Hello my Dear Fellow Gardeners,

Today my sister, who died just before Christmas, would have been 82 – Where did the time go? We are coming up to the first long weekend of the summer, and with it those wonderful plant sales.

The Lakefield Horticultural Society will be in their usual spot, outside the old Lakefield Town Hall (the township still hasn’t returned the Centennial room to the residents of Lakefield and District – shame!) Do look for our sale tables. Come early for the best buys, and to the members: I hope that you are digging up those extra plants for this once a year fabulous sale. This is the opportunity to get some of those rare and special plants that you have been admiring in the gardens around the village, the prices are right and you will be helping the beautification of Lakefield, for all the money is returned to the village in the form of those wonderful hanging baskets, containers, garden beds and plantings.

So come and buy plants for your garden, which in turn become your children’s and grandchildren’s gardens – maybe a small tree or bush that will outlive you. My father-in-law, planted trees and bushes in 1940 + and although he died in 1960, his plantings are still giving his family, even his great grandsons, enjoyment today.

One of the old flowers of the garden is Echinacea, prized for their large brightly coloured daisy-like flowers, they are called ‘King of the Daisies’, not only do they provide colour in your garden in the summertime, but also winter interest with their rounded cones, on stiffly upright stems. As an extra bonus seed eating birds such as sparrows and finches feed on the seeds all winter long, especially at this time when other food is scarce.

Echinacea is actually a wildflower, native to the eastern United States, their long tap roots give them the ability to withstand periods of drought once they have become established. Although they can adapt to any well drained soil, light loamy soil is the best. Cone flowers like a hot sunny location, although they will grow in light shade, however, to prolong their blooming time, deadheading is necessary.

There are many new colours coming, part of a series called Big Sky. They are hybrids of crosses between E purpurea and E paradoxa, inheriting the dominant characteristics of E purpurea, but displaying fuller, toothed leaves and wider flower petals. The blossoms have slightly re-flexed petals and a sweet roselike fragrance. The plants are well branched and are vigorous growers.

They are not purple, Sunrise PPAF is a refreshing citron-yellow, the same colour as Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’. The central cone starts out green, then widens and turns gold as it ages.

‘Sunset’ PPAF is electrifying orange with a prominent, brownish central cone. Its petals slightly overlap, giving the blossoms a full substantial presence. Keep your eye open for these and more exciting introductions coming soon from Itsaul Nurseries. Thanks to Susan Martin for this exciting information.

The team at the Chicago’s Botanical Gardens have successfully produced several three species hybrids, some with novel colours of yellow, orange and red. The hybrids also exhibited several spontaneous traits, including a proliferation of the ray flowers, tubular fused rays (like those of a dahlia) and the combinations of the horizontal and upright rays. Gardeners always want something new and the current interest in native plants makes this coneflower very desirable.

Creating new plants that gardeners covet is just the beginning. Many if not most people do not realize all the work that goes into introducing a new plant. The extensive process of propagation and evaluation actually takes many, many years.

In order to produce sufficient quantities of a plant that all share a consistent appearance the tissue culture method of propagation is used. Two to three years of evaluation takes place at the Chicago Botanical Garden and at nurseries nationwide. After all this time, if the coneflower makes the grade for disease and pest resistance, cold hardiness and sturdiness of habit, it may be propagated in sufficient quantities to be sold. So I do not think that we will be seeing too many different colours this year – but keep on looking in the nurseries for hope springs eternal in the gardeners breast(s).

Monochromatic Colour is the Trend for this year, whilst I have heard many people say – I do not like my garden to be one colour, there are so many shades, textures, blendings, contrasts and hues that boring is the last thing that occurs. You can have contrasts in light and dark hues which can be subtle, softly contrasted or strongly apparent.

Monochromatic colours used in the garden convey a feeling of serenity and comfort to the person viewing the garden. The single colour(s) lets your eye focus on the details of the plants, and textures, rather than on the fleeting colour of flowers. The green becomes the monochromatic colour focus. This smooth transition through the seasons brings a simple but subtle beauty to the space and the viewer. Beatrix Jones Farrand once said “ Should it not be remembered that in setting a garden we are painting a picture”.

If you are still not convinced that monochromatic is exciting, try a few containers with all blues, with perhaps Delphinium, Baptisia, Platycodon and Campanula. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Place them around your garden and you will be very surprised to find your eye going to those containers again and again.

At Loblaws we have planted containers that have only green plants, with the odd touch of colour, the soft green of Hosta, upright Northern Sea Oats, the Red Veined Dock, in some the greenish white of Lambs Ears, Assorted Grasses and completing the picture in some cases with the blue green of Fescue – do go and take a look – you will be very surprised at how beautiful they are – easy care $24.95 and up. The big benefit is at the end of the summer they can all go into your garden for next year’s pleasure. A bargain indeed!!!

From the Book of Angels – I found this for Gardeners :-
Plants are like children. Children love candy, sodas and fast food even though they are not good for them. They may give them a quick energy boost, but can make them hyperactive and weaken their immune system. It is just so with plants. If we feed them chemical fertilizer they may appear to grow faster and more luxuriantly, but they will be less robust and nutritious. This upsets the “devas”, who see the inherent qualities of their charges being undermind. Habuhiah (the gardening angel) can help us to keep the devas happy, and our selves well fed by working with us to feed the plants and soil well. If you grow your own vegetables, you should establish a compost heap made from all your household’s organic waste (no meat or fat). Every time you add some more scraps to the heap you can invoke Habuliah to help transform refuse into that miraculous, life-giving substance, compost. And the devas will love you.

I suppose that now my gardening angel is working to help me – I can stop looking for someone to come and help me dig in my garden - and I thought that the garden gnomes were the ones who helped?? Even the angels suggest that you NEED a compost pile.

Every year we purchase annuals, giving colour to the garden, these plants are inexpensive, readily adaptable and easy to look after, providing a quick and prolonged show of blooms. In fact they are at their very best during late July and August, at a time when most perennials have finished flowering for the year. Annuals will grow despite any mismanagement on our part of planting, watering etc. No other group of flowers will give you such intense garden colour or quantities of flowers, to cut and bring indoors.

Unlike most perennials they are actually improved by dead heading (removal of the dead flowers). This is Nature’s way, they grow bloom and produce seeds all in one growing season. If you stop the seed production, you will of course get more flowers.

Annuals can serve a multitude of purpose in the garden! Castor Bean, Sunflowers and Hollyhocks make a wonderful background for the end of a lot and can serve as a screen from neighbours, also they can be used to hide garbage cans, and other “nasties” in your garden. The other screen that also produces food are of course the scarlet runner bean. Heavenly blue morning glories, do not forget to collect their seeds in the fall, there are lots of vines that can remain all winter – check with your garden supplier.

If you have a foundation planting of evergreens near your house, and they are looking a little drab, just pop some annuals in those spots to brighten up a walkway, or entrance to your home, this is an especially good idea if you have a lot of bulbs planted in a certain spot. You can plant zinnias, petunias and marigolds to give cover and colour until you cut down the dying leaves. The annuals will last until the frosts in the fall. Although annuals are not true alpine plants, dwarf ageratum, sweet alyssum, sanvitalia, candytuft, pansies and rose pink look very good when you set them out amongst your perennials in the rock garden. Use nasturtiums, petunias and French marigolds in window and porch boxes and containers - they are the old standbys, but do try adding something new – there is so much in the garden centers, anyone working there will be happy to advise you. Even some of the “shoppers” are full of good ideas.

My grandson David is visiting – he has come to cut my grass and pick up those, large limbs from my pine tree – so I am sorry but this is going to be a very short “letter” this week – I promise more next time – but I am going to go for lunch with him and then “play” for the rest of his visit!!!!!!!

Good gardening to us all - Hats, sunscreen, gloves, (your hands get sunburnt too)!

Lovingly, Beryl