It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News – August 2016
by Angela Lassam

There seems to be a movement away from the artificial idea of decoration and maybe people are getting tired of all the plastic uses which seem to be destroying our natural surroundings. Are they looking for a return to the natural way many things were done in the past?

The use of edible flowers both wild and those commonly found in our garden is not a new idea. As far back as Biblical times feasts were adorned with vines and flowers that we know today. Dishes were prepared using edible plants both for color and extra taste. Today chefs use edible plants for exotic dishes and to re-invent our basic home cooking. Baking done today would include muffins, cookies, jellies, sauces and special occasion cakes.

Among the many flowers we grow Marigold resembles Saffron (called poor man’s saffron) and it can be used in soups, pasta and salads but only the petals. It is also a bug deterrent for the vegetable garden. Carnation (Dianthus) can be used as cake decorations and steeped in wine. Petals of this flower is used in Chartreuse, a French liqueur. Cornflower can be a table/cake decoration but also is a natural dye. Mint flowers and leaves are used in many Mideastern dishes. Lavender is a much used plant for its fragrance, therapeutic value and culinary flavors. Pansies and violets are great as a crystalized decoration for a special occasion cake or as a topper on cream covered muffins at that special shower. Nasturtium are a known addition to salads and have a distinct nutty flavor. You can do something as easy as freezing flowers in ice cubes to make a simple punch look elegant.

Many wild flowers have been used to help with health problems. Teas, salves and oils were common a long time ago when doctors were far away and folk experimented to find relief from ailments. There are many flowers that have therapeutic properties so here are just a few.

• Chrysanthemum steeped in hot water helps fevers, headaches and colds and as a cooled liquid can be used as a compress for tired eyes.
• Honeysuckle can be made into a paste for skin rashes and also as liquid for gargling as an antibacterial mouthwash.
• Sunflower consumed as a brew helps with ulcers and menstrual cramps.
• One can use the flowering tips and leaves of Heather as a tea or add to a bath to help arthritis and gout.
• Of course do not forget the Rose as vitamin C, also the raw petals increase blood circulation and relieves depression.

All herbal flowers and fruit flowers are edible but be careful that none of them have been sprayed. All need to be used in moderation.  If you need to learn more you will find further reading and recipes online http://www.zocalo.ca/edible-flowers  http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.html

Next meeting is on Sept 6^th @7.30 pm in the Seniors Centre Auditorium, Tillsonburg Community Centre. The speaker is Paul Zammit and he will speak about Pollinators. Non-members welcome. Non-members $2 per meeting so come and enjoy a social evening. Also you can become a member at any meeting and get extra benefits along with friendship and fun.

Members just a reminder it is the Flower Competition this meeting.

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

It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News –  June 2016
by Angela Lassam

Now that our gardens have started growing well and looking good around come all the pests – a term I use very loosely. Some are beneficial and others not so. Insects are the main pests but there are others that come to mind including rodents and wild animals.

Insects are our biggest nuisance we think but it is not necessarily so. We do not realize that nature has its own way of solving our munchers. Aphids (plant lice) are probably the ones that most people think of first and one of our worst bad insects. They come in various colours but most of the ones that we we see are the bright green ones on the roses. They can be both winged and wingless and work in large groups. Some secrete a sticky substance called honeydew which in turn attracts their natural enemies – ants, bees, flies and wasps.

Soap spray under the leaves as soon as you see them and keep it up especially after rain. Ladybugs (ladybirds to some of us) like aphids especially but will eat any soft bodied insect. The Asian ladybug which varies from mustard yellow to dark red has taken over the Canadian species as it withstands colder winters so hibernates well. Interesting reading can be found on the Canadian Wildlife Federation: Ladybug 101 website.

Spiders work in our gardens (good insects) weaving webs to catch their food. They work at night then scurry back to the dark spots amongst tall plants and wait for any flying insect to get caught.

Mosquitos are a human nuisance for our health but not for our garden. The same can be said for the Tick.

Ants are common but do not seem to do harm. In the garden they run tiny tunnels so naturally aerate the soil. Peonies when in bud attract ants, which crawl around on the flowers, feasting on the sticky sugars they secrete. Once the flower opens fully, and the sucrose has been consumed, the ants depart, whether they are outside or on someone’s dining room table. Those who have had ants leave their centerpiece and march across their dining table tend to take a dim view of peonies as cut flowers.

There is a simple solution for the ant problem, and it’s one that every commercial peony grower practices: Cut the peonies when they are in bud, before the petals unfurl. If there are ants on the buds, wipe them or shake them off. Then put the peonies in water, and let them bloom inside. It is said ants are good for peonies where they appear in large numbers when the flower is in bud.

Frogs and toads are not liked by everyone but are beneficial to gardeners. Toads should be cared for in our gardens as they will eat over a hundred insects in one night. Their diet includes grubs, slugs, worms, caterpillars, cucumber beetles to name a few. They will hide in any dark damp spot. Their eggs are usually laid in any nearby water in long jelly-like strings becoming tadpoles and eventually toads and migrate to land. They have a dark, crusty skin unlike the frog who has a green often striped skin and white underside. Frogs stay in the pond where they were hatched unlike toads keeping the pond clean. Their calls herald spring in the early evening hours and a great sign for gardeners.

Members enjoyed a great day touring gardens in Toronto’s Kingsway area. Toronto Botanical Gardens organized a garden tour called Through the Garden Gate. The area was built in the 1900s with the Tudor architecture and English style gardens and mature tree-lined streets stretching along a ravine section of the Humber River. Many garden tours can be found in your own vicinity. Both Lions and Lioness clubs usually run them so go enjoy a pleasant day.

The Horticultural Society will return to its monthly meeting schedule on September 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Seniors Wing Tillsonburg Community Complex. Also for members please check the website for the Photo and Flower Competition details. Enjoy the summer!

It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News – May 2016
by Angela Lassam

Welcome to spring – Annandale House, May 11, 2016

It is time to visit local flower spots to buy those garden fillers and think about planters, flower boxes and hanging baskets.

After talking to the owner of Garden Gate about impatiens it appears the growers are working hard to grow a new variety as the old varieties were very prone to disease. The spores stay in the soil especially in a mild winter. He did say it is OK to put them in planters as long as you do not put the old soil into your garden afterwards. A better alternative is to use vinca or waxed begonias. Petunias have evolved into bicolored and are more compact with even more choice of colours. Of course marigolds come to us in so many sizes and colours so can be used to contrast with any other choices with the bonus of protection from bugs.

David Hobson gave a great many ideas at the last  meeting for unusual plantings in our gardens. The ones that drew my attention were the large ones – a staircase plant (Leonotis Leonierus) that grows from a single seed to reach up to 15 feet with flowers spaced on a main stem and White Fleece Flower(Persicaria Polymorpha) a perennial growing up four feet. If you are looking for unusual foliage look for ornamental elderberry (Sambucus), varieties include lemon and black lace.

Smaller additions to our garden is a sedum – Postmans Pride with black foliage and a coneflower called Cheyenne Paint. Painted Tongue (Salpialossis Sinuate) is an annual alternative to the petunia and more decorative. Ornamental Black Pearl Pepper (Capsicum Annum) has dark foliage with black cherry like berries turning bright red in the fall. Tiger Flower or Mexican Shell Flower (Tigridia Pavonia) is very delicate but showy with many blooms over a six week period .Chocolate Cosmos looked interesting with its dark colour and even smells like chocolate we were told, and too many more to list.

A shrub that did catch my attention was a Bottlebrush (Fothergilla) from the Hamamelidaceae family. There is one called Gardenii growing up to five feet and a larger one named Major at over six feet. The flowers are white and spikey just like bottle brushes.

The vegetable spot needs to be planted if not already done (earlier plantings need protection from frost yet). It is still early for tomatoes, peppers and other softer plants.

At last we can get the garden pond going again. Leaves and any other dead debris need to be removed and the water topped up. The pump installed and started again to clean and oxygenate the water. Slowly start feeding the fish as they need the water to reach 10˚C or 50˚F.

All the summer birds are back so place the feeders out for them. I have had success with dried mealworms for the bluebirds which is available at the pet store. The first of the chicks have hatched so more food is needed to be readily available. They all control the insects around our gardens and add so much life.

Just a reminder – did you plant for the bees? Free wildflower seeds were offered from Honey Nut Cheerios website to plant for the depleting numbers of bees we need for pollination.

Denise Huck from Colour Paradise Greenhouses from Mannheim is our speaker for the next meeting talking about container planting –Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers for 2016.

Next meeting is June 7th @ 7.30 p.m. in the Seniors Centre Auditorium, Tillsonburg Community Centre. Members and non-members welcome.

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

It’s Still Just Dirt, The Tillsonburg News – April 2016
by Angela Lassam

Vancouver in April

It appears we can grow them in Southern Ontario according to Kevin Kavanagh who is at South Coast Gardens near Turkey Point. He has established trial gardens with a variety of unusual trees, shrubs and perennials typical of the Southeastern United States where he spent his earlier years. He is testing the suitability of the more southern plants to the Carolinian forest region which is the most southern of our area. His gardens will be open from May 7^th, website: SouthCoastGardens.ca.

Magnolias date back over 100 million years predominately in South East China and Japan also two centuries ago found in Europe. They evolved before the pollinators we all recognize when beetles were their pollinators. They would crawl down into an unopened flower and pollinate it so it is  already pollinated when it opens. They are unusual as the flower buds form in the fall and look like furry spikes, flower in Spring and some have a second flowering late July/August. They form bright red seeds which small rodents and birds disperse. Sadly they have insignificant fall color just yellow and brown. Here in Ontario there is one native species called Cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata) and another is Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera ). There is a small garden collection called Eight Little Girls with names such as Ann, Betty and Susan. All would be a good addition to any landscape.

Azaleas and Rhododendrons are plants we are more familiar with but we must understand the soil they need. A low PH soil, rich in humus (rotted forest junk is good!) is necessary. Sandy soil you need to dig a big hole and fill with rich soil and top with mulch. Clay soil you need to plant on top of the soil and mound with rich soil and then mulch. They have fine roots and only go down 2 or 3 inches so do not need to be disturbed. They do not like the winter sun and wind from the south so location should be considered. Leaves will curl in winter to conserve moisture. Evergreen rhododendrons would benefit from overnight protection in spring to keep soil soft and retain moisture to the plant even an old bed sheet if bad weather is predicted. Plants to try are the Northern Lights Series which are hardy and for rock gardens there is Lemon Dream and Patty Bee. An early spring flowering one is Cornell Pink but there are many varieties to be found.

Once again this time of year is a time for maintenance and cleaning. The birds who help us in our gardens all summer collecting the bugs need their nest boxes repaired or cleaned out ready for new life. Consider a DIY project of a nest box with barn board set on a post for the bluebirds. A nest box on a post is vulnerable to predators (squirrels, mice) so an inverted cone placed below the box is a good deterrent. Also the nectar feeders for the Orioles and Humming birds will need to be clean as they will arrive soon.

If you are looking for a laugh join us for a presentation by David Hobson , a story teller, gardener and humorist talking about ‘plants to impress your neighbour’.

Next meeting May 3rd @7.30 pm in the Seniors Centre Auditorium, Tillsonburg Community Centre.   Members and non-members welcome.

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