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June 2007
City Gardening by Wes Porter
JUNE IS BURSTING OUT ALL OVER!
Sansevieria – Drought-Tolerant Trees & Shrubs
Aboriginal Eats from Down Under – Gardening Web
Horticultural Happenings – News of Interest to Gardeners
Even environmentalists grow tomatoes. It is everybody’s favourite fruit – except the U.S. Supreme Court for whom it is a vegetable, according to a ruling rendered in 1893 by Justice Horace Gray. Botanists have a better take. Scientifically it is a fruit, technically a berry, and the legal profession be damned.
In Mexico, where the modern tomato was first obtained, it was added to stews made predominantly with the remains of sacrificial victims resulting from the Aztecs religious devotions. Brought back by the conquistadors (the berry, not religion), Europe took it to heart as well as other portions of their collective anatomy, declaring it to be an effective aphrodisiac.
Plant out tomatoes as soon as the beach bunnies emerge. Like their close cousins eggplants and peppers, tomatoes like it warm. Stake with at least a 6-foot, 2- x 2-inch stake to each plant. Position a tie below each truss of fruit. Old pantyhose are ideal for this task, but pose an interesting conundrum for bachelor gardeners.
The tomato plant belongs to a diverse group of species that release pollen only when their little salt shaker-like pollen organs receive intense vibration, notes a recent article in the weekly Science News. Saving you the embarrassment of visiting the local sex toy emporium, Sarah Greenleaf of the University of California, Davis, notes that solitary bees may also be pitching in to pollinate crops, especially the ones honeybees fumble – such as tomatoes. The bee species that do pollinate tomatoes grip the flowers and shiver their flight muscles without opening their wings. Here in Ontario, local hothouse tomato growers are known to employ bumblebees for just that purpose.
Weeding and watering are the watchwords for June. Neglect both at your peril. New plantings in particular require coddling for the first season. Regular deep watering and whipping away the first invasive weeds is but one of the crosses gardeners must bear. Of course ripping out weeds is a wonderful way to counter a rough week at work . . . Vegetables and fruit are both unforgiving of irregular applications of H2O.
Deadheading is another duty that gets underway this month. The novice should know that this has nothing to do with sending bureaucrats, politicians and similar lower forms of life to their just nirvana. It is the removal of dead or decaying blooms. By extension, also going for the chop could be diseased or pest infested growth, an excellent, non-polluting form of control.
Another suggestion, and how to reuse those clear plastic grocery produce bags, is to slip one over a pest-infested plant or part, drop in a mothball, tie off with a twisty and leave for an hour before removing. (Note to PETA: mothballs are naphthalene; they have nothing to do with emasculating lepidoptera.)
‘Black Lace’ Elderberry has been suggested as the ‘little black dress’ of the garden. As every woman knows however, what goes with that dress completes her coiffure. Last year, while writing on this sable Sambucus, Maureen Gilmore noted that, “because it is a dark value colour, you need to use light value colours beside it to exploit the contrast.”
And not only ‘Black Lace.’ Over the past few seasons, a burst of burgundy, maroon and purple foliaged shrubs have appeared in the horticultural field. Continuing, Gilmore warns of the perils of overdoing such plantings: “It is the dynamic contrast that gives black its punch in the garden. If you pair it with more analogous colours such as burgundy and purple you lose it entirely in a muddy mass of hues.”
Just like a string of pearls plays off that little black dress, eye-popping pink, silver, white or yellow petunias planted in the foreground and lush light- to medium-green hostas planted to the side would provide the needed contrast with ‘Black Lace.’ These will set off au fait such recent introductions as ‘Summer Wine’ or “Diablo’ ninebarks, ‘Midnight Wine’ or ‘Wine and Roses’ weigela – there seems to be a certain oenological influence here – even the smokebush ‘Grace.’
Pause now for a requiem. Union Products Inc. stopped producing the iconic pink flamingos, along with other lawn ornaments at its factory in Leominister, Massachusetts in June 2006. However, Mayor Dean Mazzarella plans to hold a party celebrating the creation’s 50th birthday this month on the Town Common, which he hopes to fill with flamingos. Local son Don Featherstone designed the original feathered fowl in 1957. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Sansevieria Returns to Fashion
Fred and Ginger swirled and twirled through 1930s movies past background planters lush with tropicals. Prominent amongst these were the strangely angular upright spikes of Sansevieria. Beloved to RKO studio’s greensman charged with supplying plants to the magnificent Art Deco sets from The Gay Divorcee of 1934 through five others to Carefree four years later, Sansevieria was the perfect architectural choice.
Fashions being fickle, for the next three-quarters of a century, the plant relinquished its prima donna status. Stark interiors, particularly for commercial buildings, now having returned to high fashion, so has this plant named in honour of Raimond de Sangro, Prince of Sanseviero (1710-71), a Neapolitan savant and patron of horticulture.
Taxonomists being taxonomists, there is some confusion as to Sansevieria family relations: some include it with the Liliaceae others choose the Dracaenaceae. Although centred in tropical and subtropical Africa, the perhaps 70 species of perennial rhizomatous herbs extend east through Arabia to India and Sri Lanka.
The form most often seen continues to be Sansevieria trifasciata. While on authority claims its origin as the east Congo region, others list west tropical Africa and Nigeria. This is confirms our own observations in the so-called orchard savannah of Nigeria south of the Sahel. There it flourishes at the base of various acacia, disdained even by the nomadic herds of Fulani cattle. Strangely, in the wild it has an extensive root system that is rarely repeated under container culture.
Since Sansevieria trifasciata is something of a mouthful, many plant stores sell it as Mother-in-Law’s Tongue. Doubtlessly some recently married took gleeful revenge upon their new matriarchal relation. In tropical landscaping, however, it is known as Snake Plant to the puzzlement of those from less salubrious climes. The explanation is simple: the growth habit of this plant with long, relatively narrow, upright foliage offers no concealment for serpents. Hence it has become a favourite to flank pathways as well as in pots on verandas and patios.
It also withstands neglect during droughts and flourishes in shade. Both are useful attributes for many a modern fashionista who tend to treat plants as they do people.
A dwarf form, Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Hahnii’ was discovered in Hahn’s famous New Orleans nursery in 1939. This has found favour especially amongst florists for their ubiquitous dish gardens. Coincidentally, it is the full size form that appears growing on top of walls in just that city in The Toast of New Orleans, a 1950 movie with the glorious voices of Katherine Grayson and Mario Lanza. It is an occupational hazard for horticulturists to admire such plants rather than the delightful Ms. Grayson.
There are other Sansevieria. Natal in southern tropical Africa produces the five-foot-high Sansevieria cylindrica with striped and furrowed foliage. It is even more architectural than its more northern occurring neighbour. The flowers tend to be pinkish in colour, unlike the greenish-white lightly scented ones of S. trifasciata.
The species appropriately known as African Bowstring Hemp, S. hyacinthoides, is also from southern Africa. Prior to the occurrence modern man-made fibres, this was of considerable importance as a natural source of such for cord and even paper production.
Whatever its industrial applications, this has to be one of the few great plants for those with poor memories and hectic lifestyles but a yearning for indoor greenery. Full sun or a few feet back from a north-facing window, water when the soil surface is bone dry, very light on fertilizer. Even cats, like the Fulani cattle, seem to respect it.
Drought Tolerant Shrubs & Trees
A couple of months ago we listed drought tolerant perennials. Time now for their woody relations. Even if Environment Canada’s predictions of a dry summer do not come to pass, municipalities are raising their water rates, the local environmental enthusiast is plotting an Anschluss, while the IPCC’s bovine deposits become ever more numerous. Seeking new plantings or replacing the old it could be wise to consult this modest list. Most are hardy in the Toronto area or less vigorous climes. A few are distinctly experimental – if you can find them. A further word of caution: woody plants may be regarded as drought tolerant when, and only when, they have become established. This will certainly take a couple of seasons, perhaps longer. Until then, plenty of tender loving care (TLC) and, if you must communicate with them, don’t talk them to death.
Abelia chinensis Chinese Abelia
Abelia hybrids Abelia
Abelia x grandiflora Glossy Abelia
Abeliophyllum distichum White Forsythia or Korean Abelialeaf
Abies concolor White Fir
Acanthopanax species Aralia
Acer buergerianum Trident Maple
Acer campestre Hedge Maple
Acer x freemanii ‘Celzam‘ Celebration Maple
Acer glabrum Rocky Mountain Maple
Acer negundo Box Elder or Manitoba Maple
Acer monspessulanum Montpelleir Maple
Acer tataricum Tartarian Maple
Alnus cordata Italian Alder
Amorpha canescens Leadplant
Amorpha fruiticosa False Indigo
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Bearberry
Artemisia tridenata wyomingensis Wyoming Big Sage
Atriplex species Saltbush
Baccharis halimifolia Groundselbush
Berberis thunbergii Barberry
Buddleia davidii Butterfly Bush
Buxus hybrids Boxwood
Buxus sempervirens English Boxwood
Callicarpa bodinieri Beautyberry
Callicarpa dichotoma Beautyberry
Caragana species, hybrids Peashrub
Caryopeteris x clandonensis Bluebeard
Ceanothus x pallidus California Lilac
Ceanothus sanguineus Red Stem Ceanothus or Wild Lilac
Celtis occidentalis Common Hackberry
Cephalotaxus harringtonia Plum Yew
Cercocarpus ledifolius Curlleaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus montanus True Mountain Mahogany
Chaenomeles species, hybrids Flowering Quince
Cistus laurifolius Laurel Rock Rose
Comptonia peregrina Sweet Fern
Cornus stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’ Yellowtwig Dogwood
Corylus colurna Turkish Filbert
Cotoneaster apiculatus Cranberry Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster dammeri Bearberry Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster horizontalis Rockspray Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster salicifolia Willowleaf Cotoneaster
Crataegus coccinoides Kansas Hawthorn
Crataegus viridis Green Hawthorn
Cytisus species Broom
Deutzia gracilis Slender Deutzia
Deutzia hybrids Deutzia
Diervilla sessilifolia Bush Honeysuckle
Diospyros virginiana American Persimmon
Elaeagnus angustifolia Russian Olive
Euonymus alatus Burning Bush
Forsythia x hybrids Forsythia
Fothergilla gardenii Bottlebrush or Dwarf Fothergilla
Fothergilla major Bottlebrush or Large Fothergilla
Fraxinus americana White Ash
Fraxinus mandshurica Manchurian Ash
Genista tinctoria Dyer’s Greenweed
Gymnocladus dioicus Kentucky Coffee Tree
Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon
Hippophae rhamnoides Sea Buckthorn
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Blue Bird’ Blue Bird Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ PeeGee Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia Oakleaf Hydrangea
Ilex crenata cvs. Japanese Holly
Ilex glabra Inkberry
Indigofera species Indigo
Juniperus communis Common Juniper
Juniperus horizontalis Creeping Juniper
Juniperus osteosperma Utah Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus virginiana Eastern Red Cedar or Pencil Cedar
Kolkwitzia amabilis Beauty Bush
Lespedeza bicolor Shrub Bush Clover
Lespedeza thunbergii Bush Clover
Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’ Cheyenne Privet
Ligustrum x vicaryi Vicary Golden Privet
Microbiota decussata Siberian Carpet
Morus alba tartarica Russian Mulberry
Myrica pensylvanica Bayberry
Oemleria cerasiformis Indian Plum or Osoberry
Ostrya virginicus Ironwood or American Hornbeam
Philadelphus lewisii Wild Mock Orange
Physocarpus opulifolius Ninebark
Picea abies Norway Spruce
Picea glauca Blue Spruce
Pinus edulis Pinyon Nut Pine
Pinus leucodermis Bosnian Pine
Pinus mugo pumila ‘Abruzzi-Maiella’ Dwarf Mugo Pine
Pinus nigra carmaniaca Turkish Black Pine
Pinus ponderosa scopulorum Black Hills Ponderosa Pine
Pinus thunbergii Japanese Black Pine
Populus x canadensis ‘Robusta’ Cottonless Cottonwood
Potentilla fruticosa Cinquefoil
Prunus virginiana Chokecherry
Quercus gambelii Rocky Mountain White Oak
Quercus prinus Chestnut Oak
Rhamnus frangula Buckthorn
Rhus aromatica Fragrant Sumac
Rhus copallina Flameleaf Sumac or Shining Sumac
Rhus glabra Smooth Sumac
Rhus glabra eismontane Western Smooth Sumac
Rhus trilobata Skunk Sumac
Rhus typhina Staghorn Sumac
Rosa ‘Morden Blush’ Modern Blush Rose
Rosa rugosa Rugosa Rose
Rosa setigera Prairie Rose
Salix matsudana ‘Navajo’ Navajo Globe Willow
Shepherdia argentea Silver Buffaloberry
Shepherdia canadensis Russet Buffaloberry
Spirea japonica Japanese Spirea
Symphoricarpos alba Snowberry
Tamarix species Tamarix
Ulmus japonica x wilsoniana Accolade™ Elm
Ulmus pumila Siberian Elm
Viburnum x burkwoodii Burkwood Viburnum
Viburnum lantana ‘Mohican’ Mohican Viburnum
Vitex agnus castnus Chaste Tree
Yucca filamentosa Adam’s Needle
Yucca glauca Spanish Bayonet
Zelkova schneideriana Schneider Zelkova
Children’s Gardening
What’s for Dinner? Aboriginal Eats from Down Under
The native people of Australia, usually known as the Aborigines, have lived there for at least 40,000 years. Although perhaps more famous for enjoying eating things such as insect grubs, budgerigars and kangaroos, at least half their food came from plants.
A few of these have found wider acceptance. Macadamia nuts, for example, are a tasty, if expensive, treat from a tree that grows in tropical Queensland. Macadamia farms now exist in Hawaii where the singer and movie star Julie Andrews once invested in them.
Thanks to their knowledge of nature and plants in particular, the Aborigines frequently survived where early white explorers died. In this respect they were very similar to Canada’s Arctic peoples, the Inuit and Innu, who also survived with ease where others came to disaster.
If you don’t know exactly what you are doing in such areas, things can be very dangerous. The fruit of the kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatim), a distant relative of eggplant and potato, can be eaten when they are ripe enough to drop of their bush. Bite into an unripe one, a serious poisoning can result.
Others look a little different from North American of European kinds but perfectly safe to be eaten also. Raspberries such as Rubus gunnianus, R. hillii and R. parvifolius are just such as are roots of the cumbingi (Typha spp.) that you probably know as cattails or bulrushes.
These latter are plants of marshes and waterside. Many other plant roots or underground parts were very important to the Aborigines, especially in the southern parts of Australia. Various yam tubers and lily bulbs where eagerly eaten along with the rhizomes of a bracken fern. In the drier central parts, grimly known by early settlers as the “Dead Heart of Australia,” seeds of grasses and trees were more important.
The gum trees, Eucalyptus, of Australia are famous. White Australians even had a saying, “up a gum tree,” indicating they were trapped and couldn’t get out by themselves. The manna gum (E. viminalis) oozes sap from wounds made by insects. This hardens into sweet ‘manna.’
If you know anybody who grows orchids, you can horrify them by telling how, one, the rock or king orchid (Dendrobium speciosum) was eaten. The pseudobulbs, or stems, were laid on hot rocks to bake.
Plants also provided the Aborigines with materials to build shelters, fibres for weaving and cords, as well as medicines and dyes. Even to hunt the marsupials and birds the Aborigines relied on plants to supply them with the necessary weapons. Their unique and famed boomerangs, certainly in use 10,000 years ago, are carefully crafted from the selected wood of she-oaks (Casuarina and Allocasuarina).
For more, visit Aboriginal Trail by Beth Gott at www.anbg.gov.au/anbg/aboriginal-trail.html
Gardening Web
Native Plant Nursery Goes Public
Last year, after 11 years as a successful wholesale nursery, Acorus Restoration also opened its doors to the public. If you are seeking a particular native plant and frustrated in your efforts to locate a local source, chances are that Acorus propagates it. Their catalogue list is little short of incredible, making for a fun browse at this site, which also includes a useful plant search feature.
But Acorus is a lot more than wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, vines, ferns, sedges, rushes – even cactus. An enormous acreage lends itself to wander the trails created through prairies, wetlands and woodlands. Discover these on your own or join guided walks offered through the season or sign up for any one of Acorus’ workshops. Check out the ‘events calendar’ on the home page.
Paul Morris of Acorus is a recognized ecological consultant. He and his dedicated staff are practical people who, as they say, are ‘leading by example.’ The images displayed here show they positively revel to get down in the soil and water. Consequently they know what is what when it comes to practical advice.
Interest continues to grow in native plants, making visiting this nursery a tempting day trip. Located in Walsingham, southwest Ontario, south of Tilsonburg and Woodstock, Acorus’ website includes a map to assist in discovering this delightful nursery. Check for opening hours prior to visiting.
www.ecologyart.com
Turf Tips from the Weed Man
“A healthy lawn generates oxygen, removes carbon dioxide and ozone from the air, reduces noise and temperatures, filters out ground water pollutants,” says this site from the Weed Man. If that isn’t enough, the site says, it also “reduces the vulnerability of your home to infestations and disease carried by insects and rodents.”
You want your lawn to do all this and probably more so, again turning to the Weed Man: “Trust the Professionals.” Customer Fact Sheets at this site advise on everything from aeration to winterizing the lawn. Included are the obvious queries to handling fertilization, watering and weeds along with bother from dog urine, moss and mushrooms. There is also a useful fact sheet on Integrated Pest Management.
Turf Tips covers more specific areas of pests, pathogens and weeds along with fresh looks into other cultural areas, not forgetting “Nature’s Touch.”
Despite eldritch cries of certain NGOs, lawn professionals do not necessarily cozy up to chemicals, as this site demonstrates. There is far more here for those not standing on the grass and bleating.
www.weed-man.com/fact_seets.asp?headinfo=lawncare
Living Walls
This just could be an idea whose time has come – outdoors and inside. Plant walls are by no means a new idea. In the past, however, they have been expensive to construct and laborious to maintain while usually not meeting with any great success. Thanks to new materials, technology and knowledge, this seems about to change.
Elevated Landscape Technologies of Brantford, Ontario, suggest you “send your garden up the wall” with their ELT Easy Green™ Living Wall System. These modular panels are constructed from UV resistant high density polyethylene plastic. Formed into a series of soil-filled cells, water flows down the back of the panel to saturate each cell without moving the soil with it. Outside, a soaker hose can be used for irrigation, and inside a drip tray system (which is included with indoor kits).
Hung on a fence or exterior wall outside, or indoor wall indoors using the sturdy mounting brackets, the planting is left to the owner’s choice, although suggestions are made on this web site. The concept was demonstrated at Montreal’s International Flora, claims ELT, surviving “the hot summer with minimal watering and care without any trouble.” The kits are available at some garden centres.
www.eltlivingwalls.com
Escape to Nature at the Naturium
If you have been tempted to establish a butterfly garden and checked out the Internet, it is often downright disheartening to discover a wealth of information from south o’ the border but little on Lepidoptera up here. The Greenway Blooming Centre seeks to change that through this website.
A sample plan for a butterfly garden is featured that is mercifully more practical than many seen elsewhere, along with tips on how to make your existing garden butterfly friendly. In summer, live butterflies abound in the Naturium gardens while inside are mounted specimens of those found in the area, so (hint, hint) a visit might be well worthwhile.
Meanwhile you can make use of the chart of some of the local butterflies, their caterpillar host plants together with those visited by the adults for nectar to feed upon.
If your lifestyle is as hectic as it is for some of these creatures, then the Naturium offers complete Butterfly Garden Kits in a variety of sizes to help you build an Eden of your own.
The Naturium is located just off Highway 7 on 2000 Shantz Station Road, Breslau (between Guelph and Kitchener, north of Cambridge). There is a neat map on the website or for specific inquiries call them at 519-648-2328 if the calendar of events and other features do nto answer your questions.
www.greenwaybloom.com/NATURIUM/natur_butergarden.html
Horticultural Happenings
Toronto Field Naturalists
Visitors and children are welcome at all TFN free outings but please, no pets. Walks go whatever weather prevails – check with 416-661-0123 and dress according to the forecast. Most walks begin and end close to TTC routes. Bring mosquito repellent, binoculars, camera, notepad plus, if desired, a snack and beverage. [Details of May outings were unfortunately received too late to include last month’s column]
5 June – Evening Ramble, Sunnybrook Park: meet 6:45 pm park entrance Leslie St, north of Eglinton E.
7 June – Rosetta McClain Gardens, Scarborough Lakefront: meet 2121 Kingston Rd; bring lunch
9 June – Plants and Nature, Rouge Valle: meet 10:30 am northeast corner Sheppard Ave. E, and Meadowvale Rd; bring lunch
9 June – Backyard Sustainability: meet 2 p.m. St. Clair subway station, south side St. Clair Ave. E.
10 June – Nature Walk, West Deane Park South: meet 10:30 am at northeast corner Rathburne Rd. and Martin Grove Rd.; morning only
13 June – Evening Ramble, Wards Island: meet 6:45 pm ferry docks foot of Bay St; plant identification
21 June – “Seeds of Change” Garden, Harbourfront: meet 2 pm at 245 Queen’s Quay Blvd. W. (John Quay)
24 June – Nature Walk, Humber Bay Park: meet 10 am at Humber streetcar loop; bring lunch
24 June – Nature Walk, High Park: meet 1:30 pm at park entrance Bloor W. at High Park Ave
27 June – Evening Ramble, Beechwood Valley: meet 6:45 pm Beechwood Dr. and O’Connor Dr.
Toronto Cactus and Succulent Club
3 June – Annual Show & Sale at Allan Gardens Conservatory, in the learning centre, Carleton east of Jarvis; free admission 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; more at www.torontocactus.tripod.com
19 June: monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. at Toronto Botanical Gardens, Lawrence & Leslie; visitors welcome; more at http://torontocactus.tripod.com/meetings.htm
Note: no meetings during July & August but picnics arranged at members’ homes; careful where you sit!
Toronto Entomologists’ Association
Summer field trips and other activities are posted at www.ontarioinsects.org
Toronto Mycological Society
Summer schedule will be posted at the website www.myctor.org
East York Garden Club
21 June – meets 7:30 p.m. at Stan Wadlow Community Centre, 373 Cedarvale Avenue; also has an excellent web site full of timely tips at www.eygc.ca
Beach Garden Society
19 June – meeting commences 7:30 p.m. at Adam Beck Community Centre, 79 Lawlor Avenue, Toronto
High Park Events
More information, please visit www.highpark.org, or call 416-392-1748
2 & 16 June – High Park Saturday Morning Naturalist Club for Kids 9:30 a.m. to noon
3 June – Savannah Planting 10:30 am to 1 pm
5, 12 & 19 June – Knee-High Naturalists Tuesday Afternoon Club 1:30 to 3 p.m.
17 June – Boulevard Bed Maintenance & Pot Luck Lunch 10:30 am to 1 pm
9 & 23 June – High Park Ramblers Hiking Club for Kids 9:30 a.m. to noon
26 June – Urban Forestry Site Maintenance 6:30 to 9 pm
Humber Arboretum
Located on the West Humber River in northwest Toronto, worth visiting for the gardens, forests, meadows and wetlands also has nature programs for schools and community groups, and workshops for teachers. Staff train students in Humber College’s School of Horticulture. Some of the many events this month:
2 June – mesmerizing mammals
9 June – inspiring insects
16 June – slither snakes
23 June The Return of the Trumpeter Swan
For details, visit www.humberarboretum.on.ca
Ian Wheal Walks
2 June – Timber Wolves of Garrison Common: meet 2 pm northwest corner Bathurst St. and King St. W.
16 June – North by Northwest: meet 2 pm northeast corner Gladstone Ave and Queen St. W.
Ian Wheal walks are free
Rouge Valley Hikes
Free hikes on Sunday afternoons organized by the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre, 1749 Meadowvale Road, north of Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto; more information at 416-282-8265,
10 June – Turtles of the Rouge: meet 1:30 pm Twyn Rivers Drive curve just east of bridge
24 June – Nature Walk: meet 1:30 pm Twyn Rivers Drive parking lot at former ski hill
Ontario Rock Garden Society
To check for summer activities and more information, visit www.onrockgarden.com.
Ontario Daylily Society
23 June – meeting commences 10 a.m at the Royal Botanical Garden, 680 Plains Road East, Burlington
Hamilton & District Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society
11 June – meeting 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Botanical Gardens Centre, 680 Plains Road E., Burlington
Heritage African Violet Society
26 June – monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. Holy Trinity Anglican Church Hall, 120 Fennell Avenue East, Hamilton,
Ancaster Horticultural Society
19 June – monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. Old Town Hall, 300 Wilson St. E., Ancaster
Burlington Horticultural Society
13 June – monthly meeting 7:30 p.m., Seniors’ Centre, 2285 New Street, Burlington
Orchid Society of the Royal Botanical Gardens
25 June – monthly meeting Rooms 3 & 4 at the RBG Centre, 680 Plains Road East, Burlington, commencing 2 p.m.
Brampton Flower Parade
16 June – Around two-dozen floral floats and marching bands celebrate Brampton’s past as Canada’s ‘Flowertown’ commencing 2 p.m. Plenty to see and do also with an artists’ way, farmers’ market and much else in Canada’s 11th largest city while noting how many streets have floral associations.
Casa Loma Gardens
Four acres of gardens can be visited free on Tuesday evenings from 4 p.m. to dusk at the famous Toronto ‘Castle on the Hill’ from May through October; more at www.casaloma.org/gardens
Toronto Botanical Gardens
Formerly known as the Civic Garden Centre, nirvana for area gardeners with many ongoing events and courses, plus a superb library, book and gift stores; Lawrence at Leslie; at www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca
Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton
The place to head for horticultural happiness west of Toronto; many meetings, courses and much more; located at 680 Plains Road East, Burlington; more information www.rbg.ca
2 June – Garden Getaway for Mom: a day of indulgence; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at RBG Centre; members $105, non-members $115
3 & 10 June – Iris and Peony Collection in the Laking Garden has to be experienced to be believed, astounding for sight and scent, along with the perennial borders and hosta walk
16 June – Summer Pruning Workshop: 1 to 4 p.m. at RBG Centre/Hendrie Gardens; members $23.50, non-members $28; register by 6 June
23 June – 3 B’s for Dad: barbecue, beer and boats; 1 to 5 p.m. at RBG Centre & Nature Centre; members $68, non-members $73
24 June – Rose Celebration in the Hendrie Park Gardens features two acres of roses in full bloom
June – dependent upon season the RBG Auxiliary Used Tulip Bulb Sale will take place on a Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Arboretum; stock up for fall planting now; check for exact date at www.rbg.ca/pages/events_annual.htm
Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens
Almost 100 acres established in 1936 in conjunction with the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and located 6 km north of the Falls, this is worth several visits during the growing season. The rose garden with 2,400 roses is world famous; also noted are perennial gardens, vegetables and herbs, rhododendrons, butterfly garden and conservatory and the arboretum. www.niagaraparks.com/nature/botanical.php
Acorus Restoration
9 June – Water gardens, ponds and wet areas commencing 10 a.m.
24 June – North American native herbs
1 July – Canada Day hike commences 10 a.m.
Acorus operates a large native plant business near Walsingham, Ontario. www.ecologyart.com
Epic’s Festival of Plants
24 June – Opportunity to visit this outstanding wholesale nursery at Niagara-on-the-Lake, 9 am to 4 pm; tour the facilities and gardens, discover new varieties under trial, purchase plants (proceeds donated to the Canadian Cancer Society); RSVP inquire@epicplants.com
Merlin’s Hollow, Aurora
9 June – 181 Centre Crescent, Aurora: organic garden with over 200 different perennials owned by gardener and landscape architect David Tomlinson and Dierdre Tomlinson; hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; plants for sale on this day and the other two in July when they are open to the public. Phone: 905-727-8979
Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa
Heavy on horticultural history, despite the agricultural association, once threatened now preserved thanks to the Friends of the Farm and home of many events of interest to gardeners; more at www.friendsofthefarm.ca
June Tour of Rose & Explorer Rose Gardens – dates dependent upon season, a guided tour of two of the most amazing collections; free admission
Maplelawn Historic Garden
Historic Ottawa walled garden is open daily, dawn to dusk, without charge for “quiet enjoyment.” Restored and maintained by volunteers since 1993, well worth visiting; www.maplelawngarden.ca
Mackenzie King Estate
“Rated #2 of all Hull things to do,” says the website. Canada’s long-serving prime minister was a keen if at times somewhat eccentric gardener. His 230-hectare estate, left to the nation, is open until 17 October 11am-5pm weekdays, 10am-6pm weekends & holidays; more at www.canadascapital.gc.ca/attractions
Rideau Hall
The landscaped grounds of the Governor General’s Ottawa residence are open 8 a.m. to one hour before sunset; details www.gg.ca/visitus
Butchart Gardens
Until 30 September – Out on the west coast Butchart invites you to Summer in the Gardens with ‘ravishing floral displays greeting you at every turn;’ the public gardens are a short distance from Victoria, B.C.; more at www.buchartgardens.com
VanDusen Botanical Garden Show
7 to 10 June – Vancouver is undoubtedly one of the best in the west; phone 604-687-4780 or visit the web site at www.vancouvergardenshow.com
Carnivorous Plant Show
Through 4 November – Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco, California (www.conservatoryofflowers.org) Alas, no triffids to dispose of meanie greenies, bungleaucrats, perfidious politicians or other awful offal but a fascinating look at these ever-popular and mostly insectivorous plants.
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