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May 2008
City Gardening by Wes Porter
MOTHER’S DAY OFFERINGS FROM GODDESS FLORA
A View of What Is New: The Natural Way to Pest Control
Catalogue Review: Vineland Nurseries
Children: So You Want to Start a Vegetable Garden
Horticultural Happenings + News of Interest to Gardeners
Many, many years ago a popular musical, Naughty Marietta, came to the stage. Subsequently, plant breeders having the same savour-faire as they do today, the name was bequeathed to a new marigold. Hence the delightful description of this Tagetes in an English seed catalogue: “‘Naughty Marietta’ is good for warm bedding.”
The home improvement purveyors and similar retail Reeperbahn label such plants ‘annuals.’ Even more than before, however, many are not annuals but tender tropical perennials. Once danger of frost is over and temperatures like gardener’s hopes are on the rise, these plants are candidates for warm bedding. Avoiding maidenly blushes, though, they often become bedding plants.
Not everyone has been enamoured with them. Sir William Hooker disliked formal bedding because it was both botanically boring and wasteful of gardeners’ time, explained Wilfred Blunt of the famed 19th-century director at Kew Gardens. Blunt went on to complain of the “grinning, screaming bedding-out plants” to be found there in 1978. Fifty years earlier, Gertrude Jekyll had expressed her displeasure at “lines of blue, yellow and scarlet.”
Despite this, everywhere one looks in the week proceeding Mother’s Day, bedding plants proliferate. As one of our favourite poets, Ogden Nash, penned a number of years ago:
Oh, Mother’s Day is a very fine day,
And not alone for mothers.
The florist finds it to his taste,
And so do a lot of others.
This Merry May of 2008, Mother’s Day falls on the 11th, by strange coincidence preceded on 10th by International Migratory Bird Day (www.birdday.org) and followed on 12th by Canada Health Day, which latter also happens to by Nurses Day. Doubtlessly nurses and mothers alike, and surely others, would appreciate such as gifts although for nurses terming them even as “bedding plants” may be misconstrued.
The Roman goddess of flowers and the spring was Flora. In the days of Ancient Rome, her festival was celebrated at the end of April and the beginning of May. How appropriate that horticultural hybridizers have been busy of late with additions for devotees of hortus.
The past few seasons have seen a positive plethora of such marvels as the South American Brugmansia shrubs, or angel’s trumpet, in white, pinks, yellows and even reds, some deliciously fragrant at night.
Although familiar to travellers in the tropics of the Old World, Bougainvillea originated in Brazil. The scrambling, woody vine, like the Poinsettia, fools us with what look like spectacular, profuse blooms, are actually bracts, botanically highly modified leaves. The true flowers are easily overlooked, hidden inside these bracts. Trust botanists to be busily peering at plants’ sexual organs.
Incidentally, if the odd poinsettia is still around, they make a fine centrepiece for a container planting, with the dead bracts cut away and the normal green foliage permitted to develop.
Perhaps not so easy to find is Cordyline terminalis ‘Chocolate Queen’ but worth it for an astounding centrepiece change from the overused ‘Spike.’ Up to two-feet tall, it has cream-edged purple leaves with reddish veins that mature to chocolate.
Ornamental banana plants have been making gains the past few years. Ensete ‘Tandarra Red’ has lush purple-red foliage to add a dramatic touch to patio plantings. Musa sumatrana ‘Zebrina’ is another banana that grows to about 5 feet tall. The foliage is maroon on the underside, red and green mottled on top. Yet another somewhat smaller ornamental banana is Musa ‘Hi Color Mint’ which, unlike its cousins, produces edible fruit.
There is now a black leaf philodendron with bright pink variegation, ‘appropriately named Pink Princess.’ Unlike most philodendrons though, this requires bright light to bring out the glorious foliar colour
Not all warm bedding exotics require blazing sun. Tropicanna® Black Canna, for example, requires some shade or its red-orange flower spikes to reach up to six feet over almost black foliage. Spectacular when used in large containers or as a focal point in a shaded city townhouse garden.
Stranger and stranger, as a small girl once remarked under somewhat different circumstances, that retail outlets appear aloof from advising on how to save these tender perennials from year to year. Are we not urged on every hand to save the planet’s resources? Better yet, most make splendid houseplants when overwintered indoors, conspicui divitiis, veste fulgentes, circumdati assentatione multorum, as the Latin tag has it. We will return to the subject at a later and appropriate date.
Those with dubious taste have defined Mother’s Day as nine months after Father’s Day. How could though the Fates have decided that this year’s Victoria Day Monday be followed on Tuesday by a Full Moon. Then Thursday, 22nd May, sees International Day for Biological Diversity, including bureaucrats, even those whose natural habitat is the UN, recently recognized by Peter Foster as Socialistus rattus rattus.
Although excitement mounts with merchants at the prospect of Victoria Day weekend in truth, many gardeners have forsaken the traditional spring extravaganza. True, the risk of cool weather remains, but many annuals and most vegetables can be planted or seeded earlier in the month. Others, such as tender impatiens, begonias, canna, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant can be delayed a week or two. Doubtlessly some overwrought retailers will already reduce their prices by that time.
It will be the wise gardener, however, who forsakes the allure of cut-price big box store plants as well as the annual extravaganza laid on by assorted supermarkets. A survey at the end of April showed all manner of plants arriving in good to excellent condition. Just 24 hours later, massive wilting was apparent as the mass merchandisers failed to assign staff to watering.
This month, one of the principle tasks is to apply nutrients. Natural or artificial, granulated fertilizer are required by lawns, perennials, shrubs, evergreens, trees and even spring-flowering bulbs, boosting the latter for next season’s display – gardeners are ever planning ahead.
Plants in containers, both outside and indoors, will benefit from feeding with liquid fertilizer on a monthly basis. While many manufacturers recommend biweekly fertilizing, we achieve equally satisfactory results at four weekly intervals. It might occur to the more cynical that the manufacturers’ suggested rate would double their sales, but we find it difficult to attribute such devious behaviour to them.
Beyond these activities, mowing, edging, weeding, deadheading continue apace. Keep an eye out also for early pests. Other than these, recline back and watch the neighbours become osteopathic fodder.
It only remains to note that 28th May is the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming (1908-64), creator of James Bond novels. Born in London, he served with Reuters in Moscow 1929-33, became a London banker and stockbroker 1933-39. British naval intelligence in World War II gave him inspiration for his future writing, although first he was foreign manager Sunday Times 1945-59. His first acclaimed Bond novel, Casino Royale, appeared in 1953.
By strange coincidence, Monte Carlo’s casino opened 13 May 1858 and dedicated by the local bishop who assured that in the right cause gambling was no sin. It was banned at the time everywhere else in Europe.
All trivia that has absolutely nothing to do with gardening although it is passing strange that, unlike Naughty Marietta, no trace of superspy 007 appears commemorated in horticultural fashion. A pesticide, perhaps?
A VIEW OF WHAT IS NEW: THE NATURAL WAY TO PEST CONTROL
Nematodes Offer Natural Control
It was Koppert Biological Systems (www.koppertonline.ca) that put us onto the nattering nabobs of nematode natural control. Not all offerings of nematodes are alike and, as we were told, it is a wide-open field with few controls. A good resource, Koppert let us onto, was Ohio State University where much research has been completed.
In brief, nematodes are minute worms with thousands of species classified. Most are harmless, a few nuisances on crops and ornamentals. Some are parasitic on animals, humans included. Then there are the beneficial nematodes that prey on some of our worst garden pests.
Often these are very specific in their targets. In order to achieve effective control they also have to be present in fairly high numbers. Retailers may mention neither of these facts.
Koppert supplies retailers with three different controls. Terranem is white grub controlling package of 50 million nematodes that rejoice in the name of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. This is sufficient for 2500 ft² of lawn (230 m²), the size of that surrounding an average suburban home. They should be applied to moist soil with temperatures 14ºC to 33ºC.
Koppert also supplies Capsanem for control of crane fly larvae (leatherjackets), side webworm, iris borer, cutworms and caterpillars.
Natural Insect Control (www.natural-insect-control.com) also offers the similar pest controlling nematodes. Since these are raised in Canada, this company claims them to be more cold tolerant, down to 10ºC. They are also said to be more aggressive, harvested the same day as they are shipped a live host raised for faster control and natural affinity for the grubs. They mix species for feasting on “lawn grubs,” leather jackets, root weevils, iris borer even fleas and other pests. Natural Insect Control also carries an impressive range of other items.
BioLogic Company (www.biologicco.com) is a Willow Hill, Pennsylvannia based company that also carries different species of nematodes for many purposes. Scanmask™ is their preparation of Steinernema feltiae to hunt down more than 20 pests including root maggots, cutworks, weevil grubs, and borers. For root weevils and white grubs though they recommend Heteromask™ or our old friend, Heterorhabditis species. They also offer an unnamed nematode in Termask™ preparation to kill subterranean termites. When we met them last October, we were assured they shipped these into Canada.
Chafer Traps and Waspinators
Back in the early days of British television, the BBC advised viewers prior to a possibly controversial show that, “persons of a nervous disposition should not watch the following program.” The following two items might cause consternation to similarly inclined people when displayed in the garden.
Bad enough what appears to be a large wasp nest hanging from a tree or under the eaves, but below, on the ground, an aircraft delivered bomb? Rest easy. It is only your environmentally concerned neighbour practicing natural pest control.
The white “bomb” is trap for adult rose chafer beetles. These pests are unusual in that they feed on garden plants in both their larval and adult stages. Nor is their feasting limited to what their name would appear to indicate. Frustrated gardeners may find them on almost anything green, it sometimes seems.
The adults are active in May through June, with the females laying eggs in early July. The resulting larvae hatch within two weeks and feed on roots until fall. While the larvae may succumb to applications of parasitic nematodes, the adults are less easy to destroy – until these ‘bombs’ are positioned in early May.
The Waspinator is based on an old remedy, works without chemicals and does not attract yellow jacket wasps to a trap with sweetened liquids. Instead, it looks like a paper wasp nest. Hung near a deck, under a patio umbrella or from the eaves, and wasps are repelled from the area.
Since this deterrent device does not destroy them though, the yellow jackets are free to continue elsewhere, preying on many garden pests. These wasps are in fact the ‘hawks’ of the insect world, swooping down in seek-and-destroy missions to rid the garden of many a parasitic pest.
Definitely inadvisable, however, is use of the Rose Chafer Trap by those on Ogilvie Road in Gloucester, Ontario, location of the Canadian Security & Intelligence Service. Unless, of course, they interview Susan Cavey, operations manager at Natural Insect Control first. (www.natural-insect-control.com)
Catalogue Review
Vineland Nurseries
4540 Martin Road, Beamsville, Ontario L0R 1B1
Phone/Fax 905-562-4836
Catalogue $2
Jim and Simone Lounsberry opened Vineland Nursery three decades ago. It remains a horticultural paradise for those seeking unusual woody plants. And it continues to decline to go online or sport an e-mail address. True, there is a combined fax/phone number but, to paraphrase the bard, the catalogue is the thing.
Small and slim yes, but then the typeface, while clear, borders on the miniscule. This matches the plants, which are frequently small of not outright dwarf and so ideal for urban gardens where space is not infrequently less than generous.
Apart from an excellent selection of rhododendrons and azaleas, others that flourish in similar cultural conditions include choices of Andromeda, Arctostaphylos, Kalmia and Pieris, all available in this Niagara Peninsular outlet. Other choice shrubs difficult or impossible to source locally include hardy bamboos, winter hazel, white forsythia, daphnes, witchhazels, redbuds, Russian arborvitae, sweetgum and many others.
Vineland Nurseries are also renown for their dwarf firs, false cypress, spruce, pines, white cedar and Canadian eastern hemlock along with one of the most extensive selections of Japanese maples anywhere. The last few years have also seen a growing number of choice hardy hydrangeas.
From Toronto, on the QEW, turn south on Victoria Avenue in Vineland (exist 57), turn right onto Greenlane, then left on the first road which is Martin. Vineland Nurseries is on the right hand side. One needs only to add that this is in the heart of Ontario’s wine country with vineyards on every hand happy to have you, like Jim and Simone, drop by.
Children’s Gardening
So You Want to Start a Vegetable Garden?
Food safety and supply are other issues. Likewise transporting food to distant destinations from countries with questionable health habits.
So you would think everyone with a sunny back yard, even a deck or balcony, would be eager to grow at least some of their vegetables and fruit. Sure, it takes a little learning, time and work. But if you’re really concerned about what you eat, where it comes from and how it is grown then you want to start your own home farm.
Here’s what you will need:
Sun – at least six hours a day, much better if eight or more hours
Soil – easy to dig, well drained, with no roots from nearby trees or bushes
Water – reliable supply every day: this is the biggest ‘trick’ to successful veggie growing
Fertilizer – dry ‘granular’ (natural or artificial) plus liquid for hungry crops such as tomatoes
Tools – digging spade to prepare vegetable garden; gravel rake to level soil; trowel and hoe also useful
Seeds – cost less than already-growing seedlings and better selection at garden centres; follow the directions on the packages; don’t overcrowd, a very common error
Containers – pots, hanging baskets at least 10-inches diameter; window boxes 10- by 10-inches on end
Space – you can get lots into a small area; 10- by 10-feet is 100 square feet, enough for your first year
Posts – tomatoes, cucumbers and pole beans do best, take up less space, grown up 8-foot, 2- by 2-inch square stakes hammered two feet into the ground; or use fences to support your crops
Potting Soil – garden soil doesn’t work in pots; use special mixtures labeled for containers
Big Plants – zucchini and pumpkins are fun but take up lots of space, at least 20 square feet for each plant
Heat – most vegetable plants like it hot but usually lettuce and spinach hate it; plant and harvest them early
Horticultural Happenings
Toronto Cactus & Succulent Club
20 May – Monthly Meeting: commences 7:30 pm at the Toronto Botanic Garden, southwest corner Lawrence & Leslie; for more, visit http://torontocactus.tripod.com
Oakville African Violet Society
28 May – Monthly Meeting commences 7:30 p.m. White Oaks High School, North Campus, 1055 McCraney Avenue, entrance west side of building behind greenhouse; more at http://members.tripod.com/~oavs/
Ontario Rock Garden Society
11 May – Monthly meeting commences 12 noon with socializing ‘picnic lunch’ with the main speaker scheduled for 1:30 pm. This month join Des Kennedy ’The Gardens of China’ and ‘Passionate Encounters in the Garden’ at the Toronto Botanical Gardens, 777 Lawrence Avenue East at Leslie Street; www.onrockgarden.com
Ontario Daylily Society
17 May – Babysitting program and plant sale; commences 10 am Royal Botanical Gardens Centre, 680 Plains Road East, Burlington, Ontario; for further details, visit www.ontariodaylily.on.ca
Society of Ontario Nut Growers
4 May – Spring Auction Meeting: commences 1 pm at the Toronto Botanic Garden, southwest corner of Lawrence at Leslie; “nut tree galore and more;” free admission, visitors welcome as always.
North American Native Plant Society
10 May – Annual Wildflower Sale: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Markham Civic Centre, 101 Town Centre Boulevard; details at www.naps.org
Toronto Field Naturalists
4 May – Monthly Meeting: Fathom Five National Marine Park; commences 2 p.m. Room 001 (one floor below street level), Emmanuel College, 75 Queen’s Park Crescent East (east entrance Museum subway stop), all visitors welcome!
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 binoculars, camera, notepad plus, if desired, a snack and beverage. For further details of these and other walks visit www.torontofieldnaturalists.org.
10 May – Don Valley Nature Walk: meet 10:30 a.m. northeast corner O’Connor Drive and Beechwood Drive; bring lunch
11 May – Aggie’s Wildflowers Lost Rivers Walk: meet 1 p.m. Lambton House, 4066 Old Dundas Street West
13 May – Wilket Creek Nature Walk: meet 1:30 p.m. entrance to gardens, Lawrence at Leslie
17 May – Wilket Creek Nature Walk: meet 10:30 a.m. entrance to gardens, Lawrence at Leslie; bring lunch
21 May – Rouge Park Evening Ramble: meet 6:30 p.m. Pearse House, 1749 Meadowvale Road
22 May – Centennial Park Plants: meet 10 a.m. west end of Rathburn Road at Mill Road; bring lunch
24 May – Highland Creek Nature Walk: meet 10 a.m. southeast corner Lawrence & Beechgrove, bring lunch
27 May – Wigmore Ravine Wildflowers: meet 10:30 a.m. Sloane Avenue Public School, 110 Sloane Avenue north of Eglinton E.; bring lunch
28 May – Toronto Botanical Garden Evening Ramble: meet 6:45 p.m. entrance to gardens, Lawrence at Leslie; azaleas and rhododendrons
31 May – Rouge Beach Park Birds & Butterflies: meet 10 a.m. Rouge Hill GO station; bring lunch
High Park, Toronto
An active organization in central-west Toronto; for further details visit www.highpark.org
3, 17 & 31 May – Saturday Morning Naturalist Club for Kids 9:30 am to Noon
4 May – Native Plant Sale commences 10:30 a.m.
6, 13, 20 & 27 May – Knee-High Naturalist Tuesday Club 9:30 to 11 am & 1:30 to 3 pm (13 & 27 May p.m. only)
10 & 24 May – Ramblers Hiking Club for Kids 9:30 am to Noon
11 May – Walking Tour: Returning Migratory Birds 10:30 a.m. to noon
11 May – Garlic Mustard Control 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
25 May – Walking Tour: Amphibians and their Habitats 10:30 a.m. to noon
Ian Wheal Walks
31 May – Green Railways Community Gardens: free walk commencing 2 p.m. southwest corner of King Street West and Strachan Avenue
Toronto Botanical Gardens
A paradise outside and in awaits area gardeners at Lawrence Avenue East and Leslie Street in Toronto. Event follows event, activity after activity, with just a sampling listed here – check www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca for details (events/calendar)
6 May – What Is a Proven Winner? 7:30 pm public $15/TBG members free
8 May – Gorgeous Combinations: Planting a Work of Art 7 to 9:30 pm public $35/members $30
11 May – Style Series 2008: Mother’s Day Event
14 May – The Iris: Rainbow of Colour 7 to 9:30 pm public $35/members $30
14 to 18 May – Plant Collectibles Sale
18 May – Style Series 2008 Container Planting
21 May – Native Plants for North American Gardens 7 to 9:30 pm public $15/TBGmembers free
27 May – Drought Tolerant Plants & Hardy Succulents 7 to 9:30 pm public $35/members $30
Toronto Region Conservation Authority
A large number of programs conducted each month, some of interest to gardeners; details www.trca.on.ca
1 May – Black Creek Pioneer Village opens for 48th season: 10 am to 4 pm
3 May – Valleywood Healthy Yards Workshop at Margaret Dunn Library 10 am to noon
6 May – Rooftop to Garden: Rain Barrel Workshop 6:60 to 7:30 pm Scarborough Arts Council
10 May – Rockwood Healthy Yards Workshop at Burnhamthorpe Community Centre 10 am to noon
11 May – Mother’s Day Brunch & Hike at Kortright Centre 11 am to 1 pm
Gardens of Casa Loma
1 May – Four acres of spectacular speciality gardens open daily 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the end of October on an escarpment overlooking downtown Toronto; garden passes $15 valid for 10 individual admissions.
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
1 & 3 May – RBG Auxiliary Plant Sale in the Arboretum; many rare and beautiful plants go on sale to the public; one of the events of the year in southern Ontario gardening calendar.
3 & 4, 10 & 11 May – Tulip Celebration in the Rock Garden 10 am to 5 pm
11 May – Mother’s Day at the Gardens: brunch at the teahouse, free guided tours, more
17 & 19, 24 & 25 May – Lilac Celebration in the Arboretum/Lilac Dell: 10 am to 5 pm; chance to experience one of the world’s foremost Syringa collections
Orchid Society of Royal Botanical Gardens
11 May – Monthly Meeting: commences 1 pm in Rooms 1 & 2 Royal Botanical Gardens Centre, 680 Plains Road East, Burlington, Ontario; www.osrbg.ca
Hamilton Naturalists Club
This very active organization conducts regular outings and meetings year-round for both adult and junior naturalists; included here is a sampling to interest gardeners; visit www.hamiltonnature.org for details of specific activities and further information of the HNS.
3 May – Early Spring Flowers: Cootes Paradise commences 1:30 pm; call Dean Gugler and Fleur-Ange Lamother at 519-647-2371
11 May – Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve: spring wildflowers, birds, amphibians; meet 9 am and bring lunch; further details contact Brian Wylie 905-627-4601
12 May – Monthly Meeting commences 7:30 pm at Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Rd W., Burlington; Lorraine Johnson talks on “Natural Treasures of Carolinian Canada”
Westfield Heritage Village
17 May – Plant Sale Spectacular: 8 am to noon; perennials from experienced who are ‘Friends of Westfield,’ near Rockton, about a half-hour from the GTA; details www.westfieldheritage.ca/
Brampton ‘Flower City’
17 May – Brampton Horticultural Society Plant Sale: commences 9 a.m. sharp at Flower City Seniors Recreation Centre, 8870 McLaughlin Road South, Brampton.
27 May – Rhododendrons & Azaleas with Marjorie Hancock of Woodland Nursery with the Brampton Horticultural Society, commencing 7:15 p.m. at Flower City Seniors Recreation Centre, 8870 McLaughlin Road South, Brampton.
Kingston Horticultural Events
10 May – Kingston Horticultural Society Dinner with Ed Lawrence; limited number of tickets at $25 each (megadens@cogeco.ca); Kingston Gospel Temple, 2295 Princess Street, Kingston; doors open 5:30 p.m.
31 May – Art in the Garden: show 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Cataraqui Canadian Tire Garden Centre, 2560 Princess Street, Kingston
Canadian Tulip Festival
2 to 19 May: More than three million tulips on Ottawa’s Tulip Route which follows the Rideau Canal to the Parliament Buildings, and Major’s Hill park, then across the Ottawa River to the Outaouais. All the tulip events are free at the ‘festival without fences.’ Details at www.tulipfestival.ca
Friends of the Central Experimental Farm
A volunteer group whose aim is to maintain the historic Ottawa Central Experimental Farm from where so many remarkable plants and research has emerged. More at www.friendsofthefarm.ca.
11 May – Rare & Unusual Plant Sale: 9 am to 1 pm at K. W. Neatby Building, Carling Ave., admission fee: $5 or donation to food bank
8 May – Lecture: What You Need to Know Before Buying Plants & Trees: 7 to 9 pm Building 72 Arboretum, $12 members/$15 nonmembers
13 May – Historical Walk with Bob McCelland 7 to 9 pm. Building 72 Arboretum, members $12/nonmebers $15
24 May – Lilac Tours: 2 pm & 3 pm at Macoun Gardens; free admission
31 May – Iris Tours: 10am & 11 am at the Iris Beds, Ornamental Gardens; free admission
Friends of Rideau Park
A National Capital Commission activity; more www.canadascapital.gc.ca
11 May – Frog Chorus
6 & 13 May – Spring Flowers
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
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
Prime dates this month for the various displays and their locations at this and other Niagara Parks:
All May – Hydrangeas at Niagara Parks Floral Greenhouse
12 May to 15 June – Lilacs adjacent to the Floral Clock
15 to 20 May – Japanese Flowering Cherries at Botanical Gardens, Queen Victoria Park, Kingsbridge Park
15 May to 30 June – Rhododendrons, Irises at the Botanical Gardens
24 May to 30 October – Rock Gardens at Queen Victoria Park, Floral Clock, Botanical Gardens, Oakes Garden Theatre
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
Kingsbrae Garden 10th Anniversary
16 May to 11 October – 24 acres of beauty in St, Andrews, New Brunswick, named one of Canada’s top ten public gardens; created from the grounds of several estates and includes a plant centre, café, gift shop and art gallery, well worth a visit; more at www.kingsbraegarden.com/
Vancouver Orchid Society Annual Show
3 & 4 May – Richmond Winter Club, 5540 Hollybridge Way, Richmond, B.C.; for further details, contact Mary Kapoor marka92220@yahoo.com
World Series of Birding
10 May – New Jersey: teams compete for 24 hours to be named champion word watchers by identifying the most bird species within the state; any vehicles may be used, excepting aircraft; the top team total was 231, a record set in 2003.
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