|
|
|
|
|
SPECIAL A
SYMPHONY OF GARDENS CANADA
BLOOMS The
Toronto Flower & Garden Show 2003 Canada Blooms, A Symphony of Gardens, takes
place 12 through 16 March 2003 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, in
downtown Toronto beside the CN Tower 10 am to 9 pm Wednesday through Saturday and 10 am
to 6 pm on Sunday Preview A Symphony of Gardens awaits the more than 13o,000
visitors expected at this year’s Canada Blooms: The Toronto Flower and Garden
Show, the largest show of its kind in Canada and one of the top in North
America. More than 300 landscape
designers, florists, members of The Garden Club of Toronto, Landscape Ontario,
educational and horticultural societies, equipment and accessories vendors, and
volunteers will work in concert around the clock for five days to set the stage
for this spectacular event, recognized internationally as one of the most
prestigious shows of its kind in North America. On the national stage, Canada
Blooms: The Toronto Flower and Garden Show has become a harbinger of spring. As
it continues to grow, it has become a beloved local tradition – and elsewhere,
as can be seen by the chartered coaches loaded with visitors from far and wide. “Plant material is the focus of this year’s
symphony,” says Executive Director Ted Johnston. “Our artistic director,
Colomba Fuller, used the inspiration of new plants and the hottest trends to
blend 30 spectacular gardens, 200 marketplace vendors, hours of demonstrations,
seminars, lectures and workshops and endless inspiration into a melodious
program designed to delight our audience.” Since it began in 1997 as a not-for-profit event,
producers Landscape Ontario and the Garden Club of Toronto have donated more
than $400,000 to community projects that promote horticulture. “The Garden
Club will again commit the proceeds from Canada Blooms to the rejuvenation of
the entrance garden at the Civic Garden Centre in Edwards Gardens,” says
Connie Hunter, club member and co-chair of Canada Blooms. “Landscape Ontario, meanwhile, will support the
Halton Millennium Garden, Gardens of Fanshawe College, Sunnydale Park and
Communities in Bloom,” says Co-Chair Gerald Boot. “Canada Blooms promotes
the horticultural industry and provides the public with an opportunity to see
firsthand the newest trends, plant varieties and leading edge design,” he
says. “Garden enthusiasts and flower lovers will not want to miss this
year’s show.” Feature
Information §
See 30
beautifully orchestrated gardens arranged over six acres, including unique
balcony/rooftop gardens, a 4,200-square-foot garden retreat, wondrous green
lawns and many more inspiring designs. Be sure to bring camera and note book. §
You can
get a jump on regular show viewing by participating in an early morning guided
tour; call 416-447-8655 or 1-800-730-1020 for reservations §
Landscape
Ontario’s New Varieties Theatre – get a peak at some of the vibrant and
exciting new annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs created by North America’s
top plant breeders. §
The
Crystal Springs Market Place presents the most innovative products and
accessories for your favourite green spaces. Shop for the season’s hottest
garden products in 200 marketplace boutiques. The three we are heading for first
are the orchids at Sheridan, herbs at Richters and gardening gadgets at
Rittenhouse. §
The new
Plant Market offers flower and garden lovers everything from bulbs and daylilies
to new and unusual perennials ready for purchase on the spot. §
Enjoy
the lush tropical plantings in the Olay Oasis and then step into a thatched-roof
gazebo for a luxurious hand massage at this unique garden spa. §
Show
visitors are the judges in the Celebrity Class Floral Competition. Each day at 1
pm, audience members at the Unilock Celebrity Centre join in the fun and judge
celebrity arrangements. §
Canadian
Gardening Magazine’s Speaker’s Series welcomes Roger Philips, a
world-renowned author of 30 books and winner of numerous photography and design
awards, along with many another well-known horticultural professional
participating in over 300 hours of education workshops, seminars and
demonstrations. §
Canada
Blooms presents ‘Moondance’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Happy
Returns’), a limited edition, ruffled yellow cultivar being sold for the first
time ever at the show. A portion of the proceeds will go to community
horticultural projects funded by monies from Canada Blooms. §
International
Floral Competition welcomes participants from the United Kingdom, United States,
Italy, South Africa, New Zealand and Canada. §
The
Garden Club of Toronto Floral Hall hosts the largest accredited standard judged
flower show in Canada. View over 600 prize-winning entries in amateur floral
arranging, design and horticulture. §
HGTV’s
annual herald of spring, Calling All Gardeners, will be recorded live from
Canada Blooms on Wednesday, 12 March at 8 pm Background Canada Blooms: The Toronto Flower Show is a
not-for-profit, volunteer-driven event produced by Landscape Ontario and he
Garden Club of Toronto. Since its launch in 1997, it has quickly become one of
the top three shows of its kind in North America. The mission of Canada Blooms is to create a yearly
international flower and garden show that enhances and promotes the awareness of
horticulture by featuring the best designs, products and services of amateur and
professional participants, including an extensive educational series. Proceeds from Canada Blooms are used to support
educational and civic projects that promote horticulture, and nurture and
enhance our landscapes. To date, Landscape Ontario and the Garden Club of
Toronto have proudly donated over $400,000 to the following projects: §
Ontario
Heritage Foundation’s Garden Conservancy Fund (Ashbridge House) §
The Tree
Conservancy Fund, Toronto §
The
Weston Quarry Gardens at the Don Valley Brick Works, Toronto §
The
Teaching Garden at Edwards Gardens, Toronto §
The
Royal Botanic Garden Perennial Border Project, Hamilton §
University
of Guelph Conservatory Restoration Project, Guelph §
Scugog
Shores Historical Museum, Port Perry §
Fletcher
Wildlife garden, Ottawa §
Communities
in Bloom Civic Beautification – across Canada §
Humber
Arboretum, Toronto §
The
Sustaining Project at the Humber Arboretum, Toronto §
Elevated
Wetlands, Toronto §
Black
Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto §
The
Gardens at Langdon Bay, Brockville §
The
Millennium Garden, Milton §
The
Dominion Seed Garden, Georgetown §
The
Master Gardener’s Program, Ontario §
A Garden
of Senses, Halton Hills §
The
Community Memorial Hospital Project, Port Perry §
Civic
Garden Centre at Edwards Gardens, Toronto §
The
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundations’ Garden of Hope, Toronto In its first year, Canada Blooms exceeded
expectations and attracted over 70,000 visitors in five days – a record for a
first-time show. In 1998, Canada Blooms moved to the new Metro Toronto
Convention Centre South Building, where attendance grew to a spectacular
110,000. The event depends on volunteers to plan and also to ensure the show
runs smoothly for its visitors. This year more than 800 people from across
Canada are expected to volunteer their time. Canada Blooms has set a benchmark for excellence in
Canadian horticulture and floriculture and has generated unprecedented media
coverage for an event of this kind. Organizers expect 130,000 visitors in 2003
as they plan for an even more spectacular show. Canada
Blooms 2003 Sponsors The sponsors who make Canada Blooms possible: Associate Sponsor: Loblaws Media Partners: Canadian Gardening Magazine EX Rock 97.3 FM HGTV Canada National Post Global Television Feature Sponsors: CIBC Shoppers Optimum Visa Crystal Springs Danone Maglin Furniture Miracle-Gro Mercedes-Benz Olay Total Effects Scotts Canada Unilock Opening Night Party Sponsors: Lombard Insurancee’ Ernst & Young Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) Hunter, Keilty, Muntz & Beatty Supporting Sponsors: Enbridge Inc. Nestle Canada Yorkdale Shopping Centre City
Gardening March
2003 A
SPRING OF PROMISES TO KEEP New
perennials plus hosta introductions, roses to be sniffed at, St.
Paddy’s clover and knowing your sap and much more Sap neither rises in spring nor falls in autumn,
contrary to common belief. Instead, it moves from the centre to the surface of
the tree and back. Perhaps though something of this nature was on the male minds
of the editors of Mens Health, an American magazine. A couple of years
ago they claimed that a long-established pagan custom in Newfoundland allowed
residents of the island to have sex with anyone of their choice on the first day
of spring, 21 March. Two days before this, spring is supposed to have arrived,
according to groundhog Punxsutawney Phil in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania on 2nd
February. Ontario’s Wiarton Willie, expressed a more optimistic viewpoint by
urinating all over the mayor’s white tuxedo. Four days before that date, however comes St.
Patrick’s Day, patron saint of Ireland even though he was originally from
England. The symbol of the Emerald Isle is of course the shamrock. Homesick
Irish have spread the notion of shamrock far and wide – there are at least
five communities of that name in the United States, in Florida, Louisiana,
Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin. Shamrock is usually accepted to be a “lucky”
four-leaved clover. Unfortunately there are about 250 species of Trifolium.
According Terry Michaelson-Yeates, Legume Breeding Group, Institute of Grassland
and Environmental Research, Aberystwyth and Aaron Lester, Department of Botany
and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, writing in New Scientist
(14 September 2002 p. 101), “individual plants with between four
leaflets and nine have often been observed in five species native to North
America (T. andersonii, T. gymnocarpon, T. lemmonii, T. macrocephalum and
T. thompsonii) and two species in eastern Europe (T. polyphyllum and
T. lupinaster).” The plants
sold by some Hibernian florists for the occasion are more likely to be another
plant altogether, Oxalis, with clover-like leaves and small white or pink
blooms. Closer to home, the event to bring spring to every
gardener’s heart arrives once again. Canada Blooms, the Toronto Flower &
Garden Show, runs from 12 to 16 March at the South Building of the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre in the shadow on the CN Tower. Open Wednesday through Saturday
10 a.m. - 9 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. –6 p.m. Easily reached by taking the GO
or TTC to Union Station, then walking west through the glassed-in Skyway to the
show. More information at 1-800-730-1020 or www.canadablooms.com “Despite what you’ve been told, don’t
deadhead spring bulb flowers”, says Carol Cowan of the
Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Centre, at least not all the time.
“In the last few years,” she says, “probably due to lack of time to
deadhead, the beauty of some bulb flower seed pods is being realized. While most
spring bulbs will form a seed pod if you leave them alone, not all of them are
as beautiful as the following: Tulips (mainly botanic varieties, i.e.: T.
tarda, T. sylvestris & T. turkestanca), Alliums in all
their shapes and forms, Muscari, Arum italicum, Camassia
and Brimeura.” Procrastination is once again the mother of invention.
You can leave the seed pods enjoy as they
blend and combine with the surrounding annuals and perennials. Or cut them off,
stem and all, when the seed pod is ripe, hang them upside down to dry, and then
use them in flower arrangements. But, please don’t try any of this with most
tulips, daffodils and narcissus or any other than those we’ve listed on Carol
Cowan’s advice. First it was birdhouses. Then you just weren’t
ecologically concerned unless you had a bat house in the back yard. Now the buzz
is bee houses. Not for those late-arrivals from Europe, the ubiquitous honey
bee. They can take care of themselves as those who have been punctured by their
posteriors know all to well. Apart from the fact their hives are being decimated
by pathogens such as varroa and tracheal mites, these same hives, or swarms gone
wild are not exactly welcome in suburbia, whatever their attributes. Step aside
for any of the 4,000 or so “solitary bees” that are the original inhabitants
of North America. Since they have no hives, they are not aggressive. You would
have to pick one up to annoy it and, even then, the sting is comparable to a
mosquito bite. But they are excellent pollinators, so if you are growing fruit
or many vegetables, you need to encourage them to take up residence. What every one of these female bees is looking for
is a suitable hole. In the wild, this would be in the dead limb of a tree. In
the garden, boards drilled with a series of holes are the bees’ highrise
nesting boxes. Using untreated 4 x 6 inch or 6 x 6 inch lumber, choose a
5/16-inch bit, then drill holes
about 5-inches deep and and inch or
so apart. Drill across the grain of the wood to make for the smooth holes
enjoyed by the bees. Mount in an east-facing location or under the shade of a
large tree to protect from hot sun. Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
eNature have more information on solitary bees at www.loganbeelab.usu.edu
and www.enature.com/SolitaryBees.
Mid-spring is the best time to start positioning your bee houses, so this will
give you amble time to prepare and impress the neighbours. The Irish Embassy in Ottawa is apparently loath to
reply to enquiries as to exactly what botanically is the official shamrock. The
fate of 3,000 plants seized at Toronto International Airport in March 1997
hasn’t helped. Flown in from the old country to be handed out to people
attending a service at St. Michael’s cathedral, they were found to have soil
still on them. "Imported soil is a no-no," said Ken Marchant, Canadian
Food Inspection Agency. "There would be a risk of the soil carrying
diseases." They were consigned to a furnace instead. There is though a persistent story among
horticulturists of an Irish-Canadian botanist who crossed a shamrock with poison
ivy and got a rash of good luck . . . and we do note that the 18th
March this year happens to be a Full Moon. We
Receive Catalogs Veseys
Bulbs P.O. Box 9000, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
C1A 8K6 www.vesseys.com Open up Veseys Bulbs catalogue and there, right on
page three, are “Introductions for 2003.” And the very first one
illustrated, a Dodecatheon or native ‘Shooting Star,’ and exclusive
to Veseys, is a new, improved variety named ‘Priapus.’ Er, yes. Priapus.
Well, if you want to shake up the neighbours, display your erudition and enjoy
risqué revels, this is the flower for you. The Roman god of generation and
protector of gardens whose worship was widespread in the ancient world, his
statues and/or painting were frequently located in entrance halls to houses.
Priapus is recognized by his gigantic erect phallus, which presumably made a
handy hanger for the garden hat. After this, the rest of Veseys catalogue is more
conventional but still impressive. Looking for magnificent scent that formerly
found favour in the court of France’s Sun King, then choose fragrant tuberose
bulbs (the court had dire need of such heavy scents, but that’s another
story). Then there are calla lilies from South Africa. Alongside major highways
in that country, they grow like dandelions by the 401. A trifle more costly here
but, as with everything offered by this P.E.I. firm, most reasonably priced. Apart from bulbs, Veseys also feature a good
selection of sub-zero Brownell roses, along with the Canadian ‘Explorer’
series and Rosa rugosa. Also recommended, amongst others, are their
choices of clematis and hydrangeas along with perennials such as peonies and
hostas. Gardenimport P.O. Box 760, 135 West Beaver Creek Rd., Richmond
Hill, Ontario L4B 1C6 www.gardenimport.com In founding Gardenimport 20 years ago, Dugald
Cameron brought a new dimension to garden bulbs. Switching on the dimmest of the
gardening fraternity to some of the new and novel offerings available while
holding the prices down and keeping quality up, he has since branched out into
equally select perennials, shrubs, roses and veins. He is also purveyor of
Suttons Seeds, that best of Britain firm that boast Queen Victoria as their
first customer. While specializing in mail orders to Canada and the U.S., local
customers can save shipping costs and arrange to pick up their orders in person
. . . funny thing though, those savings always seem to metamorphose into
additional plants. It was Dugald who was not afraid to admit he grew
clematis to climb up through his forsythia bush thereby, he claimed, baffling
his neighbour with blue, summer-blooming forsythia. He also knows his lilies as
can be seen in this season’s offering. For some reason, Toronto is largely a
wasteland to lilies – and not a little else – but elsewhere across the
nation, lilies, as Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII discovered are just
waiting to be tucked into a nice warm bed. Rittenhouse RR#3, 1402 – 4th Avenue, St.
Catharines, Ontario L2R 6P9 www.rittenhouse.ca The family horticultural supply firm of Rittenhouse
has been, as the catalog says, “servicing customer needs since 1914.” Long a
fixture on the professional scene based on St. Catharines, Ontario, a few years
ago they branched out into home gardening products. This portion of the business
is under Bruce Zimmerman, the same horticulturist who is on the 610 CKTB
radio’s Open-Line Garden Show 10 a.m. to noon every Saturday (on air phone
877-610-2582). Garden, planting, pruning and weeding tools?
Rittenhouse has some of the very best, most practical and up-to-the-minute
models – and new inventions. If you didn’t know there are many ways of
removing weeds from lawns, flower beds and elsewhere without chemicals then you
haven’t seen Rittenhouse’s selection. Handy lawn aerators, landscape rakes,
ergonomic pruners, water and pH meters, core sample soil probes and the
hard-to-find trombone sprayer to reach up forty feet into trees. Then there is their water gardening materials and
equipment, mosquito and pest control ideas, safety, watering and measuring
equipment, hoses and hose reels and more, much, much more . . . And while
browsing on the website www.rittenhouse.ca be sure to click on Hort-Pro,
the on-line gardening magazine, full of articles and gardening tips for amateur
and professional alike. Stokes
Seeds 296 Collier Road, Box 10, Thorold, Ontario L2V 5E9
www.stokeseeds.com Stokes has been the word among growers since 1881.
Based in the Niagara peninsula, in what could be justifiably called the
“Garden Of Canada,” Stokes catalogue has become a byword amongst vegetable
and annual flower growers, amateur and professional alike, for the variety of
seeds and accuracy of the instructions which come with them. Allowing for plenty of time to make selections, the
2003 catalog arrived prior to last Christmas. But now, with many of these seeds
already germinated and making headway, thoughts are turning to perennials. An
ill-kept secret is that Stokes supplies many more casual commercial growers of
perennials with the seeds they require. The resulting plants are wholesaled all
through the coming season at Toronto’s Food Terminal – yes, you read right
– and sold by many seasonal so-called “garden centres.” By that time the
price per plant has climbed to five, ten or even more dollars. But the back of Stokes catalog offers several pages
of perennial seeds. The All American Award winning perennial for 2003, Hyssop Agastache
‘Gold Jubilee,’ is sold by the packet of 15 seeds for just $3.50.
Fashionable Rudbeckia, Echinacea, sells for just $1.50 per packet of
about 75 seeds. Those fancy Bressingham Coral Bells, Heuchera, selling
fro equally fancy prices? There’s no less than a thousand seeds per package,
yours for just $1.75. What do you do with a thousand Heuchera? They make
great gifts, or exchange with other perennial seed raisers – or go into
business for yourself. Stokes can supply your with the seed from Achillea
to Veronica. The
Scent of a Rose He who wants a rose must respect the thorn, says a
Persian proverb. Most are willing to risk the thorn to enjoy the fragrance of
the Queen of Flowers. Shakespeare is a rose garden of allusions: That which we call a rose by
any other name would smell as sweet Romeo
and Juliet Act II sc iii
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with
eglantine
A Midsummer Night's Dream Act II sc i A millennium prior to the bard of Stratford on
Avon, however, the prophet Mohammed supposedly advised that, “When I was taken
up to heaven some of my sweat fell to earth and from it sprang the rose; he who
smells the rose smells Mohammed.” In recent years, alas, some wretches from
the fields and labs of modern hybridization have inflicted the ultimate
indignity on the rose. “Sadly,” notes Jonathan Knight in New Scientist,
“Shakespeare's perfumed symbols of love are not what they used to be.”
Incredibly and as sacrilegious as it may sound, the late, great Harry
Wheatcroft could not bear the smell of roses. Hope springs eternal in every rosarians, or even
weekend gardener for that matter. The editor of the Canadian Rosarian
went nose-on to the problem a few years ago. The scent of the rose, he advised,
was often affected by weather conditions, but Chrysler Imperial always smells
sweet. The most scent will be apparent though on warm,
sunny summer days and least so on cool cloudy ones. The very best ever-blooming
floribundas are, says Canadian Rosarian, Fragrant Delight, Radox Bouquet,
Friesia (Sunsprite), Saratoga, Sheila’s Perfume, Apricot Nectar, Margaret
Meril, Chinatown, English Miss and Angel Face. Amongst grandifloras they chose
Starlight (Lagerfeld), Pearlie Mae, Gold Medal, June Bride, Sweet Primrose
(Sonia), Sundowner, Waiheke (Waikiki) and Winning Colours. If you are looking for the traditional long-stem
rose with all its glorious scent, rather than the anaemic things proffered –
at a price – by the local florist, in addition to Chrysler Imperial, both
Tiffany and Duffgold (Fragrant Cloud) have each won the James Alexander Gamble
Rose Fragrant Medal for being “strong and delightfully fragrant.” Dorothy Perkins wittily pined that “the rosarians
path is not thornless.” No indeed, not with the rose hybridiser lurking behind
every other bush. Nevertheless, as Sherlock Holmes once observed: “The rose is
an extra. Its smell and colour are an embellishment of life, not as a condition
of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have
much to hope for from flowers.” Hostas
for You and Me in 2003 Hostas are now without doubt one of the most
popular of perennials. More and more enter the market every season. They range
from miniatures just six inches high and not much more than a foot across to
monsters six feet in diameter and half that height. The foliage may have a
slug-resistant waxy appearance, be wavy edged or plain and come in every
combination and pattern of green, blue, gold, cream or white imaginable. But who comes up those wild, wild names? Are they
the product of feverish dreams of restless midnight hour or the cold-blooded
commercial creations of money grubbing capitalist pig? Alas, neither, but usually their developers,
members of the American Hosta Grower’s Association. So ‘Captain Kirk’ has
not been to where no hosta has gone before but results from Kirk Brill of
DesMoines, Iowa. Likewise ‘Orange Marmalade’ is from the fertile mind of Bob
Solberg at Green Hill Farm, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. And perhaps when he
named ’Stepping Out,’ Kevin Vaughn was thinking of the Fred Astaire number
for Easter Parade – or perhaps not. Whatever, here they are, new for
you and me in ’03 – but how to fit them all into the garden? Allegan Fog
misted
18” high 40” wide lavender flowers Ken
Herrema, Michigan Blue Beard
blue
6” high 18” wide
lavender flowers Herb Benedict
Captain Kirh
gold centre 23” high
43” wide pale lavender
Kirk Brill, Des Moines First Frost
white margin 14” high 36” wide
very pale lavender
Patricia Scolnik, N.C.
Golden Delight
gold
20” high 50” wide near-white
Bob Kuk Jewel of the Nile
gold margin 22” high 50” wide
near-white
Kevin Walek Lakeside Rhapsody
white margin 20” high 30” wide
whitish flowers
Mary Chastain, TN
Lemon Meringue
gold
26” high 50” wide pale lavender
Peter Ruh Moon Lily
gold
17” high 36” wide very pale lavender*
Gretchen Harshbarger
My Marianne
white margin 13” high 24: wide
pale lavender
Patrick Lydon Nancy Gill
green
21” high 48” wide medium lavender*
Kevin Vaughn
One Man’s Treasure
green
11” high 30” wide medium purple*
Benedict & Solberg
Orange Marmalade
gold centre 20” high
45” wide pale lender
Bob Solberg
Radio Waves
gold centre
6” high 17” wide pale lavender
Greg Johnson, Iowa Rhythm & Blues
blue
11” high 25” wide
l
Greg Johnson, Iowa Stained Glass
gold centre 20” high
45” wide pale lavender fr
Hans Hansen Stepping Out
gold margin 16” high 36” wide *
Kevin Vaughn Teaspoon
green
11” high 24” wide pale lavender
Frank Nyikos, Indiana
Tequila Sunrise
gold
16” high 36” wide purple flowers
Greg Johnson
Tortilla Chip
gold
16” high 36” wide pale lavender
fr.
Bob Solberg
Victory
white margin 30” high 70” wide
lavender flowers Q & Z Nursery Whirling Dervish
white margin 22” high 45” wide
lavender flowers Q & Z Nursery
Whirlwind Tour
white centre 18” high
38” wide lavender flowers Q & Z
Nursery
Winsome
white margin
8” high 24” wide lavender flowers Dick
& Jane Ward, Ohio
* slug resistant fr – fragrant blooms More information: www.hostasonline.com Perennial
Plant of the Year – and Other New Introductions “The greatest service which can be rendered any
country is to add a useful plant to its culture,” said Thomas Jefferson in
1821. Typically modest, he neglected to list the many plants, both edible and
ornamental, that he had himself introduced. Every year since 1990 the Perennial Plant
Association has introduced their “Plant of the Year.” This season sees the
Shasta Daisy ‘Becky’ make it to the head of the list. This is a large
single-flowered daisy over three feet in height, with sturdy stems that stand up
well to heavy rain. Introduced by Jim and Becky Stewart, it will bloom all
summer until the first frosts if deadheaded regularly. Equally at home in the
perennial border or containers providing it has full sun, according to the
wholesale nursery JEA Perennials it is, they say, distasteful to deer but
attractive to butterflies as well as an excellent cut flower. For the purists at
heart it is native to North America. Technically listed as Leucantheumum
‘Becky,’ since taxonomists have booted Shastas out of the Chrysanthemum
tribe, for those who like to keep up with such things. This is the fourteenth Perennial Plant Association
selection. Do any or all fulfill Jefferson’s dictum? Gardeners can judge for
themselves from the following: 1990
Phlox stolonifera 1991
Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’ 1992
Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ 1993
Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’ 1994
Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Sprite’ 1995
Perovskia atriplicifolia 1996
Penstemon ‘Husker’s Red’ 1997
Salvia ‘Mainacht’ [‘May Night’] 1998
Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ 1999
Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Gldsturm’ 2000
Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’ 2001
Calamgrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ 2002
Phlox paniculata ‘David’ Thomas Jefferson or no, proprietors of perennial
plant production companies are seeing a boom as never before. As in everything
though, demand for the new and different is intense. So what other perennials
can we expect to see in 2003? The All American Selections (www.all-americaselections.org)
lists Agastache foeniculum ‘Golden Jubilee,’ a sun-loving hyssop that
will bloom most of summer, tolerating heat and drought. Sarah Willis and Trevor Cole reviewed selections
from commercial growers in the industry magazine Landscape Trades late
last year. Their extensive list, while by not complete, indicates astounding
additions will be available for the perennial border – and elsewhere in the
home garden. Note that all listed below are plant developers and commercial
growers. They do not sell direct to home gardeners, however heartbreaking their
pleas. Websites are shown to allow for chasing down “must haves” for 2003. American Daylily & Perennials www.americandaylily.com Hemerocallis
‘Frankly Scarlet’ Hemerocallis
‘Plum Perfect’ Blooms of Bressingham Inc. www.bobna.com Dianthus
‘Rosish One’ Lycnis coronaria ‘Gardener’s World’ Polemonium
‘Bressignham Purple’ Pulmonaria
‘Opal’ Darwin Plants www.darwinplants.com Delphinium
‘Darwin’s Blue Indulgence’ Delphinium
‘Darin’s Pink Indulgence’ Delphinium
‘Eelkje’ Delphinium
‘Gossamer’ Delphinium
‘La Boheme’ Delphinium
‘Wishful Thinking’ Geranium
‘Jolly Bee’ Heuchera
‘’Mars’ Heuchera
‘Mercury’ Heuchera
‘Neptune’ Heuchera
‘Saturn’ Heuchera
‘Venus’ Phlox paniculata ‘Empty Feelings’ Phlox paniculata ‘Natural Feelings’ Phlox paniculata ‘Red Feelings’ Salvia nemerosa
‘Caradonna’ Salvia nemerosa
‘Marcus’ Epic Plant Company www.epicplants.com Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Pink Sensation’ Digitalis purpurea ‘Snow Thimble’ Geranium
x oxonianum ‘Katherine Adele’ Lysimachia clethroides ‘Geisha’ Sedum ‘Autumn
Fire’ Ernst Benary of America Inc. www.benary.de Echinacea purpurea ‘Primadonna Deep Rose’ Helenium autumnale ‘Helena Red Shades’ Helenium autumnale ‘Helena Gold’ Helenium ‘Mardi
Gras’ Mysotis sylvatica ‘Blue Tower’ Rudbeckia hirta
‘Toto Lemon’ Rudbeckia hirta
‘Toto Rustic’ Rudbeckia hirta
‘Cordoba’ Rudbeckia hirta
‘Prairtie Sun’ Rudbeckia hirta
‘Autumn Colours’ The Flower Fields www.theflowerfields.com Chrysanthemum
‘Golden Lynn’ Chrysanthemum
‘Sunny Tracy’ Gaillardia
‘Summer’s Kiss’ Gaura
‘Pink Fountain’ Goldsmith www.goldsmithseeds.com Aquilegia caerulia ‘Origmi’ Norseco 800-561-9683 Hemerocallis
‘Frankly Scarlet’ Hemerocallis
‘Plum Perfect’ Terra Nova Nurseries Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com Agastache foeniculum ‘Golden Jubilee’ Athyrium niponicum var. pictum ‘Burgundy Lace’ Athyrium felix-femina ‘Encourage’ Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ Campanula punctata ‘Flashing Lights’ Carex siderosticha ‘Banana Boat’ Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’ Echinea purpurea ‘Prairie Frost’ Geranium endressii ‘Dresden Pink’ Geum
‘Werner Arends’ Hakonechioa macra ‘All Gold’ Hedera helix
‘Henrietta’ Heuchera
‘Obsidian’ x Heucherella ‘Sunspot’ Juncus effuses f. spiralis ‘Blond Ambition’ Liriope muscari
‘Okina’ Lobelia
‘Cranberry Crush’ Persicaria virginiana ‘Brushstrokes’ Podophyllum
‘Kaleidoscope’ Primula
‘Green lace’ Pulmonaria
‘Crawshay Chance’ Saxifraga fortunei ‘Silver Velvet’ Saxifraga stolonifera ‘Tricolor’ Scabiosa caucasica ‘Ultra Violet’ Thalictrum aquilegifolium ‘Sparkler’ Tricyrtis formosana ‘Gilty Pleasure’ Valleybrook Gardens www.perennials.com Ameria
‘Nifty Thrifty’ Juncus effusus
‘Lemon Twist’ Vanhof and Blokker Ltd. www.vanhofandblokker.com Anemone hupehensis ‘Crispa’ Geranium
x ‘Kahlua’ Iris ensata
‘Electric Rays’ Ligularia tussilaginea ‘Cristata’ Phlox paniculata ‘Baby Face’ Phlox paniculata ‘Pinwheel’ Physostegia virginiana ‘Olympus Gold’ Playcodon grandiflora ‘Fairy Snow’ Potentilla hopwoodiana Salvia pratensis ‘Pink Delight’ Salvia pratensis ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ Yoder Canada www.yoder.com Chrysanthemum ‘Brooke’ Chrysanthemum
‘Foxy Patricia’ Chrysanthemum
‘Madeline’ Chrysanthemum
‘Mariah’ Chrysanthemum
‘Rosy Denise’ Chrysanthemum
‘Yellow Blizzard’ Gardening
Web Heirloom
Apple Trees Thanks to an article in last November’s Smithsonian
magazine by Tim Hensley on locating and re-introducing antique apple trees, we
can supply the answer to that pippin of a question, “Where can I buy old
varieties of apples?” Hensely himself operates
the Urban Homestead Nursery at 818 Cumberland Street, Bristol VA 24201 phone:
276-466-2931 email: urbanhomestead@aol.com, where he
sells antique and modern apple trees by mail order, including 100
different Virginia varieties. His catalogue is US$3 Sonoma Antique Apple Orchard is in California, at
4395 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448 phone:
805-467-2509 www.applenursery.com.
Their free catalogue features organically grown antique apple tree varieties.
Southmeadow Fruit Gardens’ catalogue is a more robust US$10 but offers over
250 apple tree varities. They are located just west of Ontario, in Michigan, at
P.O. Box 211 10603 Cleveland
Avenue, Baroda MI 49101 phone: 616-422-2411
www.southmeadowfruitgardens.com Calhoun’s Nursery, 295 Blacktwig Road, Pittsboro
NC 27312 phone 919-542-4480 under Lee Calhoun owns the largest collection of old
Southern varieties in existence and sells 450 Southern apple tree varieties. His
catalogue is just US$1. Like him, Greenmantle
Nursery of 3010 Ettersburg Road, Garberville CA 95542
phone: 707-986-7504 apparently has no e-mail or website, but offers a
wide assortment of California
antique apples, pears, peaches and plums. OMAF
Factsheets, Infosheets & Publications The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
website is a great source of information for home gardeners at all levels.
Culture, environment, insects, diseases, weeds, soil management and much more
are just a click of the mouse away. Want to know how to look after broad-leaved
evergreens for the home garden? Click Order No. 94-031. Thinking of planting
fruit trees in the home garden? Order No. 98-011. Need to design and care for
windbreaks? Grow gooseberries and currants, blueberries and elderberries?
Written in a straightforward, easy-to-understand fashion, instructions run the
full gamut from chemical to non-chemical culture, all specifically geared for
Ontario gardeners. Some of the more extensive are sold at a modest cost, others
are free – well, it is your tax money, so why not take advantage? http://www.gov.on.ca/omafra/english/crops/hort/nursery.html Judging
Genetically Modified Organisms When even judges dump on genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) how are we to know what is safe? Ruling recently in favour of
McDonald’s, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet did, however, refer to “Chicken
McNuggets as a ‘McFrankenstein creation’ of elements not used by home
cooks,” according to a report in the Financial Post. To
environmentalists, it is all alarmist ‘Frankenfoods.” Most scientists on the
other hand, like H. G. Wells a century ago, believe it is the shape of things to
come. A co-operation between the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the University of Florida attempts to allay the concerns of
open-minded consumers with the new site Biotechnology Risk Assessment. The
opening section explains what genetic engineering is. This being a U.S. site,
understandably the following section runs through those government agencies
responsible for regulating GMOs, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the
FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and the DoA (Department of Agriculture). Nothing is without risk, and under the assessment
of such, leading experts explain what is and are not known about GMOs, both
plants and animals. An excellent site also for students and teachers seeking to
know mreo about the subject. www.riskassess.org Science
in the Forefront Can science solve biological problems some claim
plague our planet? The journal Science recommends this website from
BioScience Productions, a non-profit based in Nokomis, Florida, that promotes
science education. Action Bioscience is aimed at middle grades through college
students and will be a welcome source for teachers and instructors confronted by
their charges’ thoughtful questions: Can genetically engineered crops save
starving nations? Did humans evolve in Africa? Are world forests threatened?
Scientists and environmentalists present the position. www.actionbioscience.org Darwin’s
Correspondence More than a century ago, ordinary people as well as
well as scientists corresponded by actual letters. The post office was reliable
and respected. There was no necessity for e-mail and other blessings of
electronic life. Some 15,000 letters written by Charles Darwin, or
to him, still exist and, according to Alison Pearn of the Cambridge
University-based Darwin Correspondence Project, reported in Science:
“Previously unknown letters still turn up at a rate of 60 or so a year.” The
Project, of which Pearn, is the senior research associate, has spent almost
thirty years publishing Darwin’s letters written over more than half the 19th
century. Now, thanks to funding the U.S. National Science
Foundation, the British Arts and Humanities Research Board and others, according
to Science, the Project has commenced posting the first seven volumes o n
line. Apart from obvious general interest, the correspondence continues to have
a multitude of scientific uses even today, notes Pearn. www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Departments/Darwin March
Horticultural Happenings 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’ more 416-593-2656 or www.sources.com/tfn 5 March Vale of Avoca Nature Walk: meet 10
a.m. St. Clair subway station (Pleasant Blvd exit); morning only 12 March High Park Lost Waterways: meet 10
a.m. at park entrance on south side of Bloor West, opposite High Park Ave.;
morning only 16 March Exploring Lake Iroquois Shore Bluff
& Davenport Trail: meet 1 p.m. at Piccininni Community Centre, St. Clair
W., just west of Landsdowne Ave; until 4 p.m. 19 March Old GO Line Nature Walk: meet 10
a.m. ne corner York Mils Rd and Leslie; bring lunch 23 March Bluffers Meadow Nature Walk: meet
10:30 a.m. se corner Kingston Rd and Chine Dr.; morning only 29 March G. R. Lord Park Nature Walk: meet
10 a.m. ne corner Finch W. and Dufferin; morning only Mycological
Society of Toronto Meetings on mushrooms and “forays” to look for
them; more information 416-444-9053 High
Park Sunday Walks Meet 1:15 p.m. south of the Grenadier Restaurant in
Toronto’s High Park; a $2 donation is requested; more 416-392-1748 9 March: Myths & Legends of High Park 23 March: Lost Waterways Gem
& Mineral Show 15 & 16 March at Armour Heights Community
Centre, 2140 Avenue Rd (at Wilson Ave); Saturday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. More from 416-630-4914 Toronto
Entomologists’ Association 22 March monthly meeting, 1 p.m. Room 432, Ramsay
Wright Zoological Building, sw corner St. George St and Harbord St. Toronto Stratford
Garden Festival 6 – 9 March The 2003 Stratford Garden Festival
with the theme “A River Runs Through It,” presented by The Lung Association
Huron-Perth and Anything Grows, at the Stratford Coliseum, 20 Glastonbury Dr.,
Stratford, Ontario. Thirteen theme gardens designed by local landscapers are
featured; cost is just $6 per person. More information:
www.stratfordgardenfestival.com or call 519-271-7500. Ontario
Rock Garden Society 9 March 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.: Maria Galetti on “A Montreal Garden and Nursery.”
Visitors welcome. Canada
Blooms 2003: A Symphony of Gardens 12 through 16 March: The great event of the garden
calendar, one that no true gardener misses. Metro Toronto Convention Centre,
South Building (222 Bremner Blvd. If you are masochistic enough to face downtown
Toronto traffic, other wise easy access by inside walkways from Union Station).
More from www.canadablooms.com or call 1-1800-730-1020 or 416-447-8655 Riverdale
Farm Maple Syrup Festival, Toronto 14 & 15 March 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. 201
Winchester St. Toronto more: 416-392-6794 Richters
Herbs Free Seminars All seminars are held on Sundays at 2 p.m. 2 March: Starting Herbs from Seeds with Sandra
Henry of Richters 16 March: Medicines from the Garden with Jocelyn
Allen, Herbalist 23 March: Early Settlers Herb Gardens with Sally
Grande of Herb Wild 30 March: Planning and Planting Your Herb Garden
with Koidu Sulev of Richters Workshop 9 March: Propagating Herbs with Conrad Richter $45 Richters is located on the south side of Hwy 47
(Bloomington Rd.) a kilometre east of Goodwood and east of the junction of Hwys
47 & 48 north of Toronto; more at
www.richters com Kitchener-Waterloo
Home & Garden Show 28 – 30 March. Sponsored by Landscape Ontario and
the Waterloo Region Home Builders Association, the popular regional show
features more than 150 exhibitors at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex. Smithsonian
Orchid Show Until 26 May: 10,077 orchids flourish in the
Horticultural Service’s greenhouse. Many of them will be on view at the Arts
and Industries Building in an exhibition called “Jewels of Nature” should
you find yourself in Washington, D.C. Nature
Wildlife Federation Travel Trips For more information, call 1-800-696-9563, visit www.nwf.org/expedtions 7
– 21 April Suriname Explorer, Nature and Cultural History US$2,990 24
June – 5 July Alaska – Too Wild to Waste, scheduled for peak of wildflower
season US$4,295 Allan
Gardens South side Carleton Street between Jarvis and
Sherbourne Streets; open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends and
holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; further information 416-392-7288 or www.allangardens.com 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 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. Gardening
in the Headlines A
round-up of the past few weeks news of interest to gardeners Special §
We are
sure all readers will wish Lois Hole, Alberta gardening expert, horticultural
author, garden centre operator, provincial Lieutenant-Governor and chancellor of
the University of Alberta every success in fighting off her recently-diagnosed
cancer following discovery in routine surgery. Landscaping §
An
e-mail letter accuses Frank magazine of neglecting “to recount the
adventures of those who have chosen to acquire specimens of that most noble form
of statuary, the garden gnome. I
look forward to a rectification in some future issue. Your servant,
Tikiliberationfront.” §
Oriental
Zen-like gardens with multi-level decking provide a great place to relax and
dine, says homeowner Farah Perelmuter, of her house at 33 Cardiff Rd. in
Toronto’s Eglinton Ave. E. and Bayview area.
“There are many perennials, shrubs and trees, and no grass to cut. We
light torches at night. We can hear a waterfall nearby and no traffic.”
According to the National Post’s daily ‘On the Market,’ she is
asking $599,000. Funny thing though, we thought Zen gardens were rocks
surrounded by raked sand. But then this is Toronto
. . . Lawns §
Lawns in
West Palm Beach, Florida, are faced with a new pest: pigs. Wild hogs have
invaded the town, digging up lawns in their search for food. One woman reported
$3,000 damage in three nights to her grassy landscape. We’ve heard of pigging
out, but on lawns? Trees §
An
infamous invasive Asian beetle threatens to make trees in southwestern Ontario
look like silly ashes, with an estimated 70% of Fraxinus doomed to die,
according to the co-founder of the Ash Rescue Coalition Robert Holland.
“It’s going to make Lambton County look like Mount. St. Helen’s after the
blast,” he says. §
Steven
Strauss and his team of tree geneticists from Oregon State University in
Corvallis have evaluated the risks posed by GM trees to native woods and
forests, according to New Scientist magazine. GM poplar cross-pollinated
only with wild relatives just over the boundary fence, and then only with
between 0.1 per cent and 1 per cent of the neighbouring wild cottonwood trees,
the researchers report. §
The
Asian Longhorn Beetle invasion of the United States, commencing in 1996, has
killed 7,468 maple, birch and other trees in and around New York City and
Chicago, with 860,000 more trees are in danger, reports the February issue of
the Smithsonian magazine. Shrubs §
A
50-year-old Italian bureaucrat has a thing about bushes, writes Michael
Kesterton in The Globe and Mail. Police in Trento, northern Italy, caught
him wielding “a large pair of scissors” in nocturnal attacks against
neighbours’ shrubs. The unwanted topiary was caused by “irregularities in
the bushes’ shape” disturbing him, he said, “and I just wanted to keep
them neat and nice.” Certainly a cut above most civil servants. Flowers §
Perennials
have certainly arrived, now even being used as a selling feature by real estate
agents, as witnessed by Clare Estlick who describes 16 Edenbrook Hill in
Toronto’s ritzy Eglinton Avenue West and Royal York Road region as having “a
stone patio and professionally landscaped tired gardens with perennials,” on a
85-foot-by-150-foot lot. All this and more yours for $2.298-million. §
Plant
scientist Richard Jorgenson’s 1987 insertion of a gene to turn petunias a deep
purple to impress visiting investors and which puzzlingly fails, leads him to
the discovery that original and implanted genes both may become silent. Later
researchers track this to double-strand RNA and RNA interference or “RNAi.”
In turn, research published in the journal Nature Medicine this February
shows RNAi can prevent hepatitis and potentially cancers, AIDS and many others
diseases – all the result of “cosmetic” gardening. Down in the Vegetables §
Ideology
or bafflegab? The question erupts anew over organic versus conventional farming
in the august pages of the journal Science following the publication of a
paper earlier last year by Paul Mader et al. from the arch Institute of
Organic Agriculture, Frick, Switzerland. Whatever the merits or otherwise, no
one has yet summoned the courage to note that Swiss food is amongst the most
expensive in the world – which is certainly saying something for Europe. §
Zucchinis
were brandished aloft by antiwar protesters outside the Markham, Ontario, office
of federal Defence Minister John McCallum. The protesters claimed to have chose
zucchinis thanks to “their phallic resemblance to cruise missiles.” A
British wit claimed the first time he encountered a zucchini he killed it with a
rake. §
Potato
farmers breath easy again as researchers report that while fries may make you
fat, they lack enough acrylamide to cause cancer, as was reported by Swedish
scientists last year. §
The
Centre for Science in the Public Interest reports that Betty Crocket SuperMoist
Carrot Cake Mix contains less carrot powder than baking powder, spices, salt,
powdered cellulose and other additives. Campbell’s Chicken Broth with Rice
Soup a quarter of a teaspoon each of celery and carrots in a can supposedly
making two servings, and Our Compliments Cheddar and Broccoli Macaroni had a
half-teaspoon of broccoli after it had been rehydrated. §
Broccoli,
cabbage, tomatoes – they all taste bitter to “super-tasters,” a study
presented to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. One in four people inherit the trait, among them the father of the
present U.S. President who, during his term in office, banned broccoli from any
meal served, including those on Air Force One. But tomatoes? Surely that is
un-American? Fruit & Nuts §
The
Centre for Science in the Public Interest finds the “blueberries” in Sheriff
Added Touch Blueberry Muffin Mix are artificial, made from sugar, hydrogenated
oil, flour, cellulose gum, citric acid, artificial flavour and colour. They also
discover that Yoplait Tubes has no raspberries or grapes, what ever is shown on
the package, only natural and artificial flavours. §
Perhaps
things aren’t so bad for the banana, concedes New Scientist magazine.
Philippe Vain of the Johns Innes Centre in Norfolk. England has succeeded in
genetically modifying the matooke, a ubiquitous East African cooking
banana, to resist nematode pests. The magazine had previously reported that the
banana was doomed to extinction within a decade owing to a lack of pathogen
resistance. §
Fernando
Agius and her colleagues at the University of Cordoba in Spain report in Nature
Biotechnology that strawberries have another way, in addition to the use of the
sugar L-galactose to produce vitamin
C, and the team has identified the gene responsible, GalUR, which might
be engineered into other foods. We always did like strawberries. §
Native
butternut trees are threatened by butternut canker, although
genetically-resistant stand s do exist, reports the Owen Sound Field Naturalists
newsletter Hart’s-Tongue Herald. Spices and Herbs §
Don’t
try transporting natural products across the border: Canada Customs appear
oblivious to some at least or their many and varied uses. Two unfortunate
Pakistani men were detained at Niagara Falls for the heinous crime of being in
possession of henna powder, a product to dye for, according Shahid M. G. Kiani,
Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner in Ottawa. We hear the bureaucrats were
left red in the face – and perhaps hands. Houseplants §
Paul
Olsheski, of Howsington Florist in Gloucester, Ontario (that’s pronounced
Glow-Ster for non-Brits) offers a modest Valentine’s floral extravaganza for
just $500. The very thing for those residents of the Ottawa region who are
forced to survive on modest salaries afforded by Canadian taxpayers who are
forced to purchase the local Dominion supermarket’s $29.99 pot of orchids,
perhaps more appropriate for lovers . . . §
Vacationers
are threatening cactus in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico and the U.S., reports
the wildlife trade monitoring organization TRAFFIC. Organized cactus rustling
has long been a problem in the southwest U.S., particularly of mature specimens
for landscaping new homes. With visitors eager to let cactus prickle their
fancies, even smaller – and rarer – species are now under pressure. Seeds §
Bureaucrats
of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s government threaten to commit one of the
worst outrages ever inflicted on a scientific institution when they demand the
buildings of the All-Russian Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry in St.
Petersburg, the world’s oldest and second-largest plant gene bank, simply
because the wretched civil servants desire a more prominent presence in the
former imperial capital. §
Seeds
don’t absorb water from the soil but mostly from the air in that soil, reports
Stewart Wuest, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in
Pendleton, Oregon, after conducting a series of experiments reported in the
Society of Soil Science Journal. Bugs and Gardeners §
Tragedy
strikes for Ontario oenophiles as 65% the provincial 2001 white wine is
discovered contaminated by the mass invasion of Asian ladybugs late that season
which, finding themselves about to be pressed for posterity along with the
grapes, released the chemical pyrazine, bitter and acrid, contaminating what
should have been a superb vintage. §
Noticing
that soldier termites were happily chomping through the polythene grow bags at
Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, Chris Kasamba is suggesting that
termites might be used to biodegrade plastic waste. Since some of these beast
extend into southern Ontario, this could be good news indeed for the
environment. §
Faced
with the threat of agroterrorism, the Bush administration budgets $20 million in
2002 to establish a network of diagnostic labs for plant and animal pathogens,
reports the journal Nature. President George W. Bush’s proposed budget
for the 2003 includes an extra $146 million to protect agriculture and the food
supply, none too much or too soon, given the precarious state of many diagnostic
laboratories. The less said about their northern neighbour’s the better . . .
§
The U.S.
National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has 121 Asian Longhorn
Beetles in its insect collection, which is used to plot the geographic
distribution from the collection to predict the insects’ spread, says the Smithsonian
magazine’s February issue. Weeds §
Another
blow for the foes of GM crops is reported by the journal Nature: the
supposed ‘superweeds’ created by contamination from transgenic crops turn
out to be wimps, says Neal Stewart at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For
the Birds §
On its
home ground, populations of the British house sparrow are crashing, London alone
having lost 75% of its sparrows. To the usual claimed culprits of disease, cats
and chemical, the Guardian Weekly says we can now add mobile phones whose
radiations are affecting reproduction and so ringing down doom on our feathered
chums. §
The vast
urban increase in bird feeders is much appreciated by predator birds. Red-tailed
hawks have been chowing down on inner city pigeons even in winter, and are now
joined in Toronto by Cooper’s hawks and sharp-shinned hawks, peregrine and
merlin falcons, and American kestrels all patrolling backyard and causing a
certain nervousness amongst cats and small dogs. Composting §
A New
Brunswick charity auction offers bids on 18 federal and provincial politician
who, for the lucky winning farmer, will assist in mucking out the cattle barn in
aid of Agricultural Producers Association of New Brunswick’s education
committee’s fundraiser. Gardening in the City §
Not
everyone loves wild grasses: threatened by excess growth of such, and consequent
drying up, Blue Heron Lake in Windsor, Ontario, as the grasses on its edge
removed by a controlled burn in late January. §
A
controlled burn in both High Park and South Humber Park, Toronto, will take
place this spring as in previous seasons, city staff announce. The purpose is to
maintain the prairie plant and savannah communities that were formerly widely
spread in southwestern and south-central Ontario. §
Aren’t
we safe anywhere? A 70-year-old Richmond Hill, Ontario, grandfather tending fig
trees in his home greenhouse was shot and seriously injured in mid-February. §
A large
deer collided with a car on Toronto’s Cummer Avenue in the early morning
hours, according to the North York Mirror. Yes, that could be a deer in
your city garden – the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources say deer are
not uncommon in Toronto and indeed are thriving. §
New York
City gardener Phin Suy, 32, quit his 10-year stint working in Central Park upon
winning US$128-million multi-state Mega Millions jackpot lottery. No doubt he
will no retire to a home surrounded by massed Lunaria purpurea §
True or
false: Toronto mayoralty candidate Barbara Hall, noting Sheila Copps’ success
with Tim Hortons media photo ops, may choose to reveal her platform from a local
garden centre, given her well-known enthusiasm for gardening and success in her
own Amelia Street front yard. Inventions §
A patent
by London, England’s Metropolitan Water Company (GB 2375761) claims flowers
growing through a membrane installed over roofs allows the roots to penetrate
through it into recycled bath water, cleaning it and sending it on its way for
use to flush toilets, according to New Scientist magazine. Science and the Gardener §
“It’s
an amazing thing for a scientist. The things we’ve been predicting for years
are starting to happen now. It’s already having real effects on vulnerable
people. And the predictions get even worse,” says Cynthia Rosenzwig, a NASA
researcher of the effects of climate change on food production, quoted by
Michael Kesterton in The Globe and Mail §
University
of Alberta’s Stan Boutin reports in the Proceedings of the Royal Society
that in the Yukon, red squirrels have changed their genetic makeup in response
to a warming climate – they new breed 18 days earlier. Gardeners greet this
news with somewhat less enthusiasm. §
“Despite
more than 40 years and countless billions of dollars of research, no credible
scientific evidence exists to link typical exposures to chemicals in the
environment with disease,” says Steven Milloy, the publisher of
JunkScience.com, and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and the author of Junk
Science Judo: Self-defence Against Health Scares and Scams (Cato Institute,
2001) §
China
seeks co-operation with the U.S., and especially its expatriate scientists
working there, to study the devastating dust storms that have become
increasingly severe in recent springs, sweeping down from the country’s
northwestern plains and threatening the health of millions. §
The
International Rice Genome Sequencing Project makes available a high-quality
genome of the subspecies Oryza sativa japonica, one of the two major
forms widely grown, free on the Internet. §
Fires in
the Amazon forests are causing far worse damage than originally believed,
reports researcher Joe Barlow at the University of East Anglia in Norwich,
England, who extended the standard two-year study of tree death following fire
to find thick-barked trees take an additional year to die. §
In
research that literally hits home, a paper in the journal Nature by
Jiangou Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, and his
colleagues at Stanford University in California, claims that house building is
the cause of even more ecological damage than population growth – 233 million
additional households can be expected by 2015 even without overall population
growth. §
Indian
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee unveils Science and Technology Policy
2003 at the Indian Science Conference in Bangalore, assuring of new funds
and a commitment to science in India. Scientists there are less than impressed.
“If the prime minister thinks de-bureaucratization is needed only in science
departments, he is wrong,” says J. Gowrishankar, a molecular biologist,
according to a report in Nature. §
Did the
British Medical Association (BMA) ignore most science and possibly wrongly
advice Zamia to refuse GM foods offered to relieve starvation devastating that
country? The claim comes from Luke Mumba, a senior molecular biologist at the
University of Zambia in Lusaka, reported in New Scientist. Travel §
Never
underestimate the Netherlands ingenuity. The Natuurmuseum Rotterdam is running a
slide show of mating insects through until 30 June. Just what you wanted to
visit Europe for and learn all about Canada’s dependence on Europe for
cultural heritage. §
The
brand new Sheraton Krabi Beach resort in Thailand’s Muang District “is
situated in a natural mangrove along the ocean,” according to the
‘Globetrotter’ feature of The Globe and Mail (www.starwood.com). The
mangrove sounds interesting but the resort name a little disconcerting to
English speakers, at least. Weather §
In
Britain, The Guardian newspaper worries that increased melting of the
Greenland ice sheet may slow the flow of the Gulf Stream, which normally brings
relatively mild weather to the kingdom’s northern climes, this making not for
a global warming but something distinctively less amicable to gardening and life
in general as the British see it. §
How cold
did it get in Florida in the cold snap earlier this year? The Toronto Sun’s
Hartley Steward reports: “It was so cold the gardeners stripped their beds and
covered their tropical plants with sheets and blankets.” §
Southern
Ontario’s cold snap has killed some species of wetland plants at the Royal
Botanical Gardens Hamilton, according to aquatic ecologist Tys Theysmeyer. It
has also been cold enough to kill many turtles and frogs, he says, and even
fish. §
Spring
should arrive early, according to groundhog Wiarton Willie, who demonstrated
conviction in his prediction by treating the Wiarton mayor’s white tuxedo with
copious quantities of urine. Law and Gardeners §
City
hicks can’t tell hemp from hay – or marijuana from grass for a Nativity
scene in Chicago. Red faces all ‘round the cop shop as laboratory tests prove
‘twas not the dread weed they confiscated a couple of months back. §
The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service meet in Washington to set
up a protocol for dealing with potato virus problems such as mop top and potato
wart, which the P.E.I. Potato Board hopes will solve some of the island’s
major spud problems, reports the Financial Post §
Gambian
President Yahya Jammeh threatens to jail youths caught playing soccer in the
rainy season instead of tending their peanuts, a major source of income for the
West African country §
The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently issued a new directive
regulating the entry bamboo and tropical woods in an effort to control possible
introduction of forest pests. See www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/protect/dir/d-02-12e.shtml#a. Business §
“The
U.S. has shipped African countries thousands of tons of genetically modified
corn – the same corn that Americans have been eating safely for years. But
environmental radicals and the European Union are screaming
‘genetic pollution’ and threatening to withdraw and ban agricultural
exports from any countries that plant or distribute the grains. Better dead than
fed.” Paul K. Driessen, The Sun Herald §
Farmers
continue to embrace genetically modified (GM) crops in increasing numbers,
reports the non-profit group Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)
based in Manila, the Philippines. Plantings increased 12% last year with nearly
6 million farmers in 16 countries producing over a fifth of the world’s
soybean, corn, cotton and canola crops
with GM seed. §
The
Crompton Co. of Elmira, southern Ontario has reached an out-of-court settlement
to buy four homes close to its chemical plant after residents complained of lack
of sleep and unreasonable exposure to industrial chemicals, according to the National
Post. Kyoto Kafuffles §
Alberta
Premier Ralph Klein urges Russia to think again before signing the Kyoto
protocol. Russia’s signature is essential if the protocol is to come into
force. The battle, said the Premier, is not over. According to the Financial
Post, the major oil-producing Siberian provinces of Khanty-Mansii, Tyumen
and Yamal-Nenetz, have long-standing agreements with Alberta to co-operate on
issues of common interest, including resources management. §
A
frustrated Greenpeace in Moscow says: “This is just Russian bureaucracy,” as
Putin’s government, continues to delay the critical signing of the Kyoto
Protocol. §
The Calgary
Herald’s Don Martin notes that it took some 1,000 federal and provincial
bureaucrats to produce various climate change models. Premier Ralph Klein is
wrong then to say Kyoto is a job-killer. On the contrary it will create untold
numbers of civil service positions. So, says Martin, “ if you want to see
where your tax dollars go to die, come to Ottawa.” §
“You
have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other
nation in history. Despite this you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that
you can secure the profit of your greedy company and industries.” Osama bin
Laden, alleged author, on an al-Qaeda web site, apparently annoyed at the U.S.,
quoted by Canada Free Press Environment §
Work
commences to build a dam across the former Aral Sea in an attempt to restore at
least the northern portion and, with other major engineering feats supported
through the World Bank, return water, health and prosperity to the stricken
cotton regions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Turkmenistan. §
Groundhog
populations in southern Ontario are crashing disastrously. The reason, says
zoologist Mary Gartshore, is invading possums from the south. Apparently they
kill the hibernating groundhogs in their burrows. §
“Organic”
is a contemptible word to peasants from Latin America, Africa and Asia, says
Wayne Roberts in the Toronto weekly NOW. Instead, the latest alternative
that will save the world is “agro-ecology,” what Roberts calls “the New
New Thing.” He predicts it will solve “colonial and global free trade
violations of nature’s deep-set patterns.” §
Illegal
logging is completely out of control in Indonesia’s national parks thanks to
epidemic corruption, reports the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency §
By
growing herbicide-resistant GM sugar beet and limiting spraying for weeds,
researchers at the Broom’s Barn Research Station, Suffolk, England,
demonstrate enormous increases in wildlife, challenging the idea that
genetically modified crops are bad for such, according to their report published
in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Health §
“Asian
governments hope that high-volume screening and rigorous clinical tests will
unlock the secrets of ancient herbal remedies – and that the results will pass
muster with Western scientists,” says the journal Science, introducing
a report on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) while, ironically, the majority
of inhabitants in mainland China and Hong Kong are said to be seeking more
reliable Western treatments. §
“I’d
rather have larvicide than homicide,” says Toronto Councillor Norman Kelly, as
the city’s Board of Health consider controlling mosquitoes that vector West
Nile virus with chemicals in the case of “the worst-case scenario.” Kelly
believes “the pesticide threat has been overblown, and the threat of the West
Nile virus has been seriously underestimated.” Last year there were officially
10 deaths from West Nile, 56 confirmed cases and 152 suspected in Canada’s
largest city. §
“Organic
became a consumer protection movement,” in northern nations, protecting
consumers from the health threats of pesticides, says Roger Sampson of the
non-government organization REAP-Canada (Resource Efficient Agricultural
Production), quoted in the weakly NOW. §
The use
of herbal medicine Ephedra, or Ma huang, should be restricted, a study published
in the Annals of Internal Medicine states. In a single year, 1,178
adverse reactions were reported from U.S. poison control centres, 64% of all bad
reactions to herbs, although Ephedra is in less than 1% of all herbal
preparations sold. Health Canada has issued a ‘voluntary recall.’ §
“Don’t
drink the water!” Still sound advice for travellers abroad as it turns out, at
least on India’s state-run railways and domestic airline. Test found that the bottled
water served passengers was laced with pesticides. The name-band proffered by
the railways exceeded safe levels 104 times. Burp. Pardon. §
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases its second national report
on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, including data on 116 substances
in humans: metals, PCBC and pesticides. “Importantly, the CDC report won’t
link any of the detected substances to health effects,” says Steven Milloy of
JunkScience.com. “This makes sense since the trace levels detected aren’t
harmful.” A fundamental principle of toxicology, after all, is “the dose
makes the poison.” §
The U.S.
National Academy of Sciences has been requested by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to decide whether using the results of pesticide tests
on human volunteers is ethical and acceptable for the agency in its safety
reviews. Final
Words The Chinese laugh at the plantations of our
Europeans, which are laid out by the rule and by the line, because they say that
anyone can place trees in equal rows and uniform figures. They choose rather to
discover the genius of the trees and in nature and therefore always conceal
their art
– Sir William Chambers Dissertation
on Ornamental Gardening (1772) |
|||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Current Issue
