What's growing in April: Trillium erectum

It's too long since I've had the joy of seeing a sea of trilliums brighten up a woodland floor. This is one of my fond memories of childhood, having spent part of our youth living near wooded areas in different parts of Southern Ontario. However, I do have a few in the garden.

This year, the red trillium (Trillium erectum) has popped open before Ontario's provincial flower, the white T. grandiflora that is bunching up in the same shady bed.

Never dig up trilliums from the wild. This little red fellow was responsibly nursery grown and came to me when it was a tiny seedling as a gift from Sarah. He now has three babies at his feet which I hope will mature into flowers one day. Red trilliums aren't easy to find in garden centres. Some are listed at Wildflower Farm, but you have to shop in person.

I'm not sure why the epithet is "erectum", as mine is shy and nodding. Capturing this shot required a few contortions. Any ideas?

Faves: Narcissus 'Ice Follies'

This is the lovely bouquet Sarah brought me from her country garden yesterday. But, sadly, Narcissus or daffodils, don't make very long-lasting cut flowers. Today, most of them have expired. Best to enjoy them in the garden...

If only we could put far-off places on wheels and yank them closer, our gardening lives would be so much easier.

All the flowers in this genus are capital-N Narcissus. However, in common garden parlance, the large-trumpeted kind are generally dubbed daffodils and the small-trumpeted ones get called narcissus or jonquils. The variety that makes up most of this bouquet is N. 'Ice Follies', one of the best all-round choices (also seen in closeup below). It's a good naturalizer, lightly fragrant, and has that large, frilly trumpet or corona that turns from cream to yellow as it matures.

Daffs get squelched by my tree-root-infested garden. In less congested conditions, though, they are generally unfussy. Think of them spilling down the hillside near the logos by the Gardiner Expressway. All they insist on is good drainage and winter snow coverage. See, there's a reason to be glad Toronto has winter.

I say "Fors-i-thia"... you say "Fors-eye-thia"

Let's call the whole thing ... a really splendid harbinger of spring.

Actually, most people say "fors-i-thia" when we're talking about Forsythia. But I always see Mr. Forsyth's surname fossilized in there. He was the royal gardener who introduced this Asian native shrub to the west, around the time when Jane Austen was a girl.

There was a large,unruly forsythia in our garden when we first moved in, two decades ago. It was planted in shade, so rarely bloomed enough to compensate for its size and ragamuffin appearance in all the other seasons. I dug it up (or, rather, got my husband to do it) and gave it away. But I do miss it when I see this blaze of yellow in other gardens.

In the meantime, compact new varieties have become more widely available. Among the many forsythias listed at Humber Nurseries -- a really wonderful nursery with a really lousy online catalog -- Forsythia 'Golden Tide' is purported to grow only a half-metre tall. I might be able to find a sunny corner for that one.

The older cultivars of forsythia are usually fairly statuesque, and need to be kept in check by avid pruning. However, do this only after flowering, preferably immediately after.

In an established and overgrown forsythia, and those do tend to be the rule around Toronto, the best way to prune is to cut the oldest growing stems (as much as one-third of the branches) right down to the ground. Chopping off the stems at the height at which you want to contain the growth only makes the shrub dense and ungainly near the top, and reduces flowering along the stems. They need sunshine to set their buds this year for next year's flowers.

Of course, you can cheat a little, by pruning at least some of the branches just before they're about to open and forcing them indoors, to bring all that spring sunshine into the house.

Flowers for you

On this grey day, while the rain is doing its work, and while the late tulips are still asleep in the garden – please accept this little ribbon of colour. That's all.

One year's seeds, seven years' weeds

This little seedling of the Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is one of the small forest that germinates in my garden each spring. The maples are a constant reminder of the old chestnut (as in: saying) in the title.

Why would you get seven years of weeds from one year of seeds? One reason is that it's a form of plant birth control.

Perennial plants live and reproduce for many years. Therefore, to varying degrees, their seeds are genetically programmed not to germinate all at once. By having some seeds lie dormant for a few years, the species spreads the fruits of one year's fertility over many. This ensures its survival should future seasons be less hospitable for reproduction.

Think about it; if every year, every single seed produced a fertile plant that lived for many years (each year, producing many seeds, every one of which produced a fertile plant, and so on), the species would overpopulate.

This prudence doesn't only apply to weeds -- remembering that "a weed" can simply be any plant growing in the wrong place.

If you like a flower, for example, but it self-seeds too abundantly, a solution is simple: don't let it go to seed. Deadhead the plant after blooming, before the seeds ripen. Some of the colonizing spring bulbs (such as the Scilla or Chionodoxa we posted about earlier) might fall into this category if you find them becoming a pest in your garden.

Or, if you're disappointed when trying to start flowers from seed, be patient. Some seeds just take longer. Others have to be helped along by techniques such as pre-soaking or by nicking the seed coat. The seed packet will recommend your best strategy for this. Don't skip that step.

By the same token, if you've been weeding: don't add ripe weed seeds to your compost pile, unless your pile gets hot enough to kill them.

Back to the Norway maple. It produces a truckload of viable seeds, meaning seeds that will sprout. (As an aside, the lovely native sugar maple, A. saccharum, is very stingy with its own -- which has helped the Norways run rampant through our naturalized ravines.)

I can't do anything about deadheading trees, and don't have room to create a nice hot compost pile. Plus, my yearly mulch of uncomposted maple leaves will always contain seeds.

So I've developed another kind of patience, and learned to accept the seedlings. Pulling them up has become a perennial rite of spring. As I do, I fortify myself with this mantra: One year's seeds...

Beach Tree Man

Spotted along the bike trail on the north side of the white picnic shelter near the Leuty Lifeguard Station. Unsure how this piece of living artwork came about, or what effect it has on the life of the tree. My guess is that the bark formation came first and the artist tweaked it to help nature along. Looks gently done. But perhaps we should say: don't try this at home.

Green Living Show Highlights - Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place

The show runs today, Sunday until 6pm, so you still have time to get down there and see all the Green Stuff.

I didn't see everything at the show, because it is so huge. There are many, many booths containing a vast compendium of green living methods and tools, both for personal use -- from small string bags and complicated systems for living and getting yourself around -- to booths for community and public use, focussing on methods for preserving the environment. There's also an epicurean aspect: Great food prepared simply and beautifully. Delicious dishes to try, all at great sample prices.

1. Tree Planting. - Trees Ontario: Plant that tree!

One of Trees Ontario's big programs now is the 50 Million Tree Weekend. They are asking us to "Be One in 50 Million - Plant a Tree With Us." and to join the first annual 50 Million Tree Weekend May 8 and 9, 2009, to help fight climate change.

You can sign up today at: www.50milliontreeweekend.com

It's all part of the United Nations' Billion Tree Campaign.

Trees Ontario is also promoting their subsidies for purchasing seed trees for people who have properties of 2 acres or more. The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The next best time is today!

2. Awareness of carbon footprint. - Plant another tree, while you're at it! (message bears repeating) Tree Power, The Toronto Hydro Exhibit.


There is a Giveaway Seed Tree program at Toronto Hydro, with a conservation and tree planting focus. Nice to se their very beautifully designed information signage about offsetting energy use with trees. They also illustrate other approaches to energy saving.

It's a fun exhibit with real trees, a big wooden carbon molecule you can walk into, and wooden cut outs of wildlife, with energy facts. You walk around and take down notes on a card, and when the card is full, you get a little tree: a white pine. Fun for kids of all ages.


3. Safe Disposal of Waste - Hey, what nasty stuff is in that thing you are throwing away?

The Clean Air Foundation. Focus on preserving clean air and water, and being careful with disposal of common household items that have hidden poisons. There is mercury in the older household thermostat switches still found in many homes. The danger is disposing of these with ordinary garbage. Mercury in one switch could poison a whole lake, and the Clean Air Foundation has a program for safe disposal of these switches.

Hidden dangers in common household building materials - like thermostats.

Cars also have mercury switches, which need to be removed before they get crushed and taken to their final resting place.

Is it time to retire your old clunker? Make sure you do it safely, and maybe you'll get a rebate.

The enormous glass coffin below contains a crushed Pontiac Sunfire. Foundation has great options for recycling and disposing of your old pre-1995 clunker safely, with a $300 rebate towards your replacement.


Sleeping Beauty? Here lies a crushed Pontiac Sunfire.

4. Gardening from seed using Heirloom varieties - Dig it!

Two of the organic seed booths here are Terra Edibles and Urban Harvest. If one booth doesn't have what you are looking for, the other one likely will. Terra Edibles specializes in heirloom tomato seeds, with a vast selection, and also has many rare vegetable seeds and a great selection of heirloom sweet peas and other flowers. Why not grow a white tomato this year, a black one, or a stripey one. There's one called Mr. Stripey! Urban Harvest has flowers and vegetables, and also has some started plants. And yes, you can still start tomato seeds now, but get them going this weekend, so you can have your plants to put out the first week of June.

5. Amazingly Tasty Food - Green Eggs and Ham
I'm not kidding. My sample plate was sooooo good. I'm not a ham fan, but yes, I liked my green eggs and ham, Sam-I-am! $10 gets you 5 food tickets and that was enough for a tasting plate that was a delightful gourmet lunch. The many different gourmet food booths offer a huge variety of flavours, all fresh, tasty and prepared exquisitely. Pulled pork sandwiches, beautifully roasted chicken, green eggs and ham, vegetarian Indian dishes, salads, and lots of other delights. Food booths are in the bistro-like food area at one end and have a pleasant place to sit and enjoy your treats.

Wooden compostable eating utensils. If you hate plastic forks as much as I do, you'll like these. They are already being used by Yukon airlines. Greenwareproducts

Some of the tastiest food - an Indian bean melange - was found at The Stop Community Food Centre. It's a non-profit organization that's about sustainable food education, community kitchens and gardens. The Stop info here.

At the other end of the building is a second food area that focusses mainly on packaged products where the free samples flow. Then you can purchase and take home your favourites.

6. Drinks! - Make sure that beer has a good head, eh?
Beer and Wine from Ontario. Buy a ticket and have a taste in the pleasant bistro-like bar area flanked with cedar trees.

7. Building Design - Wow!

This 2 storey mini-cottage/bunkhouse, the aerieLoft, by Breathe Architects was a design marvel, and their cylindrical outhouse (with composting toilet) is one you don't have to hide out back. It's a real beauty, with its matching curved wooden door.

A cistern sits on top so you can have an outdoor shower on one side and a hand washing station on the other.
Other booths offer instruction on various green home construction ideas for every part of the house.

Read more about the aerieLoft here.



8. Fun stuff for kids - Hey, mum, can we go in there?

There is an art making area and a play area for kids. The same art and playground elements from Canada Blooms have been re-configured here. The Toronto Hydro exhibit is a great one for kids too. For older kids, you can try virtual hang gliding.

9. Green Transport
You can test drive all kinds of green cars, there are electric bikes and scooter displays. One booth actually powered all the lights on his exhibit with a bicycle.

This is just a small selection of highlights, the only thing to do is to see it yourself.

What's growing in April: Anemone blanda

When you're noting your things to do for fall, be sure to write: Plant more Anemone blanda, the Grecian windflower. This diminutive, daisylike member of the Ranunculus or buttercup family is an early spring bloomer in my garden.


It flowers best where I allow the leaves to accumulate and compost into mulch under shrubs. Generally, I leave my leaves on the garden every fall, raking them up and composting them in spring. This year, I'm experimenting with taking the dry, over-wintered maple leaves, crushing them by hand and putting them back on the garden under a layer of manure or cedar mulch. I think it will make my flowers happier.

Of the mix of white, pink and blue Anemone blanda planted many years ago, the most resilient (in a dry, sandy garden under Norway maples) seems to be the white. Too bad, really, because the blue is particularly charming.

HGTV's Dirty Business - Behind the glamour

After writing a post about the mind-bogglingly expensive projects featured on Dirty Business, the landscaping show which follows the earth.inc designers around as they whip up tired gardens, I watched an episode that peeled back the curtain a little bit. I guess it falls into the category of: shoemaker's children syndrome.*

One highlight of Dirty Business are the funny little codas they throw in at the end: one episode had a couple of raccoons conversing while they clambered over a rain gutter. This episode showed James Dale walking through his own home garden, ruefully pointing out the ancient picnic table, and the large shrub at the end that regularly skewered his children. Made me laugh. Funny man, that James. Real gardens for real people, all right!

*Shoemakers are so busy making shoes for everyone that they don't have time to make shoes for themselves, or their children.

What's growing in April: Tulipa tarda

Another quickie to herald today's opening of one of my favourite spring displays, the Tulipa tarda, aka, astonishingly, tarda tulips.

This early species tulip stays low to the ground, and tolerates a root-filled space on a slope in my dry, sandy garden -- albeit in one of its sunniest spots. The bulbs seem to increase, and always look incorrigibly cheerful in their sunnyside-up, fried-egg colours, each opening to a six-pointed star in the sunlight.

Sarah has had hers for longer, in an even less habitable spot, and unfortunately her tardas seem to have run down, so perhaps this is an evanescent thing. I'll enjoy it while I can.

Going squirrely: Caught in the act

Just a quick one, which I'd like to caption: No. I. Think. Not. Feeder now indoors. However, this begs the question: will feeding the squirrels keep them away from beheading my tulips? Add your voice here.

Growing veggies: Lettuce be frank

With the sudden spike in temperature expected over the next three days, I might just have left it a little too late to start sowing these lettuce and salad seeds I'd been saving -- samples received through my membership in the Garden Writers Association.

I hope not. I'll be squeezing the seeds into some of my containers, and trying to space out successive plantings to get a staggered harvest of salad stuff before the really hot weather becomes the rule rather than the exception.

Lettuce, like a lot of leafy vegetables including spinach, cabbage and kale, is a cool season crop – meaning it can be seeded before the last frost (and leaf lettuce can also be started again as the weather cools down in the fall). In fact, all these leafy greens are just waiting for warm weather to bolt, turning all their energies away from producing leaves for your salad, and into sex. That is, the making of babies aka seeds. Not only do they shoot up their flower stalks when it's hot, the heat makes the few remaining leaves taste tough and, worse, bitter.

Peas also prefer a cool start. Root vegetables such as carrots or radishes, too. As a matter of fact, you can sow these last two in the same row to save space -- the radishes germinate and ripen quickly before it's time to pull the carrots. Beans, on the other hand, like the soil to be warm, and should be planted after any threat of frost*. For a good overview on planting and growing conditions for different veggies, check out this guide from the University of Massachusetts.

*According to the handy frost guide in my new Toronto Gardener's Journal, the weather in Toronto proper is (statistically) frost-free from now on – a whole month earlier than the Victoria Day long weekend we've traditionally considered planting day. You might want to be circumspect when planting out tender tomato or eggplant seedlings, though, keeping an eye on the weather reports for freezy night temps or early morning frosts. Protect your babies overnight by covering them up if the reports look grim.

I wish I could grow more vegetables. Nothing beats the sweetness of a garden-fresh beet or carrot. The biggest gardening mistake my husband and I made was to give up our allotment garden at the foot of Leslie Street after we bought our first house more than twenty years ago. It took me only one season to realize that sun trumps shade when growing vegetables, and I've been regretting our decision ever since. My garden doesn't support much more than herbs, and a grape tomato in a pot.

But, who knows, maybe this year I'll have salad greens. What are you planting in 2009?

True confessions: My garden vices

I have way more than one garden vice. Can't stop buying plants, for example, although I know there's no room. Call it gluttony. Fortunately, I compensate by killing a few. (A woman who can kill goutweed can kill anything!)

I also fall prey to sloth, especially when it comes to weeding and particularly about mid-July, when swamped by my garden's yearly tsunami of morning glories.

Don't get me started on envy. Sun, soil and space can leave me green with it.

But my biggest vice is statuary. Really, no garden so small should contain so much of it.

It's our Welsh grandmother's fault. She was big in garden gnomery. When we were five and eight, Sarah and I befriended these creatures for a year, and at the same time discovered lawn rollers, lupins, pollarded limes and parrot tulips. I was infected with them all.

At least, in my abundance, I've tried to exercise restraint. Most of mine follow a theme: critters (two rabbits, a toad, a turtle and a couple of sparrows). They're all the same material: concrete. All a single colour: grey. Tucked amongst the foliage, they add what I hope is a whimsy that's consistent with the rest of the garden.



How about you? What will you confess to?

Bookmarked on Gardenimport

It's fun getting the emails from Gardenimport, the mail-order garden centre started by Dugald Cameron and his family back in 1983.
There are always a couple of gems in his mailer of unusual seeds, bulbs, plants or shrubs and vines. As I had a little window of gardeny time last night, I went through the online catalogue to see what appealed.

One thing that always finds room in my garden is Nasturtiums. These reliable (for me) little seeds can be popped into nooks and crannies along the margins to produce pretty, and edible, flowers and leaves. Like Cosmos, nasturtiums really do best in poor soil, giving the highest flowers-to-leaves ratio.

I've grown four of the ten varieties offered by Gardenimport from Sutton Seeds – 'Milkmaid' (at top of page) and 'Peach Melba' are pictured here. The one I liked most this time round is 'Paintbox', with a colour range that really goes with anything in the garden. I'll be ordering myself some of those.

Can eyes "prick up" like ears do? Mine do whenever I read about a plant with a sandy soil preference. Two other seed choices fall into that category – both an intense blue. The description for Anagalis says it needs to be pre-started indoors in spring (6 weeks before last frost). However, as it's a hardy annual, which is an annual whose seeds may survive winter, it's also possible to sow these outdoors in the late fall. A better buy for right now is Anchusa, a sort of summer forget-me-not. And blue, blue, blue!

The vines and shrubs also caught my eye. (They have, for example, 35 different kinds of Clematis, most of them hard to find cultivars.)

One to note for a naturalized garden is the native shrub Diervilla lonicera, aka bush honeysuckle -- though not a true honeysuckle. Following it up with some research, I found this positive write-up in the Northern Ontario Plant Database. That site links to this slideshow of diervilla through the seasons. A compact native shrub that tolerates poor soil, with some shade, and produces a nice red fall colour is a shrub to add to your wish list.

Other compact shrubs looked interesting. One is an Asian redbud, Cercis chinensis 'Don Egolf', which reaches only eight feet (about 2.5 metres) at maturity. This is a very new introduction and might be iffy outside Zone 6, but it's one to keep an eye on.

Very much into Lust List territory is this dwarf blue butterfly bush, Buddleia 'Lo & Behold Blue Chip', which they claim requires no deadheading and it blooms all summer. Too good to be true, the skeptic in me asks? Lemme at it, replies the optimist.

Earth Day: Some things on my garden wish list

In no particular order, here are a few of my wisherful things:

• A grey-water recycling system to turn water from showers or dishwashing into garden irrigation – like the one used by the Toronto Healthy House in Riverdale. (But it's likely I'll have to satisfy myself with our grandmother's method. She used a basin for handwashing dishes, and she tossed the sudsy water onto her prize-winning garden.)

• A rainbarrel that doesn't look like a prosthetic device. Like this Rain Catcher Urn from Garden Supermart.

[I should add that I have nothing against prosthetic devices; I wear two of them behind my ears. However, I welcome the day when industrial design focuses on making utilitarian things both highly functional and a treat to look at.]

• A green roof – make it a tapestry of alpine perennials. I've wanted a roof garden for the back of our house ever since I learned such things were possible. A couple of years ago, garden designers at Canada Blooms were all over roof gardens. But at the time $50 per square foot put it out of my price bracket – if I could have found a contractor to make one for me. The city has a green roof program for commercial and public buildings, but not too much seems to be happening on a residential front. It's possible the new reno tax credits might help for some. We'll see.

• A leaf shredder to quickly turn my maple leaves into organic mulch. Uncomposted organic matter does consume more nitrogen, so I'd have to compensate by adding a high-nitrogen amendment such as blood meal (or perhaps soybean meal for a vegan solution) to my composting mulch.

• A worm composting condo like the one I wrote about here just last spring. My intentions were good, but there always seem to be other pressing demands on the pocketbook.

I could go on and on, but work beckons. So I put it to you: What would you put on your garden's wish list for Earth Day?

The Toronto Gardener's Journal

This morning, the post brought my copy of the 2009 Toronto Gardener's Journal by Margaret Bennet-Alder. What a delight!

The author began this project more than 17 years ago, inspired by her son who had created a journal to help him deal with a medical condition. Last April, as she writes in the intro to this year's journal, Mrs. Bennet-Alder suffered the loss of her husband, and almost considered folding the journal, which has never been a big money-maker for her. After a time, she reconsidered – which is our gain.

In my days as a Master Gardener, I was lucky enough to receive a complimentary copy of one of the first editions of this handy garden journal and source book. Then my sister gave me a copy of the Lee Valley Ten-Year Gardening Journal, and I thought: Why would I need two?

Well, let me tell you: in the intervening years, the Toronto Gardener's Journal has become a book that every Toronto Gardener should have at their fingertips.

There's a regional frost guide that might surprise you (downtowners do better than you'd think). A Toronto area soil map makes it easy to see just what lies beneath the surface. In the journal section, you'll find week-by-week reminders of likely garden chores; and room to record what's growing when, what you planted where (easy to lose track of from season to season) and to note monthly delights and disappointments. Plus, there's a long, long list of gardening references, people, places and events. All for $24.95, plus the usual pluses.

The journal calendar begins in January, but for anyone who doesn't start their own seeds, now is the ideal time to have a copy in your garden-grubby little hands. (Note that I get no benefit from writing this, other than the pleasure of passing along a great tip to other Toronto Gardeners.)

Today, the weeping willow is a whipping willow

It's windy, windy, windy -- and you can bet the ground will be strewn with willow whips tomorrow. All the better to collect and add to your flower arranging materials, friends.

This weeping willow seen the other day near Branksome Hall illustrates the lovely spring glow the willows get around Toronto at this time of year. The weeping willow, I've just learned, isn't likely a Salix babylonica, a common misnomer, apparently. According to Wikipedia: The most widely grown Weeping Willow cultivar is Salix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma', with bright yellowish shoots. That sounds like it might be it here.

The Don Valley and the lakefront from west to east (especially the Beach) are also well stocked with another willow, our native black willow, Salix nigra. Their bright twigs are variable -- from yellow-green to orange -- but all take on a deeper hue as winter wanes. And, on a cold, wet walk along the Leslie Street Spit at the tail end of March, I could already see another native, the pussy willow, Salix discolor rearing its fuzzy head.

From Salix comes the root of salicylic acid, an early analgesic. I think of the budding willows as an early aspirin for winter's headache.

HGTV Show Backlash - Putting the "G" back in HGTV?

Gardeners are mad as hell, and....not going to take it any more?

Recently we wrote about the show Dirty Business on HGTV which chronicles the projects of the landscaping firm earth.inc. I've started watching the show since the episodes started up again. It is entertaining: The earth.inc guys appear to be great (and funny) people, amazing designers, and they have wonderful solutions for the back yards that I've seen. Both backyard designs have been utterly gorgeous.

But the projects on the show, and many others like it, are not what you could really call "real gardens by real people", which is what we at Toronto Gardens yearn for.

As a reality check, view a real person's garden, Helen's Microgarden. This is it. The whole thing. Well, almost. Below is the other side of the table; the good corner. Plus a step back to take in the whole darned thing, with wildlife.

Here's an example of this "Upstairs/Downstairs" vibe from a recent episode: One of the hitches on a Dirty Business gardening project was a cost goof: It was, "Oops, the approved landscaping cost for the project was $9,000, but it's really going to be $18,000!" It's not shown how this hitch gets resolved, but as it wasn't mentioned again, I assume the homeowners simply ate the additional cost.

It's clear that these garden reality shows are a far-off fantasy for most of us watching. What percentage of viewers could spend $9000 on plants for their backyard, let alone $18,000? And that's just plant costs, mind you, not hard landscaping --not the wood, the glass, the rocks, the high-end furniture, the labour or the actual design costs.

Garden shows that used to have a bit of a homey reality - David Tarrant on CBC - or some other smaller-scaled shows that gave everyday tips the average gardener could use seem to have disappeared. Now most shows, particularly on HGTV, are becoming the horticultural equivalent of that old chestnut, The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. (sans the famous part) They are way beyond the reach of 90% of the viewers. While fantasy has its place, and the garden projects are, of course, droolworthy, where does it leave all of us regular eager beavers in our gardens, who want to spruce things up and find a better way to do common garden tasks, or find a way to tackle some simple, affordable, improvements. Where can most of us find inspiration that is within economic reach?

The main problem appears to be that the shows have moved away from plant material, and towards hard landscaping: the most costly thing. There are long segments on Dirty Business showing the designer picking out the super fancy upholstered garden furniture at the showroom, but I literally had to rewind the PVR and play in slow motion to catch a glimpse of the garden tags on the shrubs, perennials and trees they were planting. The emphasis seems all off, especially in these economically straitened times.

As one American commenter on the garden iVillage forum GardenWeb says:

Many, many of us are fed up with the lack of real gardening programs on HGTV (what 'G'?). The more I think about all those wonderful shows that are gone/cancelled, the more I fume.

According to a producer, gardening doesn't sell, but 'landscaping' does.

Link here.

A Canadian commenter writes this:

Isn't it about time to gut the "G" back in HGTV? Your website lists only 3 shows in the garden category. Now let's be honest. The description for "Take it Outside" talks about outdoor rooms and fixtures, but the words "garden" or "plant" never once appear in the description of that show. "Green Force" is basically a knock-off version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition for landscaper wannabes.

Link here

One gardener has started an HGTV protest campaign to get the programmers to see sense. She writes:

Look anywhere on the net and you can find statistics that show how the 'gardening and growing your own food' trend has gone through the roof. They've taken to calling them Recession Gardens. It doesn't matter if the available space is 50 acres or a small balcony and containers, people are doing it.

Every day hundreds of people are making the decision to start a garden, whether it be because of the economy, worry about the planet, better flavor, beauty, or simple food safety, they're hungry for information. And yet, HGTV seems to completely ignore these people and the facts.

Ever since I saw their gorgeous bathtub patio at Canada Blooms in 2002, I've always had a fantasy of having the earth.inc guys makeover my teeny 8 by 8 foot deck outside my kitchen door. ( Their design was simple, not over the top, and used recycled materials - it was beautiful.) I figured out long time ago that that it would probably never happen, because they'd hit the big time: Big clients with big money. Good for them, they deserve their success, but watching the show now, I realize that dream is father off than I ever imagined.

To learn about the HGTV protest campaign click here.
And also here.

Incidentally, thinking of "champagne wishes and caviar dreams", here's an opinion from Jim Sollich at the Wall Street Journal blaming HGTV for what he sees as its part in the housing bubble. He writes:

HGTV is an evil empire that never rests.

Plant Society Show & Sales at Toronto Botanical Gardens

Went yesterday to the African Violet and Gesneriad (jez-NARE-ee-ad) and the Pelargonium and Geranium shows at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. Learned that if you want to purchase an award winning African Violet, Streptocarpus, Sinningia, or Petrocosmea you have to get there early. The show is like an ordinary plant show, with some amazing specimens diplayed on long tables, and labelled. There were plenty of ribbons awarded and the plants are mostly all for sale, so you could take home a real beauty. We got there around 3pm though, and almost all the plants had been purchased.

As they were still on display, it was a good learning experience to see all these different gesneriads in bloom. My son particularly liked the Petrocosmea, which are kind of flat topped African Violet looking things, kind of cute.

The Geranium and Pelargonium society had a small sale of 2" pots of geraniums and coleus. I got a couple of coleus I'd never seen before: Henna, which I'd seen at Canada Blooms this year, Electric Lime, and Lava Rose, which is a trailing variety. Must be fairly new, I'd never heard of a trailing coleus before.

"Henna" Coleus seen at Canada Blooms this year.
I also got 2 small Pillar Geraniums (Pelargoniums) which seem to be the next big thing in the Geranium world. Mark Cullen, one of Canada's garden gurus is talking about them, so it must be true. They grow tall, very tall and require a trellis or support eventually. Apparently you can buy them at Home Hardware. Was also happy to find the Pelargonium Happy Thought, which I'd once had as part of my collection and lost. It's a beautiful variegated variety with a cherry red flower.

Also picked up some bricks of coir -- coconut fibre, Coco Peat--which is a replacement for peat in a potting mixture. It's a by-product of coconut husk and is said to be an excellent amendment as it increases the water to air ratio in a potting mix, and holds moisture better than peat. Better for the environment too, since harvesting the coconut fibre is not damaging to the ecosystem, the way peat is.

The Coco Peat vendors at the show were from TRA Global, 31 Bach Ave, Whitby, Ontario. Link here: TRA Global

The grounds of the Toronto Botanical Garden around the main building are starting to look a little springy too. They have a pink magnolia stellata in full bloom in their terrace area, plus many hellebores blooming, a fantastic swath of Spring Heath in pink and white, and some early daffodils and tulips. Go there if you want a little hit of spring.

The good thing about Norway maples

Sarah and I do gripe and moan and complain about the Norway maples (Acer platanoides) we're each forced to share our gardens with.

In the city's urban forest, Norway maples represent 26% of Toronto's street tree population; likely higher in the old city of Toronto (as it was before amalgamation). That's not counting the volunteer "fence trees" -- where the prolific Norway maple seedlings have set up residence. It's the Norway's darned fecundity that makes it such a nuisance, not only in our gardens, but in our ravines and other naturalized areas. In short, they take over.

They're big, hongry critters, too. Bullies, really. As soon as the leaves come out, they drink and feast (and drink and drink) on the same sparse few inches of topsoil as our garden perennials and shrubs -- or our wild native plants -- are trying to dine on. And they cast a deep shade.

But, for now at least, we have to live with them. While the shade they create may be lousy for Sarah's and my ridiculous fantasies of English gardens, they keep our street and homes cool. They contribute to the stately feel of our street. They withstand city pollution, and contribute to the daily rehabilitation of city air.

And when they bloom, as the fence tree in my neighbour's back yard has just begun to do, they are frothily beautiful.

Most of the Norways in our neighbourhood (and they are mostly Norways) are octogenarians; many are starting to show their age. I'm hoping we can start a campaign now to underplant with more suitable trees, so that someone eighty years from now will have some shade to complain about... or thank me for.

UPDATE: If you are gardening under Norway Maples, you might like to see this post, about the tough plants that succeed fairly well in these dry shade conditions. 

Take it Outside! Your Houseplants' Summer Vacation

Monstera Philodendron and Orange Abutilon spending the summer on my canopied deck.

You've got overwintered geraniums and houseplants that have been cooped up indoors for months. You've noticed they've started packing their bags and are impatiently awaiting their summer vacation. They're ready to burst through the screen door and start soaking up that gentle spring rain. When is the ETD? The answer is: they can go outside anytime now. As long as we are getting 15-20 degree weather, or hotter, geraniums and most tough leaved house plants can go outside.

Warning: Make the new light exposure as gradual as possible
The key thing is to make sure that you find a shady, sheltered spot to put plants in at first, for at least a week, (or more) to get used to the new amount of light. The difference between light indoors and light out-of-doors is vast, and not something that we humans notice, because our eyes and brains compensate for the difference: the iris, the entrance into the human eye, contracts and dilate rapidly between changes from indoors to out.

Everything you always wanted to know about footcandles
A footcandle is a measurement of light level. It's the light intensity made by one candle at a distance of one foot. Compare the light levels of these situations:

Typical cloudy day: 3,200 footcandles
A sunny day: 13,600 footcandles
Indoor light for reading: Between 75 and 150 footcandles

A plant that has been in your living room, even one that has been near a window is going to go into shock when it goes from 150 footcandles to 13,600. The tissues that formed in a lower light situation can't take it and will burn badly, just like we do. Once a leaf scorches, it's done for. I was a little too eager last year and put my geraniums out in full sun without a shade period. A few of them scorched badly and looked pretty sad for more than a couple of weeks. They recovered and grew new leaves, but it's a setback you don't want. You want your plants to be strengthening their leaves, not having to grow completely new ones.

Here's my problem: I don't have much shade around the house -- not until the trees leaf out. Then I've got more shade that I know what to do with, but until then, it's bright and sunny everywhere. So this year I'm going to try a new technique. I'm going to wrap my plants in sheets to shield them from the sun for their transition period. After a few days of this, I'll unveil them.

Beware cold overnight temperatures
While we are definitely having warm days, nightime temps can get pretty low, and if we get a sudden freak frost, with temperatures below zero you will need to bring the fellas back inside for the night. By the way, if you have plants like basil or impatiens, and any other warmth loving specimens, don't bring them out till the 3rd week of May, the traditional planting weekend. Certainly any tomato seedlings should stay warm for as long as possible, even into the first week of June, if May remains cool.

Happy transitioning!

What's growing in April: Pulmonaria

In my tiny back garden, which I've taken to calling the Microgarden, one of the first perennials to bloom is the Pulmonaria aka, among other things, lungwort and Bethlehem sage. It's an old-fashioned variety that I've had for so long, it pre-dates my awareness of any such arcane things as 'cultivars.' From what I've learned since, I think it's likely to be Pulmonaria saccarata 'Mrs. Moon'.

The 'Mrs.' is a generally reliable, low-growing perennial for shade (or sun, with sufficient moisture) that makes its flowers early in the season. They emerge pink and turn gradually to blue, so that both colours can be present on the same plant. This is why one of its many common names is girls and boys.

After flowering, the plant produces a crown of silvery-spotted, hairy leaves, which are great in masses or as edging. They're a good companion with Hosta or with frilly-leafed shade-lovers such as fringed bleeding heart, Dicentra eximia.

One of the biggest trends in horticulture over the past decade or so has been hybridization. There has been an explosion, for instance, in the selection of coralbells (Heuchera spp.) now available -- with yellow leaves, chartreuse leaves, blackish purple leaves. While not in as broad an array, Pulmonarias have likewise been hybridized to offer a wider range of leaf shapes with more silvering, as well as to select flowers for different colours, from white to intense blue.

Hybrids do tend to be fussier than the common forms, however, which is why I'm sticking loyally to good old 'Mrs. Moon.'

In fact, I bowed right down to her to capture this very first bloom of the season.