Northern Gardeners Almanac What's happening in northern gardens

Seeds

2012-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

I used to buy my seeds from William Dam Seeds, in recent years their shipping costs have risen so much that I decided to stop. Instead I’m getting seeds from smaller places like Solana in Quebec and the Cottage Gardener in Ontario. Both sell heirloom seeds and have extensive lists of tomatoes. I could quite easily have spent my entire garden budget on tomato seeds.

The other good thing about these smaller seed companies is they don’t try to upsell you with garden books, gloves, hoses, hand shovels, organic herbicides, pesticides and hand cremes. Come to think about it, this other stuff is why their shipping costs are exorbitant. A ten dollar hand shovel weighs a lot more than ten dollars worth of seeds.

Neither of these seed companies are listed on the safe seed resource list. It is a list of seed companies that have signed a pledge saying their seeds are not genetically modified (GM free). Scroll down near the bottom of the page to see the seed companies in Canada that have signed this pledge.

Most varieties of seed are F1 hybrids, bred for a specific attribute. Seeds collected from F1 hybrids will not have the same attribute as their parents. If you want that attribute you have to keep rebuying the seed. I’ve written more about F1 hybrids over here

Why Plant Heirloom seeds

What Is An F1 Hybrid

Monsanto, an agricultural, biotech giant, is a world leader in the genetic modification of seeds. I first heard about the company in conjunction with roundup ready canola and alfalfa two of the biggest crops in the BC Peace. These particular varieties of alfalfa and canola had been modified so as to resist roundup, ( a systemic herbicide), also produced by the Monsanto company.

On March 30 2011 a group of Canadian and US farmers filed a suit against Monsanto saying they needed to protect themselves against patent infringement should their crops ever become contaminated with Monsanto’s genetically modified seed.

The first hearings of this court case are happening today in New York City. Gayla has written more about this over here. Scroll down to the end of her post for a list of things you can do to avoid growing genetically modified seeds.

Organizing [Flickr]

2012-01-30T15:57:38-08:00

Caffinara posted a photo:

Distinguishing between subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa and douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii

2012-01-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

I've already described pine trees and spruce trees.

Abies lasiocarpa or subalipine fir is the species that grows around Prince George in BC’s interior. At first glance fir trees can be mistaken for spruce trees but even though their needles are similar in length and colour (blue green) the needles of fir trees are much softer. Rubbing ones hand down a twig of a fir tree is a much nicer experience than doing the same with a twig of a prickly spruce tree.

Subalpine fir needles have blunt ends that all tend to turn upwards. They have a white band on top and two white bands underneath.

The cones of a subalpine fir are purple. They grow upright near the top, of the tree. Unlike the cones of other conifers, fir cones disintegrate on the tree. I suppose that explains why I’ve never seen purple cones lying on the ground.

Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii

There are two types of Pseudotsuga menziesii, the variety menziesii or coastal fir, and the variety, glauca or interior fir.

It is not really a fir tree at all, that’s why its common name, Douglas-fir, is hyphenated. The common name is credited to the Scottish botanist who introduced many of British Columbia’s native conifers to Europe. Its botanical name, menziesii, was the name of the Scottish doctor/naturalist who first documented its existence on Vancouver island.

Needles of Douglas fir trees are flat with pointed tips. Their upper surface has a groove down the center and is bright, yellowish green in colour. The needles grow all around the twig.

Douglas-fir tree cones are initially green and as they mature they turn grey. Three pronged bracts are easily seen between each scale.

Abies lasiocarpa subalpine fir [Flickr]

2012-01-26T10:58:37-08:00

Caffinara posted a photo:

douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii [Flickr]

2012-01-26T10:58:21-08:00

Caffinara posted a photo:

Book Review: High and Dry -Gardening With Cold Hardy Dryland Plants by Robert Nold

2012-01-20T10:31:00.001-08:00

Robert Nold and I share the same philosophy about how to water the perennial garden, in one word - never. To clarify I water perennials to get them established. And the climate of my zone 3 garden in Northern BC is considerable different than the climate in Nolds garden in Denver Colorado. If my perennials are to tolerate a drought, it will last at most 2- 3 months, and that would be rare. Nold cautions that in his climate where drought is prolonged he loses plants.

In the first chapter Nold discusses basic topics like soil, garden planning, siting the garden, shade, pots, propagation and bugs. The last topic bugs is another point Nold and I agree on - not to do anything about them. Nold says if your prized plant is devastated by bugs them “grow something else”

Succeeding chapters discuss plants, perennials and annuals of each genus and the specific species of each that have proven hardy in his gardens. His extensive list covers grasses, bulbs, rock garden plants, cacti, yuccas, shrubs and trees. Many of the plant genus he talks about have species I grow in my garden.

One Genus of plants I want to experiment further with are the Penstemons. I already grow one tiny specimen that I need to ID.

His discussions are illustrated with many colour photos and exquisite drawings both the work of Cindy Nelson Nold.

I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in gardening.

Identifying Lodge Pole Pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia

2012-01-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

Pinus contorta var. latifolia, commonly known as lodgepole pine grows almost everywhere in British Columbia. It got its common name because the BC natives took advantage of its tall, straight trunk to build the skeletons of their massive lodges. I used to think It only liked dry, sandy soil but apparently lodgepole pine adapts to wet, boggy places too.

Leaves

Pine trees have longer needles than spruce trees. And their needles grow in bunches. The numbers of needles in the bunch and the length of the needles are factors that help identify the species. Lodgepole pines have needles that grow in bunches of two, see the photo I took of a pine tree in my garden.

The Mountain Pine Beetle

Older lodgepole pines are susceptible from attacks by the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae. The warmer winters we are having because of climate change, have enabled the MPB to multiply exponentially. The beetle has destroyed hectares of the lodgepole pine trees around Prince George. I wrote an article, on my other blog, about the MPB and BC’s pine trees. You can read it here.

Beetle Killed Pine lumber and Logs

Beetle killed pine is usually not noticed until its needles turn from green to rusty brown. Eventually the needles fall off and the wood starts to rot.A few years ago the logging industry went in to overdrive, in an attempt to harvest as many pine trees as it could, before they began to rot and lose their value. Beetle killed pine has a distinctive blue hue that has become a selling point for value added products produced with the wood. In 2006 we built our log house out of beetle killed pine. You can read the article I wrote for Northword magazine about our log house here.

Most of the pine trees are gone around Prince George although there are still isolated pockets of a few trees that escaped the beetle, especially younger ones.

Winter blues [Flickr]

2012-01-20T08:54:02-08:00

Caffinara posted a photo:

Telling the difference between engelmann and white spruce trees

2012-01-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

Where I live spruce trees, Picea, are everywhere, riding on the backs of logging trucks or growing in hectares (acres) on the side of the road. They frame my garden ( see photo) and cover immense expanses of uninhabited northern British Columbia. Spruce trees reach heights of 50 metres (164 feet) and a mature spruce trees diameter can measure 1 metre (39 inches) thick.

Picea love BC’s long, cold winters and short cool summers.

White spruce Picea glauca is found everywhere from the valley floor to mid elevations. Engelmann spruce Picea engelmannii grows in only high elevations. In central BC where the species tend to grow side by side they interbreed. Spruce trees in this area are often referred to as interior spruce. In fact pure white spruce is only found north of Dawson Creek.

The needles of both species are four sided and sharp. Needles on white spruce are arranged spirally on the stem and are whitish green in colour. Those on Engelmannn spruce are arranged in all directions and have two white bands on the upper and lower surfaces. They are bluish green in colour.

These differences in the way spruce needles look and are arranged on the stem are the easiest way to tell the species apart. Cone shape, size and colour and the trees bark colour and texture are too similar to make an accurate identification.

Invasion Of Poplar Tree Roots

2012-01-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I need to cut down and get rid of the huge poplar tree ( Populus tremuloides ) that is growing behind my greenhouse. In the photograph it is the tall tree with white bark, one of its branches is hanging over the roof of the green house. Its overhanging branch is not the reason I want to get rid of it. It’s the trees roots I don't like.

Poplar Tree Roots

Poplars or trembling aspen are notorious for their aggressive, weed like root systems. The roots are thick, pencil like strands with a woody bark that tunnel horizontally about 3-5 inches beneath the soil. I’m constantly pulling them out of all my gardens. In the greenhouse the poplar tree roots have infiltrated the beds, greedily pushing their way into the rich black soil and sucking up all its nutrients. Pulling them out seems futile because they grow back again twice as fast. The effect the poplar tree roots have on the tomatoes and basil I’m trying to grow in the greenhouse, is horrible. Unless I can get rid of the tree I'll have to move the greenhouse, if I want to grow anything in it.

Profile of Populus tremuloides

Whole stands of Populus tremuloides are clones of one tree. In the spring the whole lot of them will leaf out at the same time and in the fall they all drop their leaves simultaneously. Their name, Populus tremuloides, describes the way their almost circular green leaves seem to tremble at the faintest breeze. Many a time on a hot summers day, I have lain on my back deck daydreaming and watching the apsen leaves trembling all together like a green symphony.

The aspen tree behind my greenhouse is only one in a stand that expands behind it. Getting rid of only the one tree may not solve my problem. All the roots of all the other trees in the stand may start trying to grow into the soil of my greenhouse.

Does anyone know how to kill a poplar tree? I mean stand of poplar trees.

Winter Gardening Inspiration

2011-12-30T17:04:00.001-08:00

While I’ve experimented with leaving root vegetables in the ground all winter, to harvest the minute the snow melts and the ground unfreezes, this article, that I read about on Melissa’s blog, The Empress Of Dirt, advocates growing vegetables like kale, spinach, collards, swiss chard, brussels sprouts and others in the snow.

I suppose it depends on the sort of winter you have. In my garden the ground is frozen for six months, and covered in at least 3 feet of snow. Using row covers might keep the snow off the plants but It won’t keep the ground from freezing. Likewise, unless I were to heat the greenhouse, the ground inside is still going to freeze. My greenhouse is uninsulated so putting in a heater is a waste of energy.

The vegetables suggested in the article all thrive on frost and some, like brussels sprouts taste better after they have been hit by a few frosts. I leave vegetables like these in the garden anyway, until the frost is too severe and has killed the plant.

I wonder how much longer I would get, before the plant died, if I used my greenhouse? And should I plant the seeds directly into the greenhouse, between the tomatoes, or should I transplant them from pots into the greenhouse, when the tomatoes are almost dead?

As I write this it’s snowing again bringing the accumulation up to four feet. The temperature is warm, it’s only minus 3.6 Celsius, 38.4 Fahrenheit. Maybe, I should wait for climate change to get going even more, before I try growing vegetables in the winter.

How to divide a Saintpaulie (african violet) that has outgrown its pot

2011-12-16T09:08:00.001-08:00

While it is true that Saintpaulie bloom better when potbound, there comes a time when the plant looks unhealthy, and one begins to suspect that maybe its overgrown physical girth is the reason for its sick looking appearance.

My Saintpaulie has been growing in the same tiny pot for almost ten years. When I took it out of its pot I Immediately saw that the plants thickened root system was overgrown, and crowded with multiple offsets all intertwined and growing on top of one another. Some of its stems were elongated so its leaves could reach the light. These abnormally long, limp stems and leaves were making my Saintpaulie look sick.

Saintpaulie has thick fleshy stems and leaves, that despite appearance are delicate and snap easily. I knew I was not going to be able to save all the offsets so I chose a few of the biggest and healthiest.

Gently I pulled the plant apart until it was in three sections, each section containing the offset I wanted to save. I pulled off all the bits of plant I didn’t want, piling the excess into the discard pile.

I replanted each offset into a small pot of its own, making sure to bury it as deep as I could, right up to where the stems grew out of the crown.

Gradually, I cut off the unhealthy, ugly, limp, long stemmed leaves until the plants looked better. My new Saintpaulie plants might not flower as profusely but at least they look healthy.

I've written more on how to grow and take care of Saintpaulie here.

Update: Tell me about your adventures in transplanting your houseplants. Have you ever done it or did the plant die before was necessary.

This year its all about the cool stuff I’ve found on the blogs of my clever blogging friends

2011-12-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

Stevia over on Garden Therapy has a tutorial for making fabulous Christmas wreaths or anytime wreaths using fresh greenery. I only wish I had time to make one this year. I imagine they must smell divine.

Rosie over on LeavesNBloom has several videos on unique ways for incorporating poinsettias into your Christmas decorations

And for those with lots of books and a need to have a green Christmas tree take a look at this idea, via shirley over on The Gardening Life

For tree huggers, Master Gardeners or those who love woody perennials the Dirrs tree and shrub finder app based on Michael A. Dirr's classic work, The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, is an Awesome resource. Get it from the app store here. Via Helen over on Toronto Gardens

I have my eye on the Heirloom Tomato poster or any of Renee Garner’s lovely, unique prints. Via Gayla at You Grow Girl.

Making Cranberry Sauce

2011-12-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

I made this cranberry sauce by boiling together sugar, cranberries and red wine vinegar until thick. When the sauce is thick enough and after the cranberries have popped you stir in half a cup of bourbon. Zowie!

There was enough sauce to fill 4 1/2 1 cup canning jars. I processed them in a canner because I wanted them to keep for a few years. Nobody in my family, except me, likes cranberry sauce. I like to eat it mainly on turkey sandwiches in the days after Christmas. It's a treat I look forward too.

The recipe and instructions, written by Stevie, are available on her site Garden Therapy here.

What To Make With Lemons

2011-11-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

The supermarkets are filled with lemons at this time of year so I indulged in making and eating, lemon meringue pie, lemon cream and lemon curd. I remember lemon curd from my childhood. We spread it on our toast, in the morning, instead of jam. You could also use it as a filling for tarts.

You cook together lemon juice, eggs and sugar in a double boiler, or if you are me you use a pyrex jug inside a pan filled with water. You do this so the mixture is cooked slowly and is thus less likely to burn. I stirred mine a lot to make sure it cooked evenly. When it was thick, like yogurt, I stirred in some lemon zest and butter. It tastes divine.

Lemon Curd
3/4 - 1 cup of sugar
juice of 2 lemons
3 eggs beaten
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
3 tablespoons of butter

Put sugar, eggs and lemon juice in double boiler, stir and cook over barely simmering water until thick, It can take a long time, up to half an hour. Take off heat. Stir in butter and lemon zest.

Laurus nobilis For Northern Gardeners

2011-11-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

In my quest to diversify my houseplant collection I've decided I need to grow more things indoors that I can eat, so when I saw a tiny bay plant, Laurus nobilis, for sale at the nursery this past spring, I bought one home. Like rosemary, that I’ve been growing for years, bay is a tender perennial that northern gardeners can easily grow inside.

When we were in Spain, one of the gardens I visited had hedges made from bay plants. The plants had shiny green leaves growing on woody stems about four feet tall. I doubt my pot grown plant will ever get this big.

How To Grow Laurus nobilis

Grow bay in a pot that can be shifted outside when the weather warms above freezing. Bay plants like direct sunshine but they readily adapt to lower indoor light.

When moving the plant outdoors, in the spring, take care to acclimatize it gradually, so its leaves won’t burn. But because northern summers are short and the plant is apt to spend most of its life indoors anyway, it is better to keep it in dappled shade or on the east side of a building, when you move it outdoors, to minimize shock and keep the plant healthy.

Fertilize bay when it is growing, in the spring and summer months. Water the plant after the soil dries out. I check my plant once a week.

How to Use Laurus nobilis

Bay leaves are a common flavouring for simmering stews, curries and braised meat dishes, the sort of cooking one does on short, cold, dark, winter days. As you can see my plant is tiny. I've had to put a moratorium on harvesting anymore leaves until it starts to grow again, next spring. I hope there will be enough leaves for cooking with next winter.

Rex Begonia

2011-11-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

I’m not a fan of Begonias. I dislike their dark coloured leaves, thick but delicate stems that are easy to break, and waxy flowers. However, when I needed a plant for a shady area begonias were the only option so I held my nose, bought a Begonia and tried to avert my eyes. I grew it in a pot, after I brought it inside for the winter its leaves fell off and I thought it was dead, but in the spring it sprouted new leaves and kept on growing. It did this for about three or four years before it suddenly and irrevocably died.

A few months ago I saw pictures of Rex Begonias beautiful, colourful leaves and I fell in love. Despite my aversion to the plant I decided to get a Rex Begonia anyway to add to my increasing and diverse houseplant collection.

Profile of Rex Begonias

Begonias are tender perennials grown as annuals or houseplants in northern gardens. Rex begonias are hybrids belonging to the Begonia Rex-cultorum group. They have small flowers. I only noticed the flowers on my plant because I was pulling off its dead leaves and saw them almost hidden and growing from the base of the plants. Rex Begonias have rhizomatous roots like Dahlias, iris and ginger.

How to care for Rex Begonias

Water the plant when it dries out. Check for soil moisture by putting your finger in the pot. Overwatering the plant can result in the root rotting. Letting the plant dry out too much causes it to wilt. So far I’ve managed to keep my plant alive by checking it once a week and watering it appropriately.

Rex Begonias need high humidity. The best way to achieve this, because misting Rex Begonia leaves spots, is to place the plant pots on gravel. The gravel absorbs the runoff from watering, the water evaporates and increases humidity around the plant. I have not done this for my plant yet but I bet if I do its leaves will be softer and its colours will shine.

Repot Rex begonia when its rhizome outgrows its current pot. Use a shallow pot to match its shallow root system. Rex begonias like bright light. Direct sun can scorch its leaves. I fertilize my Rex Begonia when it is growing, approximately March to August, about once a month. I use a water soluble fertilizer and follow the directions on the label.

What it means to lower your diets carbon footprint

2011-11-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

Even though I live in northern BC I’ve always longed to be able to grow a fragrant lemon tree or a lush banana shrub or somehow get my Monstera deliciosa vine, that I grow as a houseplant, to grow big enough and produce the famed bread fruit.

So, when I saw the glossy leaves of a coffee plant, Coffea arabica, (see photo) growing happily in a pot in my local coffee shop I was captivated. The owners said they bought the plant at the nursery so I rushed off to get one too jokingly saying that maybe one day the plant would grow big enough, produce enough beans and I would never have too buy coffee again. This plant, I thought, could be another step on my way to eating locally and thus lowering my carbon footprint.

Eating locally is not a new concept, native indians have survived on a diet of moose, venison, rabbit, trout, wild greens and berries for centuries. However, for the average person, who eats whatever is stocked on the shelves of the local supermarket, local food wether its found wild or farmed in local farms or grown in the backyard is an enigma. The difficulty of obtaining local food is documented in Alisa Smith and JB MacKinnon’s eye opening book, The 100 Mile Diet A year of local eating. They decided to embark on a one year project to see if local eating was possible and hoped in the process to lower their carbon footprint.

Mike Berners-Lee in his thought provoking book, How Bad Are Bananas?: The carbon footprint of everything, delves deeply into the question of what it means to reduce ones carbon footprint. He points out that buying tomatoes grown in a greenhouse a few miles away may on the surface sound great. But when you take into consideration that the greenhouse is heated with fossil fuels and the necessary grow lights are lit with fossil fuels and that the plants are grown with fertilizers made from fossil fuels you understand that buying bananas, grown in the tropics where heat and light from the sun is free, and the fossil fuels used to grow them are minimal and that transport by boat, uses the least amount of fossil fuels, (air transport uses the most followed by truck transport), eating bananas may in fact be a better idea.

Ever since I read this book I’ve been reevaluating my food choices. Of course eating with the seasons is still my number one consideration when choosing food. Food eaten in season tastes better because it is grown and ripened naturally outdoors, and is often cheaper and is easier to obtain locally.

How to grow Parthenocissus quinquefolia. (Virginia creeper) and Parthenocissus tricuspidata (boston ivy)

2011-11-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

Update: After writing this post I went for another walk by the hotel to admire the vines and realized that even though one of the 3 vines growing on the building is indeed virginia creeper the one seen in the photo is in fact boston ivy

Parthenocissus quinquefolia is a rampant, woody vine. It is grown mainly for the beautiful, bright red colour its leaves turn in the fall. The vine is often grown on the side of a building ~~like the one growing all over the walls of the Empress hotel in Victoria, see photo.~~ The vine growing on the walls of the Empress hotel in Victoria is Parthenocissus tricuspidata or boston ivy. Both vines would look great grown on an arched trellis or even as a ground cover.

Hardiness

The vine is incredibly hardy, growing well in zone three here in Prince George. I have also spotted it growing in sheltered gardens in Dawson Creek, zone 2. Victoria, the mildest city in Canada, is in zone 8.

Profile

Its characteristic, compound, green leaves are composed of five leaflets with toothed margins. The vine clambers over its support using adhesive discs rather than penetrating roots. The discs stick to the surface of the support rather than burrowing in to it, making the plant ideal for covering walls since it won’t destroy them. Parthenocissus tricuspidata is similar except single each leaf has from 3 to 5 lobes.

How To Grow

Parthenocissus quinquefolia grows almost anywhere. It tolerates full sun to full shade and likes wet or dry soil. The best way to obtain a plant is to get a cutting from a friend. Because Parthenocissus quinquefolia and Parthenocissus tricuspidata are so easy to grow they have a tendency to beome invasive. Carefully pulling the vines off the walls and cutting back their excess growth is the best way to keep them under control.

Dried and Packaged

2011-11-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

It’s below zero here most mornings. The garden is brown and crispy and dead looking, and I‘m forced to look elsewhere for garden inspiration. One inspiring place is my other blog caffinara.ca. I rarely write anything for it anymore, but dear readers, I dredged up some gardening posts for your enjoyment. You can find them on this page, here. Some of the photos have been deleted but its my words you were wanting, right?

Getting Ready For Spring.

2011-10-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

So many gardeners are outside at this time of year lovingly raking up leaves for the compost, and cutting down the dead stalks of the perennials to about two inches, to help keep the mulch, that they have to spread on the garden next, in place so the pesky wind doesn’t blow it away. I used to be one of those gardeners.

What To Do*

The longer I garden the more I realize that nature, given time, looks after itself. Nowadays I let the fallen leaves on the garden stay in place. They make great mulch and it’s free. I leave the stalks and dead leaves of the perennials intact. It does no harm to the plant and even acts as a sort of self mulch.

I also used to spend hours pulling dead annual plants out of the vegetable garden labouriously shaking off the soil and piling it all on the compost making sure I picked up every last leaf and bit of stalk. Now I go in with a pair of clippers, chop everything off at soil level and only pile the particularly stalky items like broccoli, or leafy things like squash or pea vines, onto the compost. The rest I leave on the garden to decompose right there.

Why It Works

Even if snow cover is unreliable the garden stays safe because this far up north, in zones two and three the ground stays frozen for half the year. Annoying critters like pets cannot dig in the frozen soil, all insects are either dead or hibernating and ditto for microbes. In spring it is an easy matter to peel back the layer of matted leaves, pull of dead stalks from the perennial crowns and pile the partly composted stuff into the wheelbarrow to wheel it off to the compost.

Further Reflection

Unless I’m feeling particularly energetic, or anxious to have a clean garden/ well groomed look I don’t feel the need to bother removing the dead leaves and stalks after the snow melts.

One April we took off on a road trip to California leaving the garden to it own devices for a month. When we left the garden was still full of dead leaves and stalks. nothing had started to grow. I was surprised when we got back home to see that the perennials had grown up, pushing out leaves and stalks right through the dead leaves so that almost all traces of my neglect* had disappeared beneath a new spring tide of green.

Dreaming of Summer

2011-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

The leaves have all fallen but here and there the tops of the Aspen trees are covered in cocoons, like so many Christmas decorations, made by tent caterpillars earlier this year. The ground is a carpet of yellow and red,shades of brown and black. Every morning shiny ice crystals and the glittering rime left by plunging overnight temperatures remind me that soon the snow will come, layer upon layer, every month until April or May.

I don’t mind winter but some years when it won’t go away I wish I lived in a warmer climate, a dry dessert like Spain or southern California or a lush, humid, tropical place like Queensland Australia or Malaysia. If I lived in one of these places I would revel in the chance to grow native plants or ones totally suited to the climate. I could plant my potted rosemary bush outside in the soil consider growing all manner of spicy peppers, eggplants, giant indeterminate tomatoes, orchids, a mango tree, passion vine, or Hibiscus. And a whole lot more I don’t know about.

The photo is Hibiscus schizopetalus, taken at the Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid. The plant was growing inside the hot house. Thinking of it now reminds me of how cozy and warm the place was.

More than I wanted to know about bromeliads

2011-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve got this obsession with tropical plants. You know, the sort that like hot, moist climates. This is not the climate in Prince George, or in my house. The climate inside my house is best described as dry and moderate, even, especially in the winter, cool.

So, when I saw a table full of Bromeliad plants at Home Despot a few months ago, and after a few minutes of deliberation, I chose a Guzmania with a pink flower to bring home. I snatched it off the table almost spilling water down the front of my t-shirt. Apparently these plants not only need continuously moist soil they also need to have water between their leaves. The plants leaves grow in a spiral around a central hollow stalk that is filled with water. Back home I put the plant on the bar in my kitchen. A spot far enough from the south facing windows that the sunlight is bright but not shining directly on its leaves.

I left the plant in the careful care of my daughter while I traveled around Spain for four and a half weeks. The beautiful plant on the ~~left~~ right is the Guzmania I found growing in the hothouse in the Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid.

The photo below is what my Guzamnia looked like when I got home. Notice the top leaves of the pink flower have turned brown My first thought was that it had not got enough water while was away.

However, according to this website it is normal for the flower to wither away and die. You can't see in the photo but I noticed that my plant had sprouted another plant next to it. The website says that Bromeliads are monocarpic, meaning that they die after flowering. I suppose I should cut the baby plant off the mother plant at some point and put it in its own pot.

On closer inspection I noticed that my Guzmania has actually sprouted two babies. I never thought when I bought home a bromeliad that I would be rearing a whole family of guzmanias and that I would have to deal with asexual reproduction and death.

UPDATE- Rosie from over on Leavesnbloom has an excellent tutorial on how to care for Bromeliads and how to get the babies to bloom. Find it here.

New Ways To Store Root Vegetables (revised)

2011-10-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last year I wrote about leaving root crops in the garden over winter. In the spring as the ground unfroze and the roots thawed I noticed that even though the potatoes were fine, hard and edible, the carrots were mushy.

I’ve decided that it is because I did not wholly follow the advice of my friend. She said to cover the root crops with plastic bags filled with dead leaves and grass clippings. I can only assume this is to make sure the roots are covered and stay frozen. This year I already have my plastic bags full of grass clippings and leaves, waiting for that magical moment.

Of course before I cover them up I need to dig some, most, of the carrots and potatoes out of the ground and store them indoors to eat in the dark January days ahead.

Why Plant Cultivar Names Are Important

2011-10-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Some hybrids produce seed that will grow but the resulting plant may not look anything like the parent. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was helping pot up offsets and plant divisions from the educational demonstration gardens at UNBC for the plant sale next spring.

Botanical names have two words. The first word identifies the genus that the plant belongs to and the second word is a descriptive word to further identify the plant. ~~Both words together are the species name.~~

One of the plants we were potting up yesterday was Echinacea purpurea. Echinacea is the name of the genus the plant belongs to and purpurea is a latin word meaning purple that refers to the plants beautiful purple flowers. Other plants we were potting up were Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’ and Gaillardia x grandiflora goblin/’Kobold’.

‘Goldstrum’ is a cultivar of Rudbeckia fulgida. Only divisions of the parent plant can be called Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum‘. Off sets and seedlings can only be called by their genus name Rudbeckia. This is because there is no way to know the genetics of the seedling. The seedlings may be significantly smaller or larger than their parent, the flowers may be a different size, colour or shape than the parent, the leaves may not look the same either. However the plant is still Rudbeckia and the average gardener probably may not notice or care about the slight differences.

Plant cultivars are developed in a lab under carefully controlled conditions by scientists who breed it to look and behave a certain way. A company bought the plant and gave it a cultivar name ‘Goldstrum’. Cultivar names are always written between single quotes. The cultivar name is patenend. Only the company can sell plants with the cultivar name and only they can guarantee that the plant you buy is the cultivar.

Gaillardia x grandiflora goblin/’Kobold’ is a hybrid plant bred from G. aristata and G. pulchella. The x between the names indicates its hybrid status. The moniker goblin/’Kobold’ is the cultivars name.

The point of this blog post is to remind you to carefully read the tags on plants that are for sale in private garden sales. If the tag on the plant has has any more words, beside its genus name, be highly suspicious and think that it probably isn’t that exact plant but more likely just a random seedling of the genus.

In retail outlets, were plants are purchased from vast companies like Proven Winners they will be identified with both their species name and variety if applicable.

My trip to Spain

2011-10-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

I’m home from a four and a half week trip to Spain. We visited Madrid, Barcelona and several beach towns on the Costa Brava, between Barcelona and the French border. Everyday we walked around photographing everything, medieval castles and churches, ancient walled towns, amazing architecture, brilliant blue Mediterranean sea, idillyc white washed towns nestled in sandy coves, famous paintings in art museums and of course plants.

I visited two botanical gardens. The Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid had a whole section of, what for them were exotic plants, but are really tough dependable stalwarts in my zone 3 garden. Madrid is in zone 9 Plants like Sedum, Hosta, Iberis and Geraniums had almost retreated undergound in the torrid late August heat. I felt sorry for them. In fact even the ubiquitous Platanus orientalis ( plane trees) that lined the boulevards of the city, looked a little limp. See above. The only plants that looked like they were enjoying the heat were of course the various Palms, Agaves and Cacti species. There was also a greenhouse full of awesome tropicals including my current favourite plant family, Bromeliaceae.

The other garden I visited was the Jardi Botanic de Cap Roig. It is on a huge acreage built around a castle on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. Rather than planting lonely specimens this garden had whole hedges of Agaves, orange groves, Cacti plantations, walls of vines and shady forests of pines and other evergreen trees. The plants were divided into gardens along family lines although one garden contained plants used for cooking and for medicinal purposes. This garden had an amazing 4 foot high hedge made with Laurus nobilis or bay leaf plants. (see above) I can’t imagine my tiny 6 inch Laurus nobilis plant growing in a pot on my windowsill could grow that big.

Where’s My Summer, err Tomatoes?

2011-08-23T13:32:00.001-07:00

These tomatoes are Siberian. They’re an open pollinated, determinate variety. I chose them because they are touted as being an early season, 57-60 days, heavily producing tomato. I needed something that produced lots of tomatoes early because I’m going away at the end of the month and I know I won’t be around to harvest anything from the favoured, heirloom, mammoth varieties that I usually grow.

I started these from seed, back in April, and despite planting all ten plants in the greenhouse, at the end of May after the last frost date, and giving them extra compost to help them grow, it wasn’t until today that I finally picked my first, ripe, tomatoes off the vines. The plants produced little to no fruit because the majority of the flowers withered and died. Some of the plants grew barely 12 inches high.

I’m guessing that no sunshine, abundant rain and abnormally cool temperatures, that have been de rigour here in Prince George, this summer are the greatest reason the plants have done poorly. What do you think?

All About Alcea (hollyhocks)

2011-08-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

One June I saw gigantic flower stalks, taller than me, growing outside a tiny, falling down cabin on the acreage of a place we were renting, in northern BC. The flowers were blooming all along the stalk. I was astonished and surprised to see such beauty, growing apparently all by themselves. I‘ve since found out that these plants were probably Alcea, hollyhocks.

A couple of years ago, when I grew a couple dozen plants from seed, I found out that hollyhocks can be annuals, biennials or perennials. I was disappointed to find the plants I had grown from seed were annuals. I’m still hoping to get some seed or plants, to grow some of the perennial kind in my garden.

While at VanDusan Gardens last weekend I came upon this beautiful garden picture below.

I’m sure the hollyhocks must be at least ten feet tall. I know these plants are hardy to at least zone 2, they like full sun and they must be easy to naturalize.

Modern Foliage Garden Bed

2011-08-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Vancouver I went to VanDusan Botanical Gardens. It exceeded my expectations, there was so much to see and we spent almost four hours wandering around. The plant collections were amazing. I definitely want to go back again, preferably in a different season.

One of the cool features was a garden planted with a selection of dark red to almost purple black foliage plants contrasted with golden and chartreuse coloured plants in a variety of shapes and sizes. The effect was like a striking patchwork quilt.

Below are a couple of shots of the garden. Some of the dark leaved plants like Heucheras (coral bells) and Berberis are hardy in zones 2 and 3.

Note two types of contrasting sedum. Sedum is hardy in zones 2 and 3.

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'nigrescens' (black lillyturf) planted with the round leaves of golden creeping jenny, Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'. Creeping jenny is hardy in zones 2 and 3.