Bill Hole’s State of the Industry

There is a restaurant in Edmonton that’s had a couple of empty pots sitting outside its entrance for the past three years, and I can’t understand why the owner doesn’t plant them. Perhaps they should read an article I came across last year about a team of researchers who collected data from a mall that had no plants and then compared it to the data they collected after they added planters. As you’ve likely guessed, results showed that sales increased. Of course, is not a very scientific experiment, but it’s also not the first time I have read about these kinds of results in trade journals. Scientific or not, it does make a pretty solid point about human nature: plants make us feel good—and that’s something that the Earls restaurants in Edmonton took to heart years ago when they started the trend of having beautiful patios with lots of plants. Many times people have said to me that they were going to sit on the patio at Earls because the plants were wonderful. Earls gets it; they know it’s good for business, and I’m sure the beer tastes a little bit better because of it.

Hits & Misses: $10 tumblers & painted ladies
Question of the Week: How do I control apple maggots?
Science & Technology: Canola

Earlier last week, I was lamenting the fact that 2008 isn’t gong to be a banner year for sour cherries in our region. But having spent a few days this past week in “cherry country,” a.k.a. the Okanagan, I realized that a poor yield of cherries in our area is just an inconvenience. In the Okanagan, cherry growers need Mother Nature’s cooperation to make a living, and thanks to a blast of cold air in the late spring, that’s going to be a little harder this year. I talked to one cherry grower who said she had no fruit on her trees in the valley but that some fruit had set on her trees growing on the slope of a hill. The reason for the discrepancy is likely because cold air pools in low spots, so the upslope cherries escaped the deep cold…still, it’s a small consolation to a cherry grower.

Hits & Misses
Hit: $10 ‘Tumblers’
Hanging baskets of ‘Tumbler’ tomatoes laden with fruit for $10. Sounds to good to be true, but we always grow a summer crop of these delicious golf ball-size tomatoes, much to the delight of our customers. Being that a small basket of cherry tomatoes is selling for $5 in the stores, a Tumbler plant is a pretty darn good investment if I do say so myself.

Miss: Painted Ladies
Those beautiful but voracious Painted Lady butterflies are once again finding our garden mums rather irresistible. Last year we had a real battle on our hands trying to keep the caterpillars at bay, all thanks to an explosion in the butterfly population. This year, however, with the caterpillar numbers being much lower, its funny how much prettier the Painted Ladies seem.

Question of the Week
How do I control apple maggots?
Even though apple yields are likely to be a lot lower this year, thanks to the late winter cold snap, I expect that the apple maggots had no problem shrugging off the cold and will be well enough to threaten what little apple fruit managed to make it. The best strategy for apple maggot control is to clean up any apples that fall from the tree and to use apple maggot lures to attract and trap the apple maggot flies. Another good practice is to inform your neighbours about apple maggots and control. Apple maggot control on your tree won’t have a lot of impact if your neighbours aren’t controlling the maggots on theirs.

Science & Technology
Canola
According to Science magazine, 90 percent of Canadian-grown canola is genetically modified. GMO canola is used primarily for human consumption, with an increasing portion of the crop being used for biodiesel production.

Trend Spotting
The outdoors keeps inching its way in this year. Décor items, such as these tree-inspired lamps, are making a real statement in the garden centre, proving once again that nature makes us feel good.

Did You Know?
Red mangrove seeds germinate and produce long shoots while still hanging from the tree.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.”
–Walt Whitman

First published July 17, 2008

Whenever I sit down to write anything on the topic of rhubarb, I’m reminded of the time when my mother, who was serving as Chancellor of the University of Alberta, learned that the Prince of Japan was visiting Edmonton. Well, somewhere along the information highway, Mom also learned and that the Prince had acquired a love for rhubarb pie during his student days in Canada. So…Mom being Mom and rules of protocol being things that could be slightly bent should the situation warrant, decided that one of her homemade rhubarb pies would be the perfect gift to present to the Prince at the official reception. And she was right. The Prince was absolutely delighted by the tasty offering—although he was a little mystified by the fact that a slice was missing from it. Well, long story short, Mom explained that Dad had very thoughtfully taken a small piece for a taste test—quality control and such. What happened next, you ask? The Prince, being a man of good taste and good humour replied with a grin, “Not such a small piece!”

Despite its royal appeal and the fact that it’s been a staple in gardens for generations, rhubarb is one of those mundane plants that many of us ‘proletariat’ gardeners pay little attention to. Perhaps it’s a case of familiarity breeding contempt, but whatever the reason, I think the best way to appreciate this often under-rated plant it is to understand it better. To that end, here are some answers to the questions I get asked about this most humble of garden fruits.

What exactly is rhubarb and where did it come from?
Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a member of the buckwheat family and is believed to be a hybrid developed from a chance cross between two other rhubarb species (R. palmatum and R. rhaponticum) that are indigenous to Mongolia and China.

Is rhubarb a fruit?
Well…not really. Botanically speaking, a fruit is a mature ripened ovary containing seeds. Even though we refer to the edible part of rhubarb as the “stalks,” they are technically called petioles.

Are rhubarb leaves poisonous?
Yes, rhubarb leaves are poisonous, but in most cases the number of leaves that you’d have to eat to become violently ill would easily exceed the number of leaves that you would ever want to eat. The leaves contain about five per cent calcium oxalate (the same material found in kidney stones), as well as an unrelated group of chemicals called anthraquinone glycosides. It’s the calcium oxalate that is purported to be the toxic leaf component, but the anthraquinone glycosides are suspects as well. One reason that plants produce glycosides is to reduce herbivory (i.e. people and other critters eating plants), so the two chemicals might be considered a double whammy. The roots of rhubarb also contain anthroquinones, which act as a laxative, so they really shouldn’t be part of your diet…as if I needed to tell you that.

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous but you can compost them.

Can I compost the leaves?
Contrary to a lot of erroneous information, rhubarb leaves are completely safe to add to composters. Again, this goes back to the fear of introducing something poisonous to the mix, but the reality is that once the leaves decompose so too do the toxins in them.

Is rhubarb good for me?
Rhubarb contains very high concentrations of dietary fibres, with about 66 per cent of the total fiber available being insoluble. Research done at The University of Alberta also shows that rhubarb fibre is very effective not only in reducing cholesterol and triglycerides, but also in modulating body sugar absorption.

Should I remove the rhubarb seed heads?
Yes. The seed heads rob the rhubarb plant of nutrients that it could use for root storage or to grow more leaves so its best to remove them as they appear. On the other hand, rhubarb plants are such vigorous growers that leaving the seed heads on won’t jeopardize the plant’s health, so in some respects, removal of the seed heads has more to do with aesthetics than anything else.

Can you recommend a variety?
There hasn’t been a tremendous amount of breeding work on rhubarb so I think that one of the old standbys, ‘Canada Red,’ is still a great choice. It has beautiful red stalks that are great for use in pies, juice, jams and jelly and it produces a lot of petioles from a single plant. Of course, there are several species of rhubarb that also make excellent ornamental plants. One of the best is Rheum palmatum or Chinese rhubarb. The leaves are about 90 cm in length, and the dark-green leaves have beautiful purple-red undersides.

Beautiful red stalks make for colourful jams and pies.

So if this grab bag of facts still fails to make you want to try some rhubarb (or at least add it to the compost pile), so be it. As for my humble opinion, if rhubarb is good enough for the Prince of Japan, it’s definitely good enough for me.

The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.

Hits & Misses: Rudbeckia & early arrivals
Question of the Week: What is that gummy stuff coming out of my mayday tree?
The Business: Change

Phytophotodermatitis is not a word that rolls of the tongue. It is, however, a scientific term that describes the unpleasant reaction that occurs when human skin contacts certain plants on a sunny day. Just this past week, three volunteers from our local botanical garden in St. Albert acquired a clearer understanding of phytophotodermatitis, when their bare arms contacted the foliage of a few gas plants (Dictamnus albus). Thanks to a photosensitizing category of chemicals called psoralens contained within the gas plant’s leaves, each of the volunteers developed large and violent-looking skin blisters. It’s a bit complicated, but to start to understand psoralens, it helps to think of them as an alter ego to sunscreens—meaning, rubbing psoralen-containing leaves against your bare skin will increase the damage of the sun’s UV rays. And that’s basically what happened to the volunteers while they were tying up a few gas plants. Note to us: gas plants are great perennials—just be sure to wear long sleeved shirts and gloves if you are working with them.

Gas plants are one of the longest-lived perennials, lasting for 20 or more years.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan) are one of those perennials that are always worth the wait. They require long days to initiate flowers, but when they finally do bloom, they’re real showstoppers. Rudbeckia love full sun, are very drought tolerant and rarely troubled by insects or disease—the perfect plant for a hot, dry flowerbed. Their golden flowers are incredibly long lasting and will even endure a few frosts. Tried and true.

Miss: Early Arrivals
Whoa! We weren’t quite ready for the first round of poinsettias to arrive, but they have indeed landed. It’s not that the poinsettias arriving a few days early causes any major problems; it just means a temporary scramble to finish prepping the greenhouses. Oh well, all’s well that ends well and judging by the quality of the rooted cuttings it’s going to be an excellent crop.

Question of the Week
What is that gummy stuff coming out of my mayday tree?
The trunks of maydays and other members of the Prunus family often ooze sap, a condition called gummosis. The gum doesn’t harm the tree but it is indicative of damage, typically to the trunk. Reflection of sunlight from snow or white rocks placed around the base of trees can increase the incidence of trunk damage and, subsequently, the appearance of the gummy sap. To help prevent gummosis, avoid rock “mulches” and protect trunks from sunlight during the winter.

The Business
Change
This is the first year of that we’ve consolidated the perennials and bedding plants into the tree and shrub area and I have to say that it’s been quite a success. All the end-of-season product is in one area, making it easier for customers to see what’s available and for us to create some beautiful displays. Hats off to everyone who made it happen.

Did You Know?
Once all the oils have been extracted from cotton plants, the remaining material, called “cotton cake” is fed to cattle.

“Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit.”
–Henry David Thoreau

First published July 10, 2008

Flea beetles are nasty vegetable pests. And if that statement sounds like it has an air of contempt to it, it’s because it does.

Having spent numerous years growing vegetables, I have a long (meaning painfully long) and complicated history with these pin-head sized menaces. Each year, as our cole crops (cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage) would push their way through the soil surface in the spring, I’d check for cruciferous flea beetles on the emerging seedlings. It wasn’t the job itself I disliked; rather it was the knowing that even a few bites from a tiny flea beetle meant death to a seedling. Then, of course, there was also the thought of having to deal with the problem. One year we had to spray 20 acres of cabbage with a “recommended” pesticide, but apparently flea beetles give little credence to chemical labels and opted instead to turn all 20 acres of seedlings into a tender snack. The memory of that razed crop is as vivid today as it was some 30 years ago.

Flea beetle damage on an emerging potato plant.

There are several flea beetles species on the prairies. Most are tiny and inconspicuous, chew small “shot holes” through leaves and have a penchant for jumping like a flea when disturbed (thus the name). Now even though the cruciferous flea beetle can devastate young plants, they do very little damage to older ones. That, however, is a small consolation in the battle against flea beetles because in July, its cousin, the potato tuber flea beetle, begins its own reign of terror.

Potato tuber flea beetle is still a relatively new pest to Alberta, having arrived from B.C. just over 20 years ago. Since then, they’ve been slowly leaping eastward across the prairies, eating members of the Solanaceae family, which include tomatoes, eggplant and, most notably, potatoes.

If you want to know if tuber flea beetles have attacked your potatoes, simply dig up some tubers. If they look like they’ve been poked with a safety pin, you can be pretty sure that flea beetles have been eating the nutrient-rich flesh. The second sign of damage is a fine, brown labyrinth of tunnels throughout the tuber. Each is confirmation that flea beetle larvae area at work. Now, if you’re lucky, these destructive little beetles haven’t found your yard. If you fall into the other camp, there’s really not much you can do—at least for this season.

Lose the battle; win the war
When tuber and tuber flea beetle meet, the victor is always the beetle. That, however, does not mean the war is lost. There are ways for gardeners to emerge victorious, and it starts with understanding the beetle’s life cycle.

After the tiny flea beetle larvae feed on the tubers, they exit the tuber and pupate in the soil. Then, in early fall, the larvae emerge from the ground and typically make homes in soil beneath plant debris where they hibernate for the winter. As the weather warms the following spring, the beetles start moving back to the garden in search of potatoes and other members of the potato family. The beetles then feed and mate on the leaves, drop down to the soil where they lay eggs that hatch into tuber-eating larvae and—voila!—the cycle is repeated. Here’s how to break it.

Flea beetle eggs on the underside of potato leaves.

The best course of action is to start by getting rid of the tunneled potatoes. Then, the following year, plant pest-free seed potatoes and spray the foliage of the plants in late spring. Because tuber flea beetle adults feed on the potato foliage before they drop to the ground, spraying allows you to kill the adults before they can produce offspring, thus solving the problem. Rotonone is a good “organic” product to try. For a non-chemical control, try placing a gauzy, light coloured fabric over the potato hills before the foliage emerges from the ground. This should prevent the flea beetles from accessing the plants and, ultimately, the tubers. Other than that, just remember to clean up the plant debris around the yard each autumn (nothing makes a better hibernation spot than a nice layer of dead plants); it’s a good practice and will help at the very least.

Give and take
Now, I know that flea beetles are as much a part of nature as any other insect and that we are therefore required to accommodate them to some degree, but hard as I try, I just can’t seem to extend any tolerance to a pest that is all take and no give. I’m guessing it’s personal…

The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.

The Notebook is on hiatus this week, but will return next week. Meanwhile, enjoy these recent images from the greenhouse.

Annuals, perennials and trees have been consolidated at the greenhouse providing a perfect opportunity to display potential plant combinations.

Bold annual planters are statement-making additions to any garden.

‘Sunny Border Blue’ Speedwell is a brilliant perennial.

First published July 3, 2008

Have you ever seen those extreme makeover shows where a person, house, dog, (fill in the absurd blank) is miraculously transformed from a duckling to a swan—and all in the time spanning between 30 minutes of commercial breaks? Well, thanks to the hard work of plant breeders and a bit more than 30 minutes of breeding work, plants have been undergoing some equally amazing transformations. Heuchera, for instance, is a prime example of an old perennial that’s busting out some hot new looks.

Heuchera (commonly known as alumroot or coralbells) are moving up in the hierarchy of perennials. They always were tough, winter hardy plants, but thanks to plant breeders, the beauty of Heuchera, which was long hidden deep in its DNA, is finally on full display. Now, these prairie natives can add outstanding colour and versatility to their resume. It’s no wonder they’re leading the pack of trendsetters for 2008.

Heuchera 101
The Heuchera genus, named after 18th century German physician Johann Heinrich von Heucher, are often recognized by their common name, coral bells, which allude to the tall spires of flowers that spring from the centre of the rosettes of leaves. But unlike Heuchera aficionados of yesteryear, today’s admirers are spoiled with varieties that have not only ornately ruffled foliage, but also foliage that comes in a wide range of colours, textures and variegations. The variety ‘Pewter Veil,’ for example, has maple leaf-shaped, metallic-silver foliage with black embossed veins. The shimmering plum tones of ‘Plum Pudding’ make it one of the best contrasting foliar plants you can buy. Its leaves look sensational displayed against bright-green varieties, such as ‘Lime Rickey,’ or against any green plant, for that matter. If the pinkish-orange tones are more to your liking, give ‘Marmalade’ or ‘Peach Flambé’ a try. There really is a colour combination for everyone.

‘Peach Flambé’ Heuchera

Another interesting breeding fact about Heuchera is its ability to hybridize with the plant genus called Tiarella. Both Heuchera and Tiarella are members of the Saxifrage family and are, therefore, closely enough related to cross-pollinate. For obvious reasons, the resulting hybridized plant species is called Heucherella, the common name being foamy bells (which I can never say without conjuring the mental image of frothing, rabid flowers). The cross between Heuchera and Tiarella results in an even greater array of foliage colours and, in particular, a greater array of foliage shapes.

Care and maintenance
Neither Heuchera nor Heucherella are demanding when it comes to care. They grow best in a fertile, moist, well-drained soil but, being that they are from the Saxifrage family, adapt well to some pretty lean soils. Just keep in mind that Heuchera grown in a soil that is too rich and in a location that is too shady tend to become lanky and fail to develop the rich foliage colours that they would in a brighter location.

The other strategy that works very well is to grow Heuchera in hanging baskets or pots. Because many of the newer varieties have such gorgeous foliage, they make fantastic additions to virtually any container. Once the summer season is over they can be removed from their containers and placed directly into your flowerbeds. The following spring, the “stored” Heuchera can be returned to containers or simply left in the garden. Whatever the space you allocate for them, the general rule is to provide purple-leafed and pinkish-orange toned Heuchera with shade to moderate sun and to provide green-leafed Heuchera with sun. With that said, breakthroughs in hybridization have blurred the lines quite a bit. Chartreuse-green Heuchera, such as Lime Rickey, are a great example of a rule breaker. Unlike “standard” green Heuchera (which like sun), chartreuse-green Heuchera need shade. Breaking the rules on the other side of the sun equation is ‘Palace Purple,’ which can take the heat rather well, even if exposed to full sun for several hours. I know it gets a bit confusing, but as long as you read the labels and keep in mind that the more water you give Heuchera, the more sun tolerant it will be, you’ll be just fine.

‘Lime Rickey’ Heurchera

So if you haven’t given a lot of thought to growing Heuchera or hybridized versions, now may be the time to give them a try. After all, you can’t go wrong with a plant this tough and versatile. Plus there’s just something poetic about giving the shady part of the garden its day in the sun.

The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.

Hits & Misses: Consolidated shopping & twisted but sensitive tomatoes and potatoes
Question of the Week: Is it too late to plant tomatoes?
Science & Technology: GM papayas save the day

50249. That’s the number of one of the wooden power poles in my neighbourhood. From a distance, it looks like any other but if you stand close to it, you can see carpenter ants marching single file to the surface of a crack in the pole and dropping bits of wood from their mouths. The pile of wood debris building at the base of the pole is testament to the fact that pole 50249 is not destined to remain vertical much longer.

I did phone our utility company about the pole and they are planning on doing a closer inspection. Now while these carpenter ants are destructive little pests, I can’t help but admire how a colony can coordinate an assault on structures like these. And in my estimation, I would still prefer that they chew on 50249 rather than 10410…my house number.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Consolidated shopping
This July, for the first time, we’ve consolidated all of our retail areas—Bedding Plants, Perennials, Trees and Shrubs, Indoor Plants and Garden Centre—into one spot. Historically, the bedding and perennials have been isolated from the other retail areas but this year we decided to try to unite all of the areas. The feedback so far has been positive and, although it takes a bit of time to get used to the new layout, the customers have adapted more quickly than I.

There’s a new layout at the greenhouse with plants now consolidated in the nursery area.

Miss: Twisted but sensitive tomatoes and potatoes
Quite a few samples of twisted/distorted tomatoes and potatoes are arriving in sealed bags from our customers. Of course, the customers want to know why their plants have developed a strange growth habit overnight. Well, the cause is simple but the solution is not. Twisted leaves on tomatoes and potatoes are usually the result of an errant application of lawn weed killer. It doesn’t take much spray drift to destroy potatoes or tomatoes because both of these crops are highly sensitive to 2,4-D based lawn herbicides. There is no cure for these herbicide-afflicted plants unfortunately…hopefully, the neighbours have a bumper crop that they will be willing to share.

Question of the Week:
Is it too late to plant tomatoes?
Well, yes and no. If you are thinking of planting a 15cm tall, spindly tomato, well then yes you are too late. But here is the good news. We always keep a good supply of five-gallon tomatoes (robust plants complete with plenty of green fruit grown in large pots) in stock well into August. In fact, some of our customers don’t bother planting tomatoes in the spring, preferring instead to wait and buy these big beauties in summer.

Science & Technology:
GM papayas save the day
According to Science magazine, genetically modified papayas have saved the papaya industry in Hawaii. In 1978, a disease called ringspot virus was slowly destroying the papaya crops. A GM papaya was developed that is resistant to the insidious virus and today 80 percent of Hawaii’s crop is virus resistant. Incidents like this one add an interesting perspective to the GM debate.

Did You Know?
Pomegranate in French is grenade and provided the name for the small, hand-launched bomb because of similarities in appearance.

“The unmulched garden looks to me like some naked thing which, for one reason or another, would be better off with a few clothes on.”
—Ruth Stout

First published June 26, 2008

Recently, thanks to the good folks at CBC Radio in Edmonton, I was given away, ostensibly, as a door prize in a gardening contest. The contest was open to anyone who was in dire need of a garden makeover and could express that need over the airwaves by way of creative prose or song. The first-place winner received an hour of free garden consultation time with me. Yes…I know…a “friend” of mine has already pointed out that second prize must have been spending two hours with me. Just the same, I did spend an hour in the yard of contest winner Carol, and her husband, Jim, and here’s how it went.

Based on Carol’s entry, a grim, poetic account of her yard, I was expecting to see a moonscape. What I saw, however, was anything but lunar—instead the problem was really one of too much vegetation in certain spots and not enough in others. More precisely, the issues could be categorized under three headings: feral plants, shade and lack of focus.

The peril feral
Feral gardens are those that begin with pretty and often benign-looking domesticated plants that turn into greedy monsters that attempt to conquer every bit of yard space. In Carol’s yard, some of the worst feral plants were trees. I’m sure the blue spruce in the northwest corner of her yard looked innocent enough twenty years ago when her son brought it home in Grade 1, but the spruce has since lost its innocence is now threatening to consume the entire flowerbed. Besides that, it has lost its nice conical shape because the neighbour’s tree is blocking much of the western sun. That’s the other important point to realize with feral plants: they have no respect for property lines. Want more proof? Across the yard yet another neighbour’s feral willow was blocking the sunlight desperately needed by a couple of Carol’s energy-deprived and sparsely foliated ornamental crabapple trees.

If Carol and Jim want to get to the point where they can begin to create the yard of their dreams, they’ll need their neighbours’ cooperation. Sometimes a simple chat over coffee is all that is needed to get the pruning started and to keep people happy. However, because the trees are so large, this is one situation where I’d strongly recommend hiring a certified arborist to get the job done safely and properly. One last important point to remember when it comes to plants is that although feral does mean wild, it doesn’t always mean bad. In the right spot, an enormous spruce, elm or maple can be a very beautiful and prized addition to the landscape. The challenge, however, is having the foresight to imagine these plants at maturity.

Hire a certified arborist to assure large pruning jobs are done safely and properly.

Shady business
With all the feral trees at work, it’s not surprising that deep shade was also a problem in this yard. Even with judicious pruning, chances are sections of Carol’s yard will still be too dark to support much plant growth. One area of particular concern was a spot in the southwest corner. The combination of the neighbour’s trees with their overhanging branches and two crabapples planted in close proximity to each other made not only for deep shade but also for soil that was quite dry. The best solution here might be to mulch the spot and put up a hammock.

Out of focus
Finally, Carol’s deck needed a bit of a makeover. The deck itself was well constructed and spacious, but small pots of plants were strung out in a linear pattern that looked rather blasé. This is one trap that many of us have fallen into. While it’s tempting to string out a lot of small pots in a row to decorate a deck, for visual impact, you just can’t beat fewer but larger pots crammed with flowers. The big, full pots create a focal point and yet you don’t have to buy more plants—just consolidate them. It’s as easy as that.

Whenever I hear people like Carol put out desperate calls for help with their “horrible” gardens, I am often surprised by just how good these “bad” gardens actually look. As a matter of fact, I could go on for hours about the yards I’ve seen that are wonderful and just a little rough around the edges. Hmm…perhaps I’ll save those stories for the third-place winner.

The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.

Hits & Misses: Sedums & paint by numbers
Question of the Week: Why am I seeing so many huge moths this year?
Science & Technology: Avid gardeners

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. John Davidson, a retired horticulture researcher from the Beaverlodge Research Station just outside Grande Prairie, Alberta. John is an avid gardener, so it’s always interesting to compare notes with him on what is happening in his part of the world and backyard. One thing we always talk about is his passion for roses. Two of his favourites are ‘Morden Blush’ and a rambling rose called ‘Altai,’ which he says has topped out at nearly four metres in height some years. Being that John did a lot of research on saskatoons during his career, I also asked him about how he dealt with the birds that must have been constantly competing with him for berries. “Simple,” he said. “I let the birds have the top third of the tree, I take the bottom third and the birds and I fight it out for the middle third.” Sounds like a good philosophy to me.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Sedums
I am very impressed with a variety of Sedum called ‘Xenox.’ Not only does it overwinter beautifully, it also retains its wonderful burgundy foliage. It’s a great plant for filling in a flowerbed and is the perfect complement to yellow or gold foliage plants. Still not convinced to give them a try? Maybe this will help. Sedum also have an amazing capacity to store water in their leaves, and are therefore drought resistant. Beautiful foliage, less time watering—what’s not to like?

Miss: Paint by Numbers
Some of the osteospermum developed strange white blotches this past week. Powdery mildew was the prime suspect initially, but closer observation revealed the true culprit: overspray of greenhouse shade compound. During the summer we must apply a white
“paint” to some of the greenhouses to keep them cooler and, apparently, some of the shade compound missed its target and landed on the plants. The good news is that the shade compound isn’t harmful to the plants; the bad new is that it’s next to impossible to wash off.

Question of the Week
Why am I seeing so many huge moths this year?
Giant silkworm moths (Antheraea polyphemus), and very beautiful ones at that, seem to be having an explosion in population of late. Perhaps these moths are at a high point in their population cycle, or maybe it’s just serendipity, but whatever the reason, we are being treated to one of the most beautiful insects in our region. In another few weeks, silkworm caterpillars (about the thickness of your baby finger) will be crawling among the willows and terrifying entomophobes everywhere. For those of you who have an inordinate fear of large, green caterpillars, my advice is to wait it out. Before you know it they will morph into beautiful moths that everyone can enjoy.

This beautiful giant silkworm moth (Antheraea polyphemus) was found in our show garden.

Science & Technology
Avid Gardeners
Some of the world’s best gardeners are—wait for it—ants! Technically, the ants are actually gardeners of fungus…but to each their own. According to an article in Science magazine, there are 230 species of ants that grow fungus gardens. Apparently, the ants collect leafy material to feed the fungi and then harvest the fungi to feed themselves. The article also noted that when a queen ant leaves home to mate and start a new colony, she takes a mouthful of fungus so that she can start a new garden in her new home.

Did You Know?
Hibiscus may be native to a sunken continent near Madagascar.

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.”
–Sam Keen.