Plant sale Friday at mall

Just in time for spring planting! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their annual Spring Plant and Bulb Sale on Friday, June 2 starting at 9:30 at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton! There will be a good variety of plants and bulbs, and eager gardeners will be on hand to answer your questions. We look forward to seeing you there! We have many gardening friends who are there waiting when the sale begins at 9:30; they know that if you have a particular plant you are looking for, best to be there when the sale starts! The sale is scheduled to go till 4:00 PM but is actually while plants last. If we run out earlier, the sale is done!

Another good reason to come early! Visit our site at www.yorktonhort.ca for details.

Just a little update: we chatted recently about a friend sowing seeds in the fall; it’s exciting to hear from her that her peas came up very nicely, and she has had success with volunteer lettuce for years now. Another gardener had great success with spinach planted last fall and was looking forward to a delicious early salad; but the birds visited the “salad bar” before she did! But we’ll have to keep this interesting planting idea on our “to-do” list this fall!

Are you familiar with “tabletop gardens” or dish gardens? The look of these was very interesting and made me want to learn more about them. It is a common thing to picture our outdoor space as an extension of our living space; our patio tables can become a thing of beauty with a dish garden as a “‘centrepiece”.

The dish gardens often use succulents. What are succulents? They are not a type of plant, but plants that have certain characteristics: their ability to store water in their leaves and stems. The plants are fleshy looking and a gardener’s favorite because they don’t mind dry and hot conditions. Succulents come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and colors, making them wonderful candidates for a most

Debbie Hayward

YORKTON AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Gardener’s Notebook

interesting and beautiful dish garden. Choose a container that is low and wide, so that we can easily see their textures and colors. Most important rule: soil that drains well, preferably soil that is on the sandy side. These plants do not like to have wet feet and will be much more forgiving of us forgetting to water them once in a while, rather than watering them too much. We should water them only when they are dry. While we like the look of a full and tightly packed dish garden, when we are just getting them started, we have to be sure to give them room to grow and fill in. Plant all the plants at the same level in the container. We can give them a weak fertilizer every four or five weeks.

Good plant choices?

The much beloved hens and chicks; burrow’s tail; echeveria (stonecrop), or euphorbia crown of thorns. Don’t forget to add little accent items like a small piece of driftwood, shells, rocks, or small terra cotta pots, laid on their side as if the plants are tumbling out.

For gardeners with limited space, dish gardens can be a lovely way to add an accent piece when there is not a lot of space for larger things like statues or fountains. There is still lots of room for beauty and interest in a small gardening space, just keep things in proportion.

Keep in mind, too, that dish gardens can be made with other favorite plants; careful selection is the thing that makes them different from an ordinary collection of plants in a container. We might choose one marigold and trim the bottom leaves to five the impression of a tree; thyme can be the “groundcover”; hot water, teabags, my laptop, our sofa, our microwave oven and a few days’ worth of food (just kidding about the last three). But I had everything I’ve learned from long practice to be necessary during a daylong vigil beside someone’s hospital bed. The Preacher’s hospital bed. In this morning’s

Simple Words, I spoke of different pets we’ve had over the years, particularly the caged ones. How they have modelled contentment to us, even learning to swing on their bars for fun.

Like it or not, life builds cages around disabled people and their families. People like my husband, who has, until now, never stopped preaching.

People like our friend Scott Fitzsimmons (also associated with 98.5 TheRock). After cancer treatments and a stem cell transplant, Scott became legally blind. He is (thus far) unable to resume his prior radio career—but that hasn’t stopped him from speak-

TelCare support

and a unique grass or the shapely rush can add interesting textures. Some sparkling glass pebbles and rocks to finish, and it’s an amazing conversation piece!

Thank you to our friends at YTW for their wonderful work; have a great week!

The Grade 3 Tuesday/Thursday PM class at the Yorkton Nursery School Co-Operative, (with special guest of one lady bug) was happy to accept a cheque from a SaskTel Telcare Employee. Support from the TelCare program will help provide school supplies for the cooperative, including technology and specialized resources for kids needing a bit extra. Telcare is a non-profit organization funded by ing and writing. People like another friend, Don (a well-known farmer who contracted West Nile Disease in the same summer as my husband).

Like Irwin, a rancher friend who lost both legs in a tragic farm accident. After rehab, both returned home and continued farming. Swingin’ on their bars. All those people. Perhaps you’re doing the same.

It seems that once again, a virus has caged the Preacher. But this morning my own voice (and lots of life experience) reminded me that God is in the cage with us. And like before, with his help, we’ll learn (again) to swing on its bars. So can you.

Submitted Photo employee participation. The money raised in each district remains there to support local organizations. The Yorkton Nursery School Co-Operative is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a positive first-school experience for children in the Yorkton area. We offer a play-based program that encourages each child to develop to their highest potential.