Because all the trees stand in need of relief.  

These words come from an unknown humorist who was plainly no northern gardener; nor were they from Canada’s greatest city for, as every Torontonian knows, our maple leafs invariably fall in the spring…

Thanksgiving is the usual date on which we can expect the first frosts.  However, killing cold will be unlikely to arrive before the end of October, so now is the time to take action.  One of the main tasks is saving the choicest annuals and herbs that flourished in the garden over summer for next year.  Note that we say the choicest plants, not everything.  Only the very best should be saved whether it is of geraniums, impatiens, wax begonias or ageratum, to name but a few.  Attempting to save everything results in the steady deterioration of the stock, something which socialists have yet to learn.  Gardening can be a wonderful instructor, n’est-ce pas?

Clean a supply of 6-inch (15 cm) plastic pots.  Dig out the select specimens early in the day, when they are fresh and the foliage is turgid.  Cut back the stems to two- to four-inches (5 cm-10 cm).  This is necessary because the growth made outdoors seldom adjusts well inside the home.  And once it commences to die back, it frequently does not stop.  Pot up, using extra soil-less mix should more growing medium be required.

Soil-less or ‘professional’ mix may be purchased at garden centres worthy of that designation.  Or make your own and the money saved can buy more plants.  Blend together a half-bushel each of peat moss and horticultural-grade vermiculite to which is added 12 level tablespoons of garden lime.  Store in plastic garbage bags until required. 

Before bringing them into the house, water the plants very heavily to drive out any bugs sheltering in the soil.  It is also a good idea to apply a prolific spray of insecticidal soap to the above-soil portions, wiping out anything that was hiding there.  This will not kill the eggs of pests, however.  For this reason it is advisable to continue to spray at five-day intervals for three weeks.

Other plants that may be brought inside include fuchsias, hibiscus and bougainvillea.  In their case, the growth that has been made this past summer should be pruned back by three quarters of its length.  All of these plants seem to be plagued, inside or out, by whitefly.  Again, application of insecticidal soap every five days should control the problem.  Asparagus “fern” used in planters may also be brought inside but tends to shed its sharp needle-like leaves, which technically are “cladodes”. This can be distressing if one drinks one’s wine while outside, seated under where it is suspended.  It is also inadvisable to romp barefoot or bare anything else in close proximity.  If all this seems too much, choose to bring inside the “spikes”.  All they require is potting up.  Sometimes they are equally incorrectly called “dracaenas”.  Botanically, these are cordylines and hail from the pacific region.  A close relative is used to make the traditional grass skirts of Polynesia.  As we said, gardening is educational.

Herbs can be saved also.  Unfortunately, two of the most popular herbs are unlikely to make the transition.  Basil is an annual herb; fresh supplies are raised from seed.  In the house, the small-leafed dwarf bushes are preferable.  Richters of Goodwood, Ontario may still be able to supply such seed.  “Parsley is ghastly,” quothe Ogden Dash.  And when it comes to raising parsley indoors, he was right.  This biennial runs rapidly to flower, then seed, followed by death in the home.

Rosemary bushes and bay trees do well in a sunny window, however.  They are too tender to survive our winters outdoors, as is summer savoury and all of the scented-leaf geraniums.  Patrick Lima, that famed herb gardener living near the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, grows garlic chives outside year-round.  How can we do without it, in omelettes or sprinkled over soup?  A cool but sunny window is preferable, as it is for its Siberian cousin, the common chive, grown inside during winter as an antiscorbutic. 

A similar location can be used with success for growing the most well-known of other herbs inside.  The scented-leaf geraniums will flourish in warmer windows, as will a small section of fresh ginger root.  Variety, as it is well known, is the spice of life.  Out in the west, though (out Calgary way), gardeners are being told that it is thyme to hit the sage.  This statement, like so many of Councillor Kyle Rae’s statements back here, is made with tongue in cheek.  

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