Know your roots

A quick how-to as we head into planting time. When you succumb to the siren call of the flowers in the garden centre, especially annuals planted in cell packs (those softer plastic pots with multiple, small chambers), it's likely their root systems will be pretty bunged up.

Chances are, they'll look something like the image below. Note how the white roots are filling in the shape of the cell-pack. The bottom of the root system is quite square and condensed. That's because the roots are reaching the outside wall of the container and growing round and around and around and around.


The plants will establish themselves better if they're free to venture out into their new, larger growing space.

When you see this, grit your teeth and prepare to be ruthless.

Rip off the square bottom of the compacted root system (just the very bottom), then pry apart the roots on the flat sides. Don't be too afraid of breaking the root filaments.

The liberated root system will then look like the image below. Plant your charms and water well.


Watch the weather immediately after planting. If it's viciously hot and sunny, you might want to move the planter into a shadier spot for a day to let them recover.

But, really, it's for their own good. They'll survive and thrive better when their roots are allowed to explore beyond their former constipated state.

This holds true for most root-bound potted plants. And don't just take my word for it. At Canada Blooms this year, Sarah heard Marjorie Mason-Hogue say just the same thing.

Go East, young gardener

In the glorious weather on Saturday, I had to make a stop at East End Garden Centre, a gardening institution on Queen Street East for 27 years.

Of course, the racks outside the store were laden with pansies, those frost-hardy annuals that are great for planters at this in-between time of year. I always stick my nose into each flat to buy the smelliest ones I can; blue this time around. Yet, there's something about the way the yellows capture the sunlight that makes them pretty special.

At the same time, I tracked down garden centre owner Theresa Tate to congratulate her on her win against the big-box project that had been considered for Leslieville. Personally, I agreed that the site was just the wrong place for a mega-store. I prefer to support local retailers such as East End that give the area its character. Mrs. Tate, who had just celebrated her 77th birthday, was relieved about the future of the family business she had founded back in 1981.

East End Garden Centre is a great resource. One thing I like is that they can arrange delivery of all those heavy bags of sheep manure I need to feed the soil. A friend without a car was able to select a beautiful 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple from here and have it brought to her house. Plus, it's right on the streetcar route. That makes a difference for a city gardener.

Speaking of local businesses, before heading over the street to the garden centre, my husband and I had to stop for lunch at the Red Rocket.

Well, I say "lunch," and the hummus and grilled veg wrap was delicious, as was the fair-trade coffee. But what I really came for was the sinfully crumbly chocolate shortbread.

Think of it this way: a gardener needs fuel to do all that digging. Digging into my huge (read: tiny) windowboxes to plant aaaaall those pansies is hard work. It must have taken me a full 15 minutes. (More on this in a later post.)

So a couple of super-rich shortbreads are okay. Necessary even.

No, really.

Learning to get a-lawn

Grass seed likes to germinate when the soil is warm (about 15˚C or 60˚F) but the air is cool. Warm soil encourages strong root growth, while the cool air keeps the tops from over-growth. That's why spring (April-June) is the second-best time to sew a lawn. In Toronto, August-September are the sweetest months.

However, spring is often when we are most motivated to do things in the garden. So here are a few secrets to successful lawn getting -- or fixing.

[Edited comment: I should first say that this post no way endorses the planting of lawns. If you could see mine you would laugh at the audacity of my giving lawn advice to anyone. I rarely fertilize, and then only with "organics," and hardly ever cut the grass! However, when I was a Master Gardener, many many people had lawn questions. So, in that spirit...]

First, choose the right seed for your garden. Is it high traffic or seldom walked-on? Sun or shade? Moist or dry? And how fanatical are you about mowing or lawn aesthetics.

For example, Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis) is a good, all-purpose lawny lawn grass -- but it requires full sun. Red fescue (Festuca rubra) is ideal for dry shade and sandy, low-fertility soil, but it isn't very tolerant of traffic. Perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne) is wear tolerant, and will take some shade. It also establishes quickly, so is useful in tricky areas such as slopes. However, it will die in winter if drainage is poor, such as on clay soils. Here's some info Google found on selecting grass for northern lawns from the U.S. Better Lawn and Turf Institute. [Edited comment: again, not an endorsement, but they do have useful descriptions of the grass types.]

For the ecologically minded, here is a seed blend called the Eco-Lawn available from Wildflower Farm (which is on Hwy 12, west of Orillia). This sounds to me like the wonderchild of grass seed: it grows in sun or shade, tolerates drought, and never needs mowing, though you can if you must. Mind you, it's sort of the mop-top of grasses, so might not be for those who are into creating bowling-green perfection.

Second, prepare your soil. This doesn't necessarily have to mean a total overhaul. You can fertilize before seeding (phosphorus, the middle number in any fertilizer, is what encourages strong root development, essential for a healthy lawn) or add sifted (as in: not-lumpy) compost. (I purchased a bag of low-number sludge pellets years ago that I am still using, though only on my tiny patch of grass.) If your soil is compacted from foot traffic, give it a scratch to loosen up the soil in the root zone.

Third, sew your seeds. To distribute the seed evenly, mix with a filler like sand or even white clover seed. If your lawn is small, a tool like this seed spreader I got from Lee Valley makes the job easier. (It's also handy for spreading fertilizer.)

White clover is a lovely addition to a lawn, if you aren't a purist. It's in the legume family, so it sets nitrogen in the soil. It also makes pretty, and pretty-smelling, white flowers. A garden Sarah and I walked by a couple of years ago had been completely sewn with clover. We'll pop back later in the spring to see it's it's still going.

Fourth, firm the seeds into the soil. One thing that people often neglect is to make a good, firm contact between the seed and the soil. Use something flat such as a board and step on it. An old-fashioned lawn roller is good for this.

Fifth, water! Last year, with all the rain, one novice gardener nearby had beginner's luck with their lawn-getting efforts. You do need to water until the seeds sprout and get established. A fine mist is better than a heavy spray. Water in the mornings, and keep an eye out for hot, baking weather while you're nurturing your baby lawn.

Wildflower Farm has a great tip sheet for lawn starting. It also has a distraction-inducing selection of wildflower seeds. But that might have to suffice for another time...

Top 5 Underrated Annuals

Our gardening tastes always get more sophisticated the more we know, and gardeners, self included, always get excited about all the new annuals (and perennials) available in the garden centres. Sometimes we turn up our noses at all the old standby annuals that have been in people's gardens forever.

Perhaps we scorn them because we feel that choosing them is too lazy, easy and predictable, when there are so many newer and more enticing plants available: fabulous, sophisticated, "designery" plants. Especially dark purple and lime green ones!

Sure, it would be lazy to simply grab the old standbys, without ever trying anything new. But in our search for the new and the fancy, I think there is a danger of throwing out the baby with the rosewater. If we always leave out these worthy and strong performers from our gardens, our gardens can lose out. Traditional annuals, like the waitress Donna Summer sung about, really do work hard for the money, and they give us a great payback in colour, scent, toughness and pure staying power. This is a plea to urge my gardening friends to consider some of the overlooked or forgotten charms of the list below in your garden this summer. 'Cause they just don't get no respect.

1. Marigolds
The big round puffy ones, (Tall African) and the shorter flatter-flowered French varieties. One of the best plants to have in the garden to cut for indoor bouquets, and it's one of the main reasons I grow them. They come in so many beautiful shades of orange and yellow, and now the selection is almost ridiculously huge. The ones at the garden centre are fine, but you can also get more choice in seed catalogues, and they are dead easy, and quick to start from seed. They bloom right till frost, and the leaves have an unmistakeable scent - one you either hate or love - ( I love it) that to me says "summer". Some of the scented foliage on varieties such as Vanilla attracts bees. They bloom continuously in the garden, are heat tolerant and are happy in containers. Think of a summer bouquet with marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos and blue cornflowers.

2. Impatiens
Many garden sophisticates these days roll their eyes at these. Yes, they are ubiquitous at the garden centres. But don't hold that against them. Just choose wisely, and plan to have at least one large container of these, mixed with other annuals like coleus, ivy, or scented pelargonium happily gleaming at you in a shady spot on one of the hottest days of the summer. They perform like crazy, and hummingbirds like them too. Towards the end of the growing season they almost bloom their hearts out, as cool fall weather seems to spur them on.

3. Petunias
What could be more cliche than a pot of petunias? Yes, these are old fashioned, and common as dirt, but they really do have stellar qualities and I never go a summer without some petunias in my garden. For one thing, the white ones (and some blues and purples, esp the new cultivars) are usually heavenly scented, especially at night, with a heady fragrance that any lily would have a hard time matching. Keep them cut back, fertilized and dead-headed, and they will bloom all summer, till frost.

In the first garden I ever had -- I knew nothing, and of course planted a whole passle of things in all the wrong places. What kept going all summer giving me blooms, in a ridiculous spot under a shrub? The petunias. And for this, I've always had a soft spot for them. They work best mixed with other flowers in a container, with lots of spillage.

4. Snapdragons
Just the fact that they will still be blooming even as the snow flies is a point in their favour. Going outside in November and being able to bring in a live flower for the house is an amazing thing. In Canada, having frost-resistant annuals is a huge plus, and their long, sturdy stems and intense, saturated colours make them delicious for indoor bouquets. Smaller varieties are floriferous and really very drought resistant in containers. Plus, if you have any kids, or a little bit of kid still left in you, you get the fun of sticking your finger in the little snapdragon mouth. Which is right up there with pulling apart the bleeding heart flowers (upside-down) to see the "lady in a bathtub". (If you've never pulled the flowers of bleeding heart to see this, put it on your list of things to do this summer.) You also might get lucky and have them self-seed, as they did in Helen's planters last year.

5. Geraniums (Pelargoniums)
Geraniums likely got their bad reputation because of all the gas station/public building exterior plantings of red geraniums in an unimaginative grid, with a dracaena spike in the centre. Agreed, this is an lacklustre use of geraniums, or any plant really. We can't blame the versatile geranium for this!

There are so many colours and varieties of geranium: Doubles, singles, semi-doubles. Scented ones with cut leaves make great additions to planters and delight you with fragrance as you brush by. Colours in white to pale pink, to orange to red to the most electric of purples. They work in a single pot, with one variety, or mingled with other plants: ivies, scaveola, verbenas, begonias. The variegated types have exquisite foliage that makes a planter look great even when the flowers aren't in bloom. And for anyone who is a slightly forgetful container gardener, they are one of the most drought resistant annuals you can find, especially the cascading variety. Note the leathery leaves, they are almost succulent, and can withstand amazing neglect. Don't neglect them too much though! You'll get better performance if you actually do water and fertilize.

The other benefit to geraniums is being able to propagate them so easily from cuttings, especially now that we are all trying to save money whereever we can. (Like we weren't before!) I always bring my geraniums inside for the winter and put them out again for the summer, plus take cuttings, so I am usually giving them away. I'll refrain from going on about them too much more here, as they probably deserve their own post. The category of Pelargoniums is huge.

Warning: Dog-Strangling Vine

Amongst the refuse of last year's greenery, you might now be noticing the evidence of past crime: the dried pod casings of dog-strangling vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum) [Update: This weed is also known as swallowwort, Cynanchum spp., from the Greek meaning "to choke a dog")]. In my continuing quest to do my part to eradicate this pernicious weed, last May I wrote this post about the problem. [Read about the eradication efforts in Ottawa's Fletcher Wildlife Garden here.]

Now, when the foliage is off the shrubs, it's easy to see where dog-strangling vine has taken a foothold. Each of the pointy pods was once full of fluffy seeds, ready to take root in a green space near you. Meanwhile, the woody root systems are plotting new ways to send up prolific shoots. It isn't only "dogs" being strangled here. It's entire ecosystems.

Please, keep your eyes open and your knives sharpened. Cut this one off at the root when you see its snakey little head emerge from beneath your rugosa roses (or fences or hedges).

This plant is trying to take over Toronto. Let's all tell it to get the heck outta town.

[Edited update from Helen, the whys and how-tos: Haven't been able to detect why it's called dog-strangling vine. It's certainly a tough stem and would be about dog height. Tends also to become a thicket if left unchecked.

Yes, do cut it off just below the soil to starve the root -- just hold the stem and cut it at the base with a knife or secaturs, just at or below the soil surface. Don't yank it up, as the breaks in the root system can send up new shoots.

You'll probably have to repeat this a few times, as the root will continue to try to send up shoots. Eventually, however, without the green leaves to nourish it, the root will starve and dwindle. (BTW, this is a good way to deal with other strong-rooted weeds, such as dandelions.)]

MIA at Canada Blooms: The Hort Societies

Reported by sharp-eyed reader M., this year's Canada Blooms had some wide open spaces where the many horticultural society booths used to be.

A scant few remained at the show, though relocated to the Gardeners Fare in the Marketplace. However, most of those little booths formerly here on Level 600, where you used to be able to pick up info on the latest daylily introductions from the Daylily Society, for example, had ceased to be; they were ex-booths.

It's a real shame. These were the meetingplaces for the true amateurs -- in the root sense of the word: lovers -- of horticulture. By spreading their passion for gardening like manure, they help fertilize the commercial side of the industry.

We hope this is not a trend. We fear that it is.

What's growing in March: Silver Maples

In Toronto, the blooming of the silver maple, Acer saccharinum, is a true sign of spring. Yet most people don't even notice the modest little pompom flowers because they're way up there on some of the city's tallest street trees.

When it's not in leaf, you can recognize the mature silver maple by its shaggy bark. In summer, the maple-shaped leaves are more deeply cut than the more typical (non-native) Norway maple (A. platanoides) that lines our streets in the thousands. Silver maples get their name from the silvery underside on their leaves.

They're fast-growing, which is what makes them so tall compared with their contemporaries. It also makes them rather brittle. That doesn't stop me from admiring them... in other people's gardens.

In the fall, the leaves of the silver maple turn a somewhat insipid yellow.

However, in recent years a hybrid cross between the silver and the red maple (A. rubrum) has been developed, giving you a fast-growing tree with a striking red fall colour. These are the Freeman or hybrid maples (A. x. freemanii), and I've noticed them popping up along streets (my guess is that this is one pictured at right, taken last autumn) and in newer parks. The cultivars have alluring names like 'Autumn Blaze' and 'Scarlet Sentinel' -- and if I'm not wrong, I think Sarah tried one of these out in her country place.

Like the bane of my gardening existence, the dreaded Norway maple, both the silver and Freeman maples have the same shallow-rooting tendencies. Given room to grow, however, they're fine specimen trees, as well as being harbingers of spring.

What's growing in March: Witch Hazel

As I drove back from a meeting today, this little fountain of sunshine rose up from all the mousy brown blanketing the city. Had to double back with my camera.

This is the witch hazel, Hamamelis, so valuable for its splash of colour (and, in many cases, perfume!) at one of the most drab and dreary times of year. There are species of witch hazel native to North America, but I suspect this is one of the showier Asian hybrids.

Judging by my handy-dandy Reader's Digest A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants (looks like the same book is now published by DK; view it here), it might be H. x intermedia 'Arnold Promise.' That "x" in a name indicates it's a hybrid cross, in this case between H. japonica and H. mollis, the latter of which is Chinese witch hazel. All are hardy in Zones 5-9; some would bloom in February – a sign of how hard a winter 2008-9 has been.

For those who insist on native forms, there seem to be two, the spring-blooming H. vernalis, which has a less compact, treelike habit than the Asians, and the fall-blooming H. virginiana.

I tend to be a relativist when it comes to garden choices. If we only depended on what was native to our area, then Europeans should not be growing tomatoes or potatoes. My belief is that our plant choices should be guided by growing conditions, and what can be achieved with gentle intervention: mimicking nature as much as possible.

An Asian species of a North American native works in my philosophy. Especially when it looks so glorioius in such a tired month. Would love to make room in my garden for one. If I can only reconcile the "moist" as well as the "well drained."

One particularly appealing cultivar is H. x intermedia 'Jelena' (can we pronounce the J as H?), with its promise of orange and red flowers in late winter and coppery red fall foliage. Found a charming review of it (albeit not from a Toronto gardener) here. Think I'll add it to my Lust List.

Planting Bare-Root Roses in Canada in Spring

Rose pictured above is the "New Dawn" climber, one of the best performing climbing roses in our climate.

These instructions are based on the step-by-step instructions provided at Pickering Nurseries,, one of Canada's best rose growers, supplying a huge variety of bare-root roses. Their planting guide in PDF form is downloadable here.

These instructions will also apply to those packaged roses you will start to see everywhere in grocery stores and garden outlets from now on. The most important thing to do is to buy and plant early, usually 1st week of April in most parts of Canada, certainly in Toronto.

Step One
• Put rose plant in a bucket of water, out of the sun, while waiting to plant
• Get spade, gloves, bucket of water, bonemeal and/or starter solution and garden hose
• Make hole 18 inches deep and wide (improve soil first with manure, compost, damp peat moss mix) Add couple handfuls of bonemeal to bottom. Mix with soil
• Do not use granular rose food at planting time. It will burn and kill your rose.

Step Two
• Trim 1” off the ends of the roots. Freshly trimmed roots develop quicker and take up more nutrients.
• If your roses have any white shoots, trim them back to 1/8”.
• Mound up soil at bottom of hole and place roots around mound
• Place the rose in the hole with bud union at least 2" below the soil surface (zone 6 and colder)
• Back fill hole, compressing soil with your foot. (Using hands for this won't compress enough to get rid of air pockets.)
• Water the rose with plant starter solution before finishing back-filling
• Hill the plants up with a mound of soil about 10” deep. This protects the plant from drying out while it sets roots. Remove the mound about 2 weeks after planting.

"Danger Will Robinson!" Don't let these things happen during planting!!
1. Never allow the roots to dry out at any time during planting process.
2. Never plant in a poorly drained or soggy location.
3. Never plant in shade or near tree or shrub roots.
4. Never add granulated fertilizer in the planting hole.
5. Never add excessive amounts of manure, or fresh manure
6. Never plant in raised beds (above ground level)
7. Never leave the soil too loose after planting. Press firmly when backfilling.
8. Never plant without mounding soil around plant for two weeks.

By the way, if using peat moss, never use dry. Wet first with a few buckets of hot water. Hot water allows the moss to take up the moisture.

Oh, the Irony: His Name is Achilles and he's got an Achilles Heel?

This routine from the great English stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard went through my head when I had a rather ironic occurrence this morning. After posting just yesterday about my great idea with the plastic tub greenhouse, I discovered that, due to my own Achilles heel (a massive case of scatterbrained-ness), I forgot to bring my sweet peas indoors last night and, as it was well under zero last night, they got pretty frozen.
And this, after warning the dear readers about the very same thing just yesterday. Tsk. I'll let you know if they pull through.

See very funny video above for Eddie's take on Achilles, Hoovering and Potpourri.

Almost No-Cost Mini Greenhouse

Get thee to Zellers, or Canadian Tire or some other housewares store and buy a semi opaque storage bin similar to the one in the picture. Make sure the lid is flat and not curved, as some are. Trick is to use it upside down. Put the seedlings on the lid, fit bin over top and Wa-La!* Instant temporary greenhouse. Any seedlings you have on a window sill can safely go outside in one of these, especially sweet peas -- all cool-loving seedlings, like parsley, or perennials.

Warning: Put in shade at first, so seedlings get acclimatized. The switch from indoor light to outdoor shade is huge, and you don't want sunburn and death to seedlings you've been nurturing. Remember to vent your greenhouse if days get hot.

Or, bring indoors in evening, if the night time temperature looks frosty.

I've just put my sweet peas and some lavender I bought a couple of weeks ago outside in one of these bins. They were looking a little spindly even in my south facing window sill.

*Credit for this mis-pronunciation of the French exclamation Voilà! goes to one of those K-Tel-like commercials from the 70s. We think it was about home-made wine.

How Did I Miss This? Earth Inc Landscapers Have a Show on HGTV

UPDATED!!! Breaking New information from a reader!!! The 1st season was such a hit that the boys were signed on to a second season. HGTV will start airing Dirty Business next Tuesday March 31, 2009 and will run 26 consecutive episodes (season 1 & 2).

Original Post starts here: Speaking of Canada Blooms, I never forgot my favourite ever garden there: an enchanting --and small -- space, a deck actually. Main feature was a bathtub-fountain that spilled water over the bathtub edge onto round lake-rocks. It also had about a million white pillar candles, perched on flat limestone rocks embedded in the walls. The design was created by earth inc, a small company that unfortunately gave up exhibiting at Canada Blooms a few years ago.

Just now trying to find a picture of it I discovered that my favourite garden designers -- these earth inc guys -- have a landscaping show on HGTV called Dirty Business. Not the most attractive title, I'd say. It is clever, what with the business they are in. Digging in dirt is...dirty. But, speaking for me, if I'd seen the name on the TV listings I wouldn't have thought of tuning in, or imagining that the genius minds who created that favourite garden at Canada Blooms would be behind it.

I am determined to check it out, however I'm not even sure from looking at the HGTV website whether it is still being broadcast. The date on the initial source of this info was July 2008, so who knows. If anyone has any info about it let me know. Information about the earth inc fellows and info on all the shows -- except for when and if it's still on, natch -- are available on the HGTV site here.

Canada Blooms Review: The Best and the Worst of 2009

A Good Thing - Dramatic Entryway to this years Canada Blooms pictured above.

The Worst Things
1. The Trend of More Commerce than Art in the Showcase Gardens. Traditionally, it was the showcase gardens that you went to see. Each had a distinct flavour, with memorable details and a definite personality. It was tough to decide which was the favourite, as there would usually be a couple of real standouts, or at least, a few really memorable features that stayed with you. Now, unfortunately, Canada's garden tradeshow - for that is what it is really - is beginning to actually feel like a tradeshow, as more and more of the showcase gardens include obvious logos, promo materials, TV sets, and an emphasis on hard landscaping, and "rooms", rather than gardens that transport you with their heart and soul.

2. The Trend Duo of Ginormous Rocks and Massive Conifers Continues Apace Not that I have anything against rocks and trees, I happen to love them, but this combination is becoming a Canada Blooms cliche, and the effect is often unnatural looking and just, like a great deal of Canada Blooms combos: simply ersatz. It's also starting to seem lazy: One imagines the garden designer throwing up his/her hands and saying: just put some more rocks and pine trees in there and we can get out to the bar.

3. The Lack of a Cafe/Oasis on the 800, or Main Floor. It took us about 15 minutes to find a place and a chair for a coffee on Wednesday morning after our tour ended. In years' past there has always been a section on the exhibit floor with tables, chairs and even umbrellas, that was a welcome oasis and place to have a breather. Eating/snacking places have all been moved to the other floors and some of these didn't have enough chairs or tables. I was there bright and early on the first day, so perhaps the cafe situation might have improved on later days - the programme lists a Springtime Cafe and a Crocus Cafe, but neither were in operation on Wednesday morning - quite a downside to our visit.

4. Lack of Additional Decoration In past years, the garden design was all over, not just in the showcase gardens. As soon as you entered the auditorium you'd be met with dazzling creativity from talented designers: stunningly creative and elaborate displays at the escalators at the show entrance, and scattered all over would be tubs and planters with creatively designed plant material. At the show about 3 years ago, the displays around the escalators rivalled the best designs in the actual floral hall! This year, there were still the odd tubs scattered around, and while pleasant, they were fairly minimal in their impact. This lack must be due to the economy, as talented Canadian designers could have worked their magic again. I'm guessing that there simply wasn't money for these extra installations. The lack of funds probably entered into many of the downsides to Canada Blooms this year.

5. The Fact that this Year is the Last Year at This Location My tour guide in the morning let us know that, sadly, due to the skyrocketing rental costs, this will be the last year Canada Blooms will be held at the Convention Centre. It made this trip more poignant: The end of an era.

6. The Morning After the Night Before: Remnants of the $195 Ticket Gala Left a Big Hole in the Exhibition Hall A large area with white tufted benches and elegant draperies swathed over the supports looked like a swell place to have a party; however, as an empty, unused space the following morning it was a bit of a dead loss. I kept looking at it and thinking, oh, that looks interesting, is it a cafe perhaps?, then remembering it was simply an empty area where they had the party last night. Discovering a couple of abandoned empty glasses left on a bench far away from the action, though, was sort of amusing.

7. Land-Escape - Art Installation with Recycling/Landfill Theme This garden was unfortunately billed as one of the Show Stoppers in the programme, and while it had some interesting points - like the melted plastic creations - overall it didn't gel or work that successfully as either a garden or an art installation. It looked more or less like a truck had simply dropped off a pile of stuff on skids and left it there.

8. Two, count em, Two gardens that had tie-ins with major health concerns: Cancer Connections and the Heart and Stroke Pulse Garden.
While being healthy and bringing awareness to life threatening illness is an extremely worthy goal, I found nothing uplifting about a garden where I could get my blood pressure checked, or a garden with distracting large, albeit lovely, photographs of cancer survivors. The horticultural aspects of these gardens weren't particularly memorable: there were lots of daffodils - surprise! - in the Cancer garden. At the risk of being a curmudgeon, (admittedly, these were sponsor gardens, not technically feature gardens), can we please make Canada Blooms about the garden? Being in a garden is health promoting enough, and save the health messages for other shows.

9. We don't need your stinkin' logos! This ties into point #1, and the above picture shows one of the worst offenders of this trend. This garden is listed in the programme as Simplicity - The Resting Garden. Hmm, let's see: The birch trunks, check. The leaves, check. The mirrors, check. So far, fairly restful. The massive flat-screen TV fixed on the wall and the even massive-er 3D Logo affixed on the wall, not so much. An advertisment this is. A garden this is not. Bad, bad, trend. Altogether there were way too many flat screen TVs at this show, popping up in gardens everywhere.

10. Canada Blooms Programme/Guide Book Confusing labelling, with numbers on illustrations not corresponding to the copy, and the choppy design left us often frustrated trying to find out what was what, or where we were. Main map on Page 22? Not very helpful. Combining the programme and the Landscape Ontario magazine into one, with each flip-flopped was a good idea though.

The Best Things


1. For the first time, a Children's Garden that children could actually play in! The Bienenstock Natural Playground This was one of the best conceived gardens, fun and enchanting. With its willow archway entrance, which had glowing lights underfoot, and various hands on activities including making bird feeder balls, assorted musical instruments, a stick-painting area and a big sandbox, it's chock full of garden-y and arty fun. A delightful touch was a bright green plastic worm sculpture/fountain that you could "play" by covering the holes with your fingers. We saw the beginnings of what is to be a massive sand sculpture which was looking very impressive by sculpture artist Karen Fralich. She will be working every day of the show to complete it, and it will cover many square feet.
Many children in this garden were having a great time: possibly the first group of children ever to come to Canada Blooms and be this entertained! The only downside to this garden might be trying to get your child to leave this one and come with you to the next.

2. As usual, the designers from Jardins de Metis/Reford Gardens give us the goods.
These garden designers from Quebec are always conceptual, fresh and witty. Their display this year used green foam trees shaped like old fashioned car air-fresheners, and matching slots in the floor. Visitors could grab a tree and make their own forest by planting it anywhere they liked. Fun for kids and adults alike. "Plant a tree because it is beautiful. Plant a tree because it smells good."

3. The Speakers Series These are always one of the best aspects of Canada Blooms, and always make your ticket well worth the money. If only it was possible to see the show, plus hear the talks from every speaker! They all sound intriguing and informative. An impossible task to hear more than one or two, and this year I heard Marjorie Mason talk about her garden which started out as a sand dune, and now is a water conserving delight. She is an expert on xeriscaping, and this year, I am definitely going to visit her garden near Uxbridge.

Wednesday was Organic Gardening day, and the other themes sound great too. Thursday: Design Day and Container Gardening. Friday: Scents and Sensibilities and Annuals. Saturday: Ecology day - Safe and Healthy Gardens and Sunday: Urban Gardening - Live Green Toronto.


4. The Seasons Garden - The Real Thing
This garden was refreshing, showing a natural wetland throughout 4 seasons. No large rocks or massive pines were harmed in the process, but subtler plant material such as sumachs, teasle, grasses, horsetail and other natural wetland plants were expertly joined together to give one of the most realistic displays of a natural garden I've ever in at Canada Blooms. I felt like I'd been transported 2 hours outside of Toronto to an honest to goodness wetland landscape. Refreshing!

5. Fun Trend - Outdoor Full-Size Beds suspended on Ropes This is a purely silly fantasy-element: something Canada Blooms in the past had in spades. It's a small design thing, and you'll probably never have one in your garden, it's totally impractical; but, when you see it at the show you just want to climb into it and have a nap, they look that inviting.

6. The Container Crate repurposed as an Office "Outside the Box" This delightful exercise in recycling and re-purposing was a highlight. Created by b sq. landscape design studio inc, who specialize in "Container Architecture" the crate is now a working office with ladder leading to a roof deck. It's made from the ordinary metal container crates that are used to ship over all those toasters and DVD players from China. A whole new thought to how homes and offices might be created in the future. The crate itself costs about $2000 to start, and it serves as the shell for whatever is done to it afterwards. This particular office will have a permanent home on Queen St. East eventually. Note: Yes, I do see that they have a logo on the side of their container, but it doesn't take centre stage, it's slightly obscured by the bumpy crate face, and their creation is so wonderful, I'm not deducting points.

7. The Toronto Botanical Garden Area with Paul Zammit Beautiful container displays, and the plus of having at hand the charming and engaging Paul Zammit, who is also damned knowledgeable and happy to give tips and information about everything in the booth, and more. We learned that the Oxalis in his exhibit are as easy to root as Coleus. He told us how, with a constrained budget, they managed to find creative ways to build their displays. Birch trunks, cut and linked together vertically formed the walls of their plantings. Grasses - the one in the picture has the added advantage of being gently musical when it waves in the breeze - and upright flowering "Ivory Prince" Hellebores were a highlight. Containers had a stunning array of lime green roses, chrysanthemums and the favourite (non hardy) plant at Canada Blooms this year the Kalanchoe "Lucky Bells", with its lantern-like floral protrusions which hang down from upright stems.

8. The Toronto Garden Club Horticultural Show and Floral Design This is always a must-see at Canada Blooms and makes up for many a lacklustre "Feature Garden". It's the collective work of many, many gardeners and designers, many amateur, and never disappoints. The show this year had a wonderful collection of masks, made of natural materials that to me was a highlight.

9. The City of Toronto Exhibit - for sheer profusion of flowers For the masses of flowering bulbs in their plantings, a solid lake of tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils in undulating colours stretches out before you. As they grow all their own bulbs in Toronto city greenhouses, they have the ability to be lavish in their plantings. Photos of Toronto from long ago round out their exhibit. Cool to see pictures of Torontonians enjoying High Park in the 40s, as well as pictures of Toronto gardens in other decades.

10. Maple trees in tubs, dotted here and there I did complain above that most of the additional side plantings were fairly perfuntory, but this was a plus. This is the first time I remember seeing large-ish trees in these planters. Happily all these trees will find homes after the show is over in Downsview Park. Since these trees are already fully leafed out, they'll sit out the spring in a warehouse after the show closes, then be planted in soil as soon as weather permits.

11. The massive oak tree with orange spheres This 40 foot oak tree is the largest tree I've ever seen at the show, and I think it is the largest one ever used here. I can't imagine how they got it in the doors. This Landscape Ontario exhibit showcases the landscapers' ability to save mature trees when areas are zoned for new buildings. The process involves a period of root pruning to make the root ball a manageable size, allowing many mature trees to be saved and re-located when necessary. Good news for trees and people everywhere.



12. The Be-Leaf Garden One of the smaller gardens, without even a write-up in the catalogue, but notable for its slightly impractical, but beautiful circular planting of violas in the floor, and for its overall loveliness. This garden had in spades what so many others lacked: atmosphere and cohesiveness. It made you want to walk into it in real life, to inhabit it.

13. The Entrance Garden - The Black Cube Very dramatic, and atmospheric, with stunning arrangements of white flowers and branches in white urns, lit by coloured spotlights. The multicoloured water jets were perhaps not working quite properly as we missed the "frothy mist" spoken of in the guide book.

14. The Marvellous Tree at the Bottom of the Escalator Standing in for the more lavish entryway decorations of old, this lone tree was nonetheless a really well crafted piece of garden design. The tree was possibly from an apple, very knobbly and gnarled. It was hung with crystals and glass vases of white hyacinths. Quite magical. Tree was flanked with vertical tubs planted with ivy and more hyacinths.

15. Label, label, label, label! Plant material with labels Great to find new items, and to identify a particular favourite with a well placed label. Canada Blooms usually gets this very right, although attendees have been known to walk off with them. Bring a camera, or a pen and pencil, and leave the labels for the next person please!

This picture shows the Kalanchoe "Lucky Bells" which was all over the place this year.

16. The smell in the air Ahhhhh, the delightfully aromatic plant material: the hyacinths, the tulips, the odd pine tree, it all adds up to an olfactory spa-treatment. A welcome sensory input in Toronto in March. Almost worth the price of admission.

17. The Volunteers The volunteers really keep the place going, all working for nothing to put together this show every year. Our tour guide was one of these steadfast volunteers, Christine Kennedy, who is one of Toronto's horticultural treasures. She works for the City of Toronto Parks and managed Allan Gardens for many years. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Thanks, Christine!

A Bit of a Chat with a Squirrel at my Bird Feeder

Me: Oh, it's you again.

Squirrel: Oh, hey, hi! If it isn't Lady Bountiful! Thanks for putting out this amaaazing spread! I LOVE what you're doing here! (Nom nom nom-like scarfing noises)

Me: Yeah. Really, um, about that. The spread. I actually....hmm, how do I put this....the spread, It's really meant for...you know...the birds. Like the cardinal, the goldfinches...

Squirrel: THOSE deadbeats??? The ones who can't bother to fly over here - what is it - too far from the nest? Ohhhh, my arms - I mean my wings - my little helpless wings are getting toooo tired to make it allll the way over to this feeding station. I think I'll just hang out in this shrub a little longer...those guys???

Me: Yeah, those guys. All the birds. I've been trying to get them over here. I got the suet feeder. I got the special seed...

Squirrel: Oh, yeah, that crap. NOBODY likes that stuff, not even those deadbeat birds. You might as well hang up a sign that says: WILDLIFE: fly on by! THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF SEED YOU LIKE, NO MATTER WHAT IT SAYS ON THE PACKAGE!

ME: Well, it seemed like the cardinal was coming by. You know, after you finished all the sunflower seeds, they came by for those white seed thingies. You know who I mean right? The bright red guy? The really pretty one. I LOVE that guy! He comes over once in a while, and brings his wife. So couldn't you um...kind of....leave most of this food for them? They were the ones I actually invited - um to the platform feeder. Where you currently are. If you don't mind me saying.

Squirrel: Well, Ms. Bountiful, I got my invitation too. And I take the trouble to get here early, and every day. And, you know I always bring the guys too.

Me: Yeah, you've got rather a lot of guys. There's usually 4 or 5 of you running around out here...um...kind of....don't get me wrong, I'm happy to supply you with food too, but you're kind of....trashing the place?

Squirrel: Hey, Ms. Bount, that's not MY guys, must be some other squirrels. A couple of trees over. Can't speak for them.

Me: Well, I do always put some stuff out for you. In the special Squirrel Feeder, remember?

Squirrel: Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that special Squirrel Feeder. We appreciate the thought, Ms. Bount, we really do. You are TOO generous, you know, God love you, but I gotta tell you, Mike still has head wounds from that hinged lid falling on top of him. He's not too happy about it. Plus he still didn't manage to get the peanut out of there! Do you think you could adjust the hydraulics or something?

Me: well, maybe Mike needs to build up his arms, because I haven't seen any one else have any trouble with it. Tell him I'm sorry about his head, and I'll look into it. Maybe I'll put a notice that says: "lift carefully, then dive in".

Squirrel: It could help. Maybe not. There's definitely a technique you gotta perfect for that thing. I've got it down, but here's the thing you gotta know about us squirrels, we believe in doing something the most efficient way. You got seed here all spread out on a buffet, we're gonna go for that, we're not gonna mess around with that other contraption you got there where muscle power is involved. Get it?

Me: Well, I've seen some interesting gyrations with some of your gang. The hanging upside down technique for my cylinder feeders. Pretty interesting.

Squirrel: Yeah, the hotshots get into that stuff. Can be a little dangerous. Well, Bount, it's been nice chatting to you, but if you don't mind, I've got a lot of munching to do. You might want to put some more peanuts on the list, I don't want to seem demanding, but, I've got a little lady back at the tree who could use a few. Time of year and all.

Me: I've been meaning to ask you. Don't you spend pretty much all fall, gathering nuts and acorns, just for that purpose, to get you through the winter and all?

Squirrel: Do we? That's ALL we frickin' do!! But can we remember where we put the frickin' things? I don't know how many times where I'm walking under a tree, and I'm forgetting why I even came there! "Oh, yeah", I go: "nuts!" Then for the life of me, I can't remember where I put them. That's why people like you are so great. Really, you do a real service to us squirrels out here.

Me: Well, as I said before, it's really mostly for the birds.

Squirrel: Those fly by nights. who needs em? Squirrels - we're the dependable ones. You gotta admit, we show up every day. We frolic, we scamper, we eat with TWO hands, Come on, you gotta admit THAT'S ADORABLE!!! We've got the fluffy tails. Damn cute! Come on, you know you love us!

Me: Well, I do appear to be stuck with you. I mean, yeah, you have your own....personal charm I guess.

Squirrel: That's more like it.

Throw your garden some curves

We're in that in-between stage in our Toronto gardens: not quite winter; doesn't feel like spring.

If yours is like mine, the garden's disheartening brown drabness feels like the morning after a big party. The fun part seems too long ago; all you can see is what needs tidying. But it's the perfect time of year to review your garden's bone structure. If it has shape and form in these trying times, you'll be okay.

And, if not, fixing it doesn't have to mean $100,000 in hardscaping (the rocks and stones part of landscaping). F'rinstance:

Most Toronto gardens are small gardens – typically, with a narrow front walk that leads straight from sidewalk to front door. Now, take a look at this modest Toronto home, seen on a rainy walk last month. Notice how, by creating a wider walkway in a sweeping curve, they make their front approach more dramatic and their small front yard seem, well, larger.

Curved lines in a garden draw the eye along. By squeezing a longer "line" into a compressed area, curves instantly create the impression of space.

You don't have to invest in stonework. You could create a similar effect by changing the margins of a flower bed set in a lawn. Rather than a straight, regimented border, let the edges undulate. Create little promontories and bays, to add a sense of surprise as well as trick the eye with a longer line.

Incidentally, you'll create more room for all those tempting spring buys at the garden centre. Well, I'm just saying.