Show from June 4, 2006

Flowers

Good morning gardeners. What a beautiful day. It was just like mid-summer yesterday and the garden is responding with everything in bud. And my tree peony bloomed this year! Have you ever seen a tree peony? This one is a single flowered one. The huge, silky blossoms are a bright rose colour with molten gold centres. The leaves are a soft gray green. It's all together a beautiful plant even when it's not in bloom.

The rest of the peonies are in fat bud almost ready to burst into bloom beside the lupins that have been self sowing in the garden for many years. And the roses are also in bud with no sign of the dreaded black spot that has plagued them for the past two years. I am watching carefully, though, and I have my teaspoon of baking soda and a drop of dish detergent ready to put into a litre of water to spray the leaves at the first sign of this awful fungal disease. This solution also works to prevent powdery mildew as well.

Another plant I simply adore is Hesperis matronalis or dames rocket. It has flower heads rather like phlox, without as many florets. The ones I have are white, but they are often seen as mauve or pink. Dames rocket comes from the Mediterranean but has naturalized in Canada and can be found growing wild in shady places along roadsides in Eastern Manitoba and throughout Ontario. At evening it exudes a spicy, clove-like scent.

I love scented flowers. And two of the star performers in the garden are about to bloom. My Lady's bedstraw, a wildflower that I have introduced into the garden has a heavenly scent so wonderful that legend has it that it was used to line the manger where the Christ child was born. It is a small plant with panicles of tiny white flowers.

The other highly scented plant is the eight foot tall valerian. This is a plant that has been cultivated for centuries for its medicinal properties. Valerian officinalis root is used as a sedative to aid sleep and it is said that mothers used to put valerian flowers in babies' pillows to aid their sleep. The flowers are frothy sprays of white and quite beautiful. One caution. Valerian and be quite invasive if you don't deadhead very rigorously.

The gas plant, Dictamnus albus, is also in bloom. It's a long lasting perennial that takes little care and resents being moved. While it will self sow, it takes up to four years for the plants to bloom, so don't expect wide swaths of colour right away. It's a pretty plant, about 12 to 18 inches tall with one-inch pale pink flowers growing on 24 to 36 inch spikes. It will eventually from a clump about two feet wide, producing many flower stalk that last for quite a few weeks.

This is a particularly interesting plant because in dry weather, it exudes a flammable oil that can be ignited without harming the plant. All parts of the plant are aromatic, smelling of lemon when crushed.

It's such an adventure to get up every morning and travel to the garden to see what wonders have occurred overnight. I love to see the flowers in their final stags of budding and when they first open. They're so perfect and fresh and the petals unfold like butterfly wings.

Speaking of butterflies, I had a huge monarch in the garden last week. He was very attracted to the large purple alliums. He posed beautifully for my camera, sitting drunkenly on the flowers for long minutes while I snapped some very up close and personal pictures. Isn't summer wonderful?

Well, just before I introduce my guest, I want to remind you that today is Arbour Day in the park. We have a grand celebration planned with lots of fun for the kids and a tree planting ceremony at noon, so be sure to drop by and celebrate our trees. And remember, cankerworm season is nearly over, but if you want to avoid the worms in your trees next summer, all the Coalition to Save to elms now and make an appointment to have your trees banded in late August, early September. The Coalition also takes the bands down.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

By the way folks. If you're at home during the day, tune into CTV at noon on Thursdays to get the latest gardening tips. Again this year, Karen Mitchell and I will be talking about gardening and showing you what you can do to make your garden grow better. That's Thursdays at noon on CTV.

GARDEN SPACE

Do you want to start your own vegetable garden but don't have enough room? Well I have the answer for you. Contact Wallace Steiner at 489-9726 or Al Siis at 489-9305 to enquire about garden space at Corydon and Lindsay. Now I'm going to give you those numbers again: it Wallace Steiner at 489-9726 or Al Siis at 489-9305 for garden space at Corydon and Lindsay.