Hello my dear gardening friends,

I am sure that those of you who came to our flower show, were as delighted as we were. 302 entries, from over 30 people…Congratulations to you all! A special thank you to all those who worked so hard to make it a success. It takes a great deal of time and effort to put on a show like this one. Mike Dean did Yeoman service, as he has done for the past 26 shows? We have new helpers, which is so gratifying. A big warm thank you to Dot Smith who kept us all on our toes throughout the three days, and to Claire who took on the flower show, a formidable task, very well executed, with loving good humour.

It is the middle of August and the gardens are at their best; enjoy the gifts that Mother Nature has/is giving us. First, I’d like to share a poem I came across not long ago:

The Mowing

This is the voice of Midsummer's heat.
The rasping vibrant clamour soars and shrills,
Oe'r all the meadowy range of shadeless hills,
As if a host of giant cicadae beat

The cymbals of their wings with tireless feet,
Or brazen grasshoppers with triumphing note
From the long swath proclaimed the fate that smote
The clover and timothy-tops and meadowsweet.
The crying knives glide on; the green swath lies.
And all noon long the sun, with chemic ray,
Seals up each cordial essence in its cell,
That in the dusky stalls, some winter's day,
The spirit of June, here prisoned by his spell,
May cheer the herds with pasture memories

~ by Sir Charles G.D. Roberts

I’ve had so very many questions this week that I will try to answer the most pressing (as felt by their writers) as a way of doing my regular note to you. One of this week’s questions, concerns evergreens:

Q) Someone wants to know what to do with her evergreens, for the needles are turning yellow and falling off.
A) You really need not be worried for this is quite normal. It depends which species you have, some evergreens will keep their needles from one to five years. Each year new needles are produced and some of the older needles will die and fall off, just as you described. Remember that if you have new evergreens, you must keep watering them; despite all the rain this year, water them copiously, for this is vital to prevent the plants from dying - they can actually die of thirst.

This would lead me to another questions, “What to do with all those needles??” If you have roses, azaleas, rhododendrons or other acid loving plants, put the needles on and around them. Evergreen needles have a high acid content and will make your plants happy, especially if you work them into the soil. If you are nice, and have a neighbour who grows roses and does not have any evergreens…share , his roses will thank you – and maybe he will share some of his roses with you in return.

Q) Someone else asked about small, green pineapple shaped growth on some of her spruce trees, and wanted to know if these are galls or immature cones?
A)It is the time of year when we start to find galls on plants and trees. Galls are those little houses made by aphids or mites that are living on the host plant material. You can find them on leaves, fruits, stems or even seeds in the garden. Trees such as oak, spruce, poplar, maple and willow are often hosts to the gall forming insects.

Most galls look like small bulbs; spruce galls resemble immature spruce cones. Some of the ornamentals, silver and soft maples will start to look unsightly if the number of galls are particularly heavy.

To answer the question, they are indeed galls. If you cut one of these balls (galls) open in the summertime, you will find little green wingless aphids inside.

Pick off and burn as many as you possibly can, or easier, but more costly, spray in the early spring using a tree and shrub spray, such as Dormant Oil Spray.

You can also spray in the fall after the insect leaves the galls, but before the eggs are deposited on the twigs. These are the start of next year's aphids - see our work is never finished in the garden. Also, be vigilant; when you see a problem cope with it at once - life will be easier than letting the problem "grow".

Q) I have a small garden. My neighbour’s tree creates a lot of shade – so much that I only get a couple of hours of sun in the morning. What can I grow in these conditions ??
A) I would suggest that you try bleeding heart, primulas (providing that it isn't a wet spot), veronica (it will grow almost anywhere), digitalis, phlox, iris, impatiens, rhododendrons, azalea, periwinkle, begonias, and my favourite, hostas… lots and lots of hostas, Hostas flower, and will give you fragrance for a little while, Try lilies too - they grow better in some shade. Scrounge some from a neighbour; they are very cheap to buy and give so much back, I particularly love Casablanca, pure white, with a fragrance from heaven.

Q) How long does it take for a compost pile to break down, so that it is ready for the garden?
A) My grandfather would dig a trench and fill it with vegetable refuse, and then just cover it over and plant right on top. However, a well managed pile takes about a year to break down all the material, the secret is to keep turning it over. I have a black composter; a couple of times a year I get a grandson to help me slide to composter off the pile and place it next to the original pile. I take the top portion and place it in the bottom of the composter, to start over, and the rich dark remains, go onto my garden.

Q) Can I put composted remains on the garden right away?
A) Yes of course.

When buildig your compost, be careful not to toss in any weeds that have gone to seed or any diseased material. Composting has so many advantages. It makes a really good source of organic matter that is needed for improving garden soils, thus eliminating the need for manure or any other organic matter, saving you money.

Almost any kind of plant refuse can be used including, cabbage stems, thought they take a while to break down, dead foliage, discarded fruits and veggies - although I feed anything that is still fairly good, to my raccoons. They are so spoilt that they do not bother to steal from my garden - if I put out fresh corn, it not only has to be cooked, but coated with butter; margarine is just not good enough. They will not eat anything uncooked.

Back to the composter, though. You can add leaves, grass clippings - not too many for they should be left on the lawn to feed the growing grass. Do not add twigs or branches, for they take too long to break down. If you have shady spot, that is very good. An ideal pile should be about 6 feet tall, and 4 to 5 feet wide. If you can build sidewalls, use boards or cement blocks, leaving the ends open. You can remove the decomposed material at one end, and add fresh material at the other end.

Start the pile with six to eight inches of straw, or corn stalks or any other coarse material, then add four inches of green waste, plus a little lime, and a fertiliser high in nitrogen content. As you build the pile keep adding layers of coarse and fine materials, such as grass clippings, just like building a sandwich. Leave a depression in the top to collect rain water; keep it moist but not wet, turn often. Move the outside material to the centre to aid in rapid decomposition.

When you start to use it - it is a good idea to riddle it - Riddle? Sifted through a one inch screen to remove any big pieces - return these to the pile.

Q) What flowers are the best for dried flower arrangements?
A) Some of the flowers that can be easily air dried are Chinese lanterns, luneria (honesty), cockscomb statice, gomphrena and of course straw flowers. Strawflowers, should have the heads removed from the stem, and a fine wire inserted in the flower head up and through. Form a small hook on the end of the wire and then gently pull it down into the flower head; this way it is easier to use in a floral arrangement. Pick the flowers early in the day or later in the evening, before they wilt from the heat ( if any), and before they are fully open. Choose those that are the most beautiful. Strip off the foliage and using strong string - tie about ten of the same kind together by their stems. Hang them head down in a fairly cool, but airy dark place. Hydrangeas should be cut and arranged in about an inch of water or glycerine and left until they have absorbed all the liquid - you can enjoy them in your living room, they will not drop - however to make sure, give them a swift spritz with hair spray. If you add food colouring to the liquid– you can have pink, blue or what ever colour you desire.

Whether or not your wisteria has bloomed, they should have the long growth shortened considerably to help promote the development of side spurs; these are the ones that will bloom next year ( if we are lucky) Hardy phlox have just about finished flowering and they should have their flower heads snipped off . This will prevent seeds from forming and will give you a second bloom a little later this year.

Do not forget to cultivate your flower beds, to keep down the weeds, especially your roses. This is also a good time to fertilise any chrysanthemums that you have from last year. I’m sorry I forgot to remind you to cut them back in the middle of last month - mark your calendars for next July.

I am tired tonight and am off to bed. Oh, who came to supper celebrating a birthday, went to take out my canoe, and surprise surprise, fell in??? As there were two gentlemen celebrating birthdays that day - I am not sure who let go of what - Happy birthday my dear friends.

Good Gardening to us all, hats, gloves, sunscreen, bug repellent...

Lovingly, Beryl