|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Volume:13 Issue 6 Web site address: www.squamishgardeners.com Date: July 2010 |
|||
|
Letter from the Editor: "Down the Garden Path" by Ellen Grant"Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me, who could ask for more?" - Bev Adams, Mountain Gardening Our president Carol has managed to organize the procedure so that even when emergencies and unforeseen problems occur it does not spell disaster for the event. Yes, there were many committee members to share the load and trouble shoot things so that it worked smoothly. Of course we can always have improvements and additions to the basic program. The membership is asked to bring any suggestions for improving next year’s event to our July meeting at the BAG. Please remember that this is also our summer finale and so bring an appy or goody to share with the group as well. One of the garden paths in our own environment is the street beyond our property line. When was the last time that you walked along the road or boulevard and glazed at your front yard as a casual stroller might view that garden? This is the public part of your home. What they see is the type of person that lives in this abode. Is it neat and structural, colourful and creative, calm and serene, eclectic and exciting? Is it a reflection of your personality? Is it an extension of the type of building your home displays? Does the landscaping frame the house or does it over-power the property? Does it look welcoming? There are no hard and fast rules about landscaping our front yards. Often we neglect them because we tend to live and play in the back yards. I know that I did and still do to some extent. If you have young children or pets it is important to have a safe place for them to play so it is natural to work on the rear of your yard first. |
||
Travelling down so many garden paths on our Garden Tour was such a treat again this year! The home owners really made their gardens shine and they seemed to enjoy the experience as much as the “tourists”. The planning and execution of the day had some tricky moments this year but the final result was wonderful. Even the weather was ideal for wandering through the yards.
|
Page 2 Newsletter |
|
This is also where the vegetables and fruit crops are grown so you use this area for both work and play. The front yard is more about “street side pride”. As I have driven past homes or passed by while walking around the neighbourhood I have noticed many residents have been sprucing up their premises recently. I don’t know if it is a legacy of the Olympic spirit or the Home Improvement tax break or the recession that has found most people spending more time entertaining at home or people preparing to sell their property and wishing to make a good first impression or perhaps all of the above but there seems to be more owners working out front than in other years. You don’t have to go on our Garden Tour to see great gardens. They are now becoming front and center. Take a walk around the block. Then give your own yard a critical look. Does it say what you want it to say? Are you happy with the view you reflect to the world? Summer seems to have come at last. Some of my plants, hostas, lilies, shrubs and even roses, have enjoyed the cooler weather and have grown like jungle plants. The tropical plants however have shivered in their roots. Some have even rotted in their pots. Now the tomato plants will start to produce the fruit instead of just flowers and the callas will produce flowers instead of just leaves. And maybe the slugs and bugs will just slink away from the heat and leave me to enjoy the lazy days of summer.
|
Well, summer days aren’t exactly “lazy”! Now is the time to prune and shape spring blooming shrubs. Perennials that have past their prime should also be trimmed back and fed. Sometimes they will bloom again in the fall or they will simply die back to their roots to await another spring. Roses can also do with a haircut. Always snap off old flower heads as soon as the flower fades. Once a month at least, you should cut the branches back to maintain a good shape and fertilize to keep new growth and flower coming. By mid-August you can stop this routine and just water regularly. This allows the new growth to harden before the chill of winter sets in. If you have bamboo in your yard July is the month to watch for runners streaking across your yard. New shoots can pop up meters away from the main plant. Just kick off these shots as soon as they appear. They snap off like asparagus, ready for the pot.
|
Page 3 Newsletter |
|
Even if you cut them down, soon three or four thin replacements appear. Other chores include digging weeds out of the lawn and this year the unusually strong south winds have littered the lawn with branches and leaves. It actually looks like fall. I know that summer has just arrived but it is not too early to start planning for the next season(s). Catalogues with bulb sales are appearing and now is a time to get a head start on autumn mums, asters, fall crocus, Japanese anemones and some of the new sedums. If you prepare your soil, you can transplant perennials from pots now but don’t try to transplant from your beds until the cooler days of autumn. Sow another row of peas, beans or leaf crops to have veggies for September and search out a source of cool winter vegetable seeds to extend the growing season up to Christmas. Gardeners certainly don’t have “Lazy days”.. .maybe just pauses to contemplate.
|
The heady scent of the mock Orange (Philadelphus) reminds me of summers past. My mother was the youngest of eight girls so as a youngster I had lots of aunts and many older cousins. Every summer, just as the mock orange bloomed over the Judd’s back porch, the extended family would begin to gather to spend time with Ma and Pa and each other. The cousins from California usually arrived first to join the resident Valley group. Others followed from near and far. July evenings were spent sipping tea on the porch and catching up on the year’s happenings while the younger folks designed tiaras and necklaces from the flowers and the boys designed fishing poles from the flexible stems When I pass under my own huge shrub, a cutting from that same plant, I am reminded of those joyous July evenings. Today this plant is available in both double and single flowering varieties, as well as ones that are dwarf in stature. Some are variegated or even yellow leaved. But it is the older varieties that are the most strongly scented. They are easy to grow. I once used some of the straight new stems to form a trellis for my tall blueberries. Every one of the sticks grew. My aunt sent me a cutting from her bush in Salmon Arm. I stuck the dried up stick in the ground and it grew!
|
Page 4 Newsletter |
|
|
Astilbes grace the July gardens too. Although this perennial is not celebrated for its scent, it is it’s reliable blooms and variety of color that makes it stand out. It likes shade but blooms best with early morning or late afternoon sun. It is a good companion plant for the big leaves of hostas and sword ferns. Astilbes’ feathery flowers and finely cut leaves provide quite a contrast to bolder shapes. These plants come in small, medium, large and giant, early, mid season and late. The color palette goes from white through all the shades of pink, peach and red and on to the mauves and purples. Even the stems and leaves run the color gauntlet with tints of red, yellow and all the variegations of green. New on the market is Key Largo, supposedly a repeat bloomer.
There are so many kinds of flowers to sweep us through the summer season on a sea of colour and scent. I’m busy everyday trying to preserve their images with my camera so I can enjoy them again and again this winter. They are so fleeting so get out in your garden and enjoy our summer. I won’t be sharing my pathways with you in August but will return in September.