Hello my dear gardening friends!

Our Garden show is over, and what a success it was - the speakers were brilliant, full of enthusiasm, eager to pass along their knowledge and I think give us all a most welcomed lift, for the weather has turned cold again, however the snow has gone and today there is open water on the lake. My neighbour was bravely out in his canoe, managing to go quite a way along the shoreline. The evenings are staying lighter longer and it is quite evident - 7.30 p.m. and still light -cheers.

I purchased another clematis - actually in bloom, a micro-petalled "Joe Zary" described as ‘The Most Beautiful Vine of All’. It is a miniature version of "Josephine" and has white split petals with lavender edges; it is indeed very beautiful. I purchased a number of lily bulbs last week; they are sending up shoots already. I am going to pot mine up, but if this is happening to yours, pop them in the fridge for a couple of weeks to acclimatize them, then bury them in the garden - they will be just fine.

I cannot grow Gardenias, as much as I love them, I have tried and tried - so I am going to take Elyn Green's advice and try Jasmine instead, does anyone else have the same problem??? I do not like African violets, and as this is the same family - maybe the gardenias know, and will not grow to spite me. Remember the scientist who made love to his girlfriend and the plant hooked up to a monitor in his laboratory and had a nervous breakdown!! Maybe shades of this are happening to me???

I kept telling you to take your lawn mowers in for sharpening and a tune up – I have been reminded to tell you to make very sure that "the muffler on the mower is in good condition”. There is nothing worse than to hear your neighbour's mower, sounding as if they are doing roadwork on H28, especially on a Sunday. That's my hang-up, Sunday mowing?? It drives me crazy! Thanks David! If you live near him, please refrain from mowing your lawn on Sunday mornings. But a good point - the muffler is often overlooked in a check up.

I have been asked yet again to run over the does, of planting roses. If you buy bare root roses through the mail, open them up as soon as they arrive. Check the roots of the plant to make sure that they haven't dried out. Fill a bucket with tepid water and soak the plants at least overnight or for up to 24 hours before planting. Bare-root roses should be balanced in shape with evenly arranged canes and roots, a little pruning will be required if they are not.

Although you can plant bare-root roses in either spring or fall, plan to plant them as soon as the forsythia flowers. DO NOT plant them if the ground is frozen! The roots will not grow, and they may even freeze and die. The real key to growing healthy roses is location, location, location. Choose a sunny, well-drained spot, where no roses have ever been grown. A new rose planted in an old rose's soil is susceptible to any problems that plagued and possibly killed the previous “tenant". This can cause a disorder called rose sickness, which results in unhealthy plants. If you really must have that rose and only have the one spot available, dig a hole at least 18 inches to two feet wide and deep, placing the soil from the hole into a wheel barrow as you dig. Take away the old soil, and fill the hole with fresh topsoil, which you have amended with compost, leaf mold, or well rotted manure. Manure must be at least a year old, so that it will not burn the feeder roots that the rose will grow, better yet purchase bagged manure from any garden centre.

Use a ratio of one part organic matter to two parts of soil. Even if you are planting roses in virgin soil, use this same ratio of soil to organic matter. Roses like a slightly acidic soil with a pH around 6.5 (which most of the soil is in this area) think about getting your soil tested and adjust it accordingly.

Right before planting, cut off any damaged canes and broken or blackened roots, with clean sharp pruners. Remember to dip your pruners into a mixture of water and bleach to disinfect them between "cuttings" and pruning. Backfill the hole with the amended soil, mounding it in the centre. Spread the roots out, evenly over the mound and then continue to fill in the hole, patting the soil firmly around the roots. Do NOT stamp on them; you will break the fine hair roots.

When the hole is almost full, water it well, and it will “squeeze” out any big air pockets in the soil. Plant the bud union, (that is the swelling above the roots where the rootstock meets the scion on a grafted plant) at least 4 inches below the soil surface. Do this even when the rose is not grafted, but growing on its own rootstock - we have very cold winters and they need all the help that we can give them.

Fill the hole to the top and water it again. Water your roses deeply all summer and into the fall, giving them at least 1 to 2 inches of water a week. Feed them with their own special rose food, but not after the end of July. You will be rewarded with prolific flowers, healthy plants and sweet fragrance in your garden. For this area the Explorers and the ones grown in Manitoba do very well.

My silly cat has started to nibble on my Oleander, this is not good for cats, as Oleanders are quite toxic, so I am having to remember to keep the door to that room closed - I would suggest that you check any of your toxic plants to make sure that your pets are not eating them. I think that the animals are desperate for something 'green' so let them go outside if possible, for the weather isn't too cold right now, it might save their and your plant's life.

Another question that I have been asked is to recommend plants for a xeriscape garden and/or one that cannot be watered regularly for one reason or another. I quote from advice given by a master gardener who lives outside Georgetown, Ontario: "It is a question of trial and error, using the shade in the garden as a water substitute, mulching and plant selection. Oddly more plants tolerate drought than one might think. Some will just not be as robust and others will not flower as well, but they will survive.”

Two summers ago we had 68 days in a row, without rain. The most significant result was a reduced amount of viable seed in the late flowering species, salvia, pentstemons and rubeckias, etc. Some plants looked dead, but had just gone dormant very early. If you have a slope, plant water loving plants at the bottom of the slope they will reward you by doing very well.

Of special Wow emphasis are: Verbascum, digitalis (foxgloves) lutea, grandiflora, Epemediums, hellebores (should be blooming very soon), heucheras, campanulas, saxifrage, percisfolia, lots of grasses, Miscanthus (once established) Molinia, Andropogon, Chasmanthium, Diarrhena, Fescue, Calamagrostis, Dsalvias, and a host of others. There are so many, but experiment and see what works for you.

I know that you are all dying to get out there in the cold; it is time to finish pruning out any thorn bushes - get rid of them. The spring is also the time to get started on your chrysanthemums. They need to be divided every year to produce a really spectacular show in the fall. Whilst the plants are still small, dig them all out; replant half where they were growing in the flower beds. Give them plenty of room to grow, take the rest of them to your vegetable garden and plant them throughout the whole area where your warm-season crops are going to grow. When the time comes for planting, prepare the soil and plant your veggies between the mums - eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, winter squash pumpkins etc.

As the chrysanthemums grow, just pinch out the tips once to twice to promote sideshoots and get them bushy. Pinch back before July 15th so that there is enough time for them to produce flowers buds. In mid-July plant kale seeds in the open spots in your garden. Or start them in pots, or even purchase them, and interplant within the veggies and mums. Be careful that the older plants do not shade or crowd them; try and get them into as much sunshine as possible. When an early frost comes and devastates your warm season crops, you will not be unhappy. The bright green mounds of kale will peep through the faded and blackened crops. In the cold days of fall the mums will open and, for many weeks, you will continue to have colour in the garden. And, as a bonus, sweet, delicious kale, ready to use as a steamed vegetable, for juicing and in soups and stews. Thanks to the colourful mums, your spirits will soar, long after the rest of the garden has died or faded away.

More late-season Magic. Kale is one of the best crops for a late-season garden, because once the really severe cold hits, its flavour improves tremendously just when you can really use some fresh vegetables. (I don't really believe this for my mother made me eat curly kale during the war- it was so bitter - I hated it.) It is not the only great late-season crop. Brussel sprouts and especially parsnips (my favourite) get better and better as the cold deepens. Direct seed these crops in early to midsummer so that will be mature after the freezing weather arrives.

You will also find that a late crop of spinach will “hunker" down amongst the frost blackened summer veggies. Start fall spinach when temperatures stay below 75 F and keep making new plantings until a month before the first frost date. You will continue to get fresh spinach until the really severe weather hits especially if you mulch the plants with straw - I also like to grow another round of beets for the greens alone and Swiss chard will keep growing even under the snow.

Well my dears - today I actually had a marriage proposal, I think that he was pulling my leg - should have snapped him up!!! Good gardening! Happy Spring, hats, gloves, and sunscreen. I have purchased a new rake that I will be trying out very soon.

Lovingly, Beryl