Hits & Misses: Hot colour & cold roots
Question of the Week: What do I do to control delphinium worms?
The Business: Style on a small scale

Our family had the wonderful opportunity to take an early tour of the partially constructed Lois Hole Library. It promises to be an outstanding facility with vast amounts of open ceiling spaces, plenty of natural light and a beautiful fireplace. A special outdoor garden is planned for the southeast corner of the library grounds, which will allow parents and children to enjoy a read outside on fine weather days. Mom would have been so proud to have her name on such a terrific building. A video tour of the facility can now be found on youtube.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Hot Colour
I love ‘Coppertina™ ninebark (Physocarpus opufolius ‘Mindia’) shrubs. My sister-in-law, Valerie, planted one last year and it overwintered beautifully in her yard. In the summer, the copper-coloured spring foliage will turn a beautiful shade of red and provide a great contrast to the shrub’s white button-like blooms. A fantastic choice for small yards. Height: 2–3 m; width: 2 m.

Miss: Cold Roots
The Potunias™, a series of vegetative petunia with a ball-shaped form (meaning it doesn’t stop producing blooms in the centre of the plant as it spreads) have been a little slow to root this year. It seems we placed them in the coldframes a bit too early and their roots noticed. To keep them happy, we’ve moved the Potunias back to the warmer greenhouses. When their roots get established in a few days, we’ll return the plants to the coldframes and they’ll be none the worse for wear.

Question of the Week
What do I do to control delphinium worms?
Delphinium worms are the larval stage of a moth called Polychrisia esmeralda (P. esmeralda) that enjoy nothing more than chewing the leaves of delphinium, columbine and monkshood. P. esmeralda is also referred to as a leaf tier because in the larval stage, it spins silk and uses it to tie up leaves around its body. The simplest way to control these worms is to pick them off the plant. If you want to spray, Ambush is the insecticide of choice. Just remember to always read the label.

The Business
Style on a small scale
Anyone in the gardening industry who hasn’t noted the meteoric rise in popularity of containers must have his or her head under a pot. This noticeable upswing has gardeners approaching their containers the way any good landscape designer approaches an entire yard. We’ve heard conversations about colour coordination, purpose and placement, but one of the most fascinating applications of design is the idea that your container can have a style or theme—and I’m not just referring to the style of pot. We have customers who are going with modern, Mediterranean and even English-themed containers. I think containers are particularly suitable for the fickle among us: instead of having to change an entire landscape each year, we can just change our container plantings as whimsy takes us.

Trend Spotting

Beauty and functionality are best friends in this year’s garden. These strawberry planters were a mass of pink flowers, and some are now a mass of delicious strawberries. A taste of summer in every bite!

Did You Know?
Ornithophilous plants are those pollinated by birds.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
–Anais Nin