Hello My Dear Gardening Friends,

It has been a very exciting week for me; first of all I spoke at the International Ploughing Match, and then drove to Barrie to spend the weekend with my friend Bill and a lot of Master Gardeners. It was a wonderful seminar! The theme was native plants. I was surprised to learn how many of our plants are not native at all.

A number of friends who receive this column came to tell me how much they are enjoying the “Flower Fairies”. They asked that I continue to give you the poems from the book. So once again thanks to Don for his wonderful gift.

On the way home I stopped in Fenelon Falls for lunch. A very nice young(er) man spoke to me and I enjoyed his company during my meal. When I asked for the bill, he had already paid it – so many especially nice people in this world.

It was pouring with rain so I stopped, where else but at a garden center! I ran inside and to my surprise, although it was just outside Orellia, I discovered that it is being run by a friend. I came home with a lot of new and different plants. Gardening friends are everywhere. I even answered a gardening question for her. Someone called in and she said, “Oh wait a moment, there is a Master Gardener here”, naturally I took the phone call!!!!

I purchased new crocus - yellow with purple edges. I will try to get them planted in the next few days; this will give the bulbs time to make roots, whilst the ground is still warm. I am going to tell you a little about these wonderful little things, that are dried up and looking quite like little “Cinders”; suddenly the clock instead of striking midnight, becomes early spring and there are our “Cinderellas”! Usually first up are the snowdrops, followed by crocus and on and on, bringing us so much joy after our long cold winters.

We know that the Minoans on the isle of Crete grew and treasured crocus even before Greece became the center of the civilized world, that ancient Egyptians and Syrians prized iris, and that Sumerians cherished lilies (smart people). The Babylonians also cultivated various bulbs, probably in their famous hanging gardens, which was one of the seven wonders of the world.

People use the term bulb quite loosely, for instance I am often asked for lily bulbs because daylilies (Hemerocallis) have fleshy fibrous roots. It is easy to confuse them and many others that have lily-like flowers with the true lilies (Lilium) that grow from bulbs. The plants that we are going to discuss have bulbous underground stems that store nutrients during a dormant season, but technically they are not all true bulbs. Many grow from corms, rhizomes, tubers, or tuber-corms.

from corms, rhizomes, tubers, or tuber-corms. Onions, Lilies, and Tulips are classic examples of true bulbs. They all grow from enlarged buds surrounded by modified leaves called scales. On onions and tulips these may not look like scales because they are so densely packed together. Lily bulbs on the other hand, have loose and conspicuous scales that you can easily pick off one by one and, if you wish, can be used to start new plants. True bulbs always have pointed tops and divide naturally each year.

Tunicate bulbs, such as tulips, are enclosed within a papery outer cover described as a tunic, and the embryonic flower is fully formed inside it. While the bulb grows new bulbs from inside it, and as they grow, they emerge and finally split from the parent. These are called bulblets and often will flower the second year.

Even if we do not have a large space, there is always room for “a few more bulbs”. Even the horticulturists at Longwood gardens must work within limitations of space, climate, time, and budget just like the rest of us do. Fortunately unless we choose the newest cultivars, bulbous plants are inexpensive. Most spread naturally and do not need a lot of maintenance once that they are established.

Bulbs fit into many different spots in your garden - where you decide to put them will depend on their vigour, longevity and invasive habits, as well as their size, colour and blooming season. Daffodils for instance can be grown in your lawn although you may have to move them if the grass grows long enough to be mown in the spring time. When they have finished blooming, just dig them up and put them into a nursery space in your garden – remember to leave the leaves, they are the nourishment for next year’s flowers –gardeners must always think ahead!

Back to the bulbs:

Before you plant bulbs on your property, familiarize yourself with their needs, wants, and special characteristics. Spring bulbs, unlike most herbaceous plants do not have interesting foliage especially when they are not in bloom. Narcissus and tulips leaves can be downright unattractive for a month or more after the flowers fade - especially in a cool, damp, climate where the greenery lasts longer. You might want to set shallow-rooted bedding plants on top of deep rooted bulbs or tuck the bulbs in empty spots in the perennial border where the growing foliage of nearby herbaceous perennials will hide the dying greenery.

Don’t forget to plant some in containers; it is nice on those warm early spring days to sit, perhaps by the lake, near a container full of miniature daffodils, snowdrops etc. You can always move the containers into an inconspicuous spot once the flowers have faded. Plant some in pots or pretty containers, and force them - just put them in a cool dark spot. Once you see green sprouts poking through, bring them into the light, to enjoy when the winter winds are blowing outside. Of course sometimes it is just as simple to go to your super market and buy yourself a few pots of already blooming crocus etc. in February and March!!!!!

It is time to celebrate the Moon Festival:

The Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, is a popular Chinese celebration. It occurs on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. In the Western calendar, this usually occurs in September. On this day, the full moon is believed to be brighter and rounder than any other full moon during the year. Did you see the last full moon? It was huge and so very bright!

One of the Moon Festival legends is based on Hou Yi, a skilled archer, and Chang Er, his beautiful wife. Thousands of years ago, there were ten suns shining together, creating a scorching heat. When Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns, he was rewarded with the potion of immortality. However, a curious Chang Er found the potion and drank it, and flew to the moon where she still lives. To console Hou Yi, the gods offered him immortal life on the sun. Hou Yi is allowed to fly to the moon to reunite with his wife one day each year. That day, the moon shines with joy.

Moon Festival foods include round “moon like: fruits such as melons, pomegranates and pomelos (Chinese grapefruits). Another traditional food is the moon cake, a round pastry that contains fillings such as egg yolks and lotus seed paste. During the festival, family and friends gather to decorate lanterns and hold feasts under the moon. Bill and I went to a wonderful Chinese resturuant in Barrie to celebrate the moon festival – we ate, suckling pig, duck, moon cakes, and a special salad. It is so interesting to celebrate different customs.

I wonder if when Cicely Mary wrote these verses she had any idea as to how many children and adults would love them for so many years!

This Sunday is a special day at the Ecology Garden on Ashburnham, extension of Beavermead Park - it is the Fall Funfair. Come purchase some perennials and be sure to bid on the wonderful home made pies, available through a silent auction. The market will be open for veggies and compost and the Master gardeners will be there to answer your questions. Come and enjoy the afternoon from 1 to 4:30 pm

I found a little hard cover book called the Canadian Gardener’s Guide. I have no idea how old it is but it is full of little tid-bits for October 1 to 15:

-Hardy Lilies are often held over until spring but it is much better to plant them, when possible, in the autumn or early winter. This is particularly true as applied to Lilium Auratum, which deteriorates rapidly overwinter.

-Use plant food when setting out bulbs. If the soil is very hard or filled with clay, work in a liberal amount of sand or peat moss.

-Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths which are to be forced indoors must be buried in a trench outside or kept in either a cold frame or cool cellar for several weeks until root growth has started.

-Continue to make borders, heeling in plants that must be taken up temporarily until there is room to reset them. If perennials are not to be transplanted it is best to allow their tops to die down naturally, but be sure to remove all refuse this fall.

-Complete the planting of Madonna Lilies and Narcissus immediately.

My dears another week has fled and it is time to say goodnight – do not forget your sunscreen, hat, and gloves when you get outside into the sunshine. Good gardening to us!

Lovingly, Beryl