January 2001

 Weary already of winter’s snowy blasts?  Propagation is the answer.

The rest of the world regards Canada as a very cold place.  In classrooms south of the border, children are enthralled with maps that show everything north of that line as . . . nothing. . “The Great White North”.  Medically, it is known as psychrophobia, or a fear of cold.  Canadians know all about this.  Appreciating our trees, we bewail that it is “Cold enough to freeze the knots off a pine.”  In less genteel times, Canadian males proclaimed, “I don’t know whether I’m Angus or Agnes.”

In the ancient Anglo-Saxon calendar, January was ominously known as “Wolf-monab”, or wolf month.  Obviously it was a good idea to turn thoughts to seasonal chores of an indoor nature.  Being great respecters of historical precedence, we plan to do likewise.

And what better way to spend the time than in preparation for the coming summer season.  Now is the time to sow seeds of those flowers that take their time to develop, such as the ever-popular wax begonias and impatiens.  Both have seeds that are minuscule, begonias especially.  A single ounce should yield some quarter million plants.  That is why these and other tiny seeds are found in small envelopes within the regular package.  Open carefully; mix with a few pinches of white cage bird gravel, which is actually sand, and they become easier to sow.

Starting with clean plastic pots and a professional soil-less mix are two of the secrets to successful germination.  Another is supplying gentle bottom heat to the pots.  There are such trays, electrically warmed, sold for just that purpose.  Do not place on radiators.  The idea is to warm the soil and seeds, not cook them.

Check daily that all is satisfactory. Moisten only with room-temperature water. Avoid creating something only a water lily would be happy in or, at the other extreme, a cactus garden.  Inevitably the soil will become dry. Do not pour water into the pot to moister it. This will wash the seeds around.  Instead, appropriate the spray bottle used to moisten laundered clothes prior to ironing.  Your spouse is sure to understand. 

When the seeds have germinated, move the pots into a north or east window where the drapes can be left open at night. The first set of leaves, known as the "seed leaves," bare no resemblance to those of the mature plant. These will follow next, at which time it is important to separate seedlings from close proximity to each other, into small pots. A cardinal error here is to use too large pots.  A 3-inch diameter is perfectly adequate. 

Similarly, take cuttings from stock plants saved last fall From out in the garden, Geraniums are prime candidates, as are, again, impatiens and the new 'Dragon Wing' begonias that were everywhere last year. Ordinary stem cuttings work best, and many experienced in propagation know the benefits of hormone rooting powders or gels.  Another trick of the trade, particularly for geraniums, is to root them in vermiculate.  Again though, a major cause of failure is using much too large pots.  We have found five cuttings to each 4-inch pot works best.  Finally, never boast about your horticultural prowess to less fortunate black-thumbed brethren.  A Viking adage advised: "Praise no day until the evening, no wife until buried, no sword until tested, no maid until bedded, no ice until crossed."  As we gardeners say, that is sage advice. 

The Gardeners Bookshelf 

One of the truly wonderful things about a Toronto winter is that it allows gardeners to catch up on their general interest reading. Anyone the slightest curious about local horticultural history must have wondered where to look for it. The field is still somewhat barren but Leonard Wise and Allan Gould, authors of the newly published Toronto Street Names (Toronto: Firefly $24.95) offer some solace. True, their book is exactly what the title proclaims.  It takes a minimal of digging, however, to unearth a positive plethora of garden anecdotes from periods past.  Back to the time when Elizabeth Simcoe observed a large butternut tree that formed a bridge over the Don River close to today's Riverdale Farm, trees, orchards, gardens and more have run strong through the city. Many undertook to turn their appreciation to practical endeavours. Early architect John Howard's High Park is an example of such. Wilfred Dinnick started Backyard Garden Competitions to improve neighbourhoods early in the last century. A wonderful browse awaits the gardener escaping the gales of winter in this book, which is profusely illustrated with fascinating photographs. Rarely is there anyone who does not enjoy viewing old pictures and that is exactly what these are, many of them not often seen in local History books, but one more reason to search out a copy of Toronto Street Names as soon as possible. Any bookstore worthy of the name should stock it.

Pesticide Producers Panic 

From United Nations to Canada's Supreme Courts things are looking bleak for pesticide practitioners  "Taking stock of what and what I haven't," sings Annie Oakley in the unforgettable Annie Get Your Gun. In that musical, our sharp shooting heroine gets her man, Frank Butler, and saves the show.  In real life wonderful Betty Hutton, who portrayed Annie in the movie version, was less lucky.  Something the same seems to be the experience of horticultural chemical companies. 

The Supreme Court of Canada has taken, "under advisement" presentations as to if municipal governments can pass by-laws banning the use of pesticides. While as of this writing they have yet to render their decision, suffice to say that during the presentation they were less than impressed with the argument presented by the lawyer for Chemlawn and Spraytech.

Chlorpyrifos, often better known by the trade name "Dursban", has been voluntarily withdrawn from the market by its Canadian manufacturer, Dow Agro Sciences. Concerns have been raised if children are exposed to the chemical, commonly used to control lawn pests. 

The United Nations conference in South Africa to ban the "dirty dozen" persistent organic polluters, or P.O.P.s, was a resounding success. Instigated by a Canadian scientist, the P.O.P.s will be no longer be manufactured after the UN Environmental Program is ratified. Of the terrible twelve, no less than nine are pesticides: Aldrin, Chlordane, Dieldrin, DDT, Endrin, Heptachlor, mirex, Toxaphene and Hexachloabenzene, to name the guilty. 

Back home the Government Response to the House Standing Committee that examined the use of pesticides for "cosmetic" purposes has ordered the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to re-evaluate Carbaryl, Mecoprop and Dicamba, widely used and contentious chemicals.  If the chemical companies, distributors and garden centres are taking stock of what they have and have not, plainly it is mostly, “haven’t.”

Plants of the First Americans Are Attracting Gardeners 

The booming fascination with natural gardening and, consequently, native plants has brought with it an increasing appreciation as to the skills of the first human inhabitants of the continent. They utilized plants for just about every conceivable purpose: food and drink, pharmaceuticals, shelter and furnishings, clothing, even transportation in those unique inventions, canoes and snowshoes.  One ethnologist listed over 2,000 uses for a western evergreen by northwestern Pacific tribes.  And all of this ignores the equally important spiritual uses plants. Sadly today the places where such can be encountered are few and far between. 

In the late 1700s, the Mississauga Indians were paid $3,000 for the future site of Toronto. It is a sobering thought that presently, this is less than a couple of week's pay for a city councillor. In fact it took only the equivalent of five times that amount, or $15,000, to kick-start the Ojibwa Heritage Lands Project.  This is located on Scugog Island that occupies a goodly portion of the lake of the same name, a pleasant drive northeast of Toronto, close to the town of Port Perry.

The project of a retired landscape designer and Master Gardener, Barbara Katherine, it is yet another and early beneficiary of the annual Canada Blooms show. Katherine is a member of one of the two organizers of this show, the professional association Landscape Ontario. Not only was there the grant of $15,000 but also several members donated plant material to the project, which is a partnership between the Scugog Shores Historical Museum Village & Archives and the Mississauga’s of Scugog Island First Nation. There are less than four-dozen of these latter, which only goes to prove how interest and determination to preserve vital heritage can be turned into a success. Don't expect acre upon acre. This is quite literally a growing project away behind the Scugog Shores Historical Museum. But in good weather it repays a visit.

The botanical pharmaceuticals utilized by native North Americans were highly impressive. Daniel F. Moerma, published in 1986 in two volumes by University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology as Medicinal Plants of Native America, made a classic study. More general is Stephen Foster and James A. Duke’s Medicinal Plants in the Peterson Field Guide series (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990).

Not a little interesting in this age of increased concern over chemical pesticides are natural native solutions. Perhaps not all are quite relevant today. Moerma listed an alarming number of remedies.  For example plants, to combat lice, fleas and similar vermin. Others, not surprisingly, were used against the dread American mosquito. The Shuswap and the Fox, for example, burnt sage for this purpose. Members of the South Carrier tribe smeared cow parsnip juice on their bodies to repel flies and mosquitoes but this plant has a close resemblance to several very poisonous members of the same family. Incidentally many plants first introduced by European settlers quickly entered into native pharmacopoeia. Pennyroyal, to take but one, was also rubbed over their bodies by the Cherokee to repel insects.

Down on the native farms, plants were used to good effect against pests. Again, the Cherokee soaked their corn seed in an infusion of Spotted Cowbane prior to planting as protection against bugs. They also used a solution of Mayapple to discourage crows from pilfering the newly planted corn. The Menomonee used the same trick on their potatoes to kill bugs. Elsewhere, infusions of Golden Aster or Gum-weed were thrown on ant heaps. The fierce Iroquois planted Virginia Stickseed, Lappula virginiana, close to their potatoes to discourage pests. Like many moderns, the Shuswap suffered from earwigs in the house, but utilized Juniper to rid themselves of the pest.  Likewise, the foliage of Black Walnut or Hickory was scattered around the house by several tribes to repel flies.

All this should be enough to set twitching any gardener’s green thumbs. So, having experienced Ojibwa Heritage Lands Project; be sure to return to Toronto via Highway 47. This passes through the small community of Goodwood. There is to be found that cornucopia of horticultural happiness, "Richter’s", who have many of the seeds and plants amongst myriads of other herbs and fascinating flowers. Hopefully though these will not include a new variety of Monarda, apparently from Europe. Unpleasantly labelled in professional catalogues as “Squaw”. This word has been eliminated from the lexicon in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan in Canada, as well as Maine, Minnesota and Montana. Would that it was from certain other sources.

 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.

3 Jan. East Don highlands: Nature Walk – meet 10 a.m. se corner Steeles and Leslie; a new walk along a little-known Don tributary; morning only

10 Jan. Cherry Beach: Nature Walk – meet 10:30 a.m. foot of Leslie Street; morning only

13 Jan. Lambton Woods: Nature Walk – meet 10  a. m. James Gardens entrance of Edenbridge Dr off  Royal York Rd; morning only

13 Jan. Rouge Valley: - Mammals in Winter -  meet 11 a.m. ne corner Sheppard and Meadowvale  bring lunch, Walk lasts until 4 p.m.

17 Jan. Burke Ravine: Nature Walk – meet 10  a.m. CNIB TTC stop east side Bayview. n. of Eglinton; morning only.

21 Jan. York University: Urban Ecology – meet 2 p.m. sw corner Steeles and Keele

24 Jan. James Gardens: Nature Walk – meet 10:30 a.m. James Gardens entrance of Edenbridge Dr off Royal York Rd; bring snack and beverage

Until 6 Jan. Allan Gardens and Centennial Park conservatories feature new as well as established varieties of poinsettias are on display More from  416-392-7288

20 Jan. lan Wheal Heritage Walk: Centennial Park Greenhouses – meet 1 p.m. at ne corner Rathburn and Elmcrest Roads.

24 Jan. Toronto Wildflower Soc.: Meeting – 7:30  p.m. Beaches Recreation Centre, Williamson more From 416-222-5736

27 Jan. Toronto Entomologists Assoc. – Meeting -  1 p.m. Room 113, Northrop Frye Building, 73 Queen’s Park Cres. E.: more from 905-727-6993

If you are aware of upcoming meetings or events  of gardening interest in the Greater Toronto Area, please write us, giving a brief description, at least four weeks in advance. With a signed letter,  addressed to Suite 714, 255 Main St. Toronto, Ontario M4C 4X2.

Catalogues Received

In alphabetical order:

Cedar Creek Wildflowers

254 East 1^st Street, North Vancouver, British Columbia V7L 1B3 Fax: (604) 984-6558l

Here is a free catalogue to excite the established enthusiast and novice alike.  Includes a great idea:  seeds to slip into greeting cards, flowers such as “Baby Blue Eyes” to celebrate the arrival of a baby boy or “Rose Angel” for a girl are but two examples.  And the suitable embellished planting tag can double as a book marker.  These folks think of everything!  Excellent cultural instruction sheets are also included with the catalogue and price lists.

Grimo Nut Nursery

979 Lakeshore Rd.  RR#3 Niagara On The Lake, ON L0S 1J0

Hardy Nuts for the nut smitten gardener…plus figs for adding that Mediterranean potted touch to the patio.  It is truly amazing the variety of nuts that can be grown in our climate. Needless to say, devotees of such do not lack a sense of humour.  Never could resist anyone with phone 905-YEH-NUTS.  Just a couple of forty-six-cent stamps for the 2001 Nursery Catalogue of nuts and “minor fruit”; well worth the minor expenditure.  Don’t delay – delivery/planting season is short.  Also now on web site www.grimonut.com.

Special Note

Apparently the seed company Nature’s Garden from Victoria B.C. has become a total germination failure, or at least requests for catalogues sent to their address have been returned.  Sad, but these things do happen.

Haven’t seen your favourite garden catalogue mentioned here?  Could be because they haven’t sent City Gardening  their latest copy.  And without such, we cannot add them to our lists and advise other gardeners of the new and added delights that await them.  Tell them the address:  Suite 714, 255 Main Street, Toronto, ON N4C 4X2.

News From a Gardener’s View Point

City Gardening peers at the past month’s news from Canada and elsewhere

Landscaping

The fashionable wedding of Welsh born Catherine Zeta Jones to Michael Douglas, at New York’s Plaza Hotel, is celebrated on real hills of sod-coved soil.  “It was a real home spun wedding” said the bride.

Trees

It has not been a good month for trees.  Canada’s Federal Court dissolves the August hold on felling spruce in Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park, allowing cutting to recommence. Hopefully eliminating an invading parasitic beetle.  The in Germany a 60-meter square of larch are discovered in the verboten  shape of a swastika, 62 Years after planting they were hastily eliminated.

Yet more bad news, from Victoria, BC, where of all places, some dastardly villain has taken to frilling holes in street trees and filling them with a powerful herbicide.  Much further east in BC Christmas tree growers have had their trees hit by a serious fungus and so that essential seasonal decoration was on short supply.

Balancing this somewhat it that two forestry firms from the Left Coast proudly announced that their logging operations have been certified as environmentally sustainable.

Down in the Vegetables 

Tomatosphere:  Seeds in space was launched with Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau to test germination of 300,000 tomato seeds on behalf of 3,000 elementary school classes across the country

Embrace fractionation, turn corn into ethanol fuel, sugar beets and even peas into high price, valued-added products the president of Saskatoon’s POG Pilot Plant Corp urges delegates to a Canada Grains Council conference in Ottawa, the Financial Post reports.  A few days later, the same newspaper proudly headlines “Canadian Farmers Produce Record Pea Crop.”  Careful reading revealed it was almost the only record crop of the millinium year.

The Premier of PEI demands Ottawa retaliate for the US continuing to block export of the island spuds, miffed because fungus turned up in a single field.  An Ontario humourist claims the action to be “ an eye for an eye”.  Saving the situation, Uncle Sam lifts the ban, although subject to certain stipulations.

Better Spud news from Scotland, where scientists have created a potato plant that glows when it requires watering, thanks to genes borrowed from a fluorescent jellyfish.  Perhaps house plants next?

NASA decides which plants look best to be knosh for space colonists.  They includes:  Wheat, Lettuce, Soya, Tomato, Potato, Spinach, sweet Potato, Radish, Peanut, Strawberry, Rice, Chard, Quinoa, Chufa Nuts, Pea, Kale, Sugar Beet, Onion, Carrot, Broccoli, Cabbage, Melon.  All will need to be highly modified, say the boffins. Of course.

Fruit and Nuts

The discarded shells of hazelnuts could be used to create hydrogen to power the fuel-cells for futuristic automobiles, say British researchers.  Turkey, the world’s leading grower of hazelnuts produces 250,000 tonnes of shells per year.  This could propel 1000 cars some 32,000 km they claim.

Natural Gardening

Twenty-eight lucky residents of PEI are sent by bus to Halifax, there to view a display of composting technology suitable for adaptation to spud island.

Water Plants

A Swiss company has taken out a patent for biodegradable credit cards made from pulped reeds mixed with an adhesive and a plasticizer.

Indoor Gardening

Kissing under the office mistletoe is out, a poll reveals 49 per cent of Canadians believe.

Bugs and Gardeners

The Joint Annual Meeting of the Societe d’Entomological Society of America is held in Montreal the first week of December.

There are between two- and five-million pesticide poisonings world-wide every year, estimates the World Health Organization and 40,000 of these result in death.

The US plans to inflict millions of parasitic phorid flies from Argentina on the imported red fire ant, originally from the same country and now an appalling pest in the southern states.

The Chinese Communist Party in Beijing declares war against cockroaches whi h have overrun the capital city.  Poison baits are to be spread by order in all households.

Gardening in the City

“For the record, I have never said that gardening is addictive.  What I hav said is that any behavior that fulfills the criteria for addiction can be operationall defined as an addiction.,” says Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University who was widely reported last month as saying just that.

Travel

Lan Su Yuan, or the Garden of Awakening Orchids, Portland, Oregon’s new Chinese gardens which opened in September, in three months teceived alsomst as many visitors as expected for a single year,  For the moment, anysay, try viewing at their web site www.chinesegarden.org or phone (503) 228-8131.

Science and the Gardener

Prince Charles officially opened the Millennium seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, Sussex, England, declaring it to be “the Bank of England of the botanical world.”

The dew form plants contains proteins and so could become an important source of drugs and chemicals, report researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

The Arabidopsis Gnome Initiative, an international consortium, describes all 25,498 genes that control 11,000 proteins of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a breakthrough that promises to revolutionize agriculture and horticulture.

Employment

“Seeking a reliable and conscientious person for busy micro-propagation laboratory, to cover for maternity leave.  Knowledge of sterile procedures an advantage.”  Advertisement, Bognor Regis Observer, England.

Health and Gardeners

Over 40 Americans have claimed that they became ill after consuming products made from the now-notorious Aventis “SlarLink” corn.  Such statements are, say investigators, difficult to substantiate.  Seven to fourteen cases may be due to allergic reactions but an independent panel of scientists say more research is necessary to confirm the smoking gun.

Meanwhile, there are suspicions, so far unproven, that the pesticide gene in StarLink may have “jumped” into another corn variety, this time used by humans, in Iowa.

The new “in” way to beat jet lag is with a homeopathic remedy, which is said to include herbs such as arnica, chamomile and English daisy.

Hospital patients have been shown to recover from surgery more quickly when their hospital room offered a view of trees, brochure from the International Sociery of Arboriculture (more at www.isa-arbor.com)

China’s practice of traditional medicine is threatening wild plants and animals, reports the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, who intend to “monitor” the matter.

Environment

The Fraser Institute reports that “radical environmentalists” are causing serious harm to Canada’s national parks.

Law and Gardeners

An 81-year-old gun-totin’ Teutonic granny had charges against her dismissed after she threatened bureaucrats with a shotgun when they attempted to cut down her trees.  Hildegard von Waldenburg hales from Germany, where they apparently have more respect for trees than in North Greenbush, NY, unless planted in the shape of a swastika.  (see trees above)

Weather

A leading Canadian Scientist shows that carbon dioxide is not a leading cause of global warming.  In fact, he points out, in the last ice age, carbon dioxide levels were 15 times higher than today.  This news caused consternation amoung both environmentalists and bureaucrats.

A poll in Britain, meanwhile, reveals that 16 per cent of those surveyed believe cellphones are responsible for climate change.

The journal New Scientist notes Ontario’s Serpent River Weather Station consists of a rock suspended by a cord.  An accompanying sign explains: “If the rock is wet, it’s raining.  If the rock is swaying, it’s windy.  If the rock is hot, it’s sunny.  If the rock is cool it’s overcast.  If the rock is white, it’s snowing.  If the rock is blue, it’s cold.  If the rock is gone – Tornado!”

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