My dear gardening friends,

What a wonderful time we had last Saturday. One of my beloved stepdaughters, Sandra, was married to Jeff in the most beautiful wedding ceremony that I have had the privilege to attend. Sandra looked so very beautiful as did everyone else. Each of the three mothers received a white orchid (poor Jeff has two mothers-in-law). Before the wedding ceremony began, two candles were lit, one for each departed father – and then the most beautiful words were spoken. The couple did not exchange the usual vows – but words written especially for them and the family.

A brother, cousin and two sisters held the corners of the chuppa, the usual wine glasses were blessed by family and friends. Pretty. Vivacious. Amara, my granddaughter and grandsons participated. Amara was entrusted with the rings. Nathaniel was the one to place the glass on the floor. David kept us all in order and on time for photos and everything else that happened.

Many thanks to Jeff’s aunt and uncle for allowing us to use their beautiful garden and thanks too to Mother Nature, although she kept the heat turned up – we were spared the rain! A day filled with love, joy and a few tears.

So for Sandra and Jeff:

My darling Kristin is home from Saudi Arabia – I am hoping to see her this coming weekend, she sounds so grown up. She appreciates being home although she says that it is strange to look out on to green grass without camels in evidence!!!! Canada is a pretty good place to call home.

I have just been outside picking my beautiful pink and white peonies that the rain is trying to dash to the ground – they smell so sweet in the house. I know that they do last much longer outside, but I cannot see them there as we are getting that very welcome rain.

Speaking of rain, last night I had to go to a meeting north of Lakefield, and whilst we were there, an electrical storm broke with rain and lots of lightening – the roads were covered in frogs. Thankfully there were no police around, otherwise I would have had to take a breathaliser test – I was trying to swerve around all those little bodies! They must have known that the rain was coming for they obviously had been on the road prior to the rain falling.

So what can we do to help preserve some of these precious beings? I was going to talk about ways of attracting wildlife to your gardens. We need to create a habitat in which wildlife can really feel at home. Such habitats could include small native trees, shrubs and climbers, a rockery or better yet, a dry stone wall. While visiting Canada Blooms, we watched a small dry stone wall being built. It can be as simple as a log pile, even piles of leaves. You could make a small pond, or a simpler bog or marshy area in your garden – now that Peterborough is moving toward banning toxic pesticides a wildflower meadow would be a great replacement for those lawns, which are expensive and labour intensive to maintain.

The habitats do not have to be large; in fact, small versions of natural habitats can fit into most existing gardens, backyards, patio gardens and even window boxes. Because living things move between habitats, it is a good idea to include several different habitat types in your own garden. This will also increase biodiversity, resulting in a healthier garden that needs much less attention. One reason is that different plants need different nutrients; if only one or two varieties grow in the same place then the soil very quickly becomes deficient in some nutrients, and so weakens the plants. In addition, with few different varieties of plants, specific pests and diseases quickly build up.

- Use organic methods when cultivating.
- Avoid using pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. These items disrupt food chains, plus they will pollute the soil and plants and may be toxic to humans.
- Use organic slow-release fertilisers, such as blood, fish, bone or seaweed meal instead of artificial ones, leading to healthier plant growth.
- Make your own compost and leaf mould to recycle organic matter.
- Incorporate plenty of organic matter into the soil to increase soil life and improve soil texture and fertility.
- Grow several plant varieties together to help reduce the spread of pests and diseases attracting natural predators to control pests.
- Grow some native trees, shrubs, climbers and wildflowers as these support more wildlife species than do hybridised varieties.
- Do not be too tidy; grow cover plants, leave uncut grass (if you can), fallen leaves and log piles to shelter small predators and their prey (food).
- Provide a number of different habitats to attract a wide range of wild life and let it flourish

One of the main reasons that cultivated gardens have problems with pests and diseases is that in general they are not managed the way that nature intended. We are very pleased for the plants we have chosen to grow, but we are not so keen to have aphids, caterpillars and slugs in our garden – we spray them with toxic chemicals. What we do not realise is that these creatures are essential in well-balanced communities, which are our gardens. Destroy them and the predators at the next step of the food chain will starve. Ladybirds, dragonflies and many birds cannot eat plants directly but rely on so-called garden pests for their food.

Spraying greenflies on roses can actually make matters worse in the long run. Their predators, ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewings, if they too survive the spraying, must then go elsewhere in search of food or even starve. When the next group of aphids flies in the following day, there will be no insects to prey on them and thus control their numbers, which means you have to spray yet again. This happens even if “safe insecticides”, which kills the pests and leave the predators alive, are used.

It does take a lot of courage to do nothing when aphids invest your roses and lupins, reproducing rapidly and decorating the foliage with shiny honeydew. Soon, however, the larvae of ladybirds and hoverflies will appear, munching their way through hundreds of aphids and in a very short time the plants will be cleaned of their attackers.

Another problem with many gardens is that only a limited selection of plants are allowed to grow in them; grass, fruit and vegetables, herbs (with an aitch), ornamental annuals, biennials and perennials, and approved shrubs and trees. Mother nature on the other hand, colonises an area with as many plant species as possible. Ancient, virgin countryside is incredibly rich in the number of different plants that grow and intermingle there.

Organic gardeners should try to imitate this by making use of companion planting and creating borders with shrubs, flowers, herbs and vegetables all jostling together. This is the healthy way of gardening - pests and diseases will have trouble finding their host plants amongst all the others. They cannot spread easily even if they do, while pollinating and predatory insects are attracted in large numbers by mixed plantings.

Many pests and diseases are specific to certain plants or groups of plants, for example, lupin aphids will attack only lupins. In a monoculture, pests and diseases spread easily but if different plants are mixed together, it is more difficult for pests and diseases to jump from one plant to others of the same type. Pests which find their hosts by smell or colour have difficulty finding their host among the jumble of a mixed border.

Scientists have found that habitats containing a greater variety of species are healthier, more stable and recover more quickly after damage than those with a limited number of species. For example, an 11 year study by scientists from the universities of Minnesota and Montreal showed that natural, species-rich grassland recovered far more quickly after severe drought than did cultivated areas with fewer plant varieties. Mimicking nature by introducing as many different plants as possible into the limited space of our gardens really does reduce pests and disease problems.

There are lots of ways but I will run over a few for you:-

Mediterranean: A fairly sunny spot is ideal for groupings of robust pencil conifers, Cupressus sempervirens ‘Stricta’, some cabbage palms, euphorbias and perhaps the odd palm. Instead of lawn use gravel. Put some red geraniums in pots and paint the trellis blue. Plant lots of herbs and free flowering plants to self seed in the gravel. Mullein, poppies and wormwood are perfect – you will not want to even take a vacation.

Tropical: Making this kind of garden is relatively simple – even in a cold climate like ours. You can create a lush, verdant oasis using totally hardy plants with big bold green foliage such as Japanese aralia Chinese rhubarb, a hardy Japanese banana, palms, an overhead canopy of leaves can be created by the black locust and for colour try arum lilies, canna and lots of iris. Even when the flowers fade the leaves are very tropical!!

Romantic: Plants can be used to create moods. A shady seat beneath a weeping birch, plenty of ferns, delphiniums and lupines, a carpet of bluebells (there are several species that grow in Canada), and of course honeysuckle. Use plants to make enclosed spaces making the area more intimate. Use arbours and corners covered in climbers. Old roses are beautiful here.

Contemporary: Try using architectural plants like bamboo, New Zealand flax and pineapple flower. Concentrate on dramatic forms and foliage with strong shapes and bright colours – linking the plantings directly to architectural elements of the building by colour or shape. Clean lines are good. Less is always more.

Formal: As a basic rule start near the building with geometric planting areas and introduce curves and softer shapes as you move down the garden, allowing nature’s own way. Dwarf box hedging and clipped topiary specimens can immediately age the garden for you.

Games: If you have children (husbands qualify) that like to rough house or play football – it is imperative to choose the right plants. Some sturdy shrubs such as Japanese laurel, thorny barberry can cause a few tears and tears in pant legs Add a couple of fast growing trees for goal posts and later on a place to ‘sling your hammock’!

These are only a few suggestions, try planting in containers and move these around until you get the effect that you think you want!!!

Well my dear friends that is it for this week. This morning it is so much cooler – now your plants will be heaving sighs of relief and I am off to work – Loblaws Garden Centre still looks so beautiful thanks to Deborah and her wonderful staff – do drop by even if it is to just say hello – who knows maybe we still have that special plant you have been looking for – a variegated Jacob’s ladder, or coral bells – lots of grasses, shrubs and a few trees – a yellow Magnolia would look wonderful next spring in that little space you have in your perennial garden???

Hats, and lots of sunscreen, insect repellent, a new pair of gardening gloves maybe? Good gardening to us all .

Henry I hope that you are watering your plants and that you are enjoying the small space I created and the flowers!!!!

Lovingly, Beryl