I have some sad news for those of you who knew Joyce Tunks, On March the 28^th I was speaking to Joyce on the phone, we were laughing, and setting a date for lunch the next day. Half an hour later Andy, her daughter called me to say that she had returned home to find her mother dead in her chair.  Joyce was dying as we talked and neither of us was aware – being very selfish I would like to leave this world in a similar manner.  The family has asked that instead of flowers, donations are to go to the heart and stroke foundation, Buckhorn Community Centre or Peterborough Green Up (Ecology Garden) or a charity of your own choosing.

Joyce started the Buckhorn Horticultural Society and was, for many years, the president along with her/our dear friend Shirley Corkery, both dying suddenly and unexpectedly, two beautiful people gone forever.

Virtue

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright!

The bridal of the earth and sky

The dew shall weep thy fall tonight;

For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave

Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye.

Thy root is ever in its grave,

And thou must die

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,

Box where sweets compacted lie,

My music shows ye have your closes,

And all must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,

Like seasoned timber, never gives;

But though the whole world turn to coal,

Then chiefly lives.

-George Herbert (1593-1633)

On to brighter things, I have the lake back again, soon be time for my canoe! Despite the long cold winter, all that snow helped to bring plants and bushes through very well. My garden is a riot of daffodils and snowdrops. I spent $40 getting my car washed and cleaned – sigh, I might as well not have bothered –it is covered with mud once again.

What else has happened through my “lack of computer?”  Passover has occurred – I had a wonderful time with the family in Toronto – where? At the home of Jack’s ex- wife, after all we do have joint grandchildren!!! Although most people are surprised that we get along so very well.

I have a number of tasks for you –April is almost done, I had suggested that you stay off your gardens and how I wince when I see everyone out with rakes, removing those coverings, for as we know May can bring snow, yes – in all the years that I have worked at Loblaws, I do not think that we have had one year without a snowfall – and a couple of hard frosts.

I was just speaking to Deborah, I am starting work next week and the roses or at least some of them, are arriving tomorrow (Friday) so summer is not too far behind!!!  I have spent most of the day in the garden in shorts, cheers.  I have dragged up a lot of plants from the basement – they were trying to grow, poor things and grow lights just do not seem to do the same as daylight.

I have had a couple of questions about the Easter lily’s people received as gifts.   Personally, as I grow a lot of lilies, I put mine in a garbage bag, in its pot and away they went to the dump, however, if you do not have many lilies, in your garden, cut off the blooms that have died, and then plant outdoors, when all danger of frost is past they may even bloom again for you later in the summer.  I would suggest that after you have planted the lily outdoors, that you put some kind of citrus peel around the plant; this discourages any lily beetle from attacking them.  Lily beetles look like red lady bugs, they have now learned to fly – and will clean out not only the plant, but the bulb as well – Neem oil does help – or wash the bulbs well in water to which you have added a little bleach.  The beetles lay their eggs in the soil, and that is where you will usually see them, especially now and a little later as the ground really warms up.

Remove all the dead leaves and stalks, from around your perennial plants, and trim your privet or box hedges before the new growth starts.

When you are trimming your hedges, remember that they should be slightly wider at the bottom than the top.  This will let the sun in at the basal leaves and keep the plants bushy from the ground upwards.

Young Dogwoods that have died back during the winter will almost always send up new shoots if they are cut right back to the ground now.  You will find that you can actually train them as shrubs, with a little judicial pruning.

If your soil is workable, not too wet, this is a good time to divide your perennials, and get them replanted.  Do not forget that plant sales are coming up, so this is a good time to prepare plants for any sale that you might be involved with.

Chrysanthemums will divide easily now; each division will produce flowers this autumn.

I would suggest that if you are dividing Michaelmas Daisies that you only plant the outer portion of the clumps, discarding the old center clump – for it is finished.

I have received a few questions so I will try and answer them for you

Question: Some of my houseplants have developed brown tips, on the foliage, what can I do about it?

Answer: I would suggest that you have either over fertilized the plants, used water straight from the tap, it will be too cold and if you live in the city, full of chlorine.  Check to make sure that the water has actually been reaching the roots; I always water from the bottom, to prevent this occurring

Do not use water that has been through a water softener, for you are watering them with salty water – do not drink it either, especially if you have a heart condition. This can also cause brown tips.

Question: Should I roll my lawn this spring?

Answer: There are several feelings on this one, if you roll your garden whilst it is still wet, you will only compact the soil, but if it is very “ lumpy” after the snow has gone, if the winter heaves have left your lawns in bad shape, then at this time and no other, this is the one time that you can roll a well established lawn firming the soil that may have been lifted by alternating thawing and freezing, thus exposing the grass roots, Make very sure that the soil is not too wet or else you will lose all the porosity in the  turf and so actually strangle the grass.

Question: Should a lawn be spring raked?

Answer: Oh yes, rake very lightly, as soon as the ground is dry enough to walk on, use either a leaf broom or wooden rake, not your hard steel one. Just whisk the leaves and debris away from the lawn without uprooting those precious grass roots.

Question: Do I apply fertilizer to the lawn in the spring?

Answer: Yes. Fertilize in the spring before the active growth begins to avoid any danger of burning the grass.  Remember that you can no longer purchase weed and feed in Peterborough – so check the labels carefully.

Question: Is this a good time to plant a new lawn?

Answer: I really prefer the fall to do this, use only the very best lawn seed that you can afford; cheaper mixes contain only a small percentage of the good grasses of the Kentucky blue grass type and a large percentage of the large seeded and less desirable coarse grasses.  It is always advisable to include 5-10 percent rye grass seed.  This germinates quickly and acts as a “nurse” grass until the other fine leaved type become established.  Usually approximately 3lbs of seed are needed for every 1,000 square feet (less with bent grass, more with perennial rye) Use a lawn spreader to avoid possible misses.  Spread half the seeds in one direction and then spread the remainder at right angles to the first.  Rake the seeds lightly with the back of a bamboo (wooden) rake, barely covering them with soil. After the seeds are sown, keep the soil bed thoroughly moist for about two weeks, or until the grass is well established.  Avoid light sprinklings; the water should penetrate to a depth of several inches.  If you allow it to dry out, the seedlings will die.  In warm weather, the ryegrass will sprout in about one week, the fescue and blue in two weeks.

Now that Peterborough and Toronto are not allowing the usage of Pesticides and Herbicides. I would suggest that you treat yourselves to a book called Rodale’s Chemical-Free Yard and Garden or at least borrow it from the library (this is a good addition for any horticultural society’s library).

I was lucky and picked mine up at St. Vincent de Paul for less than $5. Once again I beg you, please leave your gardening books to your local Horticultural Society, Master Gardeners or garden clubs, once again this one had belonged to a Hort. member and I am sure that her children had just sent it along with a pile of others.  Or as plant sale time is approaching perhaps take your old and no longer useful books there – maybe you have graduated from those early purchases, but there are always brand new gardeners looking for help. And they might just fit their needs

I quote: -

Endophyte Grasses Fight Pests

A new group of pest resistant cultivars, the endophyte-containing grasses, has recently come on to the market.  These grasses are hosts to fungi that produce a substance that deters feeding by some insect pests and is actually toxic to other pests.  A word of warning, the toxin will cause serious illness in sheep and cattle and cause pregnant mares to fail to develop milk. Do not seed endophyte –containing grasses in areas where these animals might feast,

Endophyte-containing cultivars have some resistance to most pests that feed on the crown and lower stem of the grasses.  Cinch bugs, sod webworms, billbugs, and armyworms fall into this category, but grubs don’t.  Many of the endophyte – containing cultivars are only available wholesale, but more and more are coming on to the market every year and are slowly making their way to homeowners.  So far, grasses with the highest levels of endophyte are all perennial ryes, but the breeders are hoping to develop endophyte – containing Kentucky bluegrasses and fescues, within the next few years.  A good nursery will be able to help you find a blend that includes endophyte-containing cultivars. Since these grasses have less than a 2 year shelf life, buy only the freshest seeds”

The song of the Greater Celandine Fairy C.M. Barker

You come with the Spring,

O swallow on high!

You come with the Spring,

And so do I

Your nest, I know;

Is under the eaves;

While far below

Are my flowers and leaves.

Yet, to and fro

As you dart and fly,

You swoop so low

That you brush me by!

I come with the Spring;

The wall is my home;

I come with the Spring

When the swallows come

The name: ‘Celandine’ comes from the Greek word for “swallow’, and this celandine used sometimes to be called “swallow-wort”. It has orange coloured juice in its stems, and is no relation to the Lesser Celandine, from the “Flower Fairies of the spring”, but it is a relation of the Horned Poppy, which we will include later in the spring.

Time to say goodbye for now – hopefully the gremlins will leave me alone for a while - Good Gardening, stay away from the poison ivy  - do not forget your hat, sunscreen, bug repellent (doesn’t that sound wonderful?) Hat and gloves – sharpen those pruners 

- Lovingly Beryl