May must be here. The big box stores, supermarkets and other assorted retail outlets are in on the gardening act, peddling petals. Canadian Tire’s garden centres are better than most of this new breed. Selection, prices, care and at least some qualified horticulturists on hand make them a pleasure to browse through. But who writes Canadian Tire flyers? “For lush green lawns,” we read, “ . . . Black Earth. Organic garden soil. 30L bag. 59-4532-2.” So soil is organic? How nice to know.

None of which really assist much when it comes down to actual gardening. First and foremost query: Is it necessary to wait until the Victoria Day weekend to get going? Mostly no: in south-central Ontario it is safe to plant or seed the majority of flowers, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, vines or whatever from early May on.  Environment Canada advises that the last frosts usually may be expected on the following dates.

Downtown Toronto 20 April

Toronto Island 21 April

Toronto International Airport 8 May

Ancaster 4 May

Burlington 5 May

Newmarket 12 May

Oshawa 1 May

Peterborough 20 May

Richmond Hill 11 May

Vineland 30 April

Lawns have flourished this spring with largely cool, moist weather. Unfortunately, the mild winter has permitted elevated levels of turf pests. Pam Charbonneau, OMAFRA expert at Guelph, advises survival rates are high for grubs, hairy chinch bugs, bluegrass billbugs, sod webworms and European crane flies. Adding to the fun, she says to expect lawns to dry out fast this spring owing to lack of snow cover during the winter months. The best time to control most of these is at least a month away so lay off the pesticides, natural or otherwise, and concentrate on creating a rich, thick lawn. The three secrets to achieving this blissful state are leaving the grass 1½- to 2-inches long, applying a half-inch of water every three days unless there is heavy, prolonged rain, and fertilizing now and again in June with high-quality nutrients.

Tulips should be dead headed as the petals commence to fade and fall. Daffodils and Narcissus may look  tidier treated similarly, but it is not really necessary for them or other bulbs to be dead headed. It is very important to remove the spent flower and its stalk. Under no circumstances must the foliage be cut away until it has died back of its own accord. Those green leaves, plus an application of fertilizer, will go to feed next season’s display. Plant annuals and/or perennials to camouflage this foliage.

Garden centres seem to be carrying an even better and more varied selection of perennials than in years gone by. There is little doubt that for numbers of nurseries and retail outlets to be found, there is no other area on the face of the planet with such a selection as in south-central Ontario. This leads to welcome competition. Some retailers are asking prices as high as their service and quality is low. There still seems to be temptation to offer forced perennials, blooming long before their natural flowering season. Their higher price is no guide to increased satisfaction – in fact anything but. Forced perennials bloom for only a short time and may fail to survive stressful summers or even the first winter. It is encouraging to report that the well-known commercial nursery Epic in the Niagara peninsular is eschewing this practice. Their plants a clearly tagged and will be found in many garden centres. Epic also invites visitors to their excellent web site www.epicplants.com.

Purchase peony rings, a contraption that supports these, as well as other perennials, while in bloom. The rings will soon be in short supply – it happens every year. Also recurring is the lament of novice gardeners along with some who should no better when their peony blooms start flopping over. By that time not only is it usually too late but the stores have run out. Purchase and position early do avoid such calamities.

Most herbs may be safely planted outside now, either directly in garden beds or large containers. Unless you wish to be watering two, three or even more times a day in the height of summer, use planters of at least 10-inches diameter. Chock these up on to improve drainage and prevent slugs and other pestiferous pests from gaining admittance via the drainage holes. It also helps to cover the latter inside with a section of nylon fly screen prior to filling with soil (now he tells me!) for the same purpose. Most herbs require full sun, at least six hours a day. Our experience indicates that mint, chives, chervil, parsley, lovage and lemon balm will all tolerate some shade.

Basil should most emphatically not be planted out until at least Victoria Day, if not later. The same applies to tomatoes as well as peppers and eggplant. These all originated in much warmer climates and demand heat to flourish. Planting out too early, regardless of the displays in garden centres, often permanently retards them. A good guide is to wait until the bathing belles in their bikinis appear on the beaches [Disclaimer: the writer is a happily heterosexual horticulturist; if you wish to choose other indicators, you’re welcome.] All require rich fertile beds though, which it will pay to prepare in advance. Spread a generous top dressing of garden lime along with copious quantities of compost, then dig it all in. Tomatoes require the extra calcium that lime supplies, or later they may suffer from blossom-end rot. Grandma knew something when she saved eggshells, whipped them into slurry in the blender and poured this on with a generous hand.

Anything else? Yes – 12 May is Mothers Day. If you are female, starting reminding the male tribe. They’ll never remember otherwise, right? If you’re male, visit your local friendly florist now and order up the floral arrangements. They’re guaranteed non-fattening and never fail to please. Then there’s the Canadian ensign to fly on Victoria Day or, if ambitious, create one from red-and-white annuals.

Finally for the Doom & Gloom types, politicians and bureaucrats are getting all excited once again about West Nile Virus. Consequently, the popular press will soon catch on, reporters rarely being able to think in anything but negatives. Go into a decided decline by telephoning Toronto Public Health Department at 416-338-7600 or visit www.city.toronto.on.ca/health. Show you are in the groove by referring to it as WNV. And never, ever admit that not one inhabitant in Ontario has ever contracted it here, let alone died of it.

May Flowers
Officially Lily-of-the-Valley or Hawthorn

City Gardening nominates Lilac as being more appropriate

 Days of Note

May Days
1. May Day
1. Law Day in U.S. (American Bar Association)
4. Bird Day in Oklahoma
6 Anniversary of the first postage stamp
2^nd Saturday Windmill Day in the Netherlands
2^nd Sunday Mothers Day in Canada and U.S. (see above and below)
Final Saturday Mothers Day in Central African Republic
Final Sunday was Chemists Day in the former USSR

Mother’s Day, 12 May

According to the February 2002 issue Natural History, magazine of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the mass emergence of garter snakes from their winter dens in central Manitoba is such a popular event locally, that: “On Mother’s day, Winnipeg youngsters traditionally take their moms on excursions to view the springtime fertility spectacle.” Winnipeg is definitely different.

Victoria Day, 20 May

May Month
National Barbeque Month (Barbeque Industry Association)
National Home Decorating Month
National Mental Month
Philatelic Exhibition Month
Touring Theater Month
Older Americans Month

May Weeks
1^st Week Be Kind to Animals Week
1^st Week International Classified Advertising Week
1^st Week National Pet Week
2^nd Week National Historic Preservation Week
2^nd Week National Nursing Home Week
Final 2 Weeks Pickle Weeks
Final Full Week Public Relations Week

May History
3.   Martin Glen Loates, wildlife artist, born 1945 Toronto
5.   Frank Skinner, famed Canadian horticulturist. born Scotland 1882 (died 27 August 1967)
5.   Joseph Soper, naturalist and explorer, born 1893 near Guelph, Ontario (d.1982)
10. First Mothers Day celebrated in Philadelphia, 1880
14. Norman Criddle, naturalist, born Addleton, England (died Brandon, Manitoba 4 May 1933)
18. Last Canadian passenger pigeon recorded 1902 at Penetanguishne, Georgian Bay,  Ontario
22. The unfortunately-named War of the Roses commences 1455
23. Jacob Siemens, farmer and farm organizer, born Altona, Manitoba 1896; first sunflower oil plants in North America
24. Robert McLellan Bateman, wildlife artist, born Toronto 1930
27. Lawrence Kirk, born Bracebridge, Ontario 1886, introduced crested wheat grass to prairies (died 27 Nov. 1969)

May Birthdays
5.   James Beard, U.S. cooking authority, 1903, claimed given a tarragon supply, he could even stand cannibalism
14. Thomas Gainsborough 1727 (d.2 August 1788), landscape painter
25. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 (d.27 April 1882), early environmentalist when he wasn’t starting fires
25. Rachel Carson, 1907 (d.14 April 1964) environmentalist and early whistle-blower on careless spraying

May Saints
4.   Blessed Gregory of Verucchio d.1343 invoked when rain is needed
13. St. Servatius, Bishop of Tongres, d.384, invoked against rodents and leg diseases, for success of enterprises

 
Worth Looking for: Begonia x hybrida 'Dragon Wing Pink'

If you’ve been growing the hybrid begonia ‘Dragon Wing,’ you’re going to be delighted to discover that this season it will be joined by a cousin, ‘Dragon Wing Pink.’ Pan American Seed Co. describes it as: “Pretty . . . awesome . . . in pink -- this truly spectacular and very heat-tolerant, angelwing-type begonia is simply stunning.” We are normally pretty immune ourselves to promoters’ hype but, if it achieves anywhere near the same display as its cousin this new introduction will find a worthy place in our planters and hanging baskets. Large, hanging clusters of blooms spring from a plant that quickly reaches over a foot high and a spread of half as much again. The foliage sets off these flowers admirably, being a pure glossy green. Pan American doesn’t claim so, but we have heard it said that ‘Dragon Wing Pink’ is slightly more shade tolerant also than the original introduction. We have grown this latter with three hours of sun a day with satisfactory results and look forward to being really in the pink this summer.

Happy Is the Gardener with Hemerocallis

The trouble is, for all but the die-hards who persist in spreading those old orange or yellow daylilies everywhere, is that there are now so many to choose from. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of cultivars with more arriving every year. As usual, best turn to the uninfluenced experts for help, in this case the American Hemerocallis Society. Look for any or all of these winners from last year at local garden centres or specialist growers. More from:

American Hemerocallis Society
P.O. Box 586
Woodstock
Illinois 60098

Stout Silver Medal Winner
Ida’s Magic

Runner-up:
Jan’s Twister
Dragons Eye
Wineberry Candy
Susan Webber

Donn Fischer Memorial Award, Best Miniature
Bubbly

Runner-up:
Brookwood Ojo Poco

Annie T. Giles Award, Best Small Flower
Coyote Moon

Runner-up:
In The Navy

Lambert/Webster Award, Best Unusual Form
Primal Scream

Runner-up:
Ruby Spider

Ida Munson Award, Best Double:
Peggy Jeffcoat

Runner-up:
John Kinnebrew

Harris Olson Spider Award, Best Spider or Variant
Lacy Marionette

Runner-up:
Magic of Oz

Don C. Stevens Award, Best Eyed Cultivar
El Desperado

Runner-up:
Mask of Time

Eugene Foster Award, Bets Late-Blooming Cultivar
Susan Weber

Runner-up:
Blizzard Bay

L. Ernest Plouf Award, Best Dormant and Fragrant Cultivar
Elegant Candy

Runner-up:
Rachael Billingslea

R. W. Munson, Jr. Award, Best Patterned Cultivar
Witch Stitchwery

Runner-up:
Mystical Rainbow

The Battle of the Bug

Controversy continues over chemical versus natural. We’re convinced, however, that the best bug control devices ever invented are located at the end of your wrists: they’re called hands and fingers. Pinching, squishing and thumping not only is highly efficient, it is pest-specific and ecologically acceptable. Better still, it is a great way to counter frustrations caused by some insidious bug attack. The same scenario applies to weeds, even parasitic fungi.

Some gardeners remain faint hearted though. Even the very thought of squeezing the life out of a living creature, no matter how devastating it be, fills them with revulsion. Some other form control is necessary then. Whether you chose “chemical” or “natural,” you need to know whether you’ve made the right choice. To this end, a useful leaftlet has come our way from the Urban Pest Management Council of Canada www.cropro.org with the provocative title:

Lawn & Garden Pest Control

How Do I Know What to Buy?

Identify the pest you need to control. There are many references to assist in finding out this information. You can ask your retailer, use reference books or contact a manufacturer. Many companies typically list product information toll free lines, or web sites on their packaging.

Always read the product label before purchasing and using a pest control product. This will insure you are making the correct purchase decision and if you have any question about the product or application you can talk to the store staff.

Where are you using the product?

Weed Control

• For lawn weeds choose a product that identifies lawns on the label

• For patios, driveways, walkways, choose a weed & grass control product

Insect Control

• Choose a product that identifies the type of plants you wish to treat, i.e. flowers, vegetables, lawns, shrubs, trees

How Much Do I Need?

For small applications and spot treatment, use Ready-To-Use spray bottles

For treatment of large areas, use a concentrate product. The label of these products will indicate the mix ratio and in some cases the coverage area of the product. From this information calculate the amount you’ll need to purchase. 

Read the label carefully as there are different mix ratios for different problems. Please remember, these mix ratios have been calculated for both effectiveness and safety, do not over mix.

How to Apply?

• Ready-To-Use spray bottles require no mixing

• Granular fertilizers containing pest control products are ready-to-use and should be applied with a calibrated lawn spreader.

• Hoe end attachment products will automatically mix the product with water to achieve the correct spray ratio. If product is remaining it can be stored for another time.

• Concentrates should be mixed according to the label directions.  They can be used in a tank sprayer or a hose-end applicator.

• The timing of an application is critical to controlling lawn and garden pests. Refer to the product label for the correct timing of application.

Always Read the Entire Product Label.

Follow All Directions and Precautions.

  Complete Ant-Thology Crawls Online           

 Daylily Rust Arrives in Ontario

 Trinity Square Labyrinth, Toronto

 New Plant Introductions

Companies and organizations that are known for the introduction of many new ornamentals, fruits and vegetables for the home gardener;

Ball Seed Co. www.ballseed.com

Blooms of Bressingham Inc. www.bobna.com

Darwin Plants www.darwinplants.com

David Austin Roses Ltd. www.davidaustinroses.com

Fernlea Flowers www.fernlea.com

The Flower Fields www.theflowerfields.com

Goldsmith Seeds www.goldsmithseeds.com

JVH Nurseries www.jvh-nurseries.com

PanAmercian Nursery Products Inc www.panamnursery.com

Proven Winners www.provenwinners.com

Terra Nova www.terranovanurseries.com

The My Favorite Company TLC www.myfavoritegarden.com

Toronto Field Naturalist Outings

Free guided walks; children welcome but please no pets; all are TTC accessible;
dress according to weather, bring beverage, camera, notebook and binoculars.

2 May Ashbridge’s Estate: meet 6:45 p.m. at 1444 Queen Street East (east of Greenwood)

8 May Park Drive Ravine: meet 6:45 p.m.  at Castle Frank Subway station

9 May Marita Payne Park nature walk: meet 10 a.m. northwest corner Steeles Avenue West and Dufferin Street; bring lunch.

11 May Humber Valley nature walk: meet 2 p.m. at Old Mill subway station

12 May Chapman Valley nature walk: meet 10 a.m. west side Scarlett Road at Chapman Road; bring lunch

13 May Casa Loma Gardens: meet 6:45 p.m. corner Spadina Road and Austin Terrace

15 May Mount Pleasant Cemetery trees: meet 10 a.m. at Davisville subway station; bring lunch

18 May Wigmore Park wildflowers: meet 10 a.m. at the school on west side Sloane Avenue, north of Eglinton Avenue east; bring lunch

19 May Lower Yellow Creek urban ecology: meet 2 p.m. at Davisville subway station

20 May Toronto’s Waterfront: meet 6:45 p.m. northwest corner Bay Street and Queen’s Quay

22 May Earl Bales Park nature walk: meet 10 a.m. at the community centre at north end of park, east side of Bathurst Street, south of Sheppard Avenue West; bring lunch

25 May Bluffers Meadow birds: meet 10 a.m. southeast corner  Kingston Road and Chine Drive; bring lunch

26 May Guildwood Park heritage walk: 2 p.m. meet at park entrance south side Guildwood Parkway, opposite Galloway Road

28 May German Mills: meet 6:45 p.m. northeast corner Steeles Avenue east and Leslie Street

29 May Charles Sauriol Nature Reserve nature walk: meet 10:30 a.m. south side Lawrence Avenue East just east of the Don Valley Parkway; bring lunch

Canadian Tulip Festival
3 - 20 May, Ottawa; The 50th Anniversary of this spectacular event that will surprise those with other opinions of the nation’s capital; more 1-800-66-tulip or visit www.tulipfetsival.can

World Tulip Summit
A part of the 50^th annual Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa, 3 to 20 May; check www.tulipfestival.can for more details

2 to 5 May Plant Sale of Perennials: new cultivars and old favourites

16 to 20 May Colour Your Garden: sale of annuals, with many exciting new introductions for 2002

Located in Edwards Gardens at Lawrence Avenue East and Leslie Street, the CGC is a volunteer-based registered charity that offers one of the nation’s finest education facilities. More from 416-397-1340, Fax 416397-1354, or visit www.civicgardencentre.org

Living Rivers Festival
5 May An eco-festival for the whole family at the Don Valley Brick Works Park with interactive games and family activities, an extensive green lifestyle market, eatery, music, dance and art, along with the opportunity to explore the hidden treasures of this wetland, quarry site and restored buildings; $5 admission button includes shuttle bus from Broadview subway station. More from 416-469-2977 or www.festiveearth.com

Wildflower Sale
11 May 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Civic Garden Centre, 777 Lawrence Avenue East at Leslie Street, in Edwards Garden. This is the annual sale of the North American Native Plant Society with choices from wildflowers, ferns, grasses and sedges. . More at www.nanps.org

Rouge Valley Conservation Centre Theme Walks
12 May Spring Flowers: free, commencing 2 p.m., lasts about two hours; details call 416-282-8265

Ontario Rock Garden Society
12 May meeting at Civic Garden Centre, 777 Lawrence Ave East, Toronto commences with plant sale at 12:30 followed by speaker at 1:30 p.m.: David & Rannveig Walls on “Alpine Bulbs” Visitors welcome

Kettleby Herb Farms
12 May Mothers Day 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. invitation to celebrate Mother’s Day at the farm with The Greenhouse filled with plants and complimentary refreshments and herbal treats; just a ½ hour drive north of Toronto at 15495 Weston Road; more at www.kettlebyherbfarms.com

Casa Loma Gardens Free Tuesday Evenings
Commencing 13 May from 4 p.m. until dusk (also free all day on 13 May); check entrance at southeast corner of east (bus) parking lot; more from 416-923-1171

High Park Tuesday Evening Walks
May 14 and May 28: meet 6:45 p.m. just south of the Grenadier Restaurant, 
$2 donation requested; more details from 416-392-1748 or 416-392-6916

Apple Blossom Tours
18 May in and around the town of Meaford, Ontario on Georgian Bay in the shadow of the Blue Mountains; details at www.greycounty.on.ca

Mosaiculture Garden, Niagara Parks
Opens 25 May The first debut as an exhibit outside of Montreal, with 35 “larger-than-life” sculptures together make up 12 exhibits created with hundreds of thousands of plant sin bloom. Interactive demonstrations, mascot tours of the garden with Blossom and Buddy, and the sounds of the free-flying Birds of Paradise in the greenhouse, will compliment the sculptures on exhibit. Admission is $4.50 for adults, $2.50 for children over five. Located next to the Niagara parks Greenhouse, just south of the Horseshoe Falls, open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. More at www.niagaraparks.com or 1-877-NIA-PARK (642-7275)

Gardener’s Tour and Gala
25 May A benefit for Fife House. Spend a peaceful day enjoying the fragrance and foliage of spring gardens can offer. Later, spend an enchanted evening dining and dancing under the stars. Tour tickets $50 each, gala tickets (includes the tour) $250. Contact 416-205-9888 extension 11, fax 416-205-9919 or visit www.gardenersgala.org

Community Flower Planting
31 May at Fuller Park, north of Queen St (416-392-6928) between 7 and 8 p.m.; toddlers to seniors bring a flower to plant and watch it grow all summer long.

4 May Toronto

11 May Sutton

22 May Sutton

25 May Open House in Sutton

Federation of Ontario Naturalists Conference
31 May through 2 June at Long Point, Ontario; more at 416-444-8419

Canadian Nature Federation's 2002 Conference
CNF's 2002 Conference and Annual General Meeting in Ottawa, June 19-23, 2002. Visit Canada's national capital, a showcase of Canadian history and culture, and partake in nature walks and talks that highlight the diverse flora and fauna of this region. Pre- and post-conference tours will be available. Please visit CNF's Web site www.cnf.ca for updates, or call 1-800-267-4088

Day Walking Trips
Such locations as the Royal Botanical Gardens, Rattle Snake Point & Kelso Conservation Areas, Oak Ridges Moraine and the Dundas Valley are just some of the destinations organized by Toronto-based Something’s Afoot Walking Adventures and Queenscourt Travel; more from 905-271-2722

Bus Tours of Britain
15-day bus tours ‘Country Roads, Gardens & Stately Homes of Britain’ have been organized by Insight Vacations, taking in locations from Hampshire to Stirling. For those having experienced the dubious delights of eating in Britain, some meals are included. More from www.insightvacations.com

Horticulture Magazine Garden Program
May 8-18: Gardens of Normandy and Britanny
May: 19-26: England in Flower and the Chelsea Flower Show includes Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Hidcote, Wisley

Details and free brochure from 1-800-395-1901 or write Horticulture, 98 North Washington St., Boston, MA 02114

15-28 May Indonesia: sea safari to Bali, Mount Agung and the Sunda Islands, including Komodo National Park

18-24 Coastal  Wetlands of North Carolina, a week-long kayak adventure

25-31 May Naturalist’s Tour of the Rockies in Montana

Wray Scarecrow Festival, Cumbria, U.K.
27 April through 6 May: Normally an annual event with some 200 straw figures to be seen in this northwestern England community, it was cancelled last year owing to the foot-and-mouth epidemic that raged in Britain. More information available from the British Tourist Authority at 888-VISITUK, or visit www.visitbritain.com/ca or www.homestead.com/wrayscarecrows.

Environment Days with Toronto’s Councilors

Toronto resident? Need a blue, grey box or yard waste bin, even a composter? Could your garden do with free leaf compost? Do you want to donate computer equipment, small appliances, bicycles, eyeglasses and similar items?  How about recycling telephones, fax machines, radios, household hazardous waste, tires? You can do all of these and have the thrill of meeting you ward councilor at the same time this spring and summer on Toronto Environment Days. Most councilors choose certain Saturdays. 10  a.m. top 2 .p.m.; a few prefer Thursday evenings 4 to 8 p.m.

Raymond Cho                       2 May                Malvern Town Centre, 31 Tapscott Road

Pam McConnell                    2 May                Winchester Square Park, 149 Bleeker Street

Suzan Hall                             4 May                The Albion Centre, 1530 Albion Avenue

Joe Mihevc                           4 May                Wychwood Barns, Wychwood at St. Clair Avenue West

Douglas Holyday                 11 May                Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall

Peter Milczyn                        11 May                Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall

George Mammoliti                11 May                Finch West Mall, 3449 Weston Road*

David Shiner                         18 May                Zion Heights Junior High School, 5900 Leslie Street

Norman Kelly                        18 May                Agincourt Mall, 3850 Sheppard Avenue East

Gloria Lindsay Luby       25 May                Richview Collegiate Institute, 1783 Islington avenue

Ron Moeser                          25 May                Adams Park, 2 Rozell Road at Port Union Road

Howard Moscoe                  30 May                Dufferin and Lawrence Plaza, 3083 Dufferin Street.

* Councilor Mammoliti also has power lawnmower purchased with city funds for ward residents to trim median strips.

Farmer’s Markets in Toronto
While the rest of Toronto will have to wait until next month, in East York they kick off a week earlier that most:

East York Civic Centre: Mondays 27 May through 21 October 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Centennial Park Conservatory
Three greenhouses with a total of more than 12,000 square feet of interesting and changing plant collections. 151 Elmcrest Road. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information at 416-392-8543

Regal Pelargonium Show: 27 April to 26 May

Cloud Garden Conservatory
A walk-through greenhouse that recreates the lush tropical foliage of a Costa Rican cloud forest. South side of Richmond Street, between Yonge and Bay Streets. Open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed on holidays). More information from 416-392-7288

Golf Courses
“A good walk ruined,” claimed Mark Twain. But too many of City Gardener’s friends are enthusiasts and since Toronto has the world’s only golf courses accessible from a subway, plus four others, why not? Advance bookings essential, call in advance; all operated by the city.

Dentonia Park Golf Course: par 54; this is the one you can reach right from the Victoria Park Subway Station. East side of Victoria Park just north of Danforth Avenue, 416-392-2558

Don Valley Golf Course: par 71 Yonge Street one stop light south of Highway 401, 416-392-2465

Humber Valley Golf Course: par 70 Albion Road and Beattie Avenue, just north of Highway 401 416-392-2488

Scarlett Woods Golf Course: par 62 southwest corner Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue West 416-392-2484

Tam O’Shanter Golf Course: par 71 Birchmount Avenue north of Sheppard Avenue East 416-392-2547

A round-up of the past few weeks news of interest to gardeners

Landscaping

The first roamin’ gnome story of the season emerges from Salmon Arm, B.C. thanks to The Globe and Mail’s Michael Kesterton. Mary Baranski discovers the statuette, missing since last July, on her doorstep along with a photo album depicting the gnome’s European vacation to add to the postcards she had previously received from various continental locales.

Lawns

The Great Ontario Turf War sees cutting remarks by pro- and anti-chemical lawn care operators with the usual abuse of scientific fact while neglecting to answer what the majority of gardeners who do not indulge in such services do, or for that matter did before the event of (a) lawn care services and (b) lawn pesticides

A Nelson, New Zealand man mowing his lawn is hot and pinned under a runaway car with a three-year-old boy at the wheel.

The New Brunswick government use part of $24.5-million share of the federal medical-equipment fund, supposed to be for desperately needed diagnostic machines, to purchase lawn mowing tractors along with paper shredders, shelving, fax machines, a dishwasher, air conditioner and floor scrubbers.

If you are believer in lawns and order, beware of bylaws in Providencia, Chile. For not having the required grass in front of her home, Gloria Cisternas as sentenced to 7 days in jail and only released after two days in clink owing vocal outrage expressed by the general citizenry, lawn lovers and otherwise.

Trees

Toronto’s Beaches area in the eastern reaches of the city rises up in arms over the proposal by auto-loving homeowners to destroy a 120-year-old oak blocking a driveway they wish to build on the Victoria Park Avenue property to their house on Neville Park Ravine.

The red cedar and fir forest on Savary Island in B.C.’s Strait of Georgia is saved from “development” with its purchase by the Nature Trust of B.C. Savary Island was also where Captain Vancouver set up camp during his voyage of exploration to the west coast in 1792.

Thanks to inaction by provincial politicians, British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest and other sensitive coastal valley locations are threatened with destruction, thanks to politicos inability to move following the truce last year between environmentalists, timber producers, Indians and the government.

Department of Doom & Gloom: forests are less effective at absorbing excess carbon dioxide than previously claimed, reports William Schlesinger at Duke University in North Carolina to the magazine New Scientist and so may not be such a help to climate control.

 By using the Global Positioning System (GPS), the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy reports that in Hawaii it was able to prove giant old koa trees were on the Kona Hema Preserve being illegally logged, the organization reports.

While the warm weather pleases gardeners and others, maple sugar bush owners shed tears into their kettles of sweet sap or, at least, what there is of it as poor crops are recorded over most of Ontario this year.

Flowers

The jury for the Montreal murder trial of biker boss Maurice ‘Mom’ Boucher learns that before a meeting with the hitman who had just killed a female prison guard, Boucher stops off in a florists’ to purchase a bouquet of flowers.

The interim Afghan government’s proposal to continue the ban on growing opium poppies results in a riot of farmers with eight killed and 35 wounded. Afghan produces 70 per cent of the world’s opium.

Prince Edward Island’s College of Piping in Summerside offers delivery of carnations and chocolates on Mother’s Day by a bagpiper and drummer. From those wonderful folk who chose the thistle as the floral symbol and bravely wear the kilt.

Afghanistan’s deputy justice minister assures the world that opium poppy cultivation will cease but that his country needs time to implement action. Nevertheless, Afghanistan has dropped to number two producer after being overtaken by Myanmar, the former Burma, last year.

Max Bygrave’s Tulips from Amsterdam was played to turn a giant salmon into an aggressive, people-attacking weapon in the British television comedy series The Goodies some years back, reports a correspondent of New Scientist, a news item that the Netherlands Flowerbulb Institute has been withholding from us.

Down in the Vegetables  

Ottawa imposes tariffs of up to 71% on imported U.S. tomatoes, alleging dumping while vigorously denying that this has any connection with the 30%+ duties imposed by the U.S. on Canadian softwood, much to the satisfaction of the Vancouver-based Canadian Tomato Trade Alliance.

Potato prices soar for Prince Edward Island spuds but supplies are limited after last season’s losses owing to drought on the Garden of the Gulf.

Despite opposition from Brassica farmers and their pesticide suppliers, the British government bans the two powerful organophosphate pesticides, carbofuran and chlorfenvinphos, to protect growers, handlers and consumers.

Fruit & Nuts

Banana-millionaire Krishna Maharaj, 63, escapes being sentenced to Florida’s electric chair for the 1986 murder of a pair of rivals in a Miami motel room, attempting to protect his slippery path to riches.

Peach blossoms bloom in the Niagara Region, heralding a spring a week earlier than normal.

Spices and Herbs

Heath Canada warns against using herbal health products containing kava after two dozen international reports warn of liver damage, one death and several liver transplants. Ephedra, another very popular “natural” medicine is also ordered recalled for being marketed without approval following reports of strokes, heart attacks, seizures, psychoses and death.

Houseplants

USA Today advised readers a few years they could save five minutes a day by not talking to their plants, according to The Globe and Mail’s Michael Kesterston. Might save boring them to death, too.

Propagation

Finland’s company M-real claims in international patent W/O 02/03776 the rights to a specific method of propagating by cuttings of a poplar tree used for papermaking, reports New Scientist.

 Landec Ag of California has created a coating of inert fatty polymers to protect seeds sown before unexpected sown snaps. Tested on limited scale commercially since 1995, it will be grown on 500 corn farms this coming season, says the company’s president.

Fertilizer

‘The product contains no chemicals’ boasts Melbourne, Australia-based Perymen’s 100 per cent pure blood and bone fertilizer, which then lists what is does contain: ‘Nitrogen 8.0 per cent, Phosphates 4.70 per cent, Sulphur 0.48 per cent, Calcium 10.10 per cent, Manganese 37 ppm, Magnesium 0.20 per cent, Copper 4 ppm, Zinc 130 ppm, Iron 600 ppm, Boron 15 ppm, Sodium 0.44 per cent, Chloride 032 per cent.”’

Bugs and Gardeners 

New Brunswick vows not to be caught napping again this summer by any army worm invasion, mounting an early warning system to detect the cantankerous caterpillars.

Thanks to political instability in the border regions of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan where Strychnos nuxvomica tree grows, supplies of the deadly poison strychnine are in short supply, for which prairie gophers, source of farmers’ wrath, are devoutly grateful.

A survey conducted by Ipsos/Reid Poll/Canadian for the Consumer Specialty Products Association reveals that 84 per cent of Canadians believe pest control products in and around the home are necessary and safe when used properly.

An 83-year-old Florida man mowing his property near Tampa succumbs to more than 200 wasp stings sustained when he disturbs a nest of yellow jackets.

If fungus attacks your plants this season, follow the example of the Atta columbica, a leaf-cutter ant. They can’t use fungicides, of course. Instead, report scientists, they increase their efforts to throw out the infected food supply until all is well again.

Weeds

 Paul Epstein of Harvard Medical School reports that increased levels of carbon dioxide result in enormous increases in pollen of the notorious ragweed. So great is it, he reports that in Atlanta, Georgia trucks slide on the roads coated with the stuff. Toronto bureaucrats, meanwhile, proudly announce they have reduced spraying of public lands by 95%.

Does you spray contractor look and sound odd? Researchers at the University of California Berkley have found that the herbicide atrazine causes male frogs to grow female sex organs and to lose their masculine croaks.

Gardening in the City

A University of Toronto committee selects British architect Sir Norman Foster to design the pharmacy building, which will replace the venerable greenhouses, and several supposedly protected trees at College and Queen’s park Circle in Toronto. Sir Norman’s last famous commission was London’s Millennium Pedestrian Bridge. It was not announced what swayed the committee.

Toronto’s weakly alternative tabloid Eye editorializes against those who hire chemical-contaminating contractors to care for their luscious lawns and the companies as well, urging city council to ignore all the evidence and ban by bylaw the evil that lurks amongst us.

Fertilizer

Ashbridges Bay palletizing plant is running full throttle, turning Toronto’s sewage into something no longer incinerated much to the displeasure of East End residents. The city’s oxymoronically-named Works Committee will now pay the private firm Terratec $3.78-million to sell the brown gold – or dump it in a London, Ontario, landfill thus continuing what Toronto always has done on its sister cities.

A light aircraft pilot flips his plane over inadvertently colliding with a manure pile owned by a farming friend he had dropped into see near Coburg, Ontario. When the compost hit the prop...

Science and the Gardener

A UN-sponsored conference on genetically modified (GM) foods in Yokohama, Japan, manages to produce agreement amongst all parties concerned, ranging from Monsanto across the spectrum to Greenpeace International, for a world standard on judging their risks and safety, to appear in the Codex Alimentarius.

The respected British science journal Nature reprimands itself for printing a paper last year purporting to show that native strains of Mexican corn are being polluted with dread GM forms.

In producing the first genetic map of rice, scientists discover the vital grain has similar genes to about half of those found in humans. Rice, they say, also has over 65,000 genes, a great deal more than poor puny humans.

The Botanical Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia is trashed when authorities seek to evict a group purporting to be refugees from another ex-Soviet satrap, Abkhazia, who were squatting in the building and had refused to leave. Many rare books in the library there are reported to have been burnt.

Travel

According to The Globe and Mail, “if you want to impress tour mammal- and bird-watching friends, here’s a tip: plant spotting.” Funny, we always thought it was botanizing, but perhaps that is too scientific for The Globe’s ‘nature tourists.’

 Oh to be in Paris now that spring is here . . . and fines for failing to stoop and scoop after the pooch have been increased to $630 per poop.

Weather

 While Toronto and southern Ontario swelter in +30C record temperatures in mid-April, northern Alberta digs its way out of 25-cm of wet, heavy snow after mistakenly believing spring had arrived. Then the third week of April, Toronto receives a dusting of the same snow.

“Climatologists expect record-breaking global temperatures for 2002,” reports New Scientist. Two issues prior to this, the magazine had reported Ananova news as claiming: “Meteorologists are predicting one of the wettest and most unpredictable summers in a decade.”  Yes, you did read that right.

Law and Gardeners

 A California woman accused of murdering her husband and burying his body in a vineyard, hangs herself in jail.

 The Mounties propose to reach new highs in their pursuit of pot by use of space satellites to spot illegal fields of Cannabis. How this will help with detecting hydroponic horticultural efforts indoors is left unsaid by the RCMP who, while they always get their man are not getting the marijuana.

Wild Rose Riding in Alberta may commemorate the provincial floral emblem, but MP Myron Thompson discovers every rose as its thorns as his office is burgled for electronic equipment. RCMP are on the scent.

Business

Ontario’s Promise: Report to Ontario Taxpayers this spring proudly wrote on the shining example of Metta Van Brugge from Scotland, Ontario, a trainee teacher who, with assistance from the government’s Summer Company program, planted 10,000 gladioli “bulbs” and sold the resulting flowers at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market.

The announcement that separate teams in the U.S. and China have deciphered the rice genome destroys the Syngenta Corporation’s attempts to keep their parallel deciphering secret and they post a map of their website the day following the announcement in the journal Science.

 Californian Sandra Trousdale raises snails for escargot by the tens of thousands. Munchies for the molluscs consists of lots of lettuce and the sound of them tucking into it Ms. Trousdale terms ‘The Song of the Snail.’

Research by the London firm UBS Warburg produce the report Tulips, Railways and Telecoms in which the expert analysts claim not to expect a fast recovery by telecommunication companies from their devastating depression as they will follow the famed tulip bulb and railway stock examples. History repeating itself?

Fast-food monolith McDonald’s releases a report on its social responsibility in four categories: community, environment, people and marketplace. At least they landscape their premises.

The German-based Bayer AG purchases Adventis CropScience for US$6.3-billion to become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of agrochemicals.

Environment

As the sport of rock climbing reaches new heights, scientists at the University of Guelph plant destruction on the Niagara Escarpment of some 40%, including many sensitive species.

The journal Nature reports many indications that global warming has had rapid effects on the environment, including the spread of forests higher up mountains in Europe and New Zealand, many butterflies extending their range northwards in North America and Europe and shrubs moving into Arctic areas where they were unknown previously.

Canada’s Environment Minister David Anderson acknowledges that it could cost Canada a total of up to $10-billion to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, while others from his department say perhaps as much as half again.

Even Toronto councilors blenched at the suggestion from the RiverSides ecological alliance that a bylaw banning car washing in driveways be inflicted upon the ever-suffering citizenry of Ontario’s capital. “I’ve never lived in a communist country and I don’t want to star now,” opined Councilors Bas Balkisson.

 Biotechnology is environmentally friendly and also helps farmers save money, proclaims a large advertisement in The Globe and Mail, amongst other media outlets. You too can find the proof of this by visiting www.whybiotech.com or phoning  1-800-980-8660.

 Will we or won’t we hop aboard the Kyoto bandwagon? The federal Liberal Cabinet is rumoured to be against signing but the Prime Minister procrastinates and says he’ll sign “sometime.”

The Harris Government’s Record: Building a Stronger Ontario [Spring 2002, p.6] proudly boasts that “our steps to protect Ontario’s air, water and natural resources include,” in two out of four of those ‘steps,’ “enforcing strict new regulations to protect Ontario’s drinking water,” and “passing legislation to protect the water resources and natural features of the Oak Ridges Moraine.”

At about 6:45 a.m. Saturday, 20 April an earthquake of 5.5 on the Richter scale hits southern Ontario, Quebec and northern New York State.

Health

As alternative medicine comes under official scrutiny in the U.S., the widely touted kava is subject to a warning by federal regulators there that it may be linked to severe liver damage.

 “Be aware that just because they’re natural, doesn’t mean they’re not potentially toxic,” advise the University of Calgary’s Dr Mark Swain, referring to herbal medicines, but advice that should be noted by all touting the supposed benefits for “natural” pesticides and fertilizers.

A study at the highly-respected Duke University, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that both St. John’s Wort and the commercial anti-depressant Zoloft are inferior to a sugar placebo. Te study did not evaluate gardening.

What’s bitten provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton, plaintively enquires NOW, the alternative Toronto tabloid as he abandons striking government employees to call a press conference to eradicate West Nile Virus (WNV), which hasn’t been detected in any of Ontario’s residents, much less caused fatalities here.

Health Canada admits failing to inform the public for several years that raisins imported from Turkey were polluted with lead at levels high enough to cause concern over child health, even though they passed on the information to Britain and the U.S., who took prompt and very public action.