News and Events
To view our Garden Tour 2008 Click Here
To view our September Newsletter Click Here (For a PDF printable version...No background images. Click Here) Our Garden Tour took place on Sunday June 22nd. It was a great success....lots of photos were taken...slide shows are now posted.
Rhododendrons have an amazing ability to bloom prolifically. There are not a lot of common names for them, and those that exist are easy to confuse. Ingrid mainly used scientific names throughout her discourse.
Success with Rhododendrons is all about location and soil. For the most part they prefer dappled shade; they like a low pH; they prefer a moist well-drained soil. If the area is limed they cannot take up nutrients. They have shallow, surface roots, and are easy to transplant. Mulching, with pine needles is good; wood chips tend to break down and use up nitrogen. Rhododendrons respond well to pruning, which should be done after they bloom. There are three types of pruning: Maintenance pruning, to remove diseased or broken branches. Cut well below the affected area – take out the whole branch. Disinfect pruners after use. Shaping: cuts can be made at the top of the leaf whorls. Rejuvenation: aggressive pruning can be done at any time. Stagger the cuts to have a natural look. Cut down to a latent bud.Dead-heading is not absolutely necessary. Spent flowers can be snapped off, or secateurs can be used. Seeds are difficult to propagate, as the seeds are small and the pod has to cure. An easier way is to take cuttings, best done in July. Use rooting compound, remove lower leaves of the spray, and cut each side of the stem. Pests: The Lacebug is a sucking insect found on the underside of leaves. Infestations can kill the plant. They cause speckling – black and brown spots on the underside of leaves. This often happens in sunnier spots. In the Spring, spray the plant with a hose to dislodge the nymphs. The alternative is to do nothing and allow natural predators, such as the green lacewing (as good as or better than ladybugs) to manage them. Spraying with insecticidal soap is non-selective. Infestation by root weevil is characterised by notches in the leaf. The larval stage feeds on the roots. They can cause death by drought. As the insects are nocturnal, shake the plant at night, and the weevils will fall onto newspapers placed on the ground. Nematodes, which are very effective, can also be used – be careful to follow the directions.Diseases: Root rot or stem die-back is not seen often. The causal organism lives in the soil, and can cause cankering. It is not fatal, but is very hard to get rid of. It is not specific to rhododendrons. The diseased area should be pruned out. Azalea leaf gall is a fungal disease, which does not kill the plant. Infected areas should be removed, and the fallen leaves should be cleared away. The galls are known as Pinkster’s apples, and are edible! Sudden oak death is caused by Phytophthora ramorum. This is causing problems in Oregon and California, and nurseries may be quarantined because of it. It is characterised by leaf tip damage.Environmental stresses: Freezing and drought – rhododendrons droop leaves, which then curl up. Sunburn causes brown spots or uneven all-over yellowing. The plant needs to be moved. Nutrient deficiency – lack of nitrogen. Chlorosis, where the veins are green but the rest of the leaf is yellow, is caused by iron deficiency. Add fertiliser to the soil.The size of rhododendrons can vary greatly. They are defined by height at 10 years. It is important to check labels when buying. Hostas and geraniums look good under rhododendrons. The leaves can be very attractive. Rh. campanulatum has blue leaves in the Spring – it is an alpine Himalayan evergreen plant. Leaves can have different texture, shape and colour. Rh. rosevallum has a red underside to its leaves. An idumentum is a covering on the underside of the leaf in many rhododendrons. It is to protect the leaf (e.g., in cold areas of Asia) and stays on the leaf. A tomentum is a fuzzy covering on the top of leaves, which protects new growth from sunburn, cold and insects. Popular cultivars: Anna Rose Whitney: hardy, large rose flowers with freckles, sun and cold tolerant. Eight ft. President Roosevelt: variegated leaf, can tend towards legginess with weak stems, benefits from pruning. Sappho: Flowers have purple splotches on white – mauve coloured buds. 6 ft. Sun tolerant, benefits from shaping. Vulcan: green leaves, red flowers. 5 ft. Heat and sun tolerant. One of the great plant picks. Deciduous azaleas: Northern Light series. Different colours, bloom in late May. 6-8 ft. Unique: buds are pink, flowers fade to apricot and then white. 4 ft in 10 years. Early to middle blooming. Blue Diamond: late April. Small leaves and flowers. Species (available from Rhododendron Societies). Rh. luteum – has a good fragrance. Rh. barbatum – Himalayan, 6 ft., bearded flowers. Rh. campanulatum – pink. RH. decorum is fragrant, from China and Burma. RH. assinoborinum is orange-yellow. The underside of its leaves are fragrant.
Check out the websites: www.rhododendron.org the American Rhododendron Society, which has a Vancouver Chapter.
The best time for viewing is March to June, with April and May as peak. The New Victory Garden – Food For The FutureGlobal warming, rising grain prices, genetic engineering, irradiation of plant foods, loss of plant species – it is all too easy to feel helpless in the face of these modern-day dilemmas. On the other hand, there is mounting awareness of positive things that we can do to ensure that we will continue to have safe food in plentiful supply. Urban gardening (growing food plants in your home garden) is regaining popularity. Eating food produced closer to home ( the ‘Hundred Mile Rule’) limits pollution from fossil fuels. Organic gardening avoids contamination of fruits and vegetables with pesticides. Seed banks are storing heirloom varieties of seeds to maintain plant diversity, and the home gardener is encouraged to save seeds for planting next year.
Carolyn now shares these concepts with others through her regular articles in GardenWise and CommonGround magazines, her book, A Year On the Garden Path, a 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide, and presentations to garden clubs. She is currently President of the Victoria Horticultural Society. Her business, called ‘Seeds of Victoria’ at The Garden Path, sells certified organic seeds (www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath). She blogs ‘The New Victory Garden’ weekly on-line at www.gardenwise.ca and teaches the ‘Twelve Steps to Sustainable Homegrown Food Production’. Carolyn Herriot will speak at the Howe Sound Inn on Monday, May 12 at 7 pm. Tickets ($12 for Squamish Gardeners members and $15 for non-members) are available at Anna’s Attic, Billie’s Bouquet, The Garden Centre and Garibaldi Nurseries. Further to our January speaker ...Check out this site on Bonsai Click Here For some previous Newsletters: See our Archive Section.
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She concentrated on vegetables but also included some beautiful pictures of flowers. There was much discussion and questions answered. We all found her very personable and enjoyed her sense of humour.Now is the time to start thinking about seed propagation, especially after our few spring-like days this month. Several catalogues were handed out, so get ordering! Included in the catalogue are new tools, new products and new seeds. Meeting Minutes..Click on your choice: April '07 May '07 June '07 July '07 Sept '07 Oct '07 Jan '08 Spring Overture....By Ellen Grant 
Have fun here: Garden Fun.
Or Gardening Trivia?
"Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"
September in the Garden Check this table below for gardening advice for any month |
Summer is well underway, as is the increase in the mosquito population. West Nile virus disease is gradually spreading in North America and we should all be vigilant concerning standing water in our yards. This virus is very serious.
If you have a pond, install a fountain and possibly have a group of hungry goldfish swimming therein. A few drops of dish-washing liquid in your water butts also does help in reducing the surface tension required by the developing larvae. Also, it will not harm your plants and actually serves as a wetting agent to aid in keeping those (forever drying) hanging baskets moist.
All azaleas are rhododendrons, but not all rhododendrons are azaleas. The distinguishing feature is the number of stamens: azaleas have five, and rhododendrons have ten. There are several sub-genera of rhododendrons:
These are not new ideas to Carolyn Herriot, who will be the Squamish Gardeners’ keynote speaker for 2008. Well before they became popular, Carolyn was putting them into practice. In 1999 she moved her family to a 2.5-acre property on the outskirts of Victoria and began gardening organically. By the end of only five years they were growing all the fruits and vegetables they needed to sustain themselves year-round, and saving seeds for future crops.
At our February meeting we were all pleased to have Mary Ballon, founder of West Coast Seeds, give us a very interesting talk with accompanying slides.This year is W.C.S.'s 25th. anniversary. It is their commitment to bring their customers the "highest quality and ethically sourced agricultural seed available".
Plant of the week: