It’s Still  Just Dirt – September 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

Jim Stinson is the go-to-guy at Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas. He’s the one who can answer all of your horticultural questions. Jim has worked at Canadale for 30 years and he visited our Horticultural Society’s first post-summer meeting to tell us why fall is for making your garden amazing.

Jim says nurseries like Canadale reduce their plant prices by 20, 30, 40 and even 50 per cent at this time of year. “You can take advantage of the great prices at your local garden centres right now,” he says, “to add interesting new plants to your garden spaces.” Look for shrubs like fothergilla (bottle brush), sweetspire, oak-leaf hydrangea and viburnum, and perennials that bloom in the fall like toad lilies and fall anemones. “Fall leaf colour can be stunning.”

Here for your inspiration are just some of Jim’s fall gardening recommendations.

Clean out annuals. Toss your annuals, soil and all into your composter or onto your compost pile. They are done for the year.

Plant. Fall is the best time of the year to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials.

Refresh containers with fall colours. Replace tired old annuals with beautiful fall mums, asters, kale and peppers. Add gourds, pumpkins, leaves and branches. Focus on fall before you prep your containers for winter display.

Dig, divide, and conquer perennials. September is a great time to divide irises, peonies, daylilies, sedum and hostas. Dividing now will give them time to re-establish and they will grown twice as nice in the spring. “As a rule of thumb,” Jim says, “perennials that bloom in the spring should be divided in the fall. Perennials that bloom after mid-June are best divided in the spring.”

Jim says there’s no need to cut perennials back in the fall. Again, his rule of thumb, “if they look good leave them. If they look bad then cut them back.” Leave coneflowers because the birds will feast on the seeds in the flower heads through the winter.

Protect tender roses. In late fall hill up soil and mulch around rose bushes or cover them with rose covers. Clean up fall leaves that can be diseased. Attach climbing roses to supports. Jim says pruning your roses is usually best left until spring.

Improve your lawn. You can improve your lawn by sowing grass seed Jim says. As well he recommends fertilizing your lawn twice in the fall, both at Labour Day and again after Thanksgiving. “The after-Thanksgiving fertilizer will start to work quickly in the spring.”

Protect your garden from winter’s worst. “Keep watering until you are green in the face,” Jim says. Most plants need lots of moisture going into winter. This is especially true for evergreens that are susceptible to desiccation, winter burn, or winter kill. Regular watering will reduce the stress on your plants.

Evaluate your garden. Look at the successes you’ve enjoyed in your garden this year and consider the failures Jim says. “Consider what worked and what didn’t work and why. Make notes and sketches to help plan for next year’s garden changes.”

“Invite constructive criticism,” Jim says. “I want an artist to come over and tell me how to improve my garden. They see things differently.” Ask someone who has a different perspective to tell you what they like and what they would change about your garden.

Think spring. Spring flowering bulbs like tulip, daffodil, crocus, hyacinth, allium, and lilies can go in the ground now. Jim’s advice it to outsmart squirrels with squirrel-resistant bulbs. He says, “Cover your tracks by putting leaves over where you plant bulbs. Squirrels are smart and look for disturbed soil.”

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets the first Tuesday of each month in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. For additional information about the society visit tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

It’s Still Just Dirt – August 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

Helen Smith is a 20 year Master Gardener, a member of both the Elgin County Master Gardeners, and Aylmer Horticultural Society. As well she has been teaching hypertufa pot making for 18 years. Members of the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society were the beneficiaries of her hypertufa experience as she lead a pot-making workshop for us earlier this month.

The term hypertufa refers to a type of artificial stone and comes from a combination of tufa which is a natural volcanic rock and hyper meaning extremely. Hypertufa pots are extremely rock-like containers. They’re beautifully natural looking, hardy, relatively light-weight and Helen says you can leave them outside through the winter. The demonstration piece that Helen brought to show us was made in a kidney-shaped mould originally used for water plants and it was planted full of sedum and other succulents.

You can use almost anything that has an interesting shape for a mould. Things like nursery pots, bins, boxes, plastic containers, pails –  you choose. Helen recommends starting with something small. First off line your container with a plastic bag. A garbage bag will work well for this. The plastic lining makes it easy to get the pot out of the mould.

Helen says the mix is very important. The basic ratio of ingredients is two parts peat moss, one part portland cement and one part course sand, vermiculite or perlite. For smaller amounts you can mix this together in a bucket. For our group of more than 20 people making pots, the ingredients were mixed together in a wheelbarrow with a short-handled garden hoe. You can also do the mixing with your hands but be sure to wear rubber gloves because the cement will dry them out.

After the dry ingredients are mixed together next comes the water. Add small amounts at a time. “You don’t want the mixture to be either soupy or dry,” Helen says. “It should be the consistency of cottage cheese and if when you squeeze a handful a little water comes out that’s good.” The basic ratio for water is one to one-and-a half parts.

Once the mixture is prepared it’s time to start filling your mould. Helen’s instructions are to “Scoop the mixture into the mould and pack it in the base and around the edges. Small pieces of chicken wire can be pressed into the sides and base for stability and these are placed in the middle of the mix.” Continue adding mix until it is one-and-a-half to two inches thick in the base and around the sides.

“As gardeners,” Helen says, “we know how important drainage is.” Be sure to press three or four holes into the bottom of the pot using your finger or a piece of dowelling. Lastly cover your piece with plastic and set it in a shady area, or a garage, to cure for 24 to 36 hours. “The pot will be heavy to start  but not so much when it dries out,” Helen says.

Turn your mould upside down to remove your pot. You can use a wire brush to rough up or make markings on the outside. Use sand paper to smooth off roughened edges. Sit your pot on a board in the shade, or again the garage. It will take about two more weeks to cure.

“It’s not rocket-science,” Helen says. “In the end your hypertufa pot should resemble natural-looking stone.” You can plant it full of things like hens and chicks, sedum, mosses, portulaca, creeping phlox, ivy, primrose, miniature hostas, or bulbs like snowdrops, crocus and narcissus.

Natural looking hypertufa pots were a big attraction on the Horticultural Society’s Buffalo National Garden Tour last summer. Making them here at home in a large group on a sunny morning with Helen’s simple instructions was as easy as pie.

You can use these basic instructions or look for more complex ideas on line by googling hypertufa pots. Up pops information from Martha Stewart, Lowe’s Building Centre, Fine Gardening magazine – take your pick. You can add embellishments, press in shapes, even colour the mixture if you like. Hand-made hypertufa pots are guaranteed to add much natural interest to your garden spaces.

The fall season for the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society comes quickly with the September General Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 1. Mark your calendars. For additional information visit tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

It’s Still Just Dirt – July 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

David Ross says there aren’t many gardens that don’t have a lily or two, but he himself has quite a load. In fact this summer he says he probably has about 60 different varieties in his Straffordville garden. Lily season is almost at its peak. Lilies are tall stately plants that carry a number of large, trumpet shaped blooms on each flowering stem. Each stem can be anywhere from two feet to six feet high. Some are lilies (Lilium) but more are daylilies (Hemerocallis). You can tell the difference because lilies have leaves coming up the stem about every two inches whereas the leaves of daylilies sprout from the clump.

Most people are familiar with the orange daylily that grows along roadsides for a few weeks each year. David says they’re “indestructible and very showy.” Some people call them ditch lilies but like David, I have some growing in my backyard. In fact they have been growing back there, hiding the composters, for decades. They never fail, have been blooming for three weeks now, and still look lovely.

Hemerocallis is a Greek word meaning beautiful for a day. Each daylily blossom lasts only one day but each stem bears many buds.

David says daylilies are a good choice for our area with our wide swings in temperature. There are many hybrids derived from several different species which bloom at different times from late June well into September. Thus plants are grouped as early, mid, or late blooming and this can give your garden colour all season long.

Colours range from purple, bright red, pink, lavender and peach to orange, gold, and yellow. There are bicolored flowers, fragrant ones, and double ones, as well as huge meaty ones. David says he can’t honestly say he has a favourite among the daylilies in his garden. “Every one brings colour to the party.”

“If you’re not a green thumb,” David says, “try a clump or two of daylilies. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Daylilies prefer a sunny position with a little dappled shade during part of the day. When planting a clump of daylilies dig a hole about 18 inches wide and six to eight inches deep. David recommends using triple mix blended with the local soil and add a good pinch of bone meal too to help with starting root growth. Then water the plant in well. “Keep a good eye on the watering,” David says and he recommends using either a slow release pellet fertilizer, or Miracle Grow every three to four weeks. Dividing clumps every four to five years helps to refresh blooming.

David says we should talk too about the true lily (Lilium) species. They come in different categories including Orientals, Asiatics, Tigers and Easter lilies. David says this group is being attacked by the lily beetle which is bright red and about 1/4 inch long. “The lily beetle can easily defoliate a plant in just a few days. It has no natural predators and seems impervious to most treatments. One sure way to get rid of lily beetles is by hand squishing them,” David says. “So be vigilant and inspect plants daily.”

“Fortunately the daylily is not on this pest’s menu,” David says, “so we are free to enjoy the great mix of daylily colours available.”

Because they are so popular, there is lots of information on lily topics on a number of websites David says. He recommends the Ontario Daylily Society and you can visit them at www.ontariodaylily.on.ca.

For information about the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society visit tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

It’s Still Just Dirt – June 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

You don’t necessarily need a garden plot to keep yourself supplied with fresh herbs all summer long. With some soil and a few pots you can turn a sunny balcony, deck, patio or window into your personal herb garden. Herbs are flavour-filled and easy to grow however it’s knowing how to use them that often poses the biggest challenge.

Some of the more common herbs to grow in home gardens include parsley (either curly Italian or flat leaf), basil, dill, rosemary, mint, and thyme. Mint and rosemary are best grown in individual containers but you can easily pack a variety of other herbs into the space of a window box or a large pot.

Chef Les Kozachuk, a graduate of the Stratford Chefs School Culinary Program, has worked in the food industry since 1990. He has applied his craft at restaurants in Toronto, Italy, Ontario’s cottage country, and now in London, Ontario. Les brought his alternative ideas for using home-grown herbs to the Ontario Horticultural Society’s District 10 AGM.

First off Les recommends using fresh herbs to garnish a plate. “You get more punch from fresh herbs if you add them to your food after it’s cooked,” he says. For example:

• Basil is a delicate herb that is best used on the same day you pick it. You can add basil to olive oil and garlic for a basil sauce or pesto. Use whole leaf basil in a caprese salad with tomato, bocconcini, and olive oil.
• Lavender can be used in sweet baking like scones. Serve these with cream cheese and honey.
• Dill works as a garnish with salmon or fish and lemon. It’s also a great addition to a creamy dip served with raw vegetables.
• Parsley is a mainstay of Middle Eastern Tabbouleh salads and Argentinean Chimchurri sauces.
• Chives make a nice garnish. You can add chopped chives to potato salad, mashed potatoes, and soups. They’re also great for omelettes.
• Thyme has a stronger flavour similar to sage, rosemary, and oregano. These herbs can stand heat and are good with food groups like chicken and poultry.

To help you along in your quest to make excellent use of herbs from the garden here are some super quick recipe ideas, compliments of Chef Les.

Make creme fresh by blending together equal parts sour cream and 35 per cent cream. Let it sit on the counter for a day. The enzymes in the sour cream help to thicken the mixture. Serve creme fresh with sliced cucumbers, dill and shrimp.

Prepare a compound butter by starting with one cup of softened butter. Blend in two tablespoons of fresh herbs and the zest of one-half lemon. Shape the mixture like a sausage and put it in the freezer. When you take it from the freezer slice it into coins and put these under the skin of chicken or turkey for a nice herb flavour. Medallions of oregano and gorgonzola butter go well with beef. Simply put a medallion on top of each steak.

To infuse a vinegar with herb flavours start with ordinary white vinegar. Add a few cloves of garlic, then sprigs of rosemary or oregano. Les says to remove the garlic after the beginning stages. Left too long garlic can cause salmonella.

For a Margherita pizza grill a pizza dough crust and add toppings including slices of mozzarella cheese, tomato, and basil.

“Herbs are finished in your garden once summer is over,” Les says. “To preserve herbs you can dry freeze them. Wrap the herbs in paper towels, then foil or saran. Take them from the freezer when you are ready to use them. Chop them up and sprinkle on your food.”

You can infuse herbs like you infuse tea. Make the tea into ice cubes. The flavour is maintained and you can add these cubes to your soups and stews.

Home grown herbs are a great way to add a healthy, flavourful touch to any meal. Rather than having your herbs languish in the garden try using some of our Chef Les tips and enjoy these summer favours all year long.

During the summer the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets in different locations away from the Community Centre. In July a members garden tour is planned, and in August it’s a hypertufa pot-making workshop. For additional information check these activities out at tillsonburghorticultural.ca. Regular first Tuesday of the month meetings in the Senior Centre Auditorium will resume September 1.

It’s Still Just Dirt – May 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

We’re coming up on May 24 this week and that date speaks to gardeners. It’s time to check out annual flower displays that abound at not just professional nurseries and flower shops but also at hardware stores, grocery stores and even convenience stores. Annuals can add instant colour, lovely smells and huge variety to your garden. Here, with comments from some Horticultural Society members, is some timely advice about annuals.

May 24 is traditionally the date to begin planting annuals in your garden. Jan Torrell says, “This is only a guide. It depends on the weather.” You can run the risk of loosing your annuals to a late spring frost if you plant too soon. That being said, many of us feel the time has come for some get-your-hands-in-the-dirt gardening activity.

Annuals (as opposed to perennials that last years, decades, or seemingly forever) go through their whole life cycle in one growing season. They sprout from a seed, grow leaves and roots, produce flowers, create seeds and then die. They are popular with gardeners because, with reasonable care, they bloom their heads off all season long.

Annuals allow you to change the look of your garden from year to year. A garden with a backbone of perennial plants can get interest from different annual accents each year. Christine Nagy says, “Adding annuals is also a nice way to tie your container gardens to your landscape gardens with excellent results.”

Some gardeners choose the same kinds of annuals year after year. They may be sentimental favourites or reliable growers in special garden conditions. Judi Misener says, “Marigolds are really hardy, brightly coloured in various shades of yellow and orange and they keep bugs away.”

Catherine Burke says hot pink geraniums are her favourite. “They are low maintenance, brightly coloured, and they last the whole season long.” Speaking of geraniums, Matt Fenn told horticultural members that when he opened Tillsonburg Garden Gate a few years ago red geraniums were, by far, Tillsonburg’s best loved and best selling annual.

My daughter likes zinnias. They come in short and tall sizes, bloom for a long time, and are drought resistant. But most of all their multiple mixed colours are gorgeous.You can buy them as bedding plants or start them from seed right in your garden.

For gardeners looking for new annuals Landscape Ontario publishes a first look at new cultivars coming to Canadian garden centres this spring in its Garden Inspiration magazine. Sometimes they can be new colours of old favourites. Last year I tried a lovely pink petunia with a bright green edge on the flowers. I think it was called Pretty Much Picasso or possibly Picasso in Pink.

This year there’s Supertina Limoncello described as a vigorous annual petunia hybrid bred to keep blooming in a hot sunny spot. Limoncello has soft yellow flowers with darker yellow centres. Landscape Ontario recommends the medium to large size flowers for filler or spiller in containers, but also in landscapes near the front of the garden.

Sunpatiens impatiens introduced several years ago are a great alternative to traditional impatiens as they are somewhat resistant to impatiens downy mildew. They will grow in sun or shade, rain or shine, and provide non-stop colour from spring until frost. Sunpatiens is available in several new colours including pink, magenta, scarlet, and white.

As well you could choose Jurassic Rex begonias described as ideal for gardens and containers in deep shade environments. The foliage comes in bold colours and patterns that will stand out in the landscape. Jurassic begonias can grow up to 16“ tall and 12” wide. They flower late in the season.

Take your pick from forever favourites or new beauties, or you can even choose one of everything that looks good. Annuals are pretty much guaranteed to get your garden growing and glowing. Enjoy! May 24 has come.

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. For additional information check us out at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

It’s Still Just Dirt – April 2015, The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

It’s important to warm up and stretch your muscles before and after gardening to help prevent injuries. Occupational Therapist Brenda Fields, speaking to garden enthusiasts at the annual general meeting of District 10 of the Ontario Horticultural Association says some simple preparation can help you garden longer and garden stronger.

“Gardening takes us through a wide range of different movements,” Brenda says, “like squatting, bending, gripping and lifting.” This can result in common gardening injuries like back strain and wrist or knee pain.

When you bend over to do a job like lifting a bag of garden soil you add 100 per cent more load to your back. Brenda says if you twist as well when you bend over and lift you can increase the load by as much as 600 per cent. “The maximum load an average-sized woman should lift is 28 pounds, and for a man it’s 68 pounds.” A 30 litre bag of triple mix weighs in at 28 pounds. There’s a lot of lifting to be done and most gardeners will move a number of bags at one time. Brenda suggests we pace ourselves. “Vary the jobs that you are doing so that you’re using different muscle groups. Do the heavy jobs when you have the most energy.”

“Practice safe lifting techniques,” Brenda says. “Your feet should be shoulder width apart and lift with your legs. Your nose and toes should stay in a straight line. Keep your back straight, and your shoulders back.”

Some additional strategies for safer gardening include:

• Get help if you have an awkward or large load.
• Use a wheel barrow.
• Use tools with handles that have a comfortable grip. The more you squeeze something small the more your muscles will fatigue.
• Wear knee pads or use a kneeling stool.
• Keep tools sharp. It takes less energy to dig or cut with sharper tools.

Before you start to garden warm up by walking briskly around the yard or around the block. Get the blood flowing. Perform gentle stretches and hold each for five to 10 seconds. You can find an outline of good before-you-garden stretches from the Ontario Physiotherapy Association online at opa.on.ca/pdfs/smartgardening.

Looking Ahead

9th Annual Garden Auction
The Horticultural Society’s Annual Garden Auction is set for Tuesday, May 19 in the Lions Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. In addition to decorative pots of colourful annuals, masses of amazing perennials, and a variety of largely native shrubs and trees, the auction features a miscellany of bags of gardening soils, seeds and fertilizers, and an enticing selection of garden art and artifacts.

Also for sale in the auditorium you’ll find yummy edibles, gardening books and magazines, herbs and vegetable plants and lots of home-grown and divided perennials. Each year the garden auction raises thousands of dollars that the society uses to support members’ gardening efforts in public spaces.

Keep Tillsonburg Beautiful Day
On Saturday, May 9 environmentalists of all ages will gather to take part in Keep Tillsonburg Beautiful Day. After meeting at the Annandale Baseball Diamonds (Concession Street east of Maple Lane) at 9:00 a.m. volunteers will plant about 1,000 seedlings, the beginnings of a forest for the future in an area separating the baseball diamonds from the railway track to the North. Be sure to bring a shovel. As well as planting trees, volunteers will get to work cleaning up local parks, trails and natural areas.

Lastly, the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. For additional information check us out at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

The Evolution of a Garden
It’s Still Just Dirt, March 2015 – The Tillsonburg News
by Penny Esseltine

Master Gardener Sean James, speaking at the Stratford Garden Festival, says, “You need to be patient with a garden and think long term. Some of us take a wad of money on the 24th of May weekend and buy what looks good to plant in the garden and that’s it for the season.” Sean is president of Fern Ridge Landscaping, Eco-Consulting, Design, Installation and Maintenance in Milton and he says he fell into landscaping and has since spent much of his life doing what he loves. So here, well in advance of the 24th of May, are some of Sean’s guiding principles for planning your garden.

Sean says to do only as much as you can look after in terms of the size and sophistication of your garden. Start with a plan and it will evolve. “Figure out where things will work best. Modern wisdom is to match plants to soil type whether it is clay or sand.” There’s a huge list of plants for each type of soil.

If it’s hardscaping (walls, patios, ponds, stairs, gates) you’re thinking about it’s important to use proper construction methods for everything. “Do what you can afford to do,” Sean says, “but do it right. Phase things in.”

Gardeners aren’t good at being ruthless Sean says. Think about the problems you have in the garden. Perhaps there’s a tree affected by bronze birch borer or a black pine with brown tips. Think about what will work better in that particular space. “For trees in distress, add six to eight inches of pine mulch from just about the edge of the trunk out to the drip line. This will do more for the health of the tree than any other thing.”

Ten of Sean’s gardening tips

• For energy efficient landscaping plant in the southeast and southwest sections of your property. These garden spaces will help to keep your house cooler in the summer.
• Columnar trees are good for screening but they can get wider than you think. Be sure to allow space. Pick the right plant for the right place.
• Native trees attract all kinds of little critters that will feed on garden pests.
• Avoid invasive plants like English ivy, goutweed and periwinkle. Search for grow me instead information at growmeinsteadontario.ca.
• Planting just one kind of plant in a large area will give it power. Large drifts have visual impact.
• Some of the best plants for shade are solomon’s seal, big root geranium, and flowering raspberry.
• If you are moving a perennial plant be sure to divide it first and plant it in several places.
• Slowly replace sod with more garden by edging your gardens bigger every year.
• Overgrown junipers can be salvaged by pseudo bonsai-ing to downsize them and show their form.
• Using loppers, cut multi-stemmed deciduous shrubs or trees down to ground level in late winter. This is called coppicing. Clear the detritus. Many plants will make new growth from the stump or roots. You can rejuvenate many different shrubs and trees like dogwood, smoke bush, willow and birch using this technique.

Now, back to that big wad of 24th of May cash. Sean recommends dividing it into six parts. Then visit your garden centre each month from May through October and buy the plants that are blooming then. If you plant these in your garden you will have added interest in your gardens all growing season long.

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. For additional information check us out at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News – February 2015
by Penny Esseltine

Garden festival season is coming up in our part of Ontario. First off the block is the Stratford Garden Festival which runs from March 5 to March 8. Last year it was named the 2014 Festival of the Year by the Canadian Garden Tourism Council so of course it’s a must see for local gardeners. The theme this year is Blooming Beautiful and that is what you will experience with their display gardens created by area landscape businesses. The event takes place at the Stratford Rotary Complex and you can find directions online at stratfordgardenfestival.com.

Among the speakers lined up for Stratford are local favourites Brenda Sutherland and Judy Larkin (Lilies and Daylilies: Eye Candy for Your Garden), Beckie Fox (New Garden? What to do First) and David Hobson (Great Plants: Great Gardens).

David will also speak at the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society’s March 3 meeting and his presentation there is titled Plants to Impress Your Neighbours. Another must see! That’s Tuesday, March 3, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. All welcome.

Culture Tillsonburg is celebrating spring with a bus tour to Canada Blooms on Friday, March 20 (the first day of spring). The cost for a ticket is $60 plus HST and for Cultural Improvement Alliance members (which includes Historical Society and Horticultural Society members) the cost is $50 plus HST. This includes a ticket for the show plus the coach ride.

Started in 1997, Canada Blooms is Canada’s premiere garden festival and altogether it runs from March 13 through March 22 this year at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Let’s Play is the focus for Canada Blooms and among the feature garden designs competing for space at the show are ones with themes like Pollinator Playground, Backyard Sanctuary, Tic-Tac-Toe, Outdoor Exercise Garden, and Fairy Frolic.

Well-known gardening speakers at the show include Mark Cullen, Denis Flanagan, and Frank Ferragine (aka Frankie Flowers). Speaker presentations are scheduled most days between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and for a complete schedule visit canadablooms.com.

In London on April 18 there’s a Carolinian Canada event called Go Wild Grow Wild with workshops, speakers and special exhibits for those who consider themselves native plant gardeners or birders, adventurers, backyard gardeners, seed savers – things like that. It’s at the Agriplex Arena in the Western Fair District. Workshop and speaker information is still being confirmed but for additional information you can visit gowildgrowwild.ca.

I’m writing this column on a day when snow is all around – filling backyards, front yards, sidewalks, and roadways. Temperatures (with the windchill factor) are expected to sink to minus 35 degrees. It’s hard to imagine that on the other side of winter, spring waits. Then we will be able to take our personal garden festival experiences and put them to work in our own gardening spaces. Hurrah!

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. An annual membership in our group costs $15 and comes with a number of great benefits (like a $10 discount on the Culture Tillsonburg Canada Blooms bus excursion). Check us out on line at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

Weather means more when you are a gardener
It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News – January 2015
by Penny Esseltine

Right out of the gate, early in January, CFPL TV’s former star meteorologist Jay Campbell came to talk to the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society about weather. Weather can be a preoccupation for area residents especially during the winter months, but for gardeners, it’s of year-round interest.

Jay says weather is what happens daily and is measured every hour. You can retrieve extensive information about weather in newspapers, on radio, and on TV, or on line at the Weather Network. There’s an easy link to that from the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society website tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

“Climate,” on the other hand Jay says, “is based on a 30 year average of parameters and is updated every 10 years. The global temperature has been increasing .5 degrees centigrade every year since 1973,” Jay says. “We are getting significantly warmer.”

Some people use folklore to forecast the weather. Things like if the cows are laying down in the field it’s going to rain. There’s red sky at night, sailor’s delight.  Ring around the moon, rain will come soon, is another. Jay says if you count the number of stars inside the ring that will tell you the number of days before rain will come. “I have always been fascinated by folklore,” Jay says. “I have thousands of them.”

Meteorologists on the other hand use any number of instruments including thermometers and barometers. A hygrometer measures humidity and an anemometer measures wind speed. Weather balloons measure weather higher up in the atmosphere and weather satellites track large-scale air movements.

Many factors affect the weather. Extraterrestrial forces is the big one, Jay says. Others include volcanoes, ocean currents and lunar activity, acid rain, ozone depletion, the orbit of the earth, comets and asteroids and greenhouse gases.

For weather specifics we can look to publications like the 2015 Farmers Almanac which gets its information from Environment Canada’s Climate Services. The almanac says that the growing season length in nearby London is 151 days. The last frost of the spring is expected on May 9 and the first frost of the fall on October 8. Unfortunately this information has not been updated in many years. It’s based on 1951-1980 norms.

Similarly, the Canadian Plant Hardiness Zone Map was revised in 2000 using weather data from 1961-1990. This map places Tillsonburg in hardiness zone 6A. Zone 6A plants will tolerate temperatures as low as -17 to -23 degrees celsius. Often  gardeners in our area use zone 5 as our guideline. Perennials from zone 6 will likely be sold as annuals here since they aren’t guaranteed to last the winter. Seed packets and catalogues usually indicate zones for trees, shrubs and flowers.

Looking ahead through 2015 Jay predicts that spring temperatures in March, April, and May will be near normal, possibly slightly higher than normal, but precipitation is expected to be lower than normal. This can result in dryness in the soil. He says he expects June, July, and August temperatures to be above normal.

Jay says Grandma Campbell got him interested in forecasting weather. “I still look at it everyday and I’m always optimistic about the weather. I have four favourite seasons. There’s always something good,” he says.

For gardeners for whom weather is always of interest too, we can listen to the forecasts, use weather instruments of our own, and rely on climate statistics. As well, coming up on February 2, we can watch for Wiarton Willie (the albino, weather-prognosticating groundhog) and his forecast for spring this year.

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. An annual membership in our group cost $15 and comes with a number of really excellent benefits. Check us out on line at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

Create your own family-friendly Christmas containers
It’s Still Just Dirt, Tillsonburg News – December 2014
by Penny Esseltine

Tillsonburg Garden Gate’s Matthew and Thea Fenn brought Christmas greenery and arrangement ideas to the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society recently. We are very near to Christmas. If you haven’t already you might want to try your hand at some original outdoor decor that will last well into spring.

You can create your arrangement right in an urn or pot or use an insert that you can drop into a larger container. The soil from fall plants that’s already in the pot can hold your arrangement or you can use a block of oasis. Matt also suggests that sand works well because it’s especially firm once frozen.

“Filler, spiller, thriller and chiller,” are the components of a winter container arrangement Matt says.

For thriller you can start with red twig dogwood or white birch. These stand tall and stay upright. Red twig dogwood gets redder as the temperature falls. You could also use artificial red, lime green, or silver branches, or white or gold twigs. “New this year are battery operated lighted branches,” Matt says. You could use these as well in your urn.

White pine, spruce, yew, boxwood, and holly make good filler. Fraser fir has a nice blue tinge. British Columbia cedar has a nice droopy look and is good for spiller. Matt says the more layers of greenery you have the better your container will look.

“Chiller,” Matt says, “can be things you have in the garden that have hardened off after the frost.” Think about blossom heads on hydrangea stems. You can use these in your arrangements too.

Matt says things look good in odd numbers like three or five. You could use three white birch branches, all of the same length or in different lengths.

You can make your Christmas container arrangements look good on just one side or all the way around depending on where you are going to place them. For all-around containers keep spinning the container as you add pieces so that it will look even and full.

For seasonal decor choose things like large silver balls, gift-wrapped presents on a stick, a top hat, or artificial apples. Pine cones and bird nests will give a more natural look. “The big colour for Christmas this year is blue,” Matt says.

Bows can be important. Use 20 gauge floral wire wrapped in green floral tape to gather ribbon loops into a bow.  As well Matt suggests using Geo Mesh ribbon. “It’s made of a fabric that is really bright and has a good show factor. It’s easy to use too. Take about one and a half feet of the material to make a loop on a stick and insert it in your arrangement.” At the museum this past week staff from XQZT Flowers were working with crafters to construct geo mesh wreaths.

If you’re thinking it’s a little late in the season to be putting together Christmas urns I’d suggest it’s a great family friendly, pre-Christmas activity. Collect branches and greenery by trimming the trees and bushes in your yard, or in open areas that you have access to. A winter adventure for sure. Of course greenery is also available at area garden centres.

It can be equally pleasing to create indoor arrangements and table centrepieces using oasis in a bowl or dish as your base and again natural elements from outside. Be sure to add fresh flowers too. Water-laden oasis will keep everything fresh.

Matt says, “To get good value from your outdoor Christmas containers, simply take out the Christmas decor pieces after the New Year and leave the greenery through until spring.” Merry Christmas!

The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society’s first meeting of 2015 is set for Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. Jay Campbell, former star meteorologist with London’s CFPL TV, talks about weather including our latest climatic outlook. Everyone is welcome.