2012 West Toronto Plant Sale

There's been very little time for blogging lately as EVERYTHING needs to be done in the garden. And all of it right now.

Two weeks ago I set aside the better part of a Saturday to dig up many of my perennials and pot them up for my horticultural society's annual plant sale. Included in the stash are heuchera, 'Twist of Lime' hosta, bachelor's buttons, two types of astilbe, artemesia, anemone, Lysimachia 'Firecracker', rhubarb, rudbeckia, 'Northern Sea Oats' grass, sedge, Sweet Woodruff, lamium, geranium and more.

Tonight, after I printed off 12 pages of labels (plant name, size at maturity, growth habit, whether it prefers sun, shade, etc.) I spent another couple hours fussing over the plants and labeling them. Tomorrow night I have to find some time to price them, and then Saturday...Saturday, May 19th you can come to Eglinton Flats park and buy my perennials, many perennials from other members of our hort society, as well as lots of nursery grown bedding plants, herbs, vegetable seedlings, etc. Oh, and there are also 4 trays of fabulously interesting heirloom tomato plants (grown by my friend Marsha. I still haven't planted mine outside, so I'm not sure which seedlings will be "spares.")

The sale starts at 9 but I have to tell you that if you want to get the interesting plants you will want to arrive by 8:50 and join the lineup (yes, there'll be a ribbon cutting and everything at 9 where we make a fuss and then let you loose on the plants.)

Insider tip: bring a wagon or some boxes/plant trays to cart your plants home in. Also recommended is a spouse, child or friend who is willing to carry your plants while you rummage through the tables looking for more.

You can find the sale in the northwest quadrant of Eglinton Flats Park. It's west of Jane and north of Eglinton. The park entrance is via Emmett Avenue--once you come along Emmett you can't miss the sale. Just follow the signs.

While at the park, you can find the Emmett Avenue Community Garden about 60' past our sale. Stop by to see how great their gardens look already (new fencing this week!)

If you don't have time for breakfast before you leave the house, or all that shopping makes you hungry, the Mount Dennis Social Club will have a hot breakfast available for purchase on site.

And just in case you're wondering what kind of treasures await you, here are a few pictures from 2011's sale (taken during the setup--I was way too busy answering plant questions once the sale started to photograph anything!)

That's a really looong table of perennials. Almost all priced between $1 and $5

Same tables, shot from a different angle.

Vegetable seedlings...

Annual flowers from the Ontario Food Terminal (and a smiling volunteer--anyone wearing one of those orange flowers is happy to answer your questions or help you with your purchase.)

One of several extremely knowledgeable gardeners, ready to answer questions.

The weather forecast for Saturday is fantastic and there will be a whole whack of wonderful plants, priced to sell, at Eglinton Flats park. Will I see you there?

The Trouble with Tomatoes

I have a problem with growing tomatoes from seed.

It's hard to admit it, but I do...

The problem is that I keep starting them too early. 

Today is April 30th and they're already three times the size of what you'll find for sale in a nursery on the May 24th weekend (about when they can/should go out here.)

Last year was my first year of growing my own tomato plants from seed and yes, I was so excited I just couldn't wait. I started them on March 12th, the weekend before Canada Blooms. They were HUGE long before I could put them outside. There were more seedlings than I had space for. Potting in the next size pot up had to happen not once, but twice. When I moved them out to the cold frame they instantly filled it. And then some.

However, I had great tomatoes. The first one was in July and they just kept on coming.

But this year I vowed I would do better. No seed planting until after Canada Blooms. And Canada Blooms was 5 days longer this year than last year! Surely this would be a sufficient delay.

March 25th was bright and warm and clear. Out came the tomato seeds...

6 different varieties (yes, six. I couldn't help myself.) Five from Tatiana's Tomatobase (an absolutely  fantastic source of heirloom tomato seeds and information that I had the good fortune to stumble upon) and then my own saved seeds from last year's "Mortgage Lifter" tomatoes.


  
Into the trays they went, two seeds in each cell. Watered, covered with a plastic dome, onto a heating mat, and into the toasty boiler room.

Of course, within a few days, for every 10 seeds I planted at least 9 germinated.





But I was ruthless! As soon as they were big enough to shed their seed coats I snipped off one from each pair (I've read this is less disruptive than pulling out the ones you don't want.)

And now...

 

Now it's April 30th and I have blossoms already! This variety is Mennonite Orange.

All the plants are really robust...

I hope I'll be able to move them into the cold frame this weekend.

In case you're wondering about the orange snow fencing you see above and here in the full reveal of my "grow op"...

It's to keep out the furry members of our household...

Who me?

It's not pretty but it works. 

So far.

And yes, that is a fan blowing on the seedlings. I do this for half an hour or so a day (again, something I read) to strengthen them. If I don't have the time to turn the fan on I tap each of the plant stems with my fingernail a couple times (this is also supposed to strengthen them.) 

I told a gardening friend of mine that I did this and he looked at me like I was really crazy. And maybe I am when it comes to gardening.

But I'll have sturdy tomato plants with beautiful tomatoes on them...

...and next year I'll start my seedlings two weeks later. April 8, 2013 is now circled on the calendar!

Book Review: A New Leaf

A New Leaf: Growing with My Garden

Merilyn Simonds, 2011

This is my very favourite kind of gardening book—a gardener who loves plants talking about her garden, each chapter a little insight into some particular episode or season or type of plant. Even better, this gardener is an accomplished writer who has published several well regarded books completed unrelated to gardening. And, to put the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae, the garden of which she writes is located in Kingston, Ontario. I enjoy gardening books about the US and other corners of the world, but it's really delightful to read about something nearby.

I was actually surprised that this was a Canadian book. I thought I kept pretty close tabs on new popular gardening related books, but perhaps I slept through reviews of it in our Canadian gardening publications and blogs, or maybe it wasn’t featured prominently. When I saw the title come up on the Toronto Public Library’s online catalogue, I figured it was another U.S. gardening book, probably from the south, judging by the pretty white flowered tree and expanse of blue sky that make up the cover, but figured hey, it might be interesting, and clicked to place a hold. I'm very glad I did!

Simonds starts out the book with these lines: “I am not what some would call a serious gardener. I don’t know the Latin names of plants, except those that sound subversive or whimsical or mysterious…in the end I will do what looks good to me, because let’s face it, no bus tour will ever traipse across my white-clover lawn. I will never show my delphiniums at the fair.”  Well, after reading this book I’d say that if Simonds doesn’t warrant the title of serious gardener then neither does anyone else on the planet. She’s hard core—to the point that just about everything on her thanksgiving table (including the roast chickens) came from her garden—and I am sure that there will be quite a few garden tours from Kingston and beyond looking to traipse across her lawn and ogle the twenty six (yes, 26) garden beds on her property. In fact, sign me up for one of them!

I had to pace myself through this book. Both so that it wouldn’t be finished too quickly (it’s so disappointing when you find a book you enjoy and then it’s all done and you’re left with nothing nearly so exciting to read or do or think), and because my budget couldn’t afford it. You see, Simonds descriptions of the wonders of certain plants are so genuinely enthusiastic, and so captivating, that I found myself making a sudden trip out to the garden centre to buy a package of seeds I had to have, IMMEDIATELY. 

The book is a delightful read for any gardener, and especially one living in Ontario. There’s enough technical information to appeal to those who want to know the how to’s, but the book is bursting with lovely stories, perfect for whiling away a chilly afternoon. One caveat, the book should come with a warning: may inspire uncontrollable plant and seed shopping. And for Toronto gardeners coping with "pocket gardens" in the city, an additional warning: this book describes a gardener with enough land to grow twenty six large garden beds; hide your realtor’s phone number before reading!

Spring. 2012. Need I say more?

March 2012 in the Garden

Lots is happening in the garden right now! In a "normal" spring, this would all be taking place in April, but...well, there's not a lot that can be done about things being "early," so might as well enjoy it...


At left is a showy white hellebore. I'm not sure what chewed on the petals, but something thought they were tasty while still in bud stage, as they opened with the holes already in place. Oh well, the overall effect of seeing these lovely white flowers against all the composting leaves is still lovely, in my opinion.

In the front yard is another hellebore, but this one is deep purple.  The effect from a distance isn't quite as dramatic, but up close, it's certainly something to look at!















The crocuses, of course, have been putting on a fantastic show. Their bloom time is short lived but they do make the most of it!

One of my pollinator friends decided to take a closer look...

Unfortunately, bees aren't the only creatures stirring already. I strongly suspect it was a squirrel that decided to "rearrange" the tulip bulbs I had been "forcing" in a pot (The forcing was a bit of a flop. Due to the early warm-up the tulips in the ground are actually farther ahead than the ones in the pot!) Mr. Squirrel definitely does not have an eye for floral design, is all I have to say about his arrangement!

These guys are on the crawl, remarkably plump for so early in the season...

And yes, I did squish him after I took his picture (sorry to the squeamish, but this was the first of many, many that will meet the same fate over the summer. If anyone wants free escargots, please give me a shout--all you can pick, free!)

The Itoh peony is by far the most advanced in growth in the garden so far. It is in quite a sheltered spot and it is traditionally an early bloomer (May 24th most years.)

A few of the species tulips are starting to show colour. Again, these ones are in a protected area. The more exposed ones in the front yard don't have any colour yet. You can see a nice little field of bluebells emerging. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to see their blue blooms next to the dark pink tulips.



It's not only the flower garden that's showing signs of life; there's action in the vegetable patch as well. The garlic I planted in the fall has pushed up about 3" through the straw mulch.

Of course, what says SPRING to me like nothing else (even if I could be seen shaking my head this year, imploring this plant to wait, as it's only March, and you're risking freezing your blooms off)...is the magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel')

Spring is here...for now, at least!

Before you go to Canada Blooms 2012...

...there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. From Saturday until today (Thursday) teams of people, including many volunteers, have been working long hours to create the garden magic that is Canada Blooms. I apologize for the cell phone camera photo quality, but here are some of the faces behind the hands that make the show happen:

I wish I could put names with all of these faces. But you can tell just by looking at them, can't you, that they're a great fun bunch to work with! The fact they're still smiling after many of them have been working non-stop for days says a lot about them. It brings me back year after year.

We purposely posed the group in front of the rose garden so we'd have a pretty backdrop. Can you see the rose garden? Maybe not. Let's try a smaller group shot...

Canada Blooms volunteers in front of the rose garden.

Yes, that's me, on the far right. For the past several years I've had the privilege of volunteering a day or two of my time to assist with planting the large decorative planters that are placed throughout the aisles of Canada Blooms.

It's a huge amount of fun to have this many plants to play with, especially in March!

When the planting is going on, it's a full fledged construction site. Steel toed boots, hardhats, and stylish flourescent safety vests are required...

I'm beaming because that orange coleus is so fantastic. It's name is ruffle something or other, and I'll definitely be growing it in my garden this year!

A few of the decorative planters we created this year featured edibles. I have to say that these were the most challenging ones for me.

I grow tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers and peppers in pots in my own garden. But making a flower show worthy display in a planter (the idea is to make an arrangement that is eye-catching and inspiring, which is very different from providing a plant with its ideal growing conditions for a full season) of fully grown vegetables, overwhelmingly comprised of nothing much but green leaves, took all the imagination and gravity defying skills I could muster.

The cabbages are like giant roses, to my eye.

 

There was a little get together for volunteers tonight (thanks, Canada Blooms!) so I took the opportunity to spend a few minutes checking out some of the amazing gardens that have been created for the show. Here are just a few samples (and again, I apologize that these are only cell phone camera quality):

Have you ever seen a more charming set of garden stairs?

There's so much to look at in this garden. I especially like the copper water features.

A clever tapestry of heuchera (my favourite!) and other fantastic foliage plants.

Medinilla

You can try leaving the show without buying one of these Medinilla plants but you'll need very strong willpower. Canada Blooms Horticultural Director Charlie Dobbin tells me that not only are they very easy to care for, they like to be on the dry side, and the blooms will last close to 6 months. Think they look interesting in even in this lousy picture? Wait until you see them in person. They're spectacular! I predict they'll be selling by the truckload. I haven't bought one yet only because they're big, we're in the midst of some renovations, and I have no idea where I could safely put it. That probably won't deter me for long...

 So that's my sneak peek of Canada Blooms 2012. I'll be at the show a couple times (with my good camera!) over the next ten days so there will be more pictures later. One of my favourite things about the show is learning from some top notch speakers. I'm disappointed to be missing Marjorie Harris' presentation tomorrow, but very much looking forward to hearing Paul Zammit and Liz Primeau (on growing garlic!) on the days I will be attending.

Buzzworthy news...in March!

The earliest blooming shrub in my garden is Witch Hazel. This is only the second spring for Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' in my garden, but it has been putting on quite a show since mid-February. From a distance the flowers are a burnt red.






Today, March 11th, they've turned into a lovely fireworks of oranges and reds.


But what was really astonishing to me today, when I went out to see what was poking out of the soil on this warm day, was this...

There were about half a dozen of these pollinators (bees, wasps--I can't tell the difference) swarming the plant! I imagine they were starving, and this was one of the very few "restaurants" in town open!


Noted plant guru Marjorie Harris often talks about the importance of planting lots of tiny bulbs that flower early so that the early pollinators will have something to eat. I have to admit that I didn't think there were a lot of pollinators out looking for breakfast when the earliest of these bulbs and, in the case of witch hazel, shrubs bloom, but today was quite something to see. Granted, today's temperatures were record breaking, but in a "normal" year, the same scenario would be playing out in a few weeks.


I think this is a good excuse reason to buy more early spring-flowering bulbs this year. The three snowdrops that bloomed last week aren't going to be enough of a buffet for my early buzzing friends!