universal downspout rain diverter.

Cap the barrel off, drain it and then clean it according to instructions.

Troubleshooting?

Step 1

Step 2

Create a grid of ¼-inch waterproof floral tape on the surface of a watertight vintage cast iron pot lined with plastic to prevent rusting. Create a base of greenery with salal (Gaultheria shallon) and Ruscus. Add stems of cut roses, ‘Green Ball’ sweet william (Dianthus barbatus ‘Green Ball’), star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) and Autumn Joy sedum (Sedum (Herbstfreude Group) ‘Herbstfreude’).

Assemble the pots of echeverias. Water well and then carefully remove each from its 2-inch pot, keeping the roots intact.

Insert a barbeque skewer through each root ball and fasten it to the skewer with 22-gauge florist wire.

Encase the root ball with green floral stem-wrap tape, and place each one into the arrangement.

The echeverias will last 10 to 12 days without coming in contact with the water reservoir. Drain and refill the reservoir daily to keep the flowers fresh.

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Step 3

Once the cut flowers have passed their prime, toss them onto the compost pile and take apart the arrangement.

Remove the echeverias from the skewers and use them in outdoor summer containers as in photo above. Although succulents are generally drought tolerant, in small containers (like this 8-inch one) check moisture levels every seven to 10 days.

• Install screens and filters to catch debris, such as leaves.

• To control mosquitoes, add 60 ml of cooking oil to the barrel weekly and after heavy rainfalls, or use insecticidal tablets containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

• Use the water often to keep it fresh.

Enhancements?

• Surround the barrel with shrubs and perennials. Some barrels can accommodate flowers on top.

Get one!

• To find out about recycled barrels and accessories, visit rainbarrel.ca/ tmg-tbg.

—Georgie Kennedy is a Toronto Master Gardener

goTo super summer 2016

Torontomastergardeners.ca for more tips.

happenings see an earthworm as vital to gardening in aerating the soil, producing fine ‘“manure” and maintaining the stability of the ground. Gardening today has learned much from ecology, and we can trace that back to White’s scientific quest for order in nature.

Who’s Talking MARK LAIRD

A consultant in historic landscape conservation, Mark Laird is based in Toronto but advises on sites throughout North America and Europe. Past projects include Strawberry Hill in England, Fürst-Pückler-Park in Germany, Queen’s Park in Toronto and Vimy Ridge in France.

How have gardens historically reflected characteristics of our culture?

The traditional view in Western Europe has been that formal or geometric gardens like Versailles reflect a culture in which humans had power over nature.

By contrast, gardens made in a naturalistic style understand nature as a guiding model for humankind. In my book, A Natural History of English Gardening, I highlight the way in which ordering was still inherent in an English shrubbery, which was organized as a “theatre” of plants placed from lowest to tallest. The display reflected the power to acquire the rare and costly and to control the specimens’ growth over time.

Two Forces of Nature: Weather and Women

What single idea do you hope your audience will take away from your lecture?

Thursday, May 5, 2016 7:30 p.m.

I hope to plant two ideas. The first is that climate and weather have always determined how horticulture prospered or failed in England. In our times of climate change, extreme variability has returned. We have the power to do something about the changing climate, but we should remember that a volcano has power over us.

The second idea is a powerful one.

I have tried to overturn traditional histories of the garden that have largely considered how men determined everything. Women contributed much, too, especially as they grew older. The Duchess of Beaufort, Mrs. Delany and the Duchess of Portland did great things in their 70s to 80s. Lady Elizabeth Lee redid her flower garden in widowhood, and her planting plans show that 100 years before Gertrude Jekyll women were already a force to reckon with.

Pre-lecture light dinner available from 4:30 p.m. Preceded by the TBG Annual General Meeting for members, 6 to 7:15 p.m.

Public $15, students (with valid ID) $12, TBG members FREE (bring a friend for $10)

3 Big Questions

How has the scientific quest for order in nature shaped today’s gardening practices?

The earthworm is the easiest way to explain this. Thought to be at the bottom of the chain in nature, naturalist Gilbert White in his Natural History of Selborne (1789) nonetheless came to

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super summer 2016

TBG Lectures are generously supported

by The J.P. Bickell Foundation and Tim & Francis Price.

tbg lectures The Art & Artistry of Chanticleer Thursday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.

Dan Benarcik As a horticulturist at Pennsylvania’s Chanticleer Garden for 23 years, Dan Benarcik will share his in-depth knowledge of this renowned garden and its history, give insights into what is happening there today and show what sets Chanticleer apart from other public gardens.

Two Forces of Nature: Weather and Women Thursday, May 5, 7:30 p.m.

Mark Laird Historian and garden conservator Mark Laird has been changing the way historic gardens in England are restored and replanted.

In his lecture, Mark will illustrate how the environmental focus of his new book, A Natural History of English Gardening, is being applied to garden conservation.

Collecting Rose Species in Asia Thursday, September 15, 7:30 p.m.

Bill McNamara For 27 years, Bill McNamara has been collecting and documenting plant species in the wilds of Asia. In particular, his expeditions have focused on wild rose species to gain a better understanding of their influence on modern roses and their cultural needs for ex situ conservation. He is Executive Director of Quarryhill Botanical Garden which has the largest collection of wild rose species in the world.

Mark your Calendar Weston Family Library Events

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING SERIES Saturday, April 30, 3 p.m.

More than Honey is a feature-length documentary that explores the causes and effects of colony collapse disorder. Popcorn and refreshments will be available for purchase. $12 public, $10 members.

AUTHOR TALK Saturday, April 23, 1 p.m. Jason Ramsay-Brown will discuss his book, Toronto’s Ravines and Urban Forests.

FREE. AutoRickshaw Trio at Edwards Summer Music Series, 2015

Special Events

EARTH DAY Celebration Saturday, April 23, noon to 4 p.m.

The TBG’s Family Earth Day kicks off the growing season. Enjoy guided hikes, scavenger hunts, and woodland crafts in the Teaching Garden and take a ride on the Blender Bike to make a smoothie!

Stroller accessible.

FREE! No registration required.

PLANT SALE Contributing members breakfast and shopping Thursday, May 12, 9 a.m. to noon Members preview Thursday, May 12, noon to 8 p.m.

Open to the public Friday, May 13, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, May 14 & 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

✄

PHOTO: AndrÉ Tardif

Doors Open Saturday, May 28 to Sunday, May 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year’s theme of Re-used, Re-visited and Revised explores the adaptive re-use of buildings throughout Toronto’s architectural history.

Woman to Woman lunch in the garden Tuesday, May 31, noon to 2:30 p.m.

A glamorous fundraising event with party frocks, fascinators, friends and fun among the flowers of the Toronto Botanical Garden. Tickets: $175, Patron Tables $4,500 (seats 8).

Through the garden gate: the kingsway Saturday & Sunday, June 11 & 12, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The 29th annual tour features 18 curated residential gardens in The Kingsway. One-day pass: Public $45 / TBG Members $40; Two-day pass: Public $65 / TBG Members $60; Student one-day pass: $25 (with valid ID).

GARDEN DAYS June 17 to 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This three-day program of activities and events is for gardening enthusiasts, families, schools and tourists alike.

EDWARDS SUMMER MUSIC SERIES: GARDENS OF SONG Thursdays, June 23 through August 25, 7 p.m. Enjoy 10 concerts by an eclectic roster of popular artists, set in the natural beauty of the gardens, rain or shine. (indoors in the event of extreme weather).

Some seating available or bring your own. FREE. Organic Farmers’ Market Thursdays, 2 to 7 p.m. Fresh local veggies and greens as well as meats, cheese, eggs, dried fruit and nuts, spices, syrup, jams, personal care products, snacks and more. Market moves outdoors May 19.

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ART GALLERY May 1 to August 30. Botanical Artists of Canada group show.

Book Club Last Wednesday of every month, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Open to TBG and Book-Lovers Members only. To register, and for more info, contact Jan Neuman: janneuman@rogers. com or 416-656-8246. FREE. Library Story Time Mondays, 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. (except summer months) Weekly nature stories and songs for children, ages 6 months to 3 years.

FREE. Poetry Group Monthly.

For more information and to register, contact Joanne Sedlacek at j.sedlacek@rogers.com or Kirk Davis at kirk.davis@hotmail.com. FREE.

Tours and Day Trips

Join Frank Kershaw on these popular out-of-town tours. Lunch and luxury coach travel included.

Tour descriptions and registration at torontobotanicalgarden.ca or contact tourguides@ torontobotanicalgarden.ca Thursday, May 26, Spring in Niagara Gardens Thursday, June 9, Gardens of Ayr, Paris and Brantford Thursday, June 23, Gardens of Creemore and Schomberg

super summer 2016

membership matters good news

your benefits

Claudia Zuccato Ria Director of Development

Members tour private gardens for less!

You gave us more than your hearts and flowers!

This summer, Frank Kershaw is leading three fabulous Thursday out of town garden tours—and members receive special rates! On May 26, celebrate Spring in Niagara Gardens; June 9, takes you to gardens in Ayr, Paris and Brantford; and on June 23, visit the Gardens of Creemore and Schomberg. Lunch at local restaurants and travel by luxury coach. These tours have sold out in prior years, so book early.

Visit torontobotanicalgarden.ca for full tour descriptions and to register, or contact tourguides@ torontobotanicalgarden.ca.

What happens when a group of dedicated garden lovers responds to a call for support? A whole lot of donations—$170,923 worth to be precise! The 2015 Hearts and Flowers campaign ignited the enthusiasm of many TBG friends, who contributed generously, making the fourth annual giving campaign a great success.

With a monetary goal of $150,000 and a mandate to raise funds to help run the gardens and our programs, this year’s campaign exceeded its target. The TBG accounting books are now using black ink—how is that for good news?

?

As we prepare to host the 6th annual Woman to Woman event, we are taking this fabulous garden party to another level. Along with the coveted items we’ve offered in the past, the silent auction will feature TBG educational experiences: get your bids ready for a private nature photography lesson; a tour of the bees in the Pollinator Garden (yes, protective gear will be provided!); or a floral design workshop and lunch for eight of your best buds. So, don your party frocks and most extravagant spring hats or fascinators and join us on May 31 for the most glamorous garden party in the city! Purchase tickets online at www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/w2w or call 416-397-1321. See you there!

Did you know

Growing under Glass Something very special grows under the glass conservatories at Allan Gardens.

For 12 years, the TBG’s children’s education department has delivered a free, curriculum-based program in partnership with the City of Toronto, aptly named Growing under Glass. The program engages Grade 3 students from highpriority Toronto neighbourhoods in learning about soil, worms, nutrients and plant growth. Among the seedlings and plants of Allan Gardens Children’s Conservatory the TBG is nurturing and growing a passion for nature.

tbg works

FRIENDS OF THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN

The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is deeply grateful to its loyal donors who provide their continued and generous support through the membership program at all contribution levels. Their gifts enable the TBG to educate and inform the community on horticulture, gardening and environmental issues through lectures, courses and events. We thank the following individuals who contributed to the TBG through the membership program between September 29, 2015, and January 18, 2016.

Sustaining Members Jim Harbell Jane Wright Contributing Members Kathleen M. Belshaw

Margaret Bennet-Alder Linda Boyko Linda Brown Joanne Campbell Sara Katz

Alessandro Leopardi Mary Patterson Aldona Satterthwaite Maureen Simpson Loretta E. Skinner

Anthony Spencer Barbara Stewart Nancy Sutherland Shirley I. Taylor Patricia Thompson

SIGN UP FOR GARDEN ENEWS! Receive the latest horticultural news and information on events, workshops, lectures and other horticultural happenings.

Free registration at torontobotanicalgarden.ca

About The Toronto Botanical Garden

Let’s Talk The friendly staff in the Development and Membership Department are happy to answer your questions and hear your suggestions. To talk about membership, donations, including Friends donations and receipts, contact Sharon Rashid, Development Officer. For special events, see Christine Lawrance, Special Events Coordinator.

For any other inquiry, contact Claudia Zuccato Ria, Director of Development.

See Staff Directory for contact details.

The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is a volunteer-based, charitable organization whose purpose is to inspire passion, respect and understanding of gardening, horticulture, the natural landscape and a healthy environment. The TBG raises more than 95 per cent of its operating funds through membership, facility rentals, retail enterprises, program fees and donations. The organization relies on the generosity and financial commitment of individuals foundations and corporations to help maintain the gardens and support the many horticultural and environmental services we provide to our community.

Charitable registration number 119227486RR001.

GENERAL HOURS AND ADMISSION

Gardens: Free admission, dawn to dusk Administrative Offices: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Weston Family Library: Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Open on TBG Lecture nights Garden Shop: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Master Gardeners: Visit torontomastergardeners.ca for information and to Ask A Master Gardener; Advice Clinics at the TBG Farmers’ Market, Thursdays 2 to 4:30 p.m. (Winter) and 2 to 7 p.m. (Spring through Fall) Info Line 416-397-1357

PATRONS

Honorary Patron: Adrienne Clarkson

Brian Bixley, Mark Cullen, Camilla Dalglish, Sondra Gotlieb, Marjorie Harris, Lorraine Johnson, Michele Landsberg, Susan Macaulay, Helen Skinner

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Allan Kling. Co-Chairs: Allan Kling and Rebecca Golding. Tim Bermingham, Mark Bonham, Heather Cullen, Kaitlyn Furse, Denis Flanagan, Colomba B. Fuller, Patrisha Galiana, Ryan Glenn, Joyce Johnson, Cathy Kozma, Vaughn Miller, Penny Richards, Alexandra Risen, Gino Scapillati, Judy Shirriff, Barbara Yager

STAFF DIRECTORY Executive Director Harry Jongerden director@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1346 BUSINESS AND FINANCE Director of Business and Finance Margaret Chasins business@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1484 Accounting, Nadesu Manikkavasagam accounting@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1352 Database & Technology Administrator Paul Galvez database@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1371 Marketing & Communications Department Marketing & Communications Director Jenny Rhodenizer communication@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1351 Trellis Editor editor@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Development Department Director of Development Claudia Zuccato Ria development@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1372 Membership & Development, Sharon Rashid annualgiving@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1483 Special Events Coordinator Christine Lawrance spevents@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1321 Rentals & Events Department Rentals Supervisor, Patricia Chevers rentals@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1324 Rental Sales Coordinator, Katie Pfisterer rentalsales@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1349 Rentals Accounting, Jane Huang rentalaccounting@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1359

Membership: $45 single, $65 family. Call 416-397-1483 or sign up online at torontobotanicalgarden.ca/join

goTo

torontobotanicalgarden.ca to learn about the TBG!

777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario M3C 1P2, Canada 416-397-1341; fax: 416-397-1354 • info@torontobotanicalgarden.ca torontobotanicalgarden.ca • @TBG_Canada

By TTC: From Eglinton subway station take the 51, 54 or 54A bus to Lawrence Avenue East and Leslie Street. The TBG is on the southwest corner.

Find us on... torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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Education Department Director of Education, Colleen Cirillo education@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1355 Children’s Education Supervisor, Community Programs, Diana Wilson tbgkids@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-5209 Children’s Education Supervisor, School Programs, Josh Padolsky childrensed@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1288 Adult Education Coordinator, Kassandra Medeiros adulted@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1362 Tour Guide Coordinator, Sue Hills tourguides@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-4145 Weston Family Library Knowledge Resources Manager, Mark Stewart librarian@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1375 Horticulture Department Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture Paul Zammit horticulture@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1358 Head Gardener, Sandra Pella gardener@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1316 Taxonomic Assistant, Toni Vella taxonomy@torontobotanicalgarden.ca Garden Shop shop@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1357 Head, Volunteer Services Sue Hills tourguides@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-4145 Maintenance Maintenance Manager, Walter Morassutti Maintenance Officers: Alvin Allen, Renata Farkas, Jonas Kweku-Teye maintenance@torontobotanicalgarden.ca 416-397-1344

super summer 2016