September 1999

As Summer Draws to a Close, Bulb Planting and Other Chores Require Attention

    While early in the summer it appeared as if the Great Drought of ’98 was to repeat itself, Mother Nature has beamed upon Toronto gardeners.  It is still too early to predict what fall will bring, but the traditional month of harvest promises to live up to its name.  This is no reason to give up on gardening, though.  As Kipling noted: “Gardens are not made by saying ‘Oh, how beautiful’, and sitting in the shade”.

If the lawn has not already been fertilized, do so now rather than later.  Recent research has proven that grass fertilized in late summer will not require any similar applications until next May.  Continue to mow regularly, leaving the grass two inches (5 cm) long.  If a half-inch of water is applied every three days in the absence of heavy rainfall, the lawn will flourish so well as to actually choke out most weeds.  Those that do have the audacity to invade can be removed with the business end of a sharp implement.

Never attempt to fertilize any other portion of the garden this late in the year.  This may cause serious damage and even death, especially of woody plants and evergreens.  Feeding encourages new growth, which will not harden off prior to December and so be subject to “winter kill”.  This is not a desirable condition.

“Hardening off” is also very necessary for roses.  Encourage this towards the end of the month by leaving the final blooms to form fruit, the hips, naturally, rather than “dead heading”, or removing the spent blooms.  Aphid attacks can be countered by squishing the little blighters with the fingers.  This is not only an environmentally friendly method of killing the aphids, but a fine method of control, as when they die these pests release alarm scents that scare off other aphids.  A highly desirable state of affairs.  Of course, if lady beetles are present in their bright red coats, then nothing further is necessary.

Spraying, either with purchased or homemade concoctions, should be used only as a last resort.  Almost all sprays, and especially homemade ones, are “broad-spectrum” controls.  These wipe out friend and foe alike, unfortunately mostly friends. 

Deadhead perennials and remove foliage as it dies.  Many old favourite perennials that have formed large clumps may be safely lifted, divided and replanted this month and next.  Unless they are to be used as ground covers, avoid replanting too many, though.  Perennial beds usually consist of a mixture of plants and should not consist of just two or three of the most vigorous varieties.

September is renowned as the month for planting spring-flowering bulbs.  This is covered in some depth elsewhere in this newsletter.  Gardening friends living outside our blessed city may be forced to start bringing tender bedding plants and herbs indoors this month.  Not so in Toronto, where we have up to Thanksgiving and perhaps even beyond for that garden chore.

If new pots are required though, look for them now.  Even garden centres –to say nothing of most hardware and other stores- are notorious for not stocking these and other essential items over winter.  Similarly, supplies of rose collars and burlap for winter protection always seem to be in short supply.  As with bulbs, buy early and in adequate quantities or face disappointment later.

Following summer excesses, houseplants start to receive attention again. They will benefit from monthly liquid fertilizer applications.  Choosing the correct one is important.  Foliage plants need a fertilizer high in nitrogen, the first of the three numbers on the label- for example 15-5-5.  Those grown for their flowers should receive nutrients high in phosphates- for example 5-15-5.  Continue these feedings through to December, and then stop for the winter.

Summer Sappiness

According to journalistic lore, summer is the time when weird, wacky and wonderful tales emerge.  Is gardening no different from other human activities or could it be that renewed interest in the pastime is attracting extra attention?  Judge for yourself from this grab bag of recent items:

Viagra keeps cut flowers from wilting, or so says Bill Keller, gardening columnist for The Orillia Packet and Times.  We have a couple of queries about this novel use for the well-known anti-impotence drug.  First, at well over $10 each, the cost would seem a trifle excessive.  Second, what will it do when administered to the zucchini? 

Orillia seems to do everything in a big way this year.  Late this past August three circus elephants bathed off Couchiching Beach.  The deposits left floating in the water resulted in the beach being closed for twenty-four hours.  Unconfirmed reports claim that the dung was used to mulch Orillia street trees, causing them to have nice, strong trunks.

Some folks may not appreciate the trend for lawn ornaments but stealing them is becoming more and more popular.  An RCMP officer stopped a vehicle in the Conception Bay North area of Newfoundland and arrested the three occupants, charging them with masterminding a rash of such thefts.  One of the accused resides in the inappropriately named (at least, for them) Harbour Grace.

Sylvie Tremblay of Montreal doesn’t appreciate trees.  There are too many of them, the Hydro-Quebec spokesperson says, explaining why last July it took the utility company more than 24 hours to restore power to some areas of Montreal’s West Island after a summer thunderstorm downed lines.  For once at least the dreaded Anglos are not being blamed.

You thought that the mail service had deteriorated in Toronto?  A veterinarian from Nottinghamshire, England, cannot have his mail delivered because of a luxuriant hydrangea bush next to his door.  Posties object to the damp steps and wet leaves.  A few centuries ago he might have requested the aid of a local resident, one Robin Hood.  Incidentally, in some parts of England they believe that if you plant a hydrangea bush next to the front door, your daughters will never marry.

When ginseng appears in the Financial Post it must finally be big business.  Perhaps the John Hancock Mutual Insurance Company felt less than blessed though when it reached an agreement in July with the Chai-Na-Ta Corp., a Langley, BC-based supplier of North American ginseng.  The insurance company, a major lender of Chai-Na-Ta, had a $3 million plus stake in the company.

Much luckier is the Canadian inventor of the “Crack Flosser”.  This devise claims to remove weeds from between the boards of decks, paving stones and similar areas.  Selling for $34 at upscale garden outlets, it is reportedly the in thing for wannabe gardeners.  No reports yet as to how much more effective it is than a kettle of boiling water applied to the same area. 

Toronto councillor Jack Layton has hopped aboard another bandwagon this summer.  Now he wants to make Toronto entirely pesticide free.  Reports have been written, distributed, debated and sent back for the usual “further study”.  In the midst of it all, environmentalists discovered that a plague of what they called ‘Dog Strangling Vine’ was romping through the local river valleys.  The rest of us had already known it as ‘Swallow-wort’, an illegal immigrant from Europe, where it had been reportedly used as a purgative.  Unfortunately for Jack Layton, a Toronto Parks representative noted that the only way to control it was with herbicide.  There are sometimes much happier tales.  The National Post from its inception has shown more consideration for gardeners than other major newspapers.  In an article on the sad demise of the Victoria, B.C. garden of the late Princess Aphasic, it quotes her as once saying:  “There is a Chinese proverb which says that to be happy you take a new concubine.  To be happy for a month; you kill a pig, and to be happy all your life you build a garden.  I can’t vouch for the first two but the last is true.”

Bulbs to Greet the Next Century’s First Spring

A Look at Purchasing Spring-Flowering Bulbs and Their Requirements

Botanically, a bulb is the swollen base of the stem, used as a storage organ by a plant.  Gardeners take a broader view.  Bulbs by our reckoning may be just that, the true bulbs such as tulips or, for that matter, the more prosaic onions.  Then again they may be ‘corms’ such as crocus or anemones.  ‘Tubers’ include not only dahlias but also one of man’s most important root crops, potatoes.  Lastly there are ‘rhizomes’ such as many, but confusingly not all, irises.

 Purchasing is simpler.  Buy the largest bulbs available within each species or variety.  These always produce the largest, most prolific and best blooms.  The wretched scrawny little things sold as “bargain” collections by some outlets (particularly chain hardware stores) yield only disappointment.  The early bird gets the worm is a truism when it comes to buying bulbs.  The best selection and most desirable bulbs arrive at garden centres and other retail outlets in early September.  Once they are sold out, that’s it until the next century.  If you are not ready to plant immediately after purchasing, store bulbs in paper bags, never plastic, in a dark, cool but dry place.  They will keep there for a few weeks but not indefinitely.

 Bulbs must be planted in the same fall that they are purchased. And most species benefit from being planted as early as possible, Scilla, English Bluebells and Colchicum will shrivel, perhaps fatally, unless planted in September.  Hyacinths, Daffodils and Narcissus, as with many other bulbs, need to make plenty of roots before the soil freezes in order to survive the winter.  Only tulips can be reliably planted very late, perhaps even into late November.

 Plant spring-flowering bulbs anywhere good well-drained soil is found.  Even in shade formed by the canopy of deciduous trees is satisfactory.  The bulbs will have leafed out, flowered and be gone before the leaves form on the trees next spring.  The earliest of all bloomers such as Chionodoxa, Eranthis, Crocus, Scilla and the two small, exquisite irises, ‘Danfordiae’ and ‘Reticulata’, may be planted directly in the lawn.  There they will bring some of the earliest colour to the garden and be finished blooming well before the first mowing becomes necessary.

 Since bulbs are food storage organs, containing also an already-formed flower for next spring, it is puzzling why fertilizer companies insist their products should be applied when planting.  If it makes one feel better, go ahead.  Such practice keeps these companies, virtually all of them foreign owned, in business.

 Defeat squirrels by placing the bulb in a paper bag with a small amount of hot chilli or cayenne pepper then shaking gently to coat each bulb.  Some people like to dust the soil with the same following planting.  Such will have to be repeated after each and every heavy rain or watering, the latter being necessary during dry autumns.

 Different species prefer to be planted at varying depths.  These are indicated on the packages of bulbs or labels and literature available where they are purchased.  Follow carefully for best results.  Smaller bulbs are best planted either immediately under windows where they can be viewed from within the house, or alongside frequently used walkways.  The latter is also a choice place to locate those with scented blooms such as the well known Hyacinths as well as Muscari and Jonquil Narcissus selections such as ‘Cheerfulness,’ ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’ and ‘Suzy’. 

 Bulbs are best planted close together in groups rather than scattered thinly over the entire garden.  Those flowering at different times in spring can be positioned even closer to each other to provide a continuous display.  Gardeners know this, perhaps confusingly, as “under planting”.  In shade, pastel colours show up well.  They were also announced as being “fashionable” a few years ago.  This designation should not be allowed denigrate the lighter gentler colours although it is only fair to add that present trends are towards planting single or “mono” colour flower gardens.

 If annuals and perennials are still in bloom or leaf, plant around and between them.  Many gardeners rely on their memories as to where they planted their bulbs last year, hopefully avoiding impaling them the next season.  Others with less shall we say fertile imaginations keep scale sketch plans.  Computer geeks please note that no programmes for such seem to be available.

Cooking Up A Storm

Now’s Time for the Season’s Salsa

Tomatoes are one of America’s great culinary gifts to the rest of the world.  Here in Ontario it has been a great year for them.  Preserve the summer season with this zesty Salsa to liven up Thanksgiving and later linger on the tongue.  You will need:

          10 Jalapeno or similar long Peppers

          10 cups peeled Plum Tomatoes

          3 cups chopped Onions

          6 Garlic Cloves, crushed

          1 cup chopped Green Sweet Peppers

          1 cup chopped Red Sweet Peppers

          1-cup Cilantro (Coriander) greens

          1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

          1 cup pickling Vinegar

Boil all together until soft, crushing or running through blender as desired; ladle into pint bottles and process for 15 minutes.

Toronto Water Poisonous?

The second consecutive summer has brought putrid tap water to the homes – and gardens – of Torontonians.  This water, which is drawn from Lake Ontario, contains algae, which causes this distressing condition.  It has been humorously said that Lake Ontario fish can be heard coughing but, despite this, there is no evidence that the water can cause harm to gardeners or their plants.

Horticultural Happenings

Most of the following events are free and children welcome, but please no pets.  Dress for the weather; camera, notebook, binoculars useful.

Sept. 6, 1999 – Thomson Pk TFN Nature Walk:  meet 10 am ne corner Lawrence and Brimley; bring lunch; plant identification; names

Sept 11, 1999 – Waterfront Gardens:  meet 2pm sw corner Queen’s Quay and Spadina Ave; Peter Iveson conducts TFN tour of Music Garden, Little Norway Park and more; don’t miss this one.

Sept 12, 1999 – Nature in Our City Garden Tour 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; call Trish Murphy at 233-6507.

Sept 15, 1999 – Bestview Park TFN Nature Walk” meet se corner Steeles and Laurel leaf’ bring lunch; birds, insects and wildflowers

Sept 18, 1999 – Bring Back the Don Day; many events are planned for this 10^th anniversary’ for more details call 392-0404

Sept 20, 1999 – Annual Fungi Fair noon to 9 p.m. at Civic Garden Centre.  For more information call Pat Burchell at 444-9053

Sept 25, 1999 – Harvest Festival at Todmorden Mills: for details call 396-2819

Sept 26, 1999 – Heritage Walk:  CPR Viaducts; meet at 1 p.m. Summerhill subway station.

Toronto District School Board

Fall Evening Gardening Courses

At Rosedale Heights S.S.

With instructor

Wes Porter

9 week course 7 to 9 p.m.

City Gardening

Basic course in urban gardening includes roles of soil, water, nutrients, composts, mulches, lawns, ground covers, trees, shrubs, evergreens, roses, hedges, vines, bulbs, perennials, annuals, herbs, fruit, vegetables and indoor plants.

Wednesdays commencing October 6, 1999

Great Gardens of Toronto

A new course for those interested in both the local history of gardening and the development of landscaping techniques’ public and private sites illustrated with plans and other materials excellent for those seeking exiting ideas to enhance their garden landscapes

Tuesdays commencing October 5, 1999

$63 each course, GST included, cheque, Visa or MasterCard to Toronto District School Board, Continuing Education, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1P6

Further information 397-3827

Or web site www.tdsb.on.ca

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