Hello My Dear Gardening Friends,

After the past few days I am sure that you all have dirty dishes in the sink, dirt under your finger nails, and a happy smiley red face! All the daffodils, tulips and other spring flowers are blooming. Is this an omen of another hot, dry summer???

Now that I have indulged your request for more of these wonderful poems, I am going to put you to work…

For a number of years we have been purchasing cast iron pots/urns – this season everyone seems to have a large selection of plastic ones, that once planted is difficult to distinguish from the “real thing”. They are so much easier to move around; they do not get as hot as the metal ones, and all in all seem to do a better job. Loblaws has a large selection of containers, the soil to fill them with, lots of fertilizers of all kinds and they are all toxic free. Peterborough is now a chemical (toxic) free city. (At least when it comes to gardening)!!

I enjoyed this one:

You would not hand out insecticides as a condiment at your table now would you? So why are we spiking our food with it in the garden? There are safer ways of keeping caterpillars down, even if they do occasionally have a cabbage dinner at our expense (after all how much can one little caterpillar eat)! They usually leave enough behind for us, they cannot eat it all!!

I have said this before but it bears repeating: buy disease resistant plant varieties. Nurseries and seed companies have a wide range of plants and seeds that have been selectively bred to resist attack. Lets us encourage them by purchasing their products, rather than those of the pharmaceutical giants who need to devote more time to finding ways of treating and curing us of our ailments rather than bothering with more death to the beasties and maybe us at the same time!!!!

As we know there are a number of interesting and perfectly harmless, curative and preventive measures against insect, fungal and bacterial attacks. Attack is usually a symptom of some underlying problem with any plant. The plants most vulnerable to attack are the ones under stress, just like us. So let us ask ourselves how can we improve the conditions for any ailing plant?

First of all is the plant in the right place? If you put plants where they can thrive, not only will it make them stronger, but they will also be able to withstand the meanest beasties. For example: A Hosta may be wilting – why? Does it need more water, is it sitting in the hot sun all day or is it covered in slugs? If it is ailing then it is vulnerable to attack by slugs and snails, so let us try moving it. Transplant it to a shadier, cooler, maybe moister place. Once it has recovered and it will, those dreaded slimeballs will be off looking for another victim.

Poor soil conditions can lead to nutrient deficiencies. This will weaken your plants and leave them exposed to attack. Soil enrichment is a long-term job, but we can help by using fast acting natural fertilizers - seaweed extract is a good one. Also make yourself a liquid feeder from comfrey leaves. Either boil them or let the leaves soak in water. I like to have a pail of them ready at all times. Be careful that you place the container away from where you walk, the smell is not pleasant.

Hannibal had his soldiers put Comfrey leaves in their sandals when he marched along with the elephants over the Alps. This way if/when they developed blisters, they healed quickly and they walked in comfort. During the First World War, in the British army if a soldier’s feet became infected, the soldier was put on a charge.

Another piece of advice: comfrey heals wounds very quickly. If you are outside and you cut yourself with your pruners, do not wrap the cut in comfrey leaves, until you have made sure that you have washed it really well. Comfrey heals so rapidly that you can heal infection inside, and that spells real trouble. Oh one other reminder: have you had a Tetanus shot recently? It is recommended that you take it every 10 years. I can remember mine very well – I had one the year that Jack died and it is 11 years ago – so it is time for mine!! I like to keep a bucket (small plastic one) outside when I am working around the garden – with a small amount of bleach in water. This way I can dip my pruners in it and keep them clean and fairly sterile.

Remember to rotate your crops. We have talked about this before… It prevents a localized build up of pests and diseases. White flies find the colour yellow irresistible. Try rolling squares of bright yellow card into tubes; wrap them with clear adhesive tape, sticky side out, hang or stake the tubes around any infected plant and the flies with soon leave the plant in favour of Doctor Death!!!!

Earwigs were not so bad last summer as they love the cool damp weather. Maybe we will be as lucky again this year! However, as they feast during the night and “sleep it off” during the day time, lets try and catch the little blighters. Stick a can stuffed with damp newspaper upside down on a short stick. In the mornings, take a bucket of water to the garden and a small boy, oops lets be politically correct, small child! Very carefully drop the paper in the water to which you have added a tablespoon full of cooking oil. The poor little earwigs will drown.

Cabbage root flies lay their eggs in the soil around the plants. When the maggots hatch they crawl toward the food that is growing there just for them. There are two chemical-free solutions:
1) Fit a saucer sized piece of cardboard round each young plant. Hopefully the flies will lay their eggs on the cardboard, instead of in your soil. Thus exposed to the elements, they will dry up and die.
2) Alternatively, wrap a piece of foil about 6 inches/15cm long around each stem before planting out. Start as low down in the root system as you can and wind overlapping upward spiral to the base of the leaves. As long as you plant with at least an inch/2.5 cm of the foil above the ground, the maggots haven’t a chance of getting dinner – this works very well for cutworms too.

The best, simplest and most overlooked way is when you see a pest on your plants. Remove it by hand – then stomp on it (this is great satisfaction because it gets rid of all your stress). When you see caterpillars or aphids on your plants, do you just pick them off and squish them? You should - you can scrape scale off with a finger nail. Try the heel of your boot when dealing with slugs, better for your garden and cheaper than slug pellets. Unless of course you throw the box the pellets came in at the offender!!!! Secatuers work well on damaged shrub and tree branches. Break the tent for tent caterpillars, they will have no place to return to at night and they die of the cold.

I would suggest that you go into your garden at night with a flashlight and see how many things are eating your garden – snips and snails, slugs and earwigs – oh dear – life is not a rose garden without aphids boundary!!

You can still scatter sharp grit, sand or crushed eggshells around seedlings and any juicy leaved plants. Vigilance is the key word! Nip a problem in the bud and it will never grow into a crisis.

Keep a wary eye out for dull, thin, distorted leaves, and look for sap suckers, like aphids, mites and whitefly. Free style chomping is the work of caterpillars, beetles and snails. Fungal infections, mildew, rust often follow physical attacks, causing leaf curl and withering. But most insidious of all is root damage. Leatherjackets vine and weevil grubs will only show by a general malaise. The plant wilts dramatically and I am afraid gives up the ghost.

Now you ask me: “Why do we garden then?” Well - because after all of these trials and tribulations there are still many, many plants doing really well in your garden. Patience as always does have its virtues.

I was asked about the care of Siberian Iris so here goes:

The Siberian Iris - When you hear the word Iris, what goes through your mind? That big bearded beauty rising up above sword-like leaves? Then you are thinking of the bearded iris (Iris germanica) a very popular spring/summer garden beauty. The Siberian iris (Sibirica) is another flower entirely. It is well worth growing – I love mine. It has no beard, but is beloved for its delicate flowers and soft grasslike foliage. It is easier to grow, withstands wind and rain, makes a lovely cut flower and needs very little care. It generally grows two to four feet tall, quickly fills in spaces in a sunny border, and can also be used as a ground cover. It works well at corners too. Impressively, one mature plant can send out more than 20 stems of flowers at once.

Flowering Season:
Late April to Early Summer

Location:
Grow in full sun in northern areas (such as us). It performs reasonably well in light shade where the seasons are warm in April. Although it will tolerate drought, for its peak performances, make sure that you water them well when you water your other perennials.

Planting:
Plant rhizomes with the crown well below the surface of the soil, this is opposed to the way you plant bearded Iris. Cover them with an inch of soil, two inches if your soil is sandy. Avoid air-pockets beneath the crown, for water will collect there and they will rot. Make a small hill of soil in the center of the planting hole. Place the rhizome on the hill with the roots spread out around it, fill the hole with soil, and pack it tight.

Ongoing care:
Remove spent flowers after they bloom to keep seed heads from forming. Cut the foliage to the ground in late fall. Mulch well, after the ground is frozen.

Transplanting:
When large clumps form, divide them to ensure continued bloom. Dig mature plants in the spring after they have bloomed, or in the early fall well before the first frost (do this if there is no alternative – e.g. moving house). Loosen the soil carefully and pry the rhizomes loose with a rocking motion. Cut the rhizomes with a sharp knife, leaving each new piece with two fan divisions. Cover with soil to a depth of one to two inches. Keep transplants evenly moist for six to eight weeks after transplanting.

Companions:
They grow well with aquilegia, daisies, lupines, phlox, peonies and pinks (dianthus).

For a Long season:
To have Siberian Iris in bloom for the longest period of time, include both early and late varieties. For example:
• Early Bloomers are “Heliotrope Bouquet”, “Indy”, “pleasures of May” – remember to always read the labels
• Later Bloomers are “King of Kings” and “Liberty Hills”. In different areas the growers will call them by other names, so again check or ask what is the blooming time.

I hope that you all have found the Gnomes that are living in your gardens?? A little Gnome Lore:

Gnome Economics…
Gnomes rarely use money (apart from the Zurich variety) and get by purely by barter in the little trading that they do. As most of them grow or simply pick their own food, collect their own firewood and are handy with almost any kind of tool, there is little need of trade. This means that when it does arise there is no fixed exchange rate for anything, it depends upon the circumstances and the need of the parties involved. When they do trade, gnomes simply haggle till some compromise is reached, which can take days, months or even years. Often they resort to the wildest insults and even blows. Both parties will swear they are being robbed blind, there will be tears and much storming off in rage; but you can tell the fairness of the exchange by the size of the grin on each face as they walk away at the end. It’s rare that either gnome is genuinely disappointed, as bargaining is one of their preferred sports and they drag it out to make the most of it.

Now I do not want to hear of any of you acting like the gnomes, when you trade your plants, or even working in each others’ gardens. Do be sure to see if you can see the fairies and gnomes that live side by side in your gardens.

Out you should go into the garden – shut off your computer as I am about to do and go and play outside – you have been telling me all winter that you cannot wait until spring. Well it is here so don’t let the time pass you by…

Good gardening – Sunscreen that sun is hot, hats as always, gloves to protect your finger nails for a little longer, make sure your tools are sharp. Hats, hats and even more hats.

Lovingly, Beryl