Hello my dear Gardening Friends,

I have had the most wonderful weekend in Toronto - my daughter took me to a spa for the day; I am so massaged and relaxed that I’m scared to start working in the garden in case I undo all this "good stuff". My grandson, David, and his girlfriend Andrea spent the weekend here - the house is vacuumed and the garden cleaned up - two wonderful gifts from my dear child and grandchildren.

I promised Dandelion Wine recipes this week and we will get to that at the end of this episode. But first, I’d like to continue with the pesticide debate…

To quote from a pamphlet by Conrad Berube, Senior Pest Management Officer, Ministry of The Environment, Land and Parks, British Columbia, November 2000:

"Most insecticides and some other pesticides such as herbicides kill beneficial insects as well as the intended targets that cause damage to all our plants. Beneficial insects include bees that produce our honey and wax, pollinators, and natural enemies of pests.

Poor insecticide practices and habitat destruction have led to a decrease of pollinating insects in many areas, so that people, especially growers have had to make up for the loss of free pollination services by providing nesting boxes for mason bees or by bringing in colonies of bumblebees and honeybees."

Please, do read any and all pesticide labels for they should / may include specific safeguards for protecting honeybees and other pollinating insects.

Some general guidelines for protecting pollinating insects:

1. Use only when really necessary. The more that they are used, the more will be required to do the same job. Be careful in your choice of pesticides - choose only those that are effective against the pests you wish to target and have only minimal impact on non-targeted ones.
2. Do not apply on a windy because drift will affect any blooming plants, even if they are not close to the ones being sprayed.
3. Apply late in the day when insects, especially honey bees, have stopped foraging. This will also help some pesticides to work more efficiently especially if they break down quickly in sunlight or if they are meant to control night feeding insects.
4. Never spray if there are hives nearby. If so advise the beekeepers of your intent at least 24 hours before spraying. Again watch for wind drift. In fact do not spray anywhere beehives or mason bee nests are located.
5. Be careful, too, of non-crop flowers such as ground cover or weeds where beneficial insects are located.
6. Do not apply to crops that are in bloom, or if the weeds growing beneath crop plants are in bloom.
7. If you live on or near a lake or pond, never spray - we have enough contaminated water already!!

It’s important to remember that it is illegal to apply pesticides except in accordance with the label directions. As I have said over and over, always follow the pesticide label instructions. Less is always better than more. We cannot be too careful when handling such toxic substances.

Some other observations:

• Granulars are generally less hazardous than other formulations of the same pesticide.
• Emulsified concentrates have less residual toxicity than wettable powders.
• Water-based forms are less hazardous than oil-based ones.

Sprays are less harmful than dust formulations of pesticides.
Whilst no-pesticide is completely non-toxic to insects, some of the less toxic ones are:

• Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel)
• Thuricide
• Novabac
• Tecknar
• Foray
• Any of the pyrethrins
• Benomyl
• Metaldehyde
• Slug bait is not too bad, but be very sure that it is placed inside something - a piece of rubber hose for example - to protect other living things from eating it.

Remember: It is illegal to apply pesticides except in accordance with the label directions. As I have said over and over, always follow the pesticide label instructions. Less is always better than more. We cannot be too careful when handling such toxic substances.

If at all possible, hand pick off some of the more destructive insects and place them somewhere else - where there is more of whatever it likes to eat. Ask yourself, “Does it really matter if your rose (or other) leaves have holes in them?” A lot of these “bad” caterpillars turn into the most beautiful moths and butterflies. I feel that there is enough room in the world for all of us - perhaps we need to learn to live side-by-side, rather than it being a combative situation

Having said all that, what’s new for this year? Not so very new, but the perennial of 2004 is the Japanese painted fern (“proper”name: athyrium nipponicum "pictum"). I have seen some beautiful examples very recently. It is one of the showiest of the ferns. It is great to use in the shade garden and looks wonderful around rocks. It is also popular for its hardiness because it is good to Zone 3.

‘Pictum’ grows to a height of 18 inches (around 50 cm) or a little more and, if left alone, the clump will spread to more than 2 feet wide. I’ve had one in my garden for about three years (maybe even four) and it has not spread that much yet. It really is a lovely fern and does well in partial to full shade (Full shade means that it gets no sunshine whatsoever all day). Maybe mine gets too much sunshine for it is under an apple tree.

Pictum produces 12 to 18 inch fronds that come in soft shades of metallic, silver-gray with hints of red and blue - I’ve even seen some that are pink. It is truly an outstanding plant for giving colour and texture to not only landscaped beds but also to containers. Just remember, though, that you must plant them in the ground before the frosts come.

As for things being put in the ground… Did you get all those now dead flowering bulbs into the ground? I did not for the ground at Clear Lake is still frozen. I see that my icicle pansies are back - what a delight they are! Do try some of the hot shot pansies this spring; they have huge blooms. I walked by some at our local grocer’s the other day and the perfume is wonderful. More plants are expected today, along with threats of sleet and snow showers …April in Canada, my home and wonderful land.

Now that spring is on its way, so too are the birds. I have been asked how to prevent starlings from taking over the garden (short of finding their nests and destroying the eggs). I dislike these numerous, greedy birds and was all too happy to do some research for you. Here is what I came up with.

• Traps may be used to reduce starling numbers. A trap that is frequently used for the capture of starlings is an adaptation of the "Australian Crow trap." Although it can be of almost any size, the most common dimensions are 2 x2 x 2.5 metres. The trap frame is made of pipe or lumber and covered with small mesh poultry wire. The trap is baited with food and, if possible, live decoy birds (horrible thought). The birds enter through small openings in the top and then they cannot find their way out. The birds should then be transported elsewhere (at least 10 miles away), the ground strewn with seed at the new site, and the birds then released into the wild.
• Barriers that restrict access to barns or potential roosting sites can be useful in discouraging starlings. They can be made from galvanized wire, mesh screen, bird netting, stainless steel wires or spikes placed along the roosting area - anything that will prevent them from landing easily. Or you may wish to try fighting "fire with fire” and use barn owls to discourage starlings from nesting inside barns. Reports show that by setting up owl houses, the rodent population decreases and, with the loss of food, so do the starlings. After you have set up your owl homes, try contacting veterinarians or wildlife rehabilitation centres in your area to adopt an owl. I would also give plastic owls a try, especially the ones with large painted luminous eyes.

Now to the promised Dandelion Wine Recipes.

Several tips before we begin:

• Make very sure that where you are picking has NOT been sprayed with anything - no weed and feed, no salt spray, no fertilizer yet this year.
• It’s especially important that there is no poison ivy growing alongside the dandelions (you don’t want to get that on your hands – or in your mouth!).
• Once you’ve picked the dandelions, work fairly quickly, making sure that you use only the yellow part of the flower. Discard all the “green” parts otherwise your wine will have a very bitter taste to it, and all that work will have been for nought.
• Do not use any metal containers.

Although this is a very simple recipe, it works - as so many of my friends will testify:

Pour one gallon of boiling water over 3 quarts of dandelion flowers. Cover with a tea towel to keep out flies, etc. Let stand for 24 hours.

Strain and add 3 lbs of light brown sugar along with the rinds of two (2) lemons, the juice and rind of two (2) oranges.

Bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes.

Strain and cool. I then transfer into a carboy with a bubbler once it stops bubbling. (Note: The bubbler may be purchased at any wine-making store. It is inserted into a cork. You can use any large sized bottle to start the fermentation process, providing you are keeping the air out, otherwise you will introduce wild yeast spores and you will keep it bubbling forever.)

Bottle, add a couple of raisins in each bottle, and cork tightly.

Put away for as long as possible, making sure you store the bottles in a dark, cool spot that does get wide temperature variations. I am drinking some that I made in 199; it is really more like brandy now. Enjoy - and whosever has my country wine-making book would you return it please!???

Remember, hats, sunscreen, garden gloves, good gardening and few weeds… Lovingly, Beryl